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Topic starter
20/07/2012 10:13 am
Hi,
Been a while since I posted! I just would be interested to know if there is anywhere that you can access an income and expenditure guide that is used to base calculations on for a trust deed?
I'm about 9 months in on my trust deed and everything is going okay, however, it's interesting looking at how my expenditure has gone up in this short time.
Electricity DD gone from £71 to £111 because of a shortfall. Food has definitely been more than the budgeted £422 for a family of four. Diesel as well has had significant increases in that time.
I'm in business on my own and have supplemented our requirements from tax that will be due in January.
However, I would have thought that whatever the accepted budget amounts were last year (2011) they should have some increase for this year?
I'm not trying to get a reduction in my trust deed payment because I know we will manage but I just think at the end of the year how things are assessed should have an assumption of higher costs. Would this be the case and is there anything I can access to confirm this?
Thanks
20/07/2012 10:23 am
Pretty sure at each review our groceries and fuel spending was allowed increases. Keep receipts to prove increases and you should be fine.
Paul
Trust deed completed Jan 2012,Trustee discharge Nov 2012.
A new dawn.
Topic starter
20/07/2012 10:25 am
Thanks Paul, We have kept fuel receipts but not grocery receipts. We will need to do that from now on!
20/07/2012 10:48 am
Hi DontDoDebt.
There's some background about how the income and expenditure guidelines work here:
https://www.trust-deed.co.uk/trust-deed-expenditure-guidelines.html
The guidelines are updated periodically to account for changes.
The folks that produce them generally don't like them being publicised. You can find "them" on various websites, some of which are more accurate than others. I wouldn't rely on the information you find online too much as a lot of it is outdated or plain wrong.
It's important to remember that the guidelines apply in different ways to different types of expenditure.
Take your electricity for example. If you are unable to switch to a cheaper service this really needs to be on of those "it is what it is" types of expenses. Let your trustee know about the increase if you cannot reduce the cost.
Diesel is the same really. If your diesel expenditure has increased, and the expenditure is essential (for example commuting miles), this seems to me to be another "it is what it is" expense area.
Food (often known as housekeeping) is different. Two otherwise similar families might spend vastly different sums on housekeeping each month based upon different tastes, priorities etc. Therefore allowances are created to which people must budget their spending (or cut back in other areas to spend more on food if they wish).
The allowances typically have a lower minimum level, and a maximum upper level, based upon the make-up of the family unit.
To provide a little insight on your food allowance, for a family of two adults and two kids, £422 is quite a bit above the minimum level and fair bit below the maximum.
Qualified Debt Adviser & Forum Administrator - Ask me anything about Trust Deeds 
20/07/2012 10:54 am
Remember the figures are guidelines, as it is not an exact science.
Shona is not currently posting in the Trust-Deed.co.uk forum.
