New To This And Unsure

broke_mary

Hi as you can probably tell i'm new to this and am not even sure if i'm putting this in the right place.
My problem is that my partner lost his job at the beginning of December wage £27,500 a year. he has now started a new job which the wage is £15,000 per year. we have got two small children and the hours of his job make it impossible for me to work. i wish more than anything we had saved but we didn't and i am finding it very hard to cope. we have been told we can't get any more child tax credit as we have had what we are entitled to and we even owe them nearly £600.
PLEASE IF ANYBODY CAN HELP ME I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL.

Glad

Hi mary and welcome to MSE
I've moved your post to the debt free board as even if you are not in debt this is a wonderfully helpful board
If you want some more info on finding your way around click on here



Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [email="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/email]

JAMIEDODGER

if you post you full incomming and outgoings incl any debt, apr balances etc, im sure we can help xx

bluezone

hi there mary,

the main thing is not to worry, everyone on here is sympathetic. First things first as others would tell you: submit your s.o.a (statement of affairs, all your in and outs for the months) and lets see if we can help.

bluezone

looks like others can type faster than me

Bestthingsinlifearefree

HI BM,

Welcome to MSE you have come to the right place you will find lots of support and good advice here.

If you don't mind me asking what was your partners old job and whats his new job.

The good news is at least he has a job (albeit at a reduced salary).

Is it possible for him to keep hunting around for a differnt job more similar to his old position / wage ???

Best thingsin life are free.

moggins

First of all don't panic, my DH has just taken a 5K paycut and although things are tighter we are still coping reasonably well. He works odd shifts and we have 2 children (one with AS) so I can't find a job to fit in either.

Take a good luck at the Old Style board too to find some great ways at running a house on a budget.

skintchick

I second all that.
We can help you slash bills, find extra cash from places you didn;t know existed, and offerlots of support too.

So get together your budget - the link at the top of the page may help - and we'll do all we can to help you.

broke_mary

thanks to everyone who has replied.
i have worked out our s.o.a our household bills were £1070.00 i have managed to trim it to £980.00 in that is included a loan of £9000.00 which will be cleared may 2010 petrol £120.00 our incomings are child benefit £113.00 an estimate of take home wages of £937.00 i have had to estimate as my BH has not had a payslip yet. so as you can see that leaves -£50.00 without any food.we have got a fixed mortgage until 2010.
that has scared me seeing it in black and white for all to see.
as for what my BH did he was an assistant manager for a large quarry company with a company car and company mobile!! and yes he is desperately trying to find another job with better pay.
i have looked at the old style board and will be definately looking at it again.
i hope you can help

magentadreamer

BM if you post a fuller SOA you might find people can come up with some ideas for you. I'm assuming you've trimmed down things like gas/elec, household insurances, phone/broadband etc? If you haven't I'd definetly suggest you look to switching as this can save a fair bit over a course of a year. The O/S board is full of helpful tips on saving on shopping -also check out the freebie board for discounts off shopping.

Not too sure how old your children are ie if they're at school because you might be able to find a job to fit around school hours. Or could you find a weekend job? Not ideal I know for family life but it might help in the short term till your OH finds a better paid job.

broke_mary

hi here's my full s.o.a
t.v.licence £10.99
poll tax £96.00
B/T line rental £10.50
Coverplan for washer 2 payments left £7.90
house contents insurance £28.35
virgin.net£12.49
car insurance for 2 cars £57.41
gas £27.00 southern electric
life insurance £13.93
Electric £17.00 same as gas
loan £183.44 lombard direct
mortgage £386.74 cheltnam and gloucester
sky £34.00
sky talk(telephone) approx £10.00
o2 £26.00
loan from parent £20.00 3 payments left

forgot to add petrol on £120.00

children are 18 months and 3 1/2 elderly grandparents so can't manage childcare and OH works alternate weekends

have been and saved £20.00 on a £34.00 food shopping