SAHM needs to pay off debts

slm6002

After several months reading everyone elses diaries i have decided that it is about time i just bit the bullet and started my own.

I am a stay at home mum to 2 lovely children aged almost 2 and 4. I am also self employed doing bookkeepping and mystery shopping, but really dont earn that much each year. My husbands seems to be at work most of the time and puts money into my account on a monthly basis for the bills.

OH doesnt think we need to worry about money as 'everything will be alright in the end'. He knows how much debt we are in and the fact that i worry about money, but as long as we have a roof over our heads he doesnt think there is a problem.

I think my main reason for posting on here is to get a little support from people that understand and also a little motivation. We would really like to move house but until our debts are sorted there really is no chance.

We owe around £10,000, most of which is in my name as he has had bad credit in the past. I would really like to clear the debts asap and then perhaps move onto the mortgage. I already do 1 scratchcard a day - must find out what others i can register for - and i spend around £30 per week on groceries - including cleaning stuff, nappies and toiletries. We just dont seem to have any spare cash at the moment to put towards the debts.

SOA will follow soon. Thanks for reading, and any support or advice would be lovely:T

slm6002

Well here goes - its my SOA - APR's will follow once i have looked at paperwork


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned..................... 2 - OH needs his for work

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 75 - this is an average over the year
Partners monthly income after tax... 800
Benefits..................................... 387.44
Other income..................................0
Total monthly income.................... 1262.44

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 439.4
Secured/HP loan repayments...... 112.89
Council tax.............................. 135
Electricity............................... 38.5
Gas........................................ 26
Water rates............................. 26
Telephone (land line)................. 23 - includes broadband
Mobile phone............................ 8.49
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing..................................... 0
Petrol/diesel.............................. 40
Road tax...................................15
Car Insurance........................... 20.48
Car maintenance (including MOT)... 5
Other child related expenses........ 16.5 - swimming lessons for dd
Buildings insurance....................... 9
Contents insurance...................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc). 31.5
Entertainment........................... 24.75 - gym and swimming for me
Emergency fund......................... 13

Total monthly expenses.............1178.14

Assets
House value (Gross)............... 150000
Car(s)..................................... 1500
Total Assets..........................151500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(439.4)....0
Secured Debt.................. 7000.....(112.9)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 97000.....-.........

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................750.......50........0
overdraft......................1500......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........2250......50........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,262.44
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,178.14
Available for debt repayments........... 84.30
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount short for making debt repayments. 34.30

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 151,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -97,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,250
Net Assets.............................. 52,250
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/font]

slm6002

well done my scratchcard for the morning and now have an extra 10p - guess every little helps!

savingholmes

HI - your SOA looks pretty tight. You could cancel satellite - and make do with freeview perhaps? I would recommend you look at the Make £10 a day challenge - most of it for me is gambling loopholes and cashback sites, joining more than one free daily scratchcard sites, joining places like bingoport and getting amazon vouchers. There are lots of ways to make money that wouldn;'t impact your benefits and in your position i would give it a go!

Best of luck!

slm6002

Thanks for that. I have suggested that we go to just freeview but OH is refusing to let that go at the mo - i have managed to get the basic package rather than sports and films recently.

I looked at the matched betting a while back but couldnt get my head around it so stayed away. I might try to have another look at that. I have also signed up for a few more sites were i could earn a few pennies so maybe could join in with that challenge from 1 oct. Got a busy week with little one in hospital next week, dads wedding and then dd birthday so wont have much time for anything i dont think.

Thanks for your reply and encouragement

Triggles

slm - we're in a similar position. I'm a SAHM, currently on maternity leave from selling Usborne books. We have a 3 yo DS and 7wk old DS (plus our 23yo DD and our 3yo DGS live with us). When I am doing Usborne, I feel like I am walking a bit of a fine line - we do get working tax credits, but due to financial reasons, I worry that my earnings from Usborne will push us just high enough to not get the WTC but not make enough to pay bills, if you see what I mean. So it's a matter of making money and cutting costs without affecting that, which can be tricky, as right now that would push us even further into debt and we would probably not recover. DH works full time but at night, so he's gone at night and asleep during the day, so it's like he's not home that often, even though he is (if that makes sense).

We have a fairly big Sky TV package, including sports and movies, however, we never go out to the pub or movies or stuff like that. It really is our only form of entertainment, so I can't really see cancelling it. The difference in the basic and the big package really would just cover one night out (dinner and movies including petrol, sitter, and parking), so we feel it's a justified expense as we don't do the "night out" at all.

Just looking over the SOA and wondered if you can make do with just one car? I can't see a whole lot to cut, to be honest. If you absolutely were looking to pare it to the bone, then yes, I would think you would need to get rid of one car, cut back on the money aside for birthdays/christmas, go to freeview, stop the swimming/gym... but honestly, yyou have to live a bit, don't you? Cutting back is good, but you have to make life enjoyable, even if it's inexpensive little things, right?

