Help with outgoings.

stephbond89

Hi! I am new to this site, and looking for LOTS of advice!!

I am currently pregnant, and looking at our bills and income etc to try and look how we can save some money! We are always skint which gets me and my husband down alot! So any advice would be fab!

Ok so I don't work - not through lack of trying trust me, I was job hunting for 2 years with no sucess, and now I am pregnant, I am not looking as maternity pay wouldn't be given to me, and I'd be leaving again in 3 months!!
My husband works full time, and gets a great wage for one person, he earns after tax between £1250 and £1400, but we use an average of £1300, sometimes it's more sometimes less. We get no benefits or extra income of any kind.

Here is a list of our bills:
Rent: £405
Council Tax: £71 (but we owe around £600 in arrears so I am paying £100 a month to them even though they want more!)
Car Insurance: £124.80 (dont be mistaken we have a great car, it's a 15 year old banger, bt my husband had an accident 2 years ago and is only 22 which makes it very high! We have tried going with other companies and this is the cheapest we can get it with Tesco)
Petrol/Travel Expenses: £80-£100
Loan payment: £100
2 mobile phones and mobile internet: £110 (these are contracts and cannot be cut down until next year! Plus all are essential and the lowest they can be!)
TV/Internet/Phone: £60 (including phone line rental of £11pcm and £4 phone usage charges a month)
Gas and Electric: £95
Water: £36
Overdraft payment (inc interest): £40
TV Licence: £36 (yes this is correct, we pay this until October then it goes down to £12.50 a month, another arrears thing!!!)
Food Bill: £100
Extras: £50 (this is for unexpected rises in bills)

Total: £1346

As you can see, on approximately 4-6 months, this takes up our WHOLE income, and on some months, it doesnt exceeds the income, meaning we have to lower our food bill.

We will get £20 a week child benefit come september and around £30 a week in Child Tax Credits, not much really, but this will cover the things we need for the child.

We don't spend money on extras, and will only buy ourselves luxeries when we have extra income (so the rare month our income is over £1400), I dye my own hair, but haven't done in the last 6 months as I can not afford it plus I want to grow it out! And we very rarely treat ourselves to a night out or meal!!!

Many people on this income can afford to go out and spoil themselves a little, but we cannot! On top of this we also have £10,000 of debt, but we cannot afford the £100+ a month for a debt management company, so I am trying to pay our creditors ourselves! The loan we have at present ends in August, so that will be an extra £100 in our pocket, but this is also the month before our baby is born, and so liklihood is, we will need another loan from them for bits and arrears etc! Or even a new car if our car dies (which is why the loan was taken out in the first place!).

None of the bills above can be lowered, we owe money to our gas and electric company otherwise our bills would be less for that, but only by abour £10 a month less!!

I am fed up of reading about people who spend £200 a month on holidays and savings, £120 a month on having their hair done, £50 a month on clothes £50 a month on make up, and wonder why they have no money left over, when we really do not spend on luxeries, yet still struggle to pay the bills. We get basic food items (we buy the cheapest of the cheap food we can and neither of us smoke, and I dont drink, my husband drinks around 4 cans of lager a week, which cost us £3 as he buys the cheap lager, and also cuts it out if we cannot afford it).

Does anyone have any ideas of how we could improve our situation??? Of anything we can do, or of any benefits which may help us??? We have applied numerous times for council tax benefit housing benefit income support, I cant even get job seekers allowance when looking for a job!

Any advice would be really helpful!!!!!!

Nottoobadyet

Hi there -

First of all, debt managment doesnt need to cost a penny. Use one of the free charities - Payplan, CCS and CAB are all highly spoken of here.

Well done on posting, Im sure the smart people will be along soon to help.

stephbond89

We are doing the debt management ourselves now after alot of help. And its working well, and we cut it down from £102 with a debt management company to £50 on our own which has helped alot. It's the bills really!!! A little annoyed as someone asked me to move it from elsewhere, and the only help Ive had on there really has been people telling us to get rid of essentials like the car which my husband needs for work So hopign someone can give us help we really do need!!!!!

babyplum

Hello!

First of all - Congratulations on your pregnancy! I had my 1st child nearly 2 years ago now and although he came along at a terrible time money wise i wouldn't change it for the world!

'Nottoobadyet' is correct in that Debt Management Plans don't need to cost. I nearly fell into the trap of paying for a DMP before i came on here for advice and managed to back out at the last minute and called CCCS.

Your outgoings seem realistic to me and although i totally understand where you are coming from in feeling annoyed that other people seem to be able to afford holidays and nice things, you can't really expect to afford anything more than the basics on just one income. Plus i wouldn't say £1250 - £1400 per month is a particularly high income.

My little boy is 21 months old now and i had to go back to work part time when he was 9 months old because my maternity allowance ran out and we couldn't afford for me to not work. I would aboslutley love to be a 'stay at home mum' but with our £600 rent and DMP its just not possible.

