Mountain to climb

mountaintoclimb

I'm going to see if this version pastes better

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary	Amount(£)
Total monthly income	3,413.73
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans)	2,743.32
Available for debt repayments	670.41
UNsecured debt repayments	488.89
Amount left after debt repayments	181.52

Personal Balance Sheet Summary	Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own)	244,400
Total Secured & HP Debt	-185,000
Total Unsecured Debt	-22,886
Net Assets	36,514

Household Information

Number of adults in household	2
Number of children in household	3
Number of cars owned	1

Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income	Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax	860.72
Partners monthly income	2468.41
Benefits	84.6
Other income	0
Total monthly income	3413.73

Expenses	Amount(£)
Mortgage	817.6
Secured/HP loan payments	0
Rent	0
Management charge (leasehold property)	0
Council tax	156
Electricity	46.91
Gas	40
Oil	0
Water Rates	55
Telephone (land line)	0
Mobile phone	20
TV Licence	13.37
Satellite/Cable TV	52
Internet services	0
Groceries etc.	500
Clothing	50
Petrol/diesel	100
Road tax	11.37
Car Insurance	33.66
Car maintenance (including MOT)	50
Car Parking	8
Other travel	0
Childcare/nursery	0
Other child related expenses	190
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.)	10.59
Pet Insurance/Vet bills	32.96
Buildings Insurance	20
Contents Insurance	0
Life Assurance	0
Other Insurance	0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.)	100
Haircuts	15
Entertainment	100
Holiday	15.36
Emergency Fund	0
Amazon Prime	6
Pocket money	80
App organiser	3.99
Amazon Digital	1.99
Deezer	9.99
Netflix	9.99
Trust Fund (children)	100
Duologi (mattress)	55.71
Mobile Phone DP	37.83
Total monthly expenses	2743.32

Secured & HP Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
Mortgage	185000	(817.6)	0
Secured & HP Debt totals	185000	-	-

Unsecured Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
Barclaycard DP	6333	200	6
Halifax DP	8783	100	0
Virgin	2783	28.11	0
PayPal	207	6.8	0
Barclaycard	451	18.78	19.8
Hitachi	4329	135.2	3.2
Unsecured Debt totals	22886	488.89000000000004	-

Asset Description	Value (£)
Cash	0
House Value (Gross)	230000
Shares and bonds	400
Car(s)	14000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc)	0
Total Assets	244400

Comments on the results

You have sufficient monthly income to meet your expenses and your minimum monthly debt repayments with £181.52 left over. You can use this to pay off your debts more quickly or to build/top-up an emergency fund. Whatever your results show, it always pays to seek advice or comments from others. Why not post your SOA details on our Debt Management discussion board or on your preferred discussion forum elsewhere. Thankyou for using the SOA Calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk

mountaintoclimb

From what that says it seems like we are in a better financial situation that it feels like we are. We've both contacted our bank and have started the ball rolling with transferring all our direct debits into the joint account so that everything comes out of one account which should hopefully mean things are easier to keep track of.

Food shopping is definitely an area that feels like we could cut back and spend less on.

Thrugelmir

There's an old Chinese proverb that I always recall when faced with a major challenge. 

A man who wishes to move a mountain starts by moving the smallest stones first. 

SandyShores

You're not in a bad position at all @mountaintoclimb.  You're only 40 and have a chance to pay your debt off, and then your mortgage before you retire with room to spare.

One thing I did initially was to open up a cash card for food, so that when our budget was gone, it was gone - no dipping into an overdraft.  It made me really strict with food spending - and we were very vegetarian for quite a while.  The main thing that helped us was agreeing to a personal spending allowance which we transferred into our own accounts.  We agreed not to use credit cards, and we kept a central bills account so there was no danger of anything bouncing. The other thing that I still do religiously is to keep an excel spreadsheet with a worksheet for each month so we can plan ahead.

There will be loads of savings to make I'm sure that others will be along to advise, but you've made a really good step and I'm sure you'll make progress really quickly.  

savingholmes

mountaintoclimb said:

Evening all, DH and I have just been through our SOA and I've copied and pasted below:

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 3

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 860.72

Partners monthly income after tax....... 2468.41

Benefits................................ 84.6

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 3413.73[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 817.6

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 156

Electricity............................. 46.91

Gas..................................... 40

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 55

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 20

TV Licence.............................. 13.37

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 52 - Can you find ways to cut this to just broadband only? - Could save £20-30

Internet Services....................... 0

Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - Can you look at the store cupboard challenge type threads and old style money saving board for ideas on how to reduce this

Clothing................................ 50 - Could you just stick to essentials only for a while to reduce this figure down?

