First post from a frightened and worried newbie!

MemmaJ

Hi everyone.

This post is going to be a bit long winded, so bear with me!

My name is Emma and I am 20 years old. My partner is 31, and works as an Estate Agent, and together we have 21 month old twin boys.

We have had money problems for a while now, but it has come to a point where we really do have to address them now.
We are at a critical stage, where our relationship depends on it.

I'm studying at college and the moment, and in February next year I am starting on a Univeristy Degree course for 3 years.
Due to me being at college, and not working - we are pretty skint.
My partner wants me to go out to work - which means leaving college and not going to Univeristy, which of course I don't want to do.
So we've got to do something pretty soon, or we are going to end up splitting up.

I've had a read of the forum, and especially the thread about advice for new posters.
From this, and using the headings from the Spreadsheet on this site, I have written down all our outgoings and household income.
There are some things that I don't know EXACT amounts for (things like my partners credit cards), so I have estimated those as best I can.

These are as folllows:

MONTHLY OUTGOINGS

Mortgage (Halifax, Interest Only):

£ 594.42

Council Tax:

97.00

Water:

50.00

Gas (on payment card/meter)

20.00

Electricity:

30.00

Home Phone:

20.00

Internet:

20.00

Mobile Phones (mine & his)

65.00

Home maintanence, cleaning etc:

15.00

Mortgage/Life Insurance:

24.98

Food Shopping:

130.00

Easting out/takeaways:

100.00

Smokes:

15.00

Car Insurance:

75.00

Car Tax:

11.25

Parking (residential permit)

7.00

Personal Loan Repayments:

265.16

HP Repayments (Laptop)

25.00

Credit Card Repayments:

200.00

(3 or 4 cards altogether)

Nappies/Baby Extras:

90.00

Childcare:

52.00

DVD/Video rental:

15.00

Shopping For Fun:

65.00

Books/Music/Films/Games:

30.00

Family Days Out:

10.00

Sky Subscription:

15.00

(currently on offer for 3 months,
and will then go up in price)

TV License:

11.39

Newspapers/Magazines:

5.00

Haircuts:

10.00

GRAND TOTAL:

£2068.20

MONTHLY HOUSEHOLD INCOME:

Partners income from employment:

£1,300

His occupation is based a lot on Commission, so it's not the 'same' every month. This is a rought average
Child Benefit:

126.32

Tax Credits:

92.08

Adult Learning Grant from college:

130.00

Grand Total:

£1648.40

As you can see - we overspend.

Now the obvious things. like takeaways, luches out (when at work/college), DVD rental - we have addressed and we know we have to stop doing those things.
But as for the rest of it. We just don't know what to do.
This really is make or break for us now, and we need to get sorted - and as soon as we can!


I would really appreciate any help and advice, that anyone may have.

Thank you.

Brassic

First of all welcome! I'm sure you'll get loads of great advice here. Below are a couple of things I've noticed....

MemmaJ wrote:

those as best I can.

These are as folllows:

MONTHLY OUTGOINGS

Mortgage (Halifax, Interest Only):

£ 594.42

- :eek: what are you doing about the actual money you owe (non interest)?
Council Tax:

97.00

Water:

50.00

- is this metered? It sounds like a lot to me.
Gas (on payment card/meter)

20.00

Electricity:

30.00

Home Phone:

20.00

Internet:

20.00

Mobile Phones (mine & his)

65.00

- how much?! Can you cancel one? Is it prepay? If contract phone up and get changed to a cheaper one.
Home maintanence, cleaning etc:

15.00

Mortgage/Life Insurance:

24.98

Food Shopping:

130.00

Easting out/takeaways:

100.00

- They have to go completely I'm afraid.
Smokes:

15.00

Car Insurance:

75.00

Car Tax:

11.25

Parking (residential permit)

7.00

Personal Loan Repayments:

265.16

HP Repayments (Laptop)

25.00

Credit Card Repayments:

200.00

(3 or 4 cards altogether)

Nappies/Baby Extras:

