newbie SOA

greyface

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 170
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2570
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 610
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 365
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 15
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 280
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 41
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2118

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(610)......5.34
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(220)......7<
loan...........................5000.....(145)......8
Total secured & HP debts...... 147000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................18000.....400.......19
halfiax........................12000.....120.......6.95
rbs............................4000......105.......19
if ............................0.........0.........12.94
Total unsecured debts..........34000.....625.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,570
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,118
Available for debt repayments........... 452
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 625
Amount short for making debt repayments. -173
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -147,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,000
Net Assets.............................. 36,000
Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Hi

first time poster looking for advice, my problem is credit card debt and paying minimum payments each month. ive been spending more than ive got coming in for a while and have 34k on cards, my wife pays the mortgage,food etc with her salary i pay everything else.

2 of my credit cards halifax and rbs total 220 per month but my problem card is mbna where there looking for a minimum payment currently around 360 but next month with the minimum payment going up to 1% of the balance my cc will go up to just over 500 to mbna. i called them last week to try and go on a payment plan as i cant really pay minimum payments but after going through things they said no i need to keep paying as around 12k had come in the last year(transfers from other cards,cash and my car deposit) my current costs are 950 + there 500 = 1450 without petrol or any other things thats just bills. even if i only spend 50 a week to cover fuel and anything else i spend im 250 over wages. im unsure of my next step. i have an IF card that i could transfer 6500 to but would mean 4 card payment although the interest is much lower and ive got 3k available on the rbs card so could shift 9k from mnba but am i just going round in circles? i just couldnt believe they wont give me a payment plan

thanks for reading

WASHER

greyface wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 170
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2570
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 610
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 365
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190:eek:ARE YOU IN ARREARS, THIS IS ALOT EACH MONTH, ARE YOU IN THE CORRECT BAND?
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 ? DO YOU LIVE IN SCOTLAND?
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 10 THIS IS USUALLY £12 AT THE MINIMUM
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 15 CANCEL TODAY
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 ARE YOU SURE THIS IS CORRECT? HAVE YOU CHECKED AGAINST YOUR BANK STATEMENTS?
Clothing................................ 0 YOU MUST HAVE SOMETHING HERE, YOU HAVE CHILDREN.
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 41
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 IS THIS ENOUGH?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 100 NOT EACH MONTH
Contents insurance...................... 100 NOT EACH MONTH
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 TOO MUCH EACH MONTH
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0 - NEED SOMETHING HERE
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2118

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(610)......5.34
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(220)......7<
loan...........................5000.....(145)......8
Total secured & HP debts...... 147000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................18000.....400.......19
halfiax........................12000.....120.......6.95
rbs............................4000......105.......19
if ............................0.........0.........12.94
Total unsecured debts..........34000.....625.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,570
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,118
Available for debt repayments........... 452
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 625
Amount short for making debt repayments. -173
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -147,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,000
Net Assets.............................. 36,000
Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Welcome to MSE and the debt free board. I have added comments in above.

Do you not owe anything on the IF card? If not, could you not transfer the MBNA onto that, the interest is a little lower.

I suggest you telephone CCCS, a debt charity who will help you. Take a look at the website, it has a wealth of information, and it may suggest a DMP.

Alternatively, you could sell your home, repay your debts with the equity and rent somewhere for a while, and you could be debt free and start over again. BUT do not consolidate your debts by remortgaging, it rarely works and you could run up the credit cards again, many do and I speaking from experience here.

WASHER.x.

greyface

c tax is 191 per month. (not in arrears)
no water rates yes scotland
tv will be £12 sorry wife pays it
foods around £60 per week so 240+ when 5 weeks etc
car newish so only needs serviced at the moment
clothing wife pays with what she has left for kids etc
sorry insurance would have been per year so £20 a month total
i asked the wife and she said around £500 for christmas so thats why i added £50 in there per month
entertainment around £25 a week sorry

i owe £0 on IF so can transfer as much as i can (limit is 6500 on card) and can transfer around 3k to the rbs card from mbna if its lower interest ill need to check rbs and mbna interest rates in the morning.

