Could I be doing more?

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  • cms-help
    cms-help Posts: 187
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    You don't pay anything for water? Or have a TV licence? Where are the costs for the car (e.g. insurance)? If you pay this as one premium then your SOA should show the annual cost divided by 12 as the money has to come from somewhere (even if you don't put it away every month). Same with car maintenance/presents/haircuts/holidays/entertainment.

    Your childcare costs are really high (but I have two kids so know how it is). What ages are they and when are they entitled to any form of free hours (be it 15 or 30 - not all nurseries have to offer the 30 hours)?
  • Nikki182
    Nikki182 Posts: 11 Forumite
    So the water bill is part of my rent payment as it is a council property so that is why it's not listed separately.
    The children are 3 and 4 the oldest will be in full time School September this year and 3 year old in September 18. Obviously when this happens a massive part of out outgoings will reduce as I will only need before and after school childcare so I'm really looking forward to that!
    I pay TV license, car tax, car insurance by saving the £50 a month and covering these as one offs , so I included the £50 a month on the SOA to show those costs.
    I feel like we are chipping away at the card debts, £250 and £25 off them a month. We also pay £175 a month to my MIL to repay a loan which will finish in October 18 so when this ends I will obviously pay that extra money off the credit cards as well.
  • cms-help
    cms-help Posts: 187
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    Nikki182 wrote: »
    So the water bill is part of my rent payment as it is a council property so that is why it's not listed separately.
    The children are 3 and 4 the oldest will be in full time School September this year and 3 year old in September 18. Obviously when this happens a massive part of out outgoings will reduce as I will only need before and after school childcare so I'm really looking forward to that!
    I pay TV license, car tax, car insurance by saving the £50 a month and covering these as one offs , so I included the £50 a month on the SOA to show those costs.
    I feel like we are chipping away at the card debts, £250 and £25 off them a month. We also pay £175 a month to my MIL to repay a loan which will finish in October 18 so when this ends I will obviously pay that extra money off the credit cards as well.

    How long have you been saving the £50 a month as whatever is saved should be showing as an asset.
    If you have an additional £175 going out every month to a family loan then your SOA isn't accurate.
    Does the £50 a month cover the one-off costs? Also, you should save some extra to replace things when they wear out.
    Your 3 year old should be getting 15 free hours the term after the 3rd birthday and some places are offering the newly introduced 30 free hours so worth checking this out with whatever childcare you are using. Don't forget that whilst the day to day costs of childcare might go down, holiday club costs for 2 kids will have an impact several times a year (unless you work in a school and have holidays that match the children!) Also worth checking whether your benefits will decrease when your childcare costs go down.
  • Nikki182
    Nikki182 Posts: 11 Forumite
    The one off bills the £50 a month pays for (car ins, car tax, TV license) adds up to £600 over the year so there is nothing left over from this.
    I forgot to put the £175 on the SOA but only realised after and I wouldn't let me edit unfortunately :(
    My two children are doing school nursery every afternoon which is there 15 free hours. The benefits I get are solely to help with childcare so they will definitely decrease when childcare costs go down, hopefully as we will then have less going out it should just even itself out .
  • cms-help
    cms-help Posts: 187
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    Nikki182 wrote: »
    The one off bills the £50 a month pays for (car ins, car tax, TV license) adds up to £600 over the year so there is nothing left over from this.
    I forgot to put the £175 on the SOA but only realised after and I wouldn't let me edit unfortunately :(
    My two children are doing school nursery every afternoon which is there 15 free hours. The benefits I get are solely to help with childcare so they will definitely decrease when childcare costs go down, hopefully as we will then have less going out it should just even itself out .

    If it's a school nursery then you should definitely get the 30 hours increase for your youngest for a year; obviously irrelevant for your eldest as they will be starting school. So you should see a nice decrease in childcare costs come September.

    Are you living particularly frugally as there's nothing in your SOA for days out with the kids, presents, birthday parties etc - all the usual things that come with having kids? This may be why you're not seeing the surplus you're showing in your SOA. I have to say, with my two, it's amazing how much gets frittered away. So I'd echo the idea of a spending diary so you can see where it's all going - spend as you normally would for a month and then you can choose which areas you cut back on (if you want to that is).
  • Nikki182
    Nikki182 Posts: 11 Forumite
    Definitely trying to be frugal! We generally have about £90 a week left so days out, birthdays etc has to come out of this! I'm 100% going to do a spending diary to see where it gets frittered because your right and I think this is our downfall!
    I know these are our most expensive years childcare wise so hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel! :T
  • cms-help
    cms-help Posts: 187
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    Nikki182 wrote: »
    Definitely trying to be frugal! We generally have about £90 a week left so days out, birthdays etc has to come out of this! I'm 100% going to do a spending diary to see where it gets frittered because your right and I think this is our downfall!
    I know these are our most expensive years childcare wise so hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel! :T

    So the £90 is from the "surplus" your SOA shows and is used as spending money? If you want to know where you can cut back then yes, definitely monitor what you're spending it on (and think about increasing savings a little to cover replacement washing machines, car parts etc).

    I know what you mean about childcare. I only work part-time because I would be financially worse off to work full-time with the costs of childcare. My eldest started school this year and my youngest gets his 30 free hours in September. At that point, I will get to keep pretty much what I earn instead of giving at least half of it to a childcare provider! That will make a refreshing change.
  • Nikki182
    Nikki182 Posts: 11 Forumite
    Yes the £90 is from the surplus.
    I Know exactly what you mean, it's a nightmare i suppose we've just got to keep thinking that its not forever !!:D
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 21,200
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    edited 18 April 2017 at 10:17AM
    I think it would help you to actually put together a proper budget, rather than the rather sketchy SOA you have above. You say you have £600 a year to cover your car costs, TV license etc - and it's great that you do set money aside for these things, but I have to say I have my doubts this actually covers everything - which could be where more of your surplus is going. We have a separate savings account for car expenses and pay £75 per car into that each month - we have it set as an automated transfer going out immediately after payday. (And both of our cars are very low on road tax - £30 for one and £20 for the other). Even that amount sometimes needs an extra top up if extra things are required - mine recently needed a belt & water pump change and that needed subbing from emergency fund savings although we'd budgeted for that. Paying the TV license in monthly instalments doesn't cost any extra so I'd suggest you switch to paying that way - it all helps with budget management. On the car front, remember it's not just the obvious tax, insurance etc, but also servicing, MoT test, tyres, wiper blades - even things like screenwash should come from a budgeted figure. I'll be honest and say I'd be VERY surprised if you're getting all of that out of the £454 or so you have left after the TV license is accounted for...

    Check whether your existing bank account will allow you to open "offshoot" savings accounts that you can then set up automated transfers to for things like presents, dental costs etc too as well as the car stuff - at the moment, you're not budgeting for these you're just paying them as and when, whereas actually having money set aside particularly for categories like presents helps you to manage your spend. Likewise for clothes - I'm guessing it would be quite difficult for you to work out what you're actually spent in those areas over the past year?

    You say you have £90 a week but that doesn't marry up with the surplus you show on the SOA so a spending diary is definitely the way forwards - somewhere along the line you're "losing" a couple of hundred pounds every month - that'a a lot of dosh!
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  • ReadingTim
    ReadingTim Posts: 3,970
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    You earn £920 per month, but childcare costs £1,000. You'd be £80 per month better off if you stopped working and looked after the children full time.

    (unless this impacts benefits - does it?)
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