We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Solving the problem before it becomes a problem
Options
littleteapot
Posts: 216 Forumite
After reading a few other threads around here, I decided to do a SOA, and I was quite surprised to find that I'm actually not doing too well, which explains why I have had to dig into savings a couple of times already this year as prices of everything have gone up.
I would like to solve this before it becomes a problem. In terms of debt I have a fairly small mortgage at £456pm, with an interest rate fixed at 2.6% for another 6 years. I also have a personal loan with 4 years remaining at £269 and 3.0%. This I took out to pay off two credit cards that had debts from our wedding and holidays in late 2019, whose 0% periods were about to expire. Our energy cost of circa £160 per month is accurate and fixed until April 2024, so that's one less thing to worry about.
My wife is from abroad on a spouse visa, and won't be able to claim any benefits until after she has ILR, which will be another 3 years from now. She currently doesn't have a job as a full-time parent, but she does some volunteering each week to relieve the monotony of being at home for the sake of her mental health, during which time our child goes to a child minder.
I have been saving so that we can have a trip to her home country in the new year, and also to pay the government abother £3000 or so for a second 2-year spouse visa. However as we can see from the SOA, this is potentially at risk now. Therefore I need to make some amends before problems occur, without making my wife spend her whole time at home and getting depressed again.
Hoping there's an obvious solution to this which I've failed to spot.
I would like to solve this before it becomes a problem. In terms of debt I have a fairly small mortgage at £456pm, with an interest rate fixed at 2.6% for another 6 years. I also have a personal loan with 4 years remaining at £269 and 3.0%. This I took out to pay off two credit cards that had debts from our wedding and holidays in late 2019, whose 0% periods were about to expire. Our energy cost of circa £160 per month is accurate and fixed until April 2024, so that's one less thing to worry about.
My wife is from abroad on a spouse visa, and won't be able to claim any benefits until after she has ILR, which will be another 3 years from now. She currently doesn't have a job as a full-time parent, but she does some volunteering each week to relieve the monotony of being at home for the sake of her mental health, during which time our child goes to a child minder.
I have been saving so that we can have a trip to her home country in the new year, and also to pay the government abother £3000 or so for a second 2-year spouse visa. However as we can see from the SOA, this is potentially at risk now. Therefore I need to make some amends before problems occur, without making my wife spend her whole time at home and getting depressed again.
Hoping there's an obvious solution to this which I've failed to spot.
[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......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 2292
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 87.2
Other income............................ 0[b]
Total monthly income.................... 2379.2[/b][b]
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 456
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 154
Electricity............................. 160
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 9
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 28
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 28
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 128
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 150
Emergency fund.......................... 200[b]
Total monthly expenses.................. 2228[/b]
[b]
Assets[/b]
Cash.................................... 5800
House value (Gross)..................... 201000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0[b]
Total Assets............................ 207800[/b]
[b]
Secured & HP Debts[/b]
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 68000....(456)......2.6[b]
Total secured & HP debts...... 68000.....-.........- [/b]
[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Personal Loan..................12587.....269.......3[b]
Total unsecured debts..........12587.....269.......- [/b]
[b]
Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 2,379.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,228
Available for debt repayments........... 151.2
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 269[b]
Amount short for making debt repayments. -117.8[/b]
[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
Total assets (things you own)........... 207,800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -68,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,587[b]
Net Assets.............................. 127,213[/b]
[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
1
Comments
-
littleteapot said:After reading a few other threads around here, I decided to do a SOA, and I was quite surprised to find that I'm actually not doing too well, which explains why I have had to dig into savings a couple of times already this year as prices of everything have gone up.
I would like to solve this before it becomes a problem. In terms of debt I have a fairly small mortgage at £456pm, with an interest rate fixed at 2.6% for another 6 years. I also have a personal loan with 4 years remaining at £269 and 3.0%. This I took out to pay off two credit cards that had debts from our wedding and holidays in late 2019, whose 0% periods were about to expire. Our energy cost of circa £160 per month is accurate and fixed until April 2024, so that's one less thing to worry about.