90.00

- Do you buy pampers? If so change to asda own brand or similar. My baby doesn't cos me much at all extra per month - ebay is a wonderful place for shoes and clothes etc too - a lot of it I buy is brand new at a fraction of the price.
Childcare:

52.00

DVD/Video rental:

15.00

- yup - cancel it. You can get free months rental via quidco and get paid for it.
Shopping For Fun:

65.00

- It's got to stop.
Books/Music/Films/Games:

30.00

- Again - ebay if you really need something.
Family Days Out:

10.00

Sky Subscription:

15.00

- cancel and go to free view.
(currently on offer for 3 months,
and will then go up in price)

TV License:

11.39

Newspapers/Magazines:

5.00

- Look at news online.
Haircuts:

10.00

GRAND TOTAL:

£2068.20

MONTHLY HOUSEHOLD INCOME:
[/COLOR].

Hope that helps, I'm sure you'll get loads more better advice. Good Luck, and well done for taking the first step!

saubryn

Welcome! You've done a good job posting here, I'm sure you can get back on track!

I'm sure more qualified people will be along later to help you with your SOA, but here's what stands out to me:

Water:

50.00

- Wow, that seems like a lot, can you go in a meter for water? Not sure how that works.


Gas (on payment card/meter)

20.00

Electricity:

30.00

Have you considered switching those to another provider? Join Quidco and get some cashback too. The meter might be helping you budget, but it could be cheaper to set up a DD and use a lower cost provider.

Home Phone:

20.00

Internet:

20.00

Can you get a better deal if you merge this?

Mobile Phones (mine & his)

65.00

Is it a contract? Do you use them enough to make the contract worthwhile?

Easting out/takeaways:

100.00

Wow, thats a lot! If you really can't live without eating out have you considered 2 for 1 vouchers for TGI Fridays and other offers like that, or club nights at Wetherspoons? I allow myself the occasional club night as a luxury and can treat myself and my husband for a tenner. How often do you go out?

Smokes:

15.00

Have you considered trying to quit?


Personal Loan Repayments:

265.16

HP Repayments (Laptop)

25.00

Credit Card Repayments:

200.00

(3 or 4 cards altogether)

Can you get 0% balance transfers so you can pay them back quicker? Search this board for 'snowball calculator' - someone posted a link to one and it helps you work out what to focus on paying off to save the most money by clearing the highest interest first.

DVD/Video rental:

15.00

If you try free trials for things like Screenselect / Blockbuster you can get several months of free trial rentals, then subscribe to the one with the best service / fastest delivery / most DVDs you want.

Shopping For Fun:

65.00

Books/Music/Films/Games:

30.00

Family Days Out:

10.00

Searching the boards here will find you cheap days out / books off amazon / voucher codes, etc. But you may need to cut this down for a while

Sky Subscription:

15.00

(currently on offer for 3 months,
and will then go up in price)

What package do you have with Sky? Do you watch many of the channels or would freeview not be just as good?


Well done on posting here! I know it seems bad to cut back on all of that, but there are ways to save and get good deals too. Once you've cleared some of your debts you can look at ways of having fun whilst staying in budget.

Good luck!

*zippy*

Hi memmaj

Welcome to dfw and well done for posting a nice clear soa

Could you please post your debts in more detail, what the apr is, balance and limit on each credit card and how long you have left on HP and personal loan and what the balance is.

Lots of great advice already given, just one thought if you are in full time education are you claiming a reduction in your council tax.

zippy x

bluezone

MemmaJ wrote:

These are as folllows:
MONTHLY HOUSEHOLD INCOME:

Partners income from employment:

£1,300

His occupation is based a lot on Commission, so it's not the 'same' every month. This is a rought average
Child Benefit:

126.32

Tax Credits:

92.08

Adult Learning Grant from college:

130.00

Grand Total:

£1648.40

MONTHLY OUTGOINGS

Mortgage (Halifax, Interest Only):

£ 594.42

Council Tax:

97.00

Water:

50.00

Gas (on payment card/meter)