mum2one

greyface wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 170 - may sound a daft question, but have you checked that if everything your entitled to
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2570
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 610 - is that fixed rate, or virable
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 365
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190 - in theory, subject to you not being in arrears, you have 2 months free (feb, mar, - have you put that towards a debt repayment - also the council tax may go up in the next year
Electricity............................. 50 - its always worth checking your on the best tariff for you, inbetween times, simple things, - don't overfill kettle, when charging mobile phones, laptops etc, charge them in the room your in that way you can keep an eye on - less chance wasteing elec, turn out light bulbs, - they may only be a few pounds saved but over time adds up
Gas..................................... 50 - ditto check best tariff, if on gas central heating, knock 5 mins off the start and finish time, check the cut in temp, for example ours was set to cut in at 18C, we've dropped it to cut in at 16C, not noticed the difference temp wise, but saved some money on the bills
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 - You've got nothing allocated for water rates, even if you pay 6 monthly - still put a figure in to help balance
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40 - how many phones is that for? if contract are you getting the best deal, making the most of the allocation, - if not ring and see if you can drop a tariff, - at end of contract consider sim only deal
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 15
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 - that is brilliant
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 - is there any chance u can reduce petrol - walk, car share
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 41 - not bad, but at renewal shop around, go via comparison sites, (big article on) - should get a better deal
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 100 :eek: - I don't know what area your in, but are you sure your not insuring buckingham palace!! - That is def mega high, about month before renewal start shopping around, look at what your insured for - are you over insured? - cash back sites
Contents insurance...................... 100:eek: - ditto as above
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - I really think you need to have that chat!, reduce people you buy for, for example if someone has kids, and u normally buy parents and children, just say that ur just going to do the children, reduce spends, - look at the boards, lots of threads to help with christmas, from extra pennies coming in, to bargain hunting. A lot of people want to cut the list down, but don't want to offend anyone, I did it at christmas, - a couple of friends we agreed to buy just for kids, and one friend was over the moon, she didn't know how to bring up the subject.

Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2118

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(610)......5.34
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(220)......7<
loan...........................5000.....(145)......8
Total secured & HP debts...... 147000....-.........-

The secured and HP debts are already allocated on your SOA, the debt is that what you owe now or at the start, - may be worth looking at your "what you owe, in relation to months - give you something to work towards"
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................18000.....400.......19
halfiax........................12000.....120.......6.95
rbs............................4000......105.......19
if ............................0.........0.........12.94
Total unsecured debts..........34000.....625.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,570
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,118
Available for debt repayments........... 452
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 625
Amount short for making debt repayments. -173
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -147,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,000
Net Assets.............................. 36,000
Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.
At the moment we need to find £173 per month, -



Hi

first time poster looking for advice, you've done brilliantly, and you've taken the biggest and maybe the hardest step of your new debt free journey, once the SOA is done thats the hardest bit, all gets easier from here.

my problem is credit card debt and paying minimum payments each month.
got to say ditto to that one,
ive been spending more than ive got coming in for a while and have 34k on cards, my wife pays the mortgage,food etc with her salary i pay everything else.
We've all done that, the first thing to do is would say cut the cards up, but if you need them, then take them out of the wallet, so there not at hands reach.
2 of my credit cards halifax and rbs total 220 per month but my problem card is mbna where there looking for a minimum payment currently around 360 but next month with the minimum payment going up to 1% of the balance my cc will go up to just over 500 to mbna. i called them last week to try and go on a payment plan as i cant really pay minimum payments but after going through things they said no i need to keep paying as around 12k had come in the last year(transfers from other cards,cash and my car deposit) my current costs are 950 + there 500 = 1450 without petrol or any other things thats just bills. even if i only spend 50 a week to cover fuel and anything else i spend im 250 over wages. im unsure of my next step. i have an IF card that i could transfer 6500 to but would mean 4 card payment although the interest is much lower and ive got 3k available on the rbs card so could shift 9k from mnba but am i just going round in circles? i just couldnt believe they wont give me a payment plan

thanks for reading

Hi, I've popped some thoughts as I've gone down the SOA, must say your doing brilliantly with the groceries.


At the moment we need to find £173 per month, -


The main concerns on expenditure is the home insurance and contents insurance, as soon as you can get them reduced that will make a massive massive difference. Start shopping around. Also mobile phone - that all help

I know its only £40 at the moment for nursery, but is this got much longer to run?

Ok the first thing is to look at the credit cards, at the mo we need £173 a month, but with the new MBNA say its £520 (need £293) a month.

Sorry its all questions, but have you any space on your halifax card as they have the lowest APr?

