SoA Help

itsallabitmuch · 19 March 2017 at 9:09PM

Hi All,

Could you please have a look through my SoA and see what you think? I've added a couple of comments which might help.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2 one is owned; one is Motability

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 926.25
Benefits................................ 417.82 DH WTC & my PIP minus the Motability allowance
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1344.07

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 354.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 102
Electricity............................. 30.5 we pay 60.5 for gas.electricity - couldn't remember exact breakdowns; comparison sites say that we're on the best deal in our area
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 24
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 55 this is TV, BB & LL
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 Very high, I know - we're both coeliac and lactose intolerant - really hard to keep prices down!
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0 is only 20 per year so didn't include
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40 prepayment px cards & dentist
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30 again, joint cost for buildings & contents - not sure of exact breakdown
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Child Maintenance....................... 175 this stops in July 2017
Total monthly expenses.................. 1483.32

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 5 premium bon of DH's that was purchased for him at birth
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 805

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 72309....(354.7)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 72309.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................1154......50........0
Tesco..........................600.......30........0
RCI Financial..................2000......15........0 not sure of APRs
DMP............................11030.2...241.......0
Total unsecured debts..........14784.2...336.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,344.07
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,483.32
Available for debt repayments........... -139.25
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 336
Amount short for making debt repayments. -475.25

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 805
Total HP & Secured debt................. -72,309
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,784.2
Net Assets.............................. -86,288.2

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I know there's plenty of room for savings here, but can't see the wood for the trees lately!

DCFC79 · 19 March 2017 at 9:17PM

Is the £60 for mobile phones for 2 ?

Expensive if it is.

[Deleted User] · 19 March 2017 at 9:38PM

itsallabitmuch wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2 one is owned; one is Motability

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 926.25
Benefits................................ 417.82 DH WTC & my PIP minus the Motability allowance - Have you checked if you can get Housing benefit and/or Council Tax benefit?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1344.07

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 354.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 102 - If this is over 10 months, switching to 12 months will reduce it to £85.
Electricity............................. 30.5 we pay 60.5 for gas.electricity - couldn't remember exact breakdowns; comparison sites say that we're on the best deal in our area
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 24
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60 - This is pricey, even for 2 phones. Go PAYG/sim only, for ~ £10 pm per phone.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 55 this is TV, BB & LL - You can't afford all this. Go Freeview/Freesat and get a better deal (~ £20 pm) on the LL & BB.
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 Very high, I know - we're both coeliac and lactose intolerant - really hard to keep prices down!
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0 is only 20 per year so didn't include
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40 prepayment px cards & dentist
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30 again, joint cost for buildings & contents - not sure of exact breakdown
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here, especially with being a home owner.
Child Maintenance....................... 175 this stops in July 2017
Total monthly expenses.................. 1483.32

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 5 premium bon of DH's that was purchased for him at birth
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 805

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 72309....(354.7)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 72309.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................1154......50........0
Tesco..........................600.......30........0
RCI Financial..................2000......15........0 not sure of APRs
DMP............................11030.2...241.......0
Total unsecured debts..........14784.2...336.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,344.07
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,483.32
Available for debt repayments........... -139.25
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 336
Amount short for making debt repayments. -475.25

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 805
Total HP & Secured debt................. -72,309
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,784.2
Net Assets.............................. -86,288.2

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

My comments in red.

theoretica · 19 March 2017 at 10:06PM

itsallabitmuch wrote: »

Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Internet Services....................... 55 this is TV, BB & LL
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 Very high, I know - we're both coeliac and lactose intolerant - really hard to keep prices down!
Car Insurance........................... 30 are you paying monthly? when is it due?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 when is it due?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Child Maintenance....................... 175 this stops in July 2017

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,344.07
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,483.32
Available for debt repayments........... -139.25

At present, you are spending £140 more than you have coming in - so you need to find a way of cutting your spending by this much. However, the child maintenance finishes in about 4 months, so you need two plans - one to survive for the next 4 months, and then another for the longer term.

In the short term, are you paying any of the expenses listed annually rather than monthly and are they due before the child maintenence finishes, and you have time to save up for them with that money? Christmas is an obvious one which is well after July!

I suggest that you also look to your food bill, the old style board here could help. I know it is possible to cook gluten and dairy free on a tighter budget, because I have done so.

tallyhoh · 19 March 2017 at 10:52PM

I'm gluten/wheat/yeast/milk intolerant & we manage quite well on less than £200 a month for 2 adults & I run a soup kitchen for 35/40 people once a week out of it.