20.00

Electricity:

30.00

Home Phone:

20.00

Internet:

20.00

Mobile Phones (mine & his)

65.00

Home maintanence, cleaning etc:

15.00

Mortgage/Life Insurance:

24.98

Food Shopping:

130.00

Easting out/takeaways:

100.00

This has got to stop
Smokes:

15.00

Car Insurance:

75.00

Car Tax:

11.25

Parking (residential permit)

7.00

Personal Loan Repayments:

265.16

HP Repayments (Laptop)

25.00

Credit Card Repayments:

200.00

(3 or 4 cards altogether)

Nappies/Baby Extras:

90.00

Childcare:

52.00

DVD/Video rental:

15.00

Stop this
Shopping For Fun:

65.00

This is not going to be 'fun' whilst your in debt
Books/Music/Films/Games:

30.00

You simply cant afford this at the mo
Family Days Out:

10.00

Sky Subscription:

15.00

Get rid of and have freeview
(currently on offer for 3 months,
and will then go up in price)

TV License:

11.39

Newspapers/Magazines:

5.00

Just read the weekly paper
Haircuts:

10.00

GRAND TOTAL:

£2068.20

[/COLOR].

I dont mean to be harsh but you know what they say - you gottaa be cruel to be kind!

Cutiing down on these would save you approx £230 a month, which would cut your overspend down to £189.80.

Its a start but you are going to have to be ruthless.

Could you do a few bootsales before the cold weather starts or ebay and sell any old books, dvd's, kids clothes + toys they have grown out of, your cloothes you dont wear anymore, and anything else you can think of?

lynzpower

Welcome :wave:

Whats the total amount of debt owed ( any statements anywhere?) and whats the APRs on the cards

How long left to go on the loan?

Debt_Free_Chick

Even without the debt, your budget only just balances. If you had no debt, you would still be spending just about everything you earn (although I understand the point about your OH's commission).

Your first priority must be to cut out of your normal budget all the unnecessary spends ... sorry

The way to approach this is look at what you need to spend simply to live - and this doesn't include takeaways, Sky and family days out - sorry

Then, of what you have leftover, you put that towards your debts. If you can't meet the minimum repayments, then you will be looking at a Debt Management Plan, where you agree to pay £x per month, instead of £y per month. Payplan and CCCS can help here - but it won't be easy.

Do you have any equity in your property? Would that pay off your debts, even if you had to rent for a while?

Mrs_pbradley936

You have a few issues that I can see the first being the money (or lack of), the second being that partner wants a bit of help with this and is not keen to be the sole earner for the next few years, the last is being a mum to a couple of toddlers. Most of us would find it hard to cope with one of those situations let alone all of them so give yourself a pat on the back for managing so far. Can you really afford to go to university? On the plus side you might earn more with a degree, but you might also incur debts and emotional termoil. Nobody on here has a magic wand but we all have different experiences and suggestions that you can consider but in the end you have to decide on the priorities. For me my relationship would come first.

Dolly_Smith

I do have concerns over these interest-only mortgages - are you putting aside money to pay off the capital? I can't see that in here anywhere

You spend a lot on eating out - I notice because we did too! a takeaway a week and bam - that's £100 gone

Rallya

Have you thought of applying to the Open University and do that in your spare time? You can then go out and find work, plus prospective employers will look favourably on you doing the OU in your own time and might even pay for you.

In October I am starting an Open University course in IT, and as I am on Incapacity Benefit the OU are paying my course fee plus a grant of £250 towards my costs eg stationery etc. The course is supposed to take 8 hours per week, though if you do 2 courses at 16 hours per week then you would get a degree in 6 years. Just a thought

tyllwyd

My first thought was why are you rushing to go to university when your boys are still pre-school? Would it make more sense to take a break, wait until the boys are settled at school and go then? If you could get some kind of a job in the meantime, that would give you a chance to get some experience of work before you went back into education.

One small saving would be if the boys are ready to potty train, so you could stop buying nappies - of course that depends on whether it is the right time for them at the moment.