The things that have helped me money save over the years have been:

Ensure you are paying as low as possible for all your bills (which is sounds like you are on top of apart from the mobiles which seem very high).

Do a big online food shop at the beginning of every month making sure you stock up on everything you can for the month. Take the time to compare things online so you get the best offers on everything. My online shop can take me 3 hours sometimes!! lol

Also, when buying everything you need for your baby don't feel you have to have everything brand new. I got loads of stuff mega cheap from ebay and my baby didn't know the difference and for the amount of time you use a lot of baby things its just not worth spending a lot of money.
I'm pretty sure all pregnant women are now entitled to a £500 Surestart grant which enables you to get most of the things you need for a new baby. Due to a low income you may also be entitled to the Health in Pregnancy grant which if i remember correctly gives you money (or vouchers) for milk, fruit and vegetables.
I don't remember all the details but its worth looking into.

Good luck!

judi24

Congratulations on your pregnancy - I am not going to give you advice on reducing bills etc - what I will say is as a new and young (i am assuming you are young!) it is hard not to fall into the trap of wanting everything new and top of the range just to prove to others that you can manage and provide the best - I had my first child when I was 22 - and wanted everything new and best - by the time I had my 4th child I had learned that brand new didn't really matter and being efficient witth money for the child's future was more important. The National Childbirth Trust is fantastic if you can get to a nearly new sale as people sell second hand baby stuff mostly of really good quality and you may also make some good friends that have babies of the same age that are a good support - babies can be expensive - but all they care about is love, milk and a dry nappy!!! (don't forget to use gifts well - if you get loads of new born clothes don't be afraid to take some back and exchange for bigger sizes)
Good luck

Swampmonster

judi24 wrote: »

Congratulations on your pregnancy - I am not going to give you advice on reducing bills etc - what I will say is as a new and young (i am assuming you are young!) it is hard not to fall into the trap of wanting everything new and top of the range just to prove to others that you can manage and provide the best - I had my first child when I was 22 - and wanted everything new and best - by the time I had my 4th child I had learned that brand new didn't really matter and being efficient witth money for the child's future was more important. The National Childbirth Trust is fantastic if you can get to a nearly new sale as people sell second hand baby stuff mostly of really good quality and you may also make some good friends that have babies of the same age that are a good support - babies can be expensive - but all they care about is love, milk and a dry nappy!!! (don't forget to use gifts well - if you get loads of new born clothes don't be afraid to take some back and exchange for bigger sizes)
Good luck

NCT is great!

I wish i'd known about their sales earlier

Tixy

stephbond89 wrote: »

Hi! I am new to this site, and looking for LOTS of advice!!

I am currently pregnant congrats, and looking at our bills and income etc to try and look how we can save some money! We are always skint which gets me and my husband down alot! So any advice would be fab! have you looked at what benefits you will get once your little one is born? check out www.entitledto.co.uk so you will know in advance whether you will be better off. In addition to child benefit you might get child tax credits, housing benefit, council tax benefit etc.

Ok so I don't work - not through lack of trying trust me, I was job hunting for 2 years with no sucess, and now I am pregnant, I am not looking as maternity pay wouldn't be given to me, and I'd be leaving again in 3 months!! have you looked at earning money whilst at home, eg by doing the online surveys/reviews etc, mystery shopping, babysitting for friends etc etc - check out the 'up your income' board for some ideas - it might not earn you much but it all helps.
My husband works full time, and gets a great wage for one person, he earns after tax between £1250 and £1400, but we use an average of £1300, sometimes it's more sometimes less. We get no benefits or extra income of any kind.

Here is a list of our bills:
Rent: £405
Council Tax: £71 (but we owe around £600 in arrears so I am paying £100 a month to them even though they want more!)
Car Insurance: £124.80 (dont be mistaken we have a great car, it's a 15 year old banger, bt my husband had an accident 2 years ago and is only 22 which makes it very high! We have tried going with other companies and this is the cheapest we can get it with Tesco) can you drive? are you on the insurance with him? could one of his/your parents go on as a named driver - this often brings the cost down for young men.
Petrol/Travel Expenses: £80-£100 does he drive efficently? (slowly) and always fill up at the cheapest places? - read this article on how to cut fuel bills - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheaper-fuel
Loan payment: £100
2 mobile phones and mobile internet: £110 (these are contracts and cannot be cut down until next year! Plus all are essential and the lowest they can be!) have you phoned up and asked if they will drop them, they often will even if you are in contract, this is very high, you can get deals for £30 which give pretty much unlimited calls. Do you have an unused phones you could sell?
TV/Internet/Phone: £60 (including phone line rental of £11pcm and £4 phone usage charges a month) do you need this on top of mobile internet? are you in a contract? if you cancel tv and internet and it was only £15 this would be much better
Gas and Electric: £95
Water: £36
Overdraft payment (inc interest): £40
TV Licence: £36 (yes this is correct, we pay this until October then it goes down to £12.50 a month, another arrears thing!!!)
Food Bill: £100
Extras: £50 (this is for unexpected rises in bills)

Total: £1346

As you can see, on approximately 4-6 months, this takes up our WHOLE income, and on some months, it doesnt exceeds the income, meaning we have to lower our food bill.