I will sign up to your thread, if I think of anything else wtx can get straight back to you. x

WASHER

greyface wrote: »

c tax is 191 per month. (not in arrears)
no water rates yes scotland
tv will be £12 sorry wife pays it
foods around £60 per week so 240+ when 5 weeks etc
car newish so only needs serviced at the moment
clothing wife pays with what she has left for kids etc
sorry insurance would have been per year so £20 a month total
i asked the wife and she said around £500 for christmas so thats why i added £50 in there per month
entertainment around £25 a week sorry

i owe £0 on IF so can transfer as much as i can (limit is 6500 on card) and can transfer around 3k to the rbs card from mbna if its lower interest ill need to check rbs and mbna interest rates in the morning.

Do you have seperate accounts, you refer to the "wife pays for that with what she has left", the thing is, you don't have anything left really, because you are putting things onto credit cards. You need to budget for everything, clothing, car maintenance, house repairs and the likes. You cannot spend £500 on christmas and birthday gifts, its an obscene amount of money when you are in debt.

I am not being harsh, but you and your wife really need to think very carefully about what you are spending and budget for everything. I have been where you are at the moment, and its tough, bloody tough, it takes hard work and determination to realise you have to reduce your spending greatly in order to reduce your debts.

Can you sell anything on Ebay, carboot, every little does really help.

Can you edit your SOA and input the correct figures for the insurance and entertainment etc. Go onto your post and you will see an edit button in the bottom right hand corner.

Finally, is your mortgage repayment or interest only, could you change it for a while to interest only, it would help you to repay the highest debt quicker. This is not a long term solution, but it will help you for a few months to give you a head start.

WASHER.x.

mum2one

UPDATED THE SOA TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT NEW FIGURES

greyface wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 170
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2570
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 610
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 365
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12 (added £2)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 15
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 (left it £280 - incase clothes etc come into shopping)
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 41
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10 (saved £90)
Contents insurance...................... 10 (saved £90)
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment...........................100 (added £100)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2040

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(610)......5.34
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(220)......7<
loan...........................5000.....(145)......8
Total secured & HP debts...... 147000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................18000.....400.......19
halfiax........................12000.....120.......6.95
rbs............................4000......105.......19
if ............................0.........0.........12.94
Total unsecured debts..........34000.....625.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,570
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,040
Available for debt repayments........... 540
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 625
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -147,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,000
Net Assets.............................. 36,000
Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Hi

first time poster looking for advice, my problem is credit card debt and paying minimum payments each month. ive been spending more than ive got coming in for a while and have 34k on cards, my wife pays the mortgage,food etc with her salary i pay everything else.

2 of my credit cards halifax and rbs total 220 per month but my problem card is mbna where there looking for a minimum payment currently around 360 but next month with the minimum payment going up to 1% of the balance my cc will go up to just over 500 to mbna. i called them last week to try and go on a payment plan as i cant really pay minimum payments but after going through things they said no i need to keep paying as around 12k had come in the last year(transfers from other cards,cash and my car deposit) my current costs are 950 + there 500 = 1450 without petrol or any other things thats just bills. even if i only spend 50 a week to cover fuel and anything else i spend im 250 over wages. im unsure of my next step. i have an IF card that i could transfer 6500 to but would mean 4 card payment although the interest is much lower and ive got 3k available on the rbs card so could shift 9k from mnba but am i just going round in circles? i just couldnt believe they wont give me a payment plan

thanks for reading

Me again - just altered the figures in your Soa to take into account the new info

TV licence £12
Contents £10
Buildings £10
Ents £100
all per month

At mo now just short £85. That could be saved easily,
by reducing mobile phone bill by £10 pm,
presents £10 per month,
gas £5 per month,
elec £5 per month
entertainment -£70 per month
groceries, £25 off (I left it at £280 - where you said u average £240 - painless cut)

Saved £85 per month by realtively painless cuts, - so for now we're spot on.

Plan B - now look at credit card section - got to look at whats best with mbna upping the repayments. COME back to that in a mo.

For now, get a notebook, one for you one for the wife and list every penny spent whether its £1.00 for a magazine or 60p for a choc bar, see where the gaps are and what will be saved.

greyface

sorry i made a mistake with insurance its 200 total per year so should be 10 + 10 per month not 100 and 100.
thats 2 mobiles,both on contract at the moment
mortgage is variable( it was 900 but we have put it to interest only while we reduce debt)a 2 year plan in the mean time, i wanted to change companys etc but the 34k gets lumped in and i find out i cant borrow 130k to remortgage.
nursery for another 2 years.
halifax has space but i got lifetime balance transfer offer of 6.95% anything else would be higher now.
water rates dont apply in scotland? its lumped in with council tax?
the mbna minimum payment shooting up next month is my main problem. im hoping if i transfer that 4 cards will be cheaper than 3 and save money,
another worry is will other credit cards follow suit and the minimum payments percentage increase?

