Baby and Debt... some advice needed

dancingfairy

Congratulations. You might have to be a little bit creative with things for the baby but a great incentive to get started on getting the debt down - knowing that you're doing it for all your futures. It might take you a little longer to be debt free - but hey.
There seems to be loads of ideas and support around for pregnant women/ women with children on here and there seems to be loads of voucher sites/freebies sites etc aimed at women with children.
Good Luck with it all
df

madmich666

Hi all thanks for your tips and kind words.

Here is my soa so any advice would be great... have already cut down as much as poss but some fresh eyes on the soa would be great

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 550
Partners monthly income after tax....... 800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1350

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 505
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 10
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 40
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 23
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 3
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1167


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 75000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 76500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 73500....(505)......7<
Charging Order.................13000....(10).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 86500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds cc......................5830......2.........0
lloyds od......................450.......2.........0
tesco cc.......................2022......1.........0
Friend.........................1000......0.........0
southern electric..............319.......10........0
dad............................2500......0.........0
regal credit ..................100.......10........0
maintenance charge ............3500......10........0
Ground rent ...................350.......10........0
virgin cc......................500.......5.........0
Total unsecured debts..........16571.....50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,350
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,167
Available for debt repayments........... 183
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 133

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 76,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -86,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,571
Net Assets.............................. -26,571

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

never-in-doubt

madmich666 wrote: »

but have 3 cats, 20 mice and a terrapin.

Congrats on the good news - just had to say hi and chuckle at the above - made my night :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

ceejaydee23

I too started to worry about my pregnancy when it happened 10 months ago now! (baby 6weeks today) I went down the bank telling them how my income was going to change so i wasnt going to beable to afford the loan i have (doesnt have PPI) nor paying back the CC's basically they told me there was nothing they could do to help as i hadnt been accrueing charges, and to come back when things got worse, Now baby is here, and yes i have paniced for this month, as things have been VERY tight, as O/H was short on his pay for taking Paternity leave! and because we didnt actually move in together until 3 months ago now, it was all change, bigger house = larger bills to pay and drop in income! Great Start, but I wouldnt have it any other way, as i have my beautiful baby boy!

I have now actually Closed the account on 1 of my CC's (the one with the higher APR) so now i can just concentrate on paying it off! and I hope that within 5 years i can be completely debt free!

katsu

madmich666 wrote: »

Hi all thanks for your tips and kind words.

Here is my soa so any advice would be great... have already cut down as much as poss but some fresh eyes on the soa would be great

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 550
Partners monthly income after tax....... 800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1350

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 505
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 10
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 40
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30b - I have a meter and pay nearer £20.
Telephone (land line)................... 0 - are you counting this in internet or do you really not have one?
Mobile phone............................ 40 - can you reduce usage?
TV Licence.............................. 23 - why so much? You paying for first license in 6 months?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 - can you reduce?
Internet Services....................... 20 - seems high.
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5 looks good :T
Haircuts................................ 3
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1167


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 75000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 76500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 73500....(505)......7<
Charging Order.................13000....(10).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 86500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds cc......................5830......2.........0
lloyds od......................450.......2.........0
tesco cc.......................2022......1.........0
Friend.........................1000......0.........0
southern electric..............319.......10........0
dad............................2500......0.........0
regal credit ..................100.......10........0
maintenance charge ............3500......10........0
Ground rent ...................350.......10........0
virgin cc......................500.......5.........0
Total unsecured debts..........16571.....50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,350
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,167
Available for debt repayments........... 183
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 133

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 76,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -86,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,571
Net Assets.............................. -26,571

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Congrats and good luck re the baby

irishmist_2

Huge congratulations and take a deep breathe - it will be ok,

Being a mummy is just the best thing ever.

We were in a similar situation as you (our baby is now 6 months) with many debts and panicked about how we would afford a baby - so many people told us "you just do" and they were so right.
We have managed to continue paying off our debts and are in a better shape financially now than before (still a long way to go and has been tight though!) and find the incentive of having a baby the best ever reason to get debt free

Things we found (along with all the excellent advice above) were:
-the baby costs very little - we easily have change left over from £20 child benefit each week in terms of direct baby costs
-as people have said you need very little for your baby and avoid the marketing that you need loads - your baby only wants to be loved, warm and fed. ONly thing you need new is matress and car seat - everything else you can pick up from other parents with older children, freecycle, ebay, and if people ask you what you would like, be honest and suggest practical things.
-that although your income goes down when on mat leave so did our expenses during pregnancy and on mat leave - too tired to go out initially, great excuse not to go to pub, only wanted really plain food, NHS covers your prescriptions and dental care, not driving to work, much more time to cook etc etc When our LO arrived we found we socialise more with other mums and dads who were also broke and with childcare costs etc we ended up meeting for family lunches at each others houses or walks rather than going out. Also most of the local baby/toddler groups are £1 a time and a great place to meet people.
-we use reusable nappies as well and find them to be brilliant. If you don't the disposables from adli/lidl are loads cheaper than pampers and as good
-if you want to breastfeed it is very MSE! If you do then when you are in later pregnancy there will be some breastfeeding workshops run by the midwifes for free. If you want to and can then great, and if you don't use your CB money to buy the formula
-don't worry about being in a 1 bedroom place at all - babies much prefer being near their parents (or ours does anyway!). LO still in with us and will be for quite a while!
- for your maternity pay - on statuatory maternity pay which I'm now on I get £515 a month, so not too different from your pay now - might be worth contacted your HR department and finding out what your package is in advance

It is do-able and so wonderful an adventure
Congratulations and enjoy!

kaz0705

Just thought i'd drop by and say congratulations. I don't have any children yet but I have to say, my LBM came when my boyfriend and I discussed it seriously and i panicked!

But, looks like you have plenty of good advice here!

Anyway the main comment I would say about the SOA is that i pay £7.50 a month for our broadband with 02 and its been great- excellent service, excellent connection. Its so cheap because i'm an o2 customer but it might be worth looking to change to them anyway as, again, great tariffs (esp if you go sim only with them- check online) and great service.

Good luck!

mozzyc

Hi

Quick question to all the ladies that have answered - does anyone have any experience of being on dmp and then falling pregnant? Just wondering how the creditors take to having to accept lower payments than usual for quite a while.
Our debt free date on our dmp is only in about 4 years, but planning on starting to try from the end of the year after having put it off for 5 years (33 now, so don't want to leave it any longer!) Don't own our own property, but am desperate to start trying.

mozzyc

Nobody on a dmp?

bailey59

Firstly congratulations madmich666, I am so jealous. I am on a DMP and I think I am being made redundant shortly so I dont know what to do as I was trying for a baby but if I lose my job I am stuck. Good luck. Loads of people say you just manage somehow so I am sure you will be fine, relax and enjoy every second

Secondly and this is to mozzyc, I was just going to ask the very same question myself. I'm popping over to the DMP thread though to ask as I dont want to hijack this thread.