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

somethingsgottogive

I know absolutely nothing about hire purchase, but £11k seems a hell of a lot for a car..? Is there anyway you could change the car and lower the payments on that?

I second the replies on grocery bills, there's 101 things you can do to lower that! Last weekend OH and i made an inventory of EVERYTHING in our kitchen and I spent an hour or so coming up with a meal plan for the whole week... our grocery bill to cover last week and this week (barring fresh milk), including nappies, loo roll and washing liquid was under £33

If you're not already making them, packed lunches for your OH will save you a fortune, especially as he's working 12h shift, so I'm guessing needing more than just a sandwich? My OH was spending at least £2 each working day on lunch, but I've pulled my finger out and remembered to make a lunch everyday since he went back and it should save us at least £45 this month. We've put a few cans of beans and soup in the car for if either of us forgets!

I must say, I find the 'measly wage comment' a bit much! We have just over £1300 coming in each month (including WTC and CB) and have to pay out £200 in petrol plus tax and insurance, nearly £500 on the mortgage and then all the other bills - and that's with 2 children as well. An extra £500 and we'd be laughing!

Gothicfairy

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Join Costco.

Thought it was for companies only Or people who could prove they trade rather then just members of the public ?

Flyboy152

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Thought it was for companies only Or people who could prove they trade rather then just members of the public ?

Not in all cases.

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Current or Retired Employee of:-

• Banking/Finance/Insurance
• Civil Service/Armed Forces
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sugarpants_2

Cheaper area would be miles away from kids school and theres no way we can do that. Our area aint even posh sadly we live in the home counties near to London hence high rent :mad:

beecher2 wrote: »

Half your wage is going on rent - that can't be sustainable. Moving to a cheaper area would seem sensible.

sugarpants_2

Went on deposit for new car we needed! Its the only nice thing we 'own'

OrkneyStar wrote: »

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 ?

sugarpants_2

Also Ive given up work due to being pregnant hence not having 2 incomes and just the one now.

savingcaz

Hi sorry Blobby8 was so rude, wish people would remember that this board is for help not judgement!

Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2 How old?
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1680
Benefits................................ 181
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1861
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 234
Rent.................................... 875 - Obviously not an immediate help but any chance you can move into a council / housing association home? I notice you are saving for a deposit most housing associations do rent/buy options
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 - Any chance you can cut this down, we aim for £200 for 2 adults and 1 2 year old including nappies, wipes etc (albeit she isn't in many now as almost toilet trained)
Clothing................................ 20 - is this necessary at the moment
Petrol/diesel........................... 60 - Does hubby get this back if it's a company car?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1825

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 10995....(234)......0 - how long left on this one?
Total secured & HP debts...... 10995.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Visa Nationwide................1200......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........1200......35........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,861
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,825
Available for debt repayments........... 36
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -10,995
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,200
Net Assets.............................. -12,195

Is it just this month due to Christmas that you are struggling or is it a similar situation each month? when is the £5 to last you too?

ixia

Do you have an aldi nearby? they have their super 6 on for 39p an item just now- carrots, onions, swede, cabbage, tomatoes and garlic. you could perhaps use some of your budget to get some veg.

I don't know if your hubby has a games console but asda do trade-ins on games could perhaps give you a bit extra money for shopping. Take your gold they do take earrings every little helps.

Do you have anything still unopened from xmas you could return and get your money back?

Check in all your old bags,coats etc down the sofa sometimes you might find some loose change.

Good luck

2011_will_be_debt_free

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

You're spending a lot of groceries and I suspect you, along with many of us may have spent considerably more in December that we might have wished which has left us short in January.

Take a wander to the OS board and have a look at some of the threads about food budgeting. You should be able to shave quite a lot of your food costs which might help?

You sound very bitter about the world in general, everything is someone else's fault - you might feel a bit better about life if you can retrain your brain to feel better about things. Your DH has a job (many folks would kill for one), you appear to have healthy children and another on the way. In reality your DH's income is pretty good so it doesn't to me appear that he's working for a measly wage. I just find that I can think myself into a black hole and if I try to look for silver linings not clouds it all feels a bit better.

Just had to say I fully agree with this

I would LOVE to have an income like that. Certainly nothing like measly. (BTW you wouldnt have that on benefits alone, so tell him not to pack his job in unless you want 'real' debt problems!) Remember when you go shopping that you can buy enough soup veg/soup pack and lentils for £2.00, bulk it up with lentils & do all your lunches for a month! If the fresh veg isnt cheap buy frozen. Big Smartprice bag of cereal and milk for about £2.50 for all the breakfasts, then use up your freezer stuff for dinners (if not soup/cheap chips/vice versa) If you can get another £1. You can get a bag of oven chips for a small evening snack for the kids, in a bowl - or a loaf of bread for toast.

Hope that helps with the food money. I'm sure you will get more suggestions too. Stuff like 30 eggs for about £2. and a bag of potatoes for about £1. Thats, boiled egg and soldiers for the kids tea, ommlettes, scrambled egg and toast, fried egg and chips - plenty to fill them up. If you go about 9pm and they are usually reducing stuff.

littlemissmoneypenny

Hi,

Are you entitled to any maternity pay/allowance? There used to be a payment of about £500 during your pregancy, not sure if it is still available but would be worth investigating, ask your midwife about it perhaps. I don't understand why you would get housing/council tax benefit if your OH earns over £26k? Like others have said, check the OS boards for some meal ideas to see you through. It's amazing how far you can make things in your cupboards and freezer stretch! Good luck.