WASHER

I would personally transfer the MBNA over to the IF card tomorrow.

Other credit card companies may/may not follow MBNA, don't worry about that at the moment.

You are just breaking even, and what happens when you need a couple of new tyres for the car? I think you need to either up your income or talk to the CCCS, the debt charity, your SOA is too tight for things to go wrong and they will, the washing machine has a nasty habit of breaking down just at the wrong moment.

You have done the best thing tonight, by coming on here, the next step is forward, phone the CCCS tomorrow please.

WASHER.x.

greyface

WASHER wrote: »

Do you have seperate accounts, you refer to the "wife pays for that with what she has left", the thing is, you don't have anything left really, because you are putting things onto credit cards. You need to budget for everything, clothing, car maintenance, house repairs and the likes. You cannot spend £500 on christmas and birthday gifts, its an obscene amount of money when you are in debt.

I am not being harsh, but you and your wife really need to think very carefully about what you are spending and budget for everything. I have been where you are at the moment, and its tough, bloody tough, it takes hard work and determination to realise you have to reduce your spending greatly in order to reduce your debts.

Can you sell anything on Ebay, carboot, every little does really help.

Can you edit your SOA and input the correct figures for the insurance and entertainment etc. Go onto your post and you will see an edit button in the bottom right hand corner.

Finally, is your mortgage repayment or interest only, could you change it for a while to interest only, it would help you to repay the highest debt quicker. This is not a long term solution, but it will help you for a few months to give you a head start.

WASHER.x.

yes we have seperate accounts but she doesnt spend anything on herself and also has nothing but can just make it on her wages, i was paying for food as mortgage was 900 but changed to interest only in the short term so wife will pay food etc

thanks for the other advice there are other things i can do ie sell car buy a cheaper 1 etc ebay and a car boot sale,i think sometimes you dont want to tell the world youve got debt problems (ie sale of car and other stuff) but i need to face upto facts and thats why im posting before the home is at risk.

mum2one

not being cheeky, but I know you have put the mimimum repayments at mo and the apr that you pay for the cards but do you know what the % of the repayment is, all I mention it - theres an absolutely brillaint tool snowball calcaluator,
what info you need is
maximum you can pay for the cards (at mo the minimum they want)
the apr (already got)
the minimum the card company want (that info will be on the credit card statement)

the link is

http://www.whatsthecost.com/login.aspx

for some reason when you put more than 1 card in - it throws the system into a frenzy - just did my own, and I would have been paying card for 99 years, so I put one in at a time with its repayment - going by what i paid last month - and done it that way, then transferred it to a spreadsheet - used 2 spreadsheets - the 1st with each individual card, with the figures provided, the 2nd spreadsheet, where a card had finished earlier, I just added that repayment into the highest one, then carried on till done them all, its not 100% accurate, as you would have a reduction in interest, but would say give you a lot better idea.

Its brilliant, also it allows you to mix and match figures, I know at the one of the options your looking at is the transfers to RBS and using IF card - you could put those figures in and it give you everything you need, you have the option of smaller balance 1st or highest interest, generally the best way is the highest interest.

I know that card companies are being told that the minimum repayment must cover the interest that is due to go on the next month + a small percentage of the spend, - so in theory all card suppliers will go down that route.

Re house - look at it this way - yep you've reduced the mortgage for 2 years, use those 2 years wisely, ie painless and painful cuts, sort the credit cards out, and chuck any extra that you can to the highest card.

Re the car, in all honestly I would say keep it, as its financied I would assume it would be a dealer job, and you'd get a lower price than its actually worth, look at it as a long term investment.

The nursery fees are in 2 years, maybe then your wife would be able to up her hours.

Inbetween times simpe things at home, survey sites, cashback sites, reducing unnecessary expenditure, - additional presents, entertainment, mobile phones, all help.

It may be worth contacting cccs (there debt free charity) there in the boards, I had some really good advice from them, and would recommend giving them a ring. You've done exactly the right thing your being proactive and looking now at all your options, your get there. x