My wife is from abroad on a spouse visa, and won't be able to claim any benefits until after she has ILR, which will be another 3 years from now. She currently doesn't have a job as a full-time parent, but she does some volunteering each week to relieve the monotony of being at home for the sake of her mental health, during which time our child goes to a child minder.
I have been saving so that we can have a trip to her home country in the new year, and also to pay the government abother £3000 or so for a second 2-year spouse visa. However as we can see from the SOA, this is potentially at risk now. Therefore I need to make some amends before problems occur, without making my wife spend her whole time at home and getting depressed again.
Hoping there's an obvious solution to this which I've failed to spot.[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 2Number of children in household......... 1Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 2292Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 87.2Other income............................ 0[b]Total monthly income.................... 2379.2[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 456Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 0Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 154Electricity............................. 160Gas..................................... 0 I'm guessing you're all-electric?Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 32Telephone (land line)................... 13Mobile phone............................ 9TV Licence.............................. 13Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0Internet Services....................... 28Groceries etc. ......................... 500 That's a lot for 2 adults plus a child. Switch to Aldi/Lidl, you can make some big savings there.Clothing................................ 20Petrol/diesel........................... 160Road tax................................ 28Car Insurance........................... 25Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40Car parking............................. 0 No car parking costs at all?Other travel............................ 0Childcare/nursery....................... 128 That's a lot if you have the option of not paying itOther child related expenses............ 0 No toys, sweets, the odd comic, days out with friends?Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0Buildings insurance..................... 5 Seems very lowContents insurance...................... 5 DittoLife assurance ......................... 0Other insurance......................... 0Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Really - you never buy any present for anyone?Haircuts................................ 12Entertainment........................... 80 Seems quite high if you're wanting to make savings.Holiday................................. 150Emergency fund.......................... 200[b]Total monthly expenses.................. 2228[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 5800House value (Gross)..................... 201000Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 1000Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 207800[/b][b]Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRMortgage...................... 68000....(456)......2.6[b]Total secured & HP debts...... 68000.....-.........- [/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRPersonal Loan..................12587.....269.......3[b]Total unsecured debts..........12587.....269.......- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 2,379.2Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,228Available for debt repayments........... 151.2Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 269[b]Amount short for making debt repayments. -117.8[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 207,800Total HP & Secured debt................. -68,000Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,587[b]Net Assets.............................. 127,213[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
Some thoughts in bold above.
0 -
I'd have a think about the revenue side, as it looks like the spending is already tight / possibly unrealistic, as Ebe_scrooge has pointed out.
One quick win is to switch your bank account (or a "burner" account that you set up) for one that pays a joining bonus. Santander and First Direct offer £175 at the moment. Check out the guide here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/
Quite a few people sell unwanted stuff and / or do surveys on sites like Prolific Academy. Prolific gets me around £15-20 a week at the moment, which all helps. Your wife might not be able to work in the system right now, but (and someone may correct me here) I see no reason that she can't help to bring in a few quid here and there. I'm sure she'd love to be able to contribute in whatever way she can, assuming that she has a bit of time to spare, which I appreciate might not always be easy. Good luck!1 -
And on the spending side, yes, I'd definitely look at groceries. If you don't already, it might be worth meal planning for the week, batch cook and freeze sometimes, I'm sure you'll be able to bring your spend well down. You're assuming £16 per day for two and a half people. That can definitely be cut if you need to, and put your mind to it.1
-
Thanks for the feedback. See my responses to your points below;Ebe_Scrooge said:littleteapot said:After reading a few other threads around here, I decided to do a SOA, and I was quite surprised to find that I'm actually not doing too well, which explains why I have had to dig into savings a couple of times already this year as prices of everything have gone up.
