Lightbulb Moment

Imelda

That's a tricky one John, I guess the contributions you are making are net of tax, so if you stopped putting them into your pension you wouldn't be getting an extra £195 per month but more like £120. I would look into it very carefully before making a decision like that (also I know I would get used to the extra money and wouldn't restart the contributions).

msArcher

I would say no - Remember, that money is paid before tax - you'd only see ~120 per month of it (less if you are higher rate tax) - so for £120 a month your pension pot is increasing by almost £500 per month - but it depends a lot on the pension scheme - if it's money purchase it'll make more of a difference than a defined benefit scheme. However, if your employer keeps contributing during that break, it changes the balance a bit.

However, you would have to make sure you only used the money for extra debt payments, not for other things, otherwise, you'll struggle when the payments re-start.

Imelda

great minds ms archer!

Floss

Did you resolve the nursery issue BTW?

If your wife goes to the gym, does she pay extra for the creche?

coxj2901

Floss wrote:

Did you resolve the nursery issue BTW?

If your wife goes to the gym, does she pay extra for the creche?

Hi There,

My wife only goes to the gym while I am at home to look after the children. I haven't yet resolved the nursery fees (they are for my eldest daughter who is 3 years old and starting pre-school in September) she gets to go from 9-11:15 for free each morning but we have decided to put her in for 2 full days so that

a) she can get used to the full days in time for Sep-08
b) so my oh can find a job on these days

I will look into the voucher scheme (we have one at work through busy bees) to see if I am entitled to it or not.

Thanks for the pension advice - I will continue to pay into the scheme as it does not really make financial advice to not be in it.

Floss

I think you will find that you've got plenty of time for a 3yr old to "get used" to full days if its 2 years away. I understand the catch-22 of work & child-care (been there, done that, paying the Uni fees now!), but at the moment, you cannot really afford to be choosy. Sorry if thats rude, but it's my opinion.

Most pre-schools & reception classes will have a transition period for the kiddies to enable them to move into full days anyway.

CLAPTON

Before doing anything about the pension, why not post your revised SoA (once you're ready of course) and see how it looks now.
Also bare in mind that you don't gain the full 195 per month as you will have to pay tax on it.

coxj2901

CLAPTON wrote:

Before doing anything about the pension, why not post your revised SoA (once you're ready of course) and see how it looks now.

OK Here's my revised SOA including the changes that I have made:

Income

Salary from work £2600
Tax Credits £40
Family Allowance £110 (Got this wrong before as paid into wifes account)

Total Income £2,750

Mortgage and Debt

Northern Rock Mort £843
N/Rock Unsec Loan £92
MBNA Unsec Loan £341.70
FP Secured Loan £219.70
TSB Unsec Loan £160.0

Total Mort & Debt Pymts £1656.4

Car Expenditure

Car 1 Insurance £30.0
Car 2 Insurance £30.0
Car 1 Road Tax £9.20
Car 2 Road Tax £9.20
Car 1 MOT £20.0

Total Car Expenditure £98.30 (Petrol inc later on)

Utilities & Household Expenses

Telephone & Internet £22.0
Severn Trent Water £22.9
Southern Elec (Gas) £25.0
Southern Elec (Elec) £50.0
TV Licence £11.0
Life Insurance £12.1
Shopping £240.0
Sky Digital £20.0
Council Tax £100.0
House Insurance £15.0

Total Utilities & Household £518.0

Savings

Family Equity plan for Children £20.0 (I'm reluctant to cancel this)

Total Savings £20.0

Leisure

Gym Membership £23.5
My Spending Money £100.0 (includes petrol, haircuts etc...)
Wifes Spending Money £240.0 (includes petrol, childrens clothes days out haircuts etc...)

Total Leisure Expenses £363.5

Other Misc

Birthdays, Holidays, Pets Medical, dentist £128.33

Total Misc £128.33

Negative amount per month (£34.50) :mad:

It's quite scary when you account for everything, assuming I have accounted for everything

Rgds, John

Gemmzie

coxj2901 wrote:

CLAPTON wrote:

Before doing anything about the pension, why not post your revised SoA (once you're ready of course) and see how it looks now.

OK Here's my revised SOA including the changes that I have made:

Income

Salary from work £2600
Tax Credits £40
Family Allowance £110 (Got this wrong before as paid into wifes account)

Total Income £2,750

Mortgage and Debt

Northern Rock Mort £843
N/Rock Unsec Loan £92
MBNA Unsec Loan £341.70
FP Secured Loan £219.70
TSB Unsec Loan £160.0

Total Mort & Debt Pymts £1656.4

Car Expenditure

Car 1 Insurance £30.0
Car 2 Insurance £30.0
Car 1 Road Tax £9.20
Car 2 Road Tax £9.20
Car 1 MOT £20.0

Total Car Expenditure £98.30 (Petrol inc later on)

Utilities & Household Expenses

Telephone & Internet £22.0
Severn Trent Water £22.9
Southern Elec (Gas) £25.0
Southern Elec (Elec) £50.0
TV Licence £11.0
Life Insurance £12.1
Shopping £240.0
Sky Digital £20.0 Can this go or be cut down?
Council Tax £100.0
House Insurance £15.0

Total Utilities & Household £518.0

Savings

Family Equity plan for Children £20.0 (I'm reluctant to cancel this)

Total Savings £20.0

Leisure

Gym Membership £23.5
My Spending Money £100.0 (includes petrol, haircuts etc...) Gotta be monitered and cut
Wifes Spending Money £240.0 (includes petrol, childrens clothes days out haircuts etc...) As above

Total Leisure Expenses £363.5

Other Misc

Birthdays, Holidays, Pets Medical, dentist £128.33 Break it down - holiday saving has gotta go

Total Misc £128.33

Negative amount per month (£34.50) :mad:

It's quite scary when you account for everything, assuming I have accounted for everything

Rgds, John

Just some things on your SOA which stood out, your luxury spending is incredibly high!

Hopefully the experts here can help further

coxj2901

Gemmzie wrote:

Just some things on your SOA which stood out, your luxury spending is incredibly high!

Hopefully the experts here can help further

This was my 2nd version of my SOA and I thought I'd cut down on luxury spending

I will look to cut our spending down further and put myself back into a positive cashflow situation.

I can't cut my sky as I'm on a 12 month contract - I have agreed a price of £10 per month until Sep 17th at which point I will downgrade to the basic package.

I will be listing some items on ebay tonight so hopefully this will raise some extra to put towards the overdraft.