Pregnant married with 2 kids and only £5 till end of month

Cerisa

husbands company pay for car, insurance, road tax, and internet

Then he really can't quit. I have had some appalling jobs in the past but once kids enter the equation you just have to suck it up. Besides his 'measly wage' seems pretty good to me!

If you have a market nearby you can pick up super cheap veggies. Home bargains sells cheap pasta, sauces, tea, coffee etc, as well as 18 loo rolls for £3 and massive bottles of Robinsons squash

Also shop online using mysupermarket.com. You can get food delivered, thus saving on petrol and avoiding long, busy shops when pregnant. Stews and soups are a cheap way to keep fed and healthy. If you cook cheap stewing steak for hours it tastes better than gourmet fillet steak.

I'm surprised your rent is so much when your council tax is so low.

Savvy_sewing

There is a very old saying. Not sure of it exactly, but its on the lines of Income £20 outgoings £19.11s 11d and your OK, and income £20 outgoings £20.0.1d Misery.!
Its all down to what we are used to having and how we manage it.
I came on here last year when we were living off of £91.40 aweek for my DS 17 and my granddaughter 2. It took me months of fighting to get my entitlements, and was a tough time, but the people on here helped me survive.

If you think positively, and you use your assets to the best of your ability, and be optomistic etc you can rise to the challenge and you will look back on today with fresh eyes, and a smile in them.

Its very easy for us to begrudge the rest of the family, but really do they even know that you are in troubles? Would you really want handouts from your parents, and be beholden to them?
Would it not be better to take a look at every thing and use this new year as a new start.?
Sorry its not really my business, just trying to put a different slant on things! What ever you do, at least you have taken a step forward, you have started to address your problems already.

Flyboy152

Mooloo wrote: »

There is a very old saying. Not sure of it exactly, but its on the lines of Income £20 outgoings £19.11s 11d and your OK, and income £20 outgoings £20.0.1d Misery.!

Said by Mr Micawber, from David Copperfield.

But what he actually said was "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

stqueen

Agree with most posters - £26,500 is a good wage, even more so when you factor in the company car and car costs etc. For some families (depending on your choice of vehicle of course!), car costs suck up an astronomical amount of income.

Your debts are not huge and with careful planning and budgeting, could be blitzed relatively quickly so you can get going on your house deposit!

One thing though - you didnt include your £1k overdraft in your original soa - are there any monthly charges/fees associated with this, and what is the interest rate?

Savvy_sewing

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Said by Mr Micawber, from David Copperfield.

But what he actually said was "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

Thanks, I think I ought to use that in my signature to remind me! :T

tallyhoh

I see you might get council tax benefit, were you not entitled to anything towards your rent??

jcr16

sorry it hard at the moment hun. i'm sure the light at the tunnel will get brighter soon for you.

in the mean time tho, do u have anything you could sell ? raise a bit of cash.

i agree with others you rent does seem high. it might be good for your area, locally to me you can get a 3 bedroom for £500-£600 a month so thats why i'm saying it seems high. but would moving be something to consider?

do you get child benefit, tax credit etc ?

i was told in the past if your entilted to council tax benefit then your more than likely to get housing benefit. give it a go, don't feel ashamed. you work, your husband works sometimes we all need a little help.

OrkneyStar

tallyhoh wrote: »

I see you might get council tax benefit, were you not entitled to anything towards your rent??

I am not sure they will get any benefit for Council Tax or rent, on an income of £26k ish!
OP, Also what happened to the £400 per month you were saving up here....do you have any of those savings available to you just now ? Or did you not manage to put this away each month ?

Pitlanepiglet

sugarpants wrote: »

Thanks again..btw do you have kids? You sound like you do and know what its like to strglle with money and family..LOL

Nope no kids here, Hubby has older kids from a previous life.

We've struggled for money for the last six years when he was made redundant, he struggled with depression and hasn't really managed to earn much money since. I am also now (just) out of work.

I spent the first couple of years of our changed circumstances running up debt thinking that somehow I'd make it all right. We've only just paid that money off and with hindsight if I'd learned to live within our means earlier on we'd have been a whole lot better off and a whole lot happier - and it's happy that matters really isn't it? Shiny new clothes from Next don't really make you happy does it? But having a relaxed and calm family life because you aren't worrying about the bills does.

Go on, get on with it, change what you want to change whilst you're off work and you've got the chance.

Good luck & see you on the OS board

judy2357

Hi have just come across this thread and would like to say you are not alone, there is not an immediate solution but there are several threads on here that may be able to help you over a period of time. Regarding the Council Tax I hope you will be able to claim but if not perhaps you could go to the Council and divide your payments over 12 months rather than 10 (10 months are usual for Direct Debits in my area but this may not be the case in yours).

Go over to the coupon thread and study this, you can save significant amounts on your shopping, you will need a computer and printer though. Try the freebies thread, Ive got a bowl in my bedroom window packed with sachets of shampoo, conditioner, face cream etc etc - ALL FREE. There are loads of opportunities here for baby items nappies, cream etc.

I realise things seem bad, but would definitely not advise your partner to give up work, I really think if he does that things will get worse, not improve. Although some families may appear to be better off financially, from my experience this is not the case for most people, you are always slightly better of working.

ps I forgot the competition threads, during the past year I have won around £1500 of prizes, many of which have been really useful and others which I have been able to sell.