It just takes a bit of planning & checking prices online.

ReadingTim · 20 March 2017 at 12:01PM

itsallabitmuch wrote: »

I know there's plenty of room for savings here, but can't see the wood for the trees lately!

There's some room for savings, but not that much. The main problem seems to be that's there's not enough coming in, rather than too much going out. I can see 2 adults, but only one income - does whatever condition you have that results in PIP prevent you for any kind of paid employment? Can your partner find a better paying job?

Sure, you can save a tenner here, twenty quid there, and when the child maintenance stops that'll be a help, but it's not going to make much of a dent in the debts unless you also focus on what comes in - at the moment it's just not enough.

Fosterdog · 20 March 2017 at 1:14PM

How has the child maintenance been calculated? I've just worked it out on the .gov calculator and to be £175 a month it would be for three or more children with no overnight stays. Unless it's for triplets it wouldn't all end in July. If it's for one child with no overnights it would only be £112 a month or £148 a month for two children.

I understand that quite a number of people like to overpay the minimum to help support their children but if it's money you don't have and yo are getting further into debt each month from just your living expenses that it can't really be afforded. Unless of course there is a court order for the overpayment or arrears being paid off but they don't usually leave the other parent in such financial difficulty.

If there is a possibility of lowering it before it end in July it is worth doing it, as well as lowering or cancelling your tv package there are lots of deals around for LL and broadband for £20-£30 a month and as has already been suggested head over to the old style board for ways to cut down groceries even with your dietary requirements the bill is high and could be cut in half even if you have to eat boring and repetitive meals for a while it is only until you can either pay off the debt or find another source of income.

When is your home and contents insurance due for renewal? Mine is only £120 for the year for both with quite a high level of cover so well worth shopping around for a cheaper deal, same with car insurance although yours isn't that high right now anyway.

cms-help · 20 March 2017 at 2:05PM

Presumably the DMP you list as a debtor was set when you had a higher level of income.

If your DMP is with a managed company then you need to return to them with a new statement of affairs as your expenses currently exceed your income, without factoring in any of the debt repayments.

MrsNubs · 20 March 2017 at 2:19PM

itsallabitmuch wrote: »

House value (Gross)..................... 0

Is this accurate? Surely your house must be worth something?

itsallabitmuch · 20 March 2017 at 8:38PM

Hi All,

Going to try and respond to all (sorry if I miss anything!).

The mobile phones are expensive - it is just for 2 phones

We are due to come out of the contracts in August and October, and will then go SIM only

We applied for housing benefit earlier this month, and were refused

The council tax is over 10 months - it includes arrears, but they didn't class it as defaulted as we told them 2 months prior that paying was going to be difficult. They just offered to put it onto this year's bill with no penalty

Again, with the TV/Internet/LL, we are tied into a contract - I don't know how to break it

We pay the car insurance monthly, and it expires on 8th May

MOT due in 2 weeks - we've just about saved up enough to cover it now

The house is worth 100,000 - didn't even see that one in there!

My husband has been breaking his back to find a better paying job - he's sending out over 100 applications a week for all-sorts, and will continue to do so until he finds a better job

The reason I don't have an income is that I'm a FT student - halfway through my PhD. I do get an occasional income, but haven't included it here as it isn't regular. They pay me to do the odd bit of teaching/marking here and there, but it is few and far between

The DMP was set up with Step Change in February, and started on 1st March - they said that was what I had to pay, so I set up the DD with them

The 175 on child maintenance was based on my husband's earning prior to losing his decent job - it's only for 1 child. We have contacted my Step-Son's Mom and told her we're reducing it as of this month - we can't give her what we haven't got! However, we can't reduce it lower than £100 as per their original separation agreement. So she'll be getting £100 ppm between now and July

In terms of groceries etc., my Mom has agreed to organise the online shopping for me, and I'll transfer the money to her. Might sound pathetic, but she not only more time, but a lot more inclination! (For those of you who saw my original post - you may have noticed I mention my Mom here - I've finally told her everything!!!)

Think that's everything.

Any tips re: getting out of the horrible contracts we're tied in to would be amazing!

cms-help · 20 March 2017 at 8:44PM

I can't understand why Stepchange would give you such a large monthly payment when you can't even meet your living expenses. Also, I thought all debts had to be included in a DMP where as you have extra ones?

Did you give them this SOA or a different one?

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