I would like to solve this before it becomes a problem. In terms of debt I have a fairly small mortgage at £456pm, with an interest rate fixed at 2.6% for another 6 years. I also have a personal loan with 4 years remaining at £269 and 3.0%. This I took out to pay off two credit cards that had debts from our wedding and holidays in late 2019, whose 0% periods were about to expire. Our energy cost of circa £160 per month is accurate and fixed until April 2024, so that's one less thing to worry about.
My wife is from abroad on a spouse visa, and won't be able to claim any benefits until after she has ILR, which will be another 3 years from now. She currently doesn't have a job as a full-time parent, but she does some volunteering each week to relieve the monotony of being at home for the sake of her mental health, during which time our child goes to a child minder.
I have been saving so that we can have a trip to her home country in the new year, and also to pay the government abother £3000 or so for a second 2-year spouse visa. However as we can see from the SOA, this is potentially at risk now. Therefore I need to make some amends before problems occur, without making my wife spend her whole time at home and getting depressed again.
Hoping there's an obvious solution to this which I've failed to spot.[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 2Number of children in household......... 1Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 2292Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 87.2Other income............................ 0[b]Total monthly income.................... 2379.2[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 456Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 0Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 154Electricity............................. 160Gas..................................... 0 I'm guessing you're all-electric?Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 32Telephone (land line)................... 13Mobile phone............................ 9TV Licence.............................. 13Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0Internet Services....................... 28Groceries etc. ......................... 500 That's a lot for 2 adults plus a child. Switch to Aldi/Lidl, you can make some big savings there.Clothing................................ 20Petrol/diesel........................... 160Road tax................................ 28Car Insurance........................... 25Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40Car parking............................. 0 No car parking costs at all?Other travel............................ 0Childcare/nursery....................... 128 That's a lot if you have the option of not paying itOther child related expenses............ 0 No toys, sweets, the odd comic, days out with friends?Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0Buildings insurance..................... 5 Seems very lowContents insurance...................... 5 DittoLife assurance ......................... 0Other insurance......................... 0Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Really - you never buy any present for anyone?Haircuts................................ 12Entertainment........................... 80 Seems quite high if you're wanting to make savings.Holiday................................. 150Emergency fund.......................... 200[b]Total monthly expenses.................. 2228[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 5800House value (Gross)..................... 201000Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 1000Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 207800[/b][b]Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRMortgage...................... 68000....(456)......2.6[b]Total secured & HP debts...... 68000.....-.........- [/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRPersonal Loan..................12587.....269.......3[b]Total unsecured debts..........12587.....269.......- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 2,379.2Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,228Available for debt repayments........... 151.2Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 269[b]Amount short for making debt repayments. -117.8[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 207,800Total HP & Secured debt................. -68,000Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,587[b]Net Assets.............................. 127,213[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
Some thoughts in bold above.
Energy - electric only. We've made a lot of changes to reduce consumption over the last year, probably not much more we can do on that.
Groceries - I've included work lunches in the groceries option (about £2.50 per day for a sandwich and crisps from Aldi or Lidl) which might explain some of the apparent excess. Plus we are expecting another baby in a couple of months so I added an extra £100 per month to account for that. However that was probably silly as the child benefit will offset most of that.
Car parking - as a general rule I avoid parking anywhere that is chargeable! However it is possible that some months it could add up to £10 but certainly never more than that.
Childcare - I will try to convince my wife to reduce that, as it is just to give her some freedom during the week rather than being necessary. Once he is two, which is only a few more months then we will use the free childcare allowance from the government.
Other child related expenses - Yes my bad for overlooking that. Perhaps add another £40 per month. I haven't been keeping track so that's just a guess. I will try to keep a more accurate record going forward.
Building/contents insurance - Last year I paid £118 for combined buildings and contents. This area is about as low risk as it gets so this and car insurance are very cheap.
Presents - I didnt't include this as I havent got any records of this. It is very low as my wife and parents have the understanding that we don't waste money buying expensive gifts for each other. Of course this situation will change when the children get old enough to expect presents!