Petrol/diesel........................... 100

Road tax................................ 11.37

Car Insurance........................... 33.66 - Do you buy this via a cashback site? Do you shop around?

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 How old is your car? Is this enough?

Car parking............................. 8

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 190 - Can you get any childcare type vouchers to help with this?

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.59

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32.96 - - Do you buy this via a cashback site? Do you shop around (only advisable if no pre-existing conditions that you need to keep cover for)?

Buildings insurance..................... 20

Contents insurance...................... 0 I would get some - for my house it is £123 for the whole year for buildings and contents. Do you buy this via a cashback site e..g £co? Do you shop around?

Life assurance ......................... 0 I would want some for if the worst happened. the younger you start the cheaper the cover.

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 - This seems realistic - but is there any way that you could look at the up your income thread to find ways of doing surveys, scanning receipts, entering competitions etc to create the income needed for this

Haircuts................................ 15

Entertainment........................... 100 You need some spends to maintain sanity along the way...

Holiday................................. 15.36 Is this realistic? As above... Perhaps allow a little more for day trips

Emergency fund.......................... 0

Amazon Prime............................ 6 - Perhaps just rely on this for a while and cancel other TV/subscription channels

Pocket money............................ 80 Do you need both this and £100 entertainment? Is this for the kids? If for the kids seems generous depending on ages...

App organiser........................... 3.99 What is this?

Amazon Digital.......................... 1.99 What is this?

Deezer.................................. 9.99 What is this?

Netflix................................. 9.99 Why do you have so many entertainment channels? I would cancel

Trust Fund (children)................... 100 - I would throw this at your highest interest debt. Once your debt free you can catch up... 

Duologi (mattress)...................... 55.71 - I assume this should be in your debt figures below? How long is left on it? What's the APR

Mobile Phone DP......................... 37.83[b] - I would try and do sim only deals for a while when your contracts run out. You can get them from £6!

Total monthly expenses.................. 2743.32[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 230000

Shares and bonds........................ 400

Car(s).................................. 14000

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 244400[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 185000...(817.6)....0[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 185000....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Barclaycard DP.................6333......200.......6 Second priority

Halifax DP.....................8783......100.......0

Virgin.........................2783......28.11.....0

PayPal.........................207.......6.8.......0

Barclaycard....................451.......18.78.....19.8 Priority to clear... 

Hitachi........................4329......135.2.....3.2[b]

I've made some suggestions above... Not all will be right for your family... but hopefully it may help a little. 

mcpitman

Agree with @savingholmes suggestions and queries above.

Good work on the 0% balances, pay BCard off first, then DP's BCard.

I'd suggest you cease the Trust fund savings temporarily until you have £1k to £2k in savings/Emergency Fund. This stops you relying on credit should anything "go wrong" along the way.

What interest is your mortgage on? Any savings available there?

EssexHebridean

One thing that does stand out is that you have a lot of "stealth" items increasing your budgeted entertainment spend. Your TV/music and similar spend is over £80 - which means that rather than the £1200 a year you budget for "entertainment" you are actually spending over £2000. Something to be aware of. 

Other odds and ends - you are saving monthly for Holiday (although not much - is this figure correct?) presents and car maintenance and yet are showing no cash assets - be mindful that an SOA needs to reflect what you are actually spending/saving - if this is aspirational then it's great to have something to aim for, but not helpful in the first instance.  I'd also check whether you are actually paying car tax monthly as that is a more expensive way to do it - you need to find a saving to pay 6 months upfront, and then budget to  make sure the money is there when it needs renewing. 

Groceries is on the high side - you could certainly knock £100 off this. Lots of threads on the Old Style boards on here making great suggestions on how to feed a family on a budget. 

The other main thing is that you MUST start saving an emergency fund - it's an absolutely vital thing for anyone, but all the more so when you are debt busting. As a home owner with a car you need to set your sights on a minimum "pot" of £1000 - and personally I would put at least 50% of any monthly surplus you can create towards building this. The remainder of the surplus needs to go towards clearing the highest interest debt first. 

On the subject of surplus - that £181 you're "meant" to have - do you? If not you need to track it down - otherwise that is £2k a year you're "losing" - yes - thought of that way it stings a bit, doesn't it! A spending diary might be your friend here if you reach the end of the month with nothing left.