Should be coping but we're not...

ferry

Hi all
its taken me along time to face up to having to do this as I have for ages thought we're ok,but the reality is the wife & I just are not coping at the moment and just dont why.
Heres a run down of our SOA for you all to assist us with.We have cut back a fair bit recently and have choped and changed certain policies where necessary to help keep payments down,but just seem to be going round in circles..see what you think...

Income:
Myself:£1500
My wife:£550
So about £2050 per month.

Outgoings(all monthly)
Mortgage-£840
Bank account fee-£12
Buildings & contents-35
Council Tax-£115
Water rates-£20
Gas/elec-averages £50 per month for both
Phone-£30 per month
Internet-£18
MPPI-£30
Life Ins-£12
Pet Ins-£6
Gas/plumbing/appliace cover-£30
Foodshop(family of 4_)-£200
car ins-£40
Petrol-£40
Personal pension-£35
Sky-about £25
Tv licence-£11
Kids clothes-£20
School meals-£50
Total=£1620
Debts:
Barclays Personal loan-£600 left to pay(£130 per month)
Overdraft -Usually around £300 overdrawn at the end of each month!
Total=£130

So,basically we should have a disposable income of about 300 if my calculations are correct.

So thats just about it really.one of the things that we need to address obviously is our overdraft as any disposable income is swallowed as soon as we get paid.Its also impossible to place a figure on any extras the kids may need for example,trips,birthday presents etc etc
My wife cannot do any extra hours due to limited on childminders.I am not able to work any overtime as its just not available.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Terry & wife..

lynzpower

your best bet is to start a spending diary to see where everything goes for one.

Secondly, what have you got to sell? this can reduce down your debt, ebay, car boot etc?

Do you really need appliance cover?
Do you really need sky?

freda

Outgoings(all monthly)
Mortgage-£840
Bank account fee-£12 Why do you need this? What benefits do you get compared to a normal, no frills bank account? It is costing you £144 per year that could be paying off your debts.
Buildings & contents-35
Council Tax-£115
Water rates-£20
Gas/elec-averages £50 per month for both
Phone-£30 per month You could probably reduce this a bit using BT line rental only, plus 1899.com for 3p per call
Internet-£18 You can get this for £15 if not less these days.
MPPI-£30 Do you really need this? What are the t&C on it? Some don't pay out for c.6 months, in which time you'd probably have found another job anyway
Life Ins-£12
Pet Ins-£6
Gas/plumbing/appliace cover-£30 Do you need this? What exactly does it cover that you couldn't cover yourself by putting £360 per year into a savings account instead?
Foodshop(family of 4_)-£200 This is low. Are you SURE thats all you spend for 4?
car ins-£40 This is high. Make sure you are with a competitive insurer
Petrol-£40
Personal pension-£35 If this isn't matched by your company (i.e. free money, this would be better paid towards your debts and re-started once you're debt free
Sky-about £25 Do you need this (as opposed to want it?). What about freeview instead.
Tv licence-£11
Kids clothes-£20
School meals-£50 Can they not take packed lunches?


I'd suggest your 'missing' money is going on:

Groceries

Clothes/haircuts for you and your partner

Entertainments/going out / kids days out in the hols

Childcare costs

xmas/birthday presents

Car MOT, tax, roadside recovery, parking

Subscriptions - i.e. gym, kid's clubs, magazines etc?

Mobile phones?

Other travel, i.e. bus fares

bluezone

ferry wrote:

Hi all
its taken me along time to face up to having to do this as I have for ages thought we're ok,but the reality is the wife & I just are not coping at the moment and just dont why.
Heres a run down of our SOA for you all to assist us with.We have cut back a fair bit recently and have choped and changed certain policies where necessary to help keep payments down,but just seem to be going round in circles..see what you think...

Income:
Myself:£1500
My wife:£550
So about £2050 per month.

Outgoings(all monthly)
Mortgage-£840 this is quite a bit, are you locked inor could you shop for a better deal?
Bank account fee-£12 DO you really need this?
Buildings & contents-35
Council Tax-£115
Water rates-£20
Gas/elec-averages £50 per month for both
Phone-£30 per month
Internet-£18
MPPI-£30
Life Ins-£12
Pet Ins-£6
Gas/plumbing/appliace cover-£30
Foodshop(family of 4_)-£200
car ins-£40
Petrol-£40
Personal pension-£35
Sky-about £25 Cut this as well and use freeview for a while. SOme people have phoned and threatened to leave to get a cheap deal for a few months
Tv licence-£11
Kids clothes-£20
School meals-£50
Total=£1620
Debts:
Barclays Personal loan-£600 left to pay(£130 per month)
Overdraft -Usually around £300 overdrawn at the end of each month!
Total=£130

So,basically we should have a disposable income of about 300 if my calculations are correct.

So thats just about it really.one of the things that we need to address obviously is our overdraft as any disposable income is swallowed as soon as we get paid.Its also impossible to place a figure on any extras the kids may need for example,trips,birthday presents etc etc
My wife cannot do any extra hours due to limited on childminders.I am not able to work any overtime as its just not available.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Terry & wife..

How old are your children if you dont mind me asking? I hope I dont sound too harsh with my comments - I dont mean to offend

CLAPTON

why is it impossible to budget for birthday and xmas presents (both seem very predicatable) and put a (low) ceiling on school related costs/activities/trips?

Phone at 30 is expensive, use basic BT about 11 and companies like call1899.com or similar

there are loads of broadband deals at 15 or less, phone your provider and seee whether they will match them.

you budgeted for car insurance and petrol but what about car tax, MOT, RAC/AA, servicing
do you ever go out, have take aways, holidays, buy papers, magazines etc..if so you need to add these to the budget

how many children do you have ..what about child allowance etc ?

can the kids take packed lunches rather than have school meals?

tawnyowls

ferry wrote:

Hi all
its taken me along time to face up to having to do this as I have for ages thought we're ok,but the reality is the wife & I just are not coping at the moment and just dont why. Things do sneak up on people - you've had the courage to face it now, so never fear!


Outgoings(all monthly)
Mortgage-£840
Bank account fee-£12 For what? Does this give you anything you really need or would not get cheaper elsewhere?
Buildings & contents-35 So that's £420 a year, which is quite high. Definitely should look round for better than this. I found MoreThan the most competitive (up to £75K contents and £400K buildings), but other people may have different recommendations. Best to pay annually if you can; DD usually costs more with insurance.
Council Tax-£115
Water rates-£20
Gas/elec-averages £50 per month for both
Phone-£30 per month High. If you have BT, you'll be paying line rental of £11/month, which you can't do much about, but should certainly be able to get total down to below £20 (calls + rental) either by getting an all-in-one package, or by using a over-ride provider. See Martin's article: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1095003038,99872,
Internet-£18 For what speed? Definitely should be able to take at least £3 off that. Try your present provider first, and if they can't help, shop around
MPPI-£30 Do you really need this? They're usually very difficult to claim on if you do need them. If you feel you really can't do without, should be able to get it a lot cheaper - that's £360/year you're paying
Life Ins-£12
Pet Ins-£6
Gas/plumbing/appliace cover-£30 Again, do you need this? People are sold this by the scare tactic of not having the money to cover it and the huge bills these companies say are involved. I never bothered, and my boiler had to be fixed after 7 years - cost about £250, which was the same amount that British Gas wanted annually for a service contract, so I saved 6 years' worth of cover, or about £1500. Again, this is costing you £360 a year. If anything did happen, a 0% interest card should cover the expense and be a lot cheaper.
Foodshop(family of 4_)-£200 Bit high, compared with some people on here. Worth checking out the Old Style board for ideas to cut down.
car ins-£40 £480/year. Bet you could cut this down too
Petrol-£40
Personal pension-£35
Sky-about £25 To echo lynzpower, do you really need it? Could you manage with Freeview? If not, or you're tied into a contract, worth seeing if you can get a cheaper package off Sky
Tv licence-£11
Kids clothes-£20
School meals-£50
Total=£1620
Debts:
Barclays Personal loan-£600 left to pay(£130 per month) So should be gone in 4 months - should try to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Overdraft -Usually around £300 overdrawn at the end of each month! Is this an ongoing thing? Are you overdrawn by £300 each month, or £300 the first, £600 the next, etc? How much is outstanding now? Is it an arranged O/D, or are you paying high fees?
Total=£130

My wife cannot do any extra hours due to limited on childminders. Any other sort of work she could do? Dinner lady at the kids' school, shifts in a supermarket, anything like that?

I am not able to work any overtime as its just not available. Again, would you consider doing the odd few shifts in a supermarket for a bit just to get your finances back on an even keel and build up some savings?

I'm sure others will be along with some more ideas soon.

(Or in fact, as I noticed, practically at the same time!)

southernscouser

Are you entitled to any benefits? Child tax credits? Anything like that?

Have a look at this site.

What benefits do you get from paying £12 a month for your bank account? Thats £144 a year or another way of looking at it is if you changed to basic account the money you would save would pay for your life insurance!

KatrinaC_2

southernscouser wrote:

What benefits do you get from paying £12 a month for your bank account? Thats £120 a year

It is? I was taught at school that 12 x 12 = 144...

Kat

southernscouser

KatrinaC wrote:

It is? I was taught at school that 12 x 12 = 144...

Kat

:rolleyes:



:doh:



:rotfl:

ferry

bluezone wrote:

How old are your children if you dont mind me asking? I hope I dont sound too harsh with my comments - I dont mean to offend

They're 6 and 3 by the way..


Thanks for all the help so far guys.I've taken on board your suggestions and will have an action plan in force soon.

Regards
T

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i notice with me.... since i have started writting every thing that i buy whether its my grocery shopping.. petrol..... that sneaky bar of chocolate.. .i am now realising where the money is actually going....it is suprising when you have that change in your pocket/purse......how easy it is to loose it on those small purchases....papers... bars of chocolete... canned drinks etc.... especially when your at the petrol station......:eek:

so i would sugest that you and your oh.... start writting down all that you spend your money on....INCLUDING ...yuor impulse buys..... and be honest..write EVERYTHING... down.....and when you start writting it down... this will also act as a deterrent in the future.....as it is bringing it to your attention..( hope that makes sense )...

also we stopped sky completely........and to be honest we dont miss it ..well maybe the odd programe on discovery.... but we dont miss it enough to pay £25.00 a month.. which is £300. a year :eek: just to watch telly....

there is a thread... with a spread sheet which might also help....maybe someone can do the link to this....

i have just downloaded it.... by eargerlearner... and its brill... i think you can tweek it to you needs....

god luck.....you will get VERY GOOD advice for mse'rs.... they are very helpfull...:p