Entertainment - Yes this in area which I am already working on reducing so certainly this will become less going forwards. £80 doesn't buy much these days - maybe 4 takeway meals out a month plus the odd ice cream, etc at the seaside. We no longer go for restaurant meals as these are prohibitively expensive now, never cinema either.
0 -
Currently it is quite high plus as mentioned earlier I did make an additional allowance for the soon to be expected child. We do our shopping at Asda and Lidl mainly. Tesco etc are too expensive. My wife misses her home foods so we have to get these from specialist shops which are v.expensive around here. However she is gradually getting used to cheaper alternatives thankfully.Martico said:And on the spending side, yes, I'd definitely look at groceries. If you don't already, it might be worth meal planning for the week, batch cook and freeze sometimes, I'm sure you'll be able to bring your spend well down. You're assuming £16 per day for two and a half people. That can definitely be cut if you need to, and put your mind to it.
0 -
You're right, it's difficult to adapt to living in a foreign country (I've done it), and mental wellbeing for you both should be priorities, I wouldn't have a problem with your wife's home foods needs, they're important.littleteapot said:
Currently it is quite high plus as mentioned earlier I did make an additional allowance for the soon to be expected child. We do our shopping at Asda and Lidl mainly. Tesco etc are too expensive. My wife misses her home foods so we have to get these from specialist shops which are v.expensive around here. However she is gradually getting used to cheaper alternatives thankfully.Martico said:And on the spending side, yes, I'd definitely look at groceries. If you don't already, it might be worth meal planning for the week, batch cook and freeze sometimes, I'm sure you'll be able to bring your spend well down. You're assuming £16 per day for two and a half people. That can definitely be cut if you need to, and put your mind to it.
1 -
Have you already claimed this: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/marriage-tax-allowance/
Also, do you have to work from home? There’s tax to claim back for that.0 -
The other thing that I fear (correct me if I'm wrong) you might be overlooking is that you say "Our energy cost of circa £160 per month is accurate and fixed until April 2024, so that's one less thing to worry about."
It's good that you've fixed, as that gives certainty. But you could still make savings here, as it's the cost per unit that you use that's actually fixed - the amount that you pay each month would end up coming down if you use less. That £160 is an estimated monthly average of your annual usage. If you are able to use less energy, then that monthly average would either come down, or you'd build up credit in your account, which is your money. If you are able to turn down the heating a notch from what you've been used to, or have the heating on for less time than you normally would, you would end up paying less on energy as you'd be using less.1 -
Just to ask do you have an emergency fund already or are you hoping to build a decent one by the time little baby arrives. I wasn't sure if your cash fund is for the paperwork you need to do and holiday or your e fund.
Also Im sorry to be a pessimist but clothing is a little low in your budget if a child/children are about. Clothing can be fairly cheap, shoes, wellies etc not so cheap. I think keep a spending diary to see what you spend and some advice from one parent to another would be to allow more for clothing, something for presents and then try and reduce the food budget. Packed lunches or leftovers if you are able to use a staff room might help. If you can aim to be budget neutral that's a start. Also have you tried benefits calculators, tax free childcare (not sure of exact name). Try the benefits calculators for now and when baby number two has arrived. Even if you're entitled to a tenner a month that's the uniform/shoe fund given a helping hand.
Childcare wise I get it. 128 a month isn't actually many sessions is it and it's beneficial to both mum and baby if you can keep it up till age two and then hopefully get some free hours.
Also council tax can be spread over twelve months if you ask them . Same price but it eases the monthly budget somewhat.
Good luck and well done for noticing before it got too bad xJan 18 Joint debts 35,213
Mortgage Jan 18- 77224 May 25- just under 65k
June 25 Debts in my name only £5170. DH can't keep track...1 -
Yes been doing both of those for the last 2 years.stymied said:Have you already claimed this: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/marriage-tax-allowance/
Also, do you have to work from home? There’s tax to claim back for that.0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards