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!

SOA Calculator feedback

Options
Details of the SOA Calculator were posted about 10 days ago. I'd appreciate any further feedback on whether it is being used and how you are finding it. Also any ideas for improvement would be gratefully received. I want to make it as useful and easy to use as possible. I will follow this thread until the beginning of next week so it would be good to get your feedback ... but you can PM me at any time with questions or comments.

Best wishes to all
Clariman
Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
«1345

Comments

  • jess444_2
    jess444_2 Posts: 1,225 Forumite
    Hi Clariman,
    The only problem I found is that once I had completed it I saved it - but then OH decided to delete cookies and of course it could not then be retreived. Is there any other way of saving it.
  • Clariman
    Clariman Posts: 1,484 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    jess444 wrote: »
    Hi Clariman,
    The only problem I found is that once I had completed it I saved it - but then OH decided to delete cookies and of course it could not then be retreived. Is there any other way of saving it.
    The obvious answer is to find a new OH or to retrain him to consult before taking such drastic action! ;) OK, so the first half of that sentence wasn't serious, but the second half is a little more serious, because you may have cookies stored to remember your userid, profile, preferences etc for lots of other websites.

    The calculator can only save the data in cookies at the moment. If you are worried that someone will delete the cookies again, then I'd suggest printing a copy or emailing yourself a copy of your results. Use the "Format for Print" button, then print using your browsers print function. To email it to yourself, use the Format for Print then copy the contents of that window into an email and send it to yourself. You won't be able to automatically load the data, but it will mean that you have a record of exactly what you had typed in. You can also copy and paste from the Format for Print window into a Word document.

    Clariman
    Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
  • Clariman
    Clariman Posts: 1,484 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Gentle bump. Any other comments? Are you using it? How are you finding it?
    Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
  • Jhayda
    Jhayda Posts: 53 Forumite
    I used it...totally easy and straightforward to use...I forgot to add a couple of things and it reminded me...
    Had no problems with it at all...in fact it was so easy to use as it had so many entries I would have forgotten about and it only took a few minutes...
    :)
  • GeorgeUK
    GeorgeUK Posts: 7,737 Forumite
    Clariman - the only problem i can see so far is that it isn't in any of the sticky's.

    http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

    Great work. Those posting up a SOA for the first time may not be thinking about each individual bill and generalising their debt so i think having a list like this is exactly the right approach. It may seem daunting, but as not every item will be applicable it shouldn't take that long and WILL make people think about their debts.

    As far as i can see, layout and format are fine. If anyone wants to remove entries that don't apply to them, they can just delete the row when pasting to the forum. I think it may be better for users to do this themselves rather than supply an option for this. I'm sure people will ask about different things if they don't see them on the list so the all inclusive method may be best.

    It seems easy to use and having those warning messages is just a touch of class.

    Well done on creating a useful and practical tool.
    After falling off the gambling wagon (twice): £33,600 (24,000+ 9,600) - Original CC Debt: £7,885.91

    Dad Gift 6k ¦ Savings & Inv Tst: £2,500
    Loan 10k: £0 ¦ Dad 5.5k: £2,270 ¦ LTSB: £0 ¦ RBS: £0 ¦ Virgin £0 ¦ Egg £0

    Total Owed: £2,270 (+6k) 11/08/2011
  • Queen.Bess
    Queen.Bess Posts: 1,062 Forumite
    Thanks Clariman, that was really useful!! Easy to understand and to complete. Like George, I hope it becaomes a sticky or appears on the step by step guide at the top. Well Done!
    Official DFW Nerd Club #20 :cool: Proud To Be Dealing With My Debts :D DFW Long Hauler #109 :o

    Slowly, Slowly = Oct '09: £30693, Aug '15: £14820. Could Be Debt Free April 2020, but hoping for sooner!
  • Clariman
    Clariman Posts: 1,484 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks Jhayda, GeorgeUK and Queen.Bess for your comments. Glad it seems straightforward to use. I'm not sure who has admin access to make things Sticky on here, so I'll leave that for the board guides to comment on.
    Those posting up a SOA for the first time may not be thinking about each individual bill and generalising their debt so i think having a list like this is exactly the right approach. It may seem daunting, but as not every item will be applicable it shouldn't take that long and WILL make people think about their debts.
    I think you are absolutely right George. I have seen quite a few SOAs posted since being here that seem somewhat incomplete. Don't get me wrong - a good starting point with lots of basics in - but not complete. Unless an SOA is complete then it means that there is likely to be spending going on that is unaccounted for, which means that the SOA or resulting budget plan won't work.
    As far as i can see, layout and format are fine. If anyone wants to remove entries that don't apply to them, they can just delete the row when pasting to the forum.
    Personally, I think it is better leaving them in, because then it shows that the user has actually thought about them and made a conscious decision to leave them at 0. If they delete the lines before posting, then others might not spot the missing items and ask the difficult but necessary questions.
    It seems easy to use and having those warning messages is just a touch of class.
    Very kind of you to say so. I don't know about "class" but hopefully they will prompt users to make their SOA comprehensive, which is really the be all and end all in my book.

    I can't take credit for the SOA having so many expense categories. Manzanilla (user on TMF) is a CAB Debt Counsellor and she advised me on what categories should really be in there.

    Clariman
    Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
  • fermi
    fermi Posts: 40,542 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Rampant Recycler
    Clariman wrote: »
    I'm not sure who has admin access to make things Sticky on here, so I'll leave that for the board guides to comment on.

    That is tine or nearlyrich. If you want to discuss a possible sticky it would be best to PM either of them.
    Free/impartial debt advice: National Debtline | StepChange Debt Charity | Find your local CAB

    IVA & fee charging DMP companies: Profits from misery, motivated ONLY by greed
  • Clariman
    Clariman Posts: 1,484 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    fermi wrote: »
    That is tine or nearlyrich. If you want to discuss a possible sticky it would be best to PM either of them.
    Thanks fermi

    As the author of the calculator, it's probably not altogether appropriate for me to request that it becomes a sticky. I'll leave that up to others on the board to do, if they think that it merits it.

    Clariman
    Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
  • Clariman
    Clariman Posts: 1,484 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Bumping up for users who just log on in the evening.

    Thanks for feedback to far. Thanks
    Author of the first Stoozing FAQ on the Internet and Creator of the SOA & Snowball calculators at Lemonfool.co.uk
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.