You stated that you wanted to move - sorry if it sounds nosy, but why do you want to move? Some problems that make you want to move may be able to be fixed relatively inexpensively without moving, but obviously others can't. That's why I'm asking. House too small? If so, in what way? Bad neighbourhood? Problem neighbours? To be closer to work or school?

You haven't really gone much into your grocery shopping habits (what you buy, store brand, etc), so I don't know if that could be pared at all or not.

Best of luck to you. I'll be watching with interest.

slm6002

Morning. thanks triggles for all of your comments. I cant see the car going as my husbands car is actually a recovery truck which he uses part time to recover cars. Only problem is that there are only 3 seats so if we needed to go anywhere as a family we would not fit. So guess we stuck with both vehicles for now. The children and i do walk most places as we are quite close to the town so that cuts down on petrol.

Groceries - i buy as much value stuff as i can as it is mainly the same as the branded stuff just in green and white packaging. I have 2 freezers which are full, and most of my cooking is from scratch with the odd fish finger for the kids. Not sure how i could reduce this much more. My OH also get very nearly out of date stuff from work which is great - just put it in the freezer and use when needed. We get a lot of meat this way as they cant sell it, so staff can take what they like.

Our house is just about big enough but in an ideal world i would like a decent garden for the children to play in (ours is so tiny) and maybe even big enough to grow a few veg, plus i really would love a proper space for my office. I am currently working out of the understairs cupboard - think harry potter. With all of my clients records being crammed in there is just not enough room to work. I realise this maybe just a dream but if debts cleared that maybe something that we can seriously look at.

Sorry for the long post - hope it answers some of the questions. Well off to do scratchcards

Triggles

slm - ah, didn't realise your DH's vehicle was a recovery truck. That does complicate it. We have just one car, but we have done without a car in the past. I do like the convenience of having the car, especially with two little ones!

Groceries - just a note, Tesco is doing the £2 chickens again - we just picked up a couple. You can get a number of meals out of them if you're careful. We roast it, then use the carcass for stock, and the leftover meat for sandwiches or chicken & mushroom pie, generally. If you're looking to have a few meatless meals, you could consider:
- beans on toast with cheese
- beans over rice with cheese
- omelets (or eggs of some type) with toast
- jacket potatoes with beans and cheese (or other toppings)
- vegetable soup (we make ours with chicken stock and put dumplings in it, although we used to make it with diced up leftover chicken. I forgot to put the chicken in once, and NOBODY NOTICED!!! LOL so I've been making it that way ever since, although I still call it chicken soup. :rotfl:)
I always try to plan those types of meals (as they're usually quick) for nights when we've got less time to prepare dinner - less temptation to do takeaway.

As far as your house is concerned, maybe for the moment it's a matter of making better use of space? We have 3 adults, 2 toddlers and an infant living here in a 3 bedroom (as adult DD & toddler DGS are currently living with us), and heaven knows we have had to be really creative with the available space! It can get quite crowded otherwise! I know we've not got an understairs cupboard as it was converted into a downstairs toilet (which has been a godsend while potty training!) years ago by the previous owners. So we have to think more about where we store things that would normally be popped into a closet (like off season clothing and such). I don't know what the layout is of your house, but maybe you can store your client files near the cupboard without actually being IN the cupboard, to give you a bit more room? Our garden is rather small, but we try to make the most of it and also go to the park. If you can't fit a veg garden in, maybe you can grow some in pots (check out the greenfingered moneysaving section!) or check into getting an allotment, which would leave your garden free for the kids to play in.

slm6002

I do realise the new larger house would be quite a long way in the future and realise it is probably just a dream but it gives me a little motivation to get things sorted.

Thanks for the note about the chickens in tescos. i may well pop by there this week and get a few. OH does not count soup or beans on toast as a meal but the kids and i often have this sort of thing when he is out. I liked this weeks recipes from economy gastronomy with the chicken being used up with the rice so might give this a try. Also going to attempt their bread in a mo. Again OH doesnt like the bread from the breadmaker - he is sooo fussy - so hoping he might like it done in the oven. I have managed to convert him re the slow cooker though, as brisket in there is lovely.

I managed to sucessfully grow some cherry tomatoes and some lettuce this summer which has helped. I put my name down for an allotment a few years back, but still no spaces. At least the kids will be old enough to help out and get something out of it by the time i get one.

Oh and i won 25p on my scratchcard this morning - only need another £8.10 before i can get my £30 out.

slm6002

Just started my bread and its now resting in a warm place so i looked around for a few bits to ebay. I will do this tonight wht kids in bed and OH out. been looking through the extra income forum to see if there are a few other bits i could do. I like crafts and wondered if i could make some bits and pieces for the xmas markets being held around here

wannabedebtfree_2

I don't think you're getting anywhere near enough benefits, I earn more than you both put together, have 2 older kids and get more in benefits, are you not working 30+ between you??

I just went on entitledto and used your SOA to approximate the answers and found that you should be getting £624 per month in WTC/CTC and then your £143 child benefit as well would be an extra £380 per month compared to what you are currently getting :eek:

Please look into this asap, I think you are being short changed!