please cast an eye over my soa

vintagegirl · 20 April 2018 at 12:31AM

hi there, my fiance and i have bought a house and move next month.

We have always have separate soas but have compiled a joint one.
any other suggestions?

many thanks

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1630.09
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1727.1
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3357.19

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 260
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 92.2
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 24.5
Mobile phone............................ 130
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 303.33
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16.62
Car Insurance........................... 23.44
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 247.43
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 40.77
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 8
Entertainment........................... 160
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1823.29

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,357.19
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,823.29
Available for debt repayments........... 1,533.9
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,533.9

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.

StokieBecks · 20 April 2018 at 5:54AM

Off a quick glance do you not need something for water? Also have you bought your house outright? You haven't put in any details for mortgage outgoings? You need to do this based on your new house not your current.

Also mobile phone bills are extortionate for two of you.

You will need to add something to TV Licence. Especially as it currently appears you have no Sky/Virgin Media package or Internet.

Do you find between you that you really do have £1.5k money left a month? Especially as you haven't listed any cash assets

Think try and write your SOA for your new house so you can see what your outgoings will be. You have a few gaps. Building insurance will be a must if you own the house. Also an emergency fund is vital for a homeowner

System · 20 April 2018 at 7:09AM

Groceries are way too high. You're spending almost £100 a more in a month on two people than the ONS statistics say the average family spends. Mobile phone bill is also in the mad territory given £20 a month SIM only will get 20-30GB of data, unlimited calls and texts.

Are you finding you don't know where your money is going and the £1.5k you think you should have isn't there? Get a pocket diary for each of you. Every time you spend anything, even 50p on a chocolate bar, write it down. Do that for a month to see where your money is going. £3 a day spent at Costa which most people wouldn't think twice about spending and forget they do is the thick end £90 a month and over £1000 a year.

fatrab · 20 April 2018 at 7:43AM

Hi, agree with the comments above.

Mobile phone - ridiculously high
Groceries - can definitely be cut down, downshift or shop at Lidl/Aldi
Other travel - what is this for? seems high
Presents - £100 per month on presents? again seems high-ish
You need to start putting something into the emergency fund for house or car repairs.
You have a car so it must have a value, pop that in assets

If you're looking to save in other areas, £160 entertainment isn't an essential but if you've no other debt then you're allowed to live! And £200 for holidays could be cut but again if you've no other debt it's not really an issue.

enjoyyourshoes · 20 April 2018 at 7:51AM

Have you any savings deducted on regular basis?

Might want to consider:-

Regular savings with HSBC, First Direct, Santander as they have reasonable interest rates.

Have you a pension plan, can you do AVC in Co [pension or set up own with SIPP.

Investments, look at S&S ISA.

Check out you life insurance cover, costs and if ou have LI through Company (or Company pension), you have no dependants nor mortgage, so consider what your are getting for what you are paying.

Agree on 'other' travel, what is it, what value do you get, can this be mitigated at all?

What is your objective, have you a clear plan on what you want to get out of life and can this be put in financial terms?

Silver_Queen · 20 April 2018 at 10:41AM

What are your goals? You have a pretty healthy surplus but is there anything you're working towards? Is your SOA accurate? People have already pointed out the missing things. Do you not have a mortgage to pay?

If your SOA is accurate then I would say that you can afford a bit of luxury with the groceries and phone bill.

If your SOA is inaccurate or you want to save a lot then there's definitely places you can cut down.

National_Debtline · 20 April 2018 at 12:32PM

Hi vintagegirl

The SOA, as it is, serves no real useful purpose for you given that you're about to move - as it doesn't reflect the mortgage payments, I'm assuming that other items such as council tax and utilities relate to your current rented property.

The time to do this will be as you settle in to the new place - as this is presumably your first property purchase, you may be having to incur a lot of one-off expenses for various household items (even things as trivial as a kettle/toaster!), so your actual outgoings might be somewhat skewed and untypical over this period.

It's great of course that you are thinking about budgeting generally and what you might be able to put by each month after you move. All the best with it and I hope it goes smoothly for you.

Dennis
@natdebtline

D_M_E · 20 April 2018 at 3:17PM

As has been said you need to redo your SOA as if you were alredy in your new home.

Change the rent to your mortgage payment.

Add an amount for buildings insurance.

Add something for an emergency fund - which a lot of homeowners need at some point

Groceries spend looks high just for 2

Mobiles - at that rate you need to see your bank manager every month to make sure you have any money left at the end of the month

Entertainment - try getting by on half your figure

What is the other travel item for - can this be trimmed?

Council Tax - this can be paid over 12 months, is your figure over 10 months? What will it be in the new house?

vintagegirl · 20 April 2018 at 6:08PM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1630.09
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1727.1
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3357.19

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 260
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 92.2
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 130
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 24.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 303.33
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16.62
Car Insurance........................... 23.44
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 247.43
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 40.77
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 8
Entertainment........................... 160
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 0
gym..................................... 20
netflix................................. 7.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 1871.28

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 65000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 65001

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 59500....(260)......2.59
Total secured & HP debts...... 59500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,357.19
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,871.28
Available for debt repayments........... 1,485.91
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,485.91

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 65,001
Total HP & Secured debt................. -59,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 5,501

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.

thanks for all your replies.
i have adjusted it, the soa is based on our new house bills.
we do have that much left normally as we had spent a long time paying off debts and saving for a mortgage deposit.
now we have done that we are going to concentrate on savings.

We already religiously shop at ALdis,
we don't pay a tv licence as we don't use their services (they are aware of this)
the entertainment is a contingent and doesnt usually get used except 2 for 1 cinema deals, or possibly a family birthday meal etc.

the mobiles are high i agree and i am aware there is sim only deals out there, i dont feel my mobile is excessive for me as it gets used for everything including work.

other travel is essential as train fare is expensive for my partner.

cms-help · 20 April 2018 at 6:56PM

vintagegirl wrote: »

thanks for all your replies.
i have adjusted it, the soa is based on our new house bills.
we do have that much left normally as we had spent a long time paying off debts and saving for a mortgage deposit.
now we have done that we are going to concentrate on savings.

We already religiously shop at ALdis,
we don't pay a tv licence as we don't use their services (they are aware of this)
the entertainment is a contingent and doesnt usually get used except 2 for 1 cinema deals, or possibly a family birthday meal etc.

the mobiles are high i agree and i am aware there is sim only deals out there, i dont feel my mobile is excessive for me as it gets used for everything including work.

other travel is essential as train fare is expensive for my partner.

Your new mortgage is exactly the same amount as your rent? Is that correct?

We have two mobiles on contract and pay under £50 a month for unlimited texts, calls and some data (I don't use that much at all but my husband works away during the week so his phone is his internet) so sorry but your mobiles are expensive. We both use ours for work.

As for your shopping, we shop at Tesco for a family of 4 and spend less than the two of you every month.

So it does all depend on your perspective and what you're trying to achieve. But you seem to be doing fine based on the SOA you have posted. Are you intending to save the surplus - is that what you're after advice on?

Sncjw · 20 April 2018 at 6:58PM

Are you sure you know which insurance you have. You had it as building but the new one has it as contents.

please cast an eye over my soa

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