We will get £20 a week child benefit come september and around £30 a week in Child Tax Credits, not much really, but this will cover the things we need for the child. check what else you may get. Have you got the maternity grant yet?

We don't spend money on extras, and will only buy ourselves luxeries when we have extra income (so the rare month our income is over £1400), I dye my own hair, but haven't done in the last 6 months as I can not afford it plus I want to grow it out! And we very rarely treat ourselves to a night out or meal!!!

Many people on this income can afford to go out and spoil themselves a little, but we cannot! On top of this we also have £10,000 of debt, but we cannot afford the £100+ a month for a debt management company, so I am trying to pay our creditors ourselves! The loan we have at present ends in August, so that will be an extra £100 in our pocket, but this is also the month before our baby is born, and so liklihood is, we will need another loan from them for bits and arrears etc! Or even a new car if our car dies (which is why the loan was taken out in the first place!).
Taking out new loans is not the answer, you need to work out a way to live without new credit, better to pay off the arrears at agreed amounts for gas, elec etc as these are interest free but a loan will cost you in interest.

None of the bills above can be lowered, we owe money to our gas and electric company otherwise our bills would be less for that, but only by abour £10 a month less!! have you tried cutting your usage? switching everything off thats not in use? not using elec heaters, tumble driers etc, using energy efficent bulbs, wearing a jumper not putting the heating on etc. Whilst you cannot change the arrears maybe you can change the current use.

I am fed up of reading about people who spend £200 a month on holidays and savings, £120 a month on having their hair done, £50 a month on clothes £50 a month on make up, and wonder why they have no money left over, when we really do not spend on luxeries, yet still struggle to pay the bills. We get basic food items (we buy the cheapest of the cheap food we can and neither of us smoke, and I dont drink, my husband drinks around 4 cans of lager a week, which cost us £3 as he buys the cheap lager, and also cuts it out if we cannot afford it).

Does anyone have any ideas of how we could improve our situation??? Of anything we can do, or of any benefits which may help us??? We have applied numerous times for council tax benefit housing benefit income support, I cant even get job seekers allowance when looking for a job!

Any advice would be really helpful!!!!!!

Hi

It does sound like you are in a tough situation. Especially if you include the debt you haven't put on the statement of affairs. Have you had any advice from the charities (not a paid service). It may be that they would recommend a DRO Debt relief order for one or both of you (depending how much debt is in each of your names).

What did the £10k of debt get spent on? do you have any other assets from this that you could sell? was it just general overspending?

Good luck and do speak to one of the charities for advice -https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631

ANewEra

Every woman that's pregnant can claim the health in pregnancy £190 which can be claimed from week 24 (need to ask for your midwife to fill in form) then there is also up to another £500 depending on if you qualify - again need to ask your midwife about this. This is not open to everyone though and depends on your individual circumstances, but apply and see what happens.

Also, once baby is here there are the vouchers for milk/fruit/veg etc, again down to individual circumstances.

I bought a great cot from ebay for £26 - some fantastic bargains about if you have the time to look.

firesidemaid

i think £170 on phones/tv/internet is a lot. when you get these down you will have a lot more money to spend on other things.

i know you are in contracts, but like another poster says, ring them up and tell them you cannot afford them and ask them to reduce it. what are the deals (mins etc/tariff) and are they doing better ones now?

i was on a 600mins/unltd texts for £20 (sim only) and noticed they had reduced it to new customers for £15, so i rang and asked not to be discriminated against as an existing loyal cusomer and they reduced it immed.

you could have a £10 mobile tariff each plus the sky deal for £26 plus bt line rental - you would have over £100 a month left. the thing is to get the best deals (cashback etc too) and not the wizziest phone necessarily.

dancingfairy

Hi - have you looked at the gas and electricity? I was under the impression you could switch if you wanted and then pay off the arrears to the old company - might be worth looking into as they look pretty high.
Also - check out the MoneysavingOldstyle and family and relationships board as I'm sure there must be threads on how to manage with a child on a low income.
Also have you got anything you can sell - maybe a car boot or something?
Temping for a bit until baby comes?
Have you tried speaking to one of the FREE charities Martin recommends? I'm not sure from your posts whether they have said they can't help you as you don't have enough money spare per month or whether they wanted to charge you for the privelidge of help? They should be able to talk through a DRO with you if it is a sensible option for you.
df