LBM and baby on the way! Please Help

harvey180

Can I firstly say that I have been reading this forum for a while now and I think that the support offered is excellent. I've spent pretty much most of the last ten years extending my debt and until now I've been able to service them. All be it, not that well at all.

Reading the experiences of others on here has brought me to my LBM

Me and my wife have a baby on the way in March and I'm interested in getting some tips for saving money etc. Whilst my wife is home looking after the little one.


Many thanks in advance.

edinburgher

Mobile phone - are you near the end of a contract/are a long term customer? If so you can speak to the cancellations department and renegotiate what you pay.
Pet insurance/vet bills - this is sky high! I pay ~£14 a month to insure my cat, is there something specific you're paying out for (operation or similar)?
Buildings and contents insurance - again, shop around for the cheapest quote (and then buy the cheapest through Quidco, or another cashback site).

Have you considered eBay/Amazon/car boot clearouts? They can be a good way to make some quick cash for things that you don't use..

Just a few suggestions to get you going.

harvey180

Thanks for the advice, we have 2 phones up in March with 3. The coverage is rublish where we live and I'm planning to cancel.

I've just discovered quidco and signed up. Lots of deals to be had.

Thanks again.

MrsTinks

jon0108 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1 on way
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1650
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1462
Total monthly income.................... 3112[/b]

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 957
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 25
Oil..................................... 15 wow that's low... you sure?? if it's right then well done you!!!
Water rates............................. 35 Meter? Seems high can you reduce your usage?
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 23 Look at combining your landline and internet - there are some decent deals out there
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 I am SURE you can reduce this - get your wife signed up and show her the Old Style board Loads of great money saving ideas for getting this down over there!
Clothing................................ 40 Try reducing this too... thankfully maternity clothes sells well second hand on Ebay Soon as baby arrives get it listed!
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 15 For 2 cars??
Car Insurance........................... 74 Look for better deals - especially as your wife won't be commuting for a while her milage will go down and that should help bring insurance down too...
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Other child related expenses............ 200 what? The baby hasn't arrived yet?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 65 OMG how many pets do you have??
Buildings insurance..................... 25 Look for better deal - see if you can get combined contents and buildings and check quidco for cashback!
Contents insurance...................... 25
Life assurance ......................... 40 Shop around...
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Nothing?
Haircuts................................ 0 Nothing?
Entertainment........................... 0 Nothing?
Holiday................................. 0 Nothing?
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Nothing?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2068

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 210000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 211000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 189000...(957)......6.05
Total secured debts........... 189000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin.........................5000......25........0
Mint...........................2350......70........0
Barclays.......................1250......50........0
Overdraft Lloyds - OH..........4000......20........0
Overdraft Lloyds - Me..........3600......40........0
Capital One....................3800......100.......0
Lloyds Master Card.............5000......100.......0
Mint...........................2200......100.......0
Egg Loan.......................10046.....315.......6.73
Student Loan - ................200.......90........0
Car Loan - Barclays............9000......217.......0
Lloyds Loan....................2060......72.62.....0
Capital One....................1500......50........0
HSBC...........................700.......20........13.9
Total unsecured debts..........50706.....1269.62...-

Why if your baby isn't due till March has your wife gone on maternity leave already? And we need some APRs for the rest of your debts

gailey_2

Hi

just wanted to say from past experience we dident work out new budget when baby came along and found it a struggle not so much cost of buying things for baby but more the loss of earnings particuarly on statutory which at least your wife gets for 9months now and not 6 then underestimated how much childcare would cost when I went back to work so its wise you doing it now.

Do check out old style and join monthly grocery challange
Do check out family board as the mse preganacy thread really useful and if you sign up to boots mother baby club,tesco parent club,sainsburys and pampers huggies online you get lots of vouchers for money off and freebies plus the boots adavantage points soon add up when u got baby and wipes are always buy one get one free.

The biggest savings we made was
breastfeeding
cloth nappies-look into your local council as soem offer money or free nappies
ours gives us £30 of vouchers.But some councils more generous.
made own baby food with cheap 4.99 hand blender mainly veg and froze in icecube trays and tiny tupperware from poundstretchers as jars cost a foryune.

Big regrets
why did i buy so many outfits plus you get lots as presents in early days they live in vest and sleepsuits mainly .

Why did I buy everything new ebay carboots and nearly new nct sales perfect place to buy baby equipment and prams/clothes ect.
Do check out cheaper shops like primarkpeococks and poundstetcher for basics baby clothes boots and supermarket clothes really cheap too.
If you need equipment for nursury ikea do cheap cots/bedding,highchair for £11quid ext and cheap change table but we prefereerd mat on floor.

Always buy new mattress for moses basket/crib and new matress for cot
always buy new carseat so you can turn 2nd hand pram into travel system as you can ensure it fits into your car and has not been involved with accidents.

If wifes at home get her to take part in £10 a day chalalnge and earn some extra income from home.
Shop around through comparision sites but try and buy through quidco
sign up to survey sites and msystery shopping
free bingo/scatch cards ect.

minnie123

Hi just a quick note to say aswell as your wifes maternity pay you will also receive Child Benefit & Childrens Tax Credit both total approx £160 monthly. I know it's not much but it's something you haven't mentioned. Another thing have you tried contacting your mortgage company to see if they will let you take a mortgage holiday due to maternity leave. My mortgage company let me take 6 months without having to pay. I know that your mortgage will increase but you could always put the money that would have been paying your mortgage into a savings account and then if you have a shortfall you have something to dip into if you get desperate. And if not then you can use it against your debts.

I have a 6 month old baby and in all honesty babies don't require much the main spends are the pushchair, carseat & cot to start with but we were lucky and mentioned to family money towards these essentials would be welcomed as presents. Clothing for the baby I have bought a lot off ebay in brand new condition and then when he grew out of them I sold them again and made my money back. I use formula which costs approx £7 weekly not much but if your wife breastfeeds then the cost is free. Nappies I use brand names but I would say it costs us approx £7 weekly for nappies too. So in actual fact a baby is not that expensive. People go overboard and spend like crazy for a baby but it's not needed.