First time here

woohoo_postingid

£820 rent :eek: sheesh!!

If hubby pays day-to-day things, why have you included these:

Gas £20.00
Electric £20.00
TV License £10.50
Mobile £45.00
Food £180.00
Car Insurance £35.00
Petrol £90.00
Car Tax £12.00
Lunch per week £15.00

Looks like you are spending more than him! £180 food, is that your share :eek:

Sinkingindebt_2

Drop hints, to your manager about children, and ask for the company policy and pay guidelines, just for "future reference" for his sake, but also so you know what money you might have.

Is there anyway you can ask hubby to take the bills off your hands so you can pay into a debt management plan to clear your loan quicker, at least till the baby comes along...cos its a shock when kids come, I have 2 under 5 and im constantly skint! My outgoings for the whole family are half of yours and we still struggle. Can you cut down your pa? WHat does it consist of?

Sorry you are prob trying to catch up wilth all these posts, but im just typing as i think...xx

in*the*red_6

madasapinkcat wrote:

Hi Mrs Sparkle - those figures are with my Husband taking on some of the debts. I pay as much as I can each month, and he pays the rest. If we go out at all he pays 80% of the time, and he pays for things like the cleaner, the holidays, the Christmas presents, my gym fees and the vet bills.

I've asked for a lot more shifts at the pub, although they have full time staff in I just fill when they can't. I do know that 2 are leaving in the new year, so I'm hoping to take on much more of their shifts! x

Hi there

You're a married couple who are both keen to start a family asap but you're approaching this debt like two single entities . It's going to take you a long time to tackle this debt while your husband continues to pay for your gym, the cleaner, holidays etc etc. IMHO you need to start looking at your finances as a whole and see what you can both cut down on/give up and then work out how you can overpay the debt between you. Start with the highest APR card and overpay as much as you can once you've worked out your total monthly expenses as a household. edited to say sorry just realised the debt isn't on credit cards but your overdraft is likely to be at a high APR, are there options to overpay your loan? Also does hubby have any debts?

You've a much better chance of starting a family sooner rather than later by approaching it this way and sharing your finances will be good practice for when you do reduce/lose your income when the time comes.

ITR

madasapinkcat

woohoo_postingid wrote:

£820 rent :eek: sheesh!!

If hubby pays day-to-day things, why have you included these:

Gas £20.00
Electric £20.00
TV License £10.50
Mobile £45.00 My Mobile so I pay for it
Food £180.00
Car Insurance £35.00 My car, so i pay for all expenses towards it. He has his own car that I don't pay towards his
Petrol £90.00 Same as above
Car Tax £12.00 Same as above.

Looks like you are spending more than him! £180 food, is that your share :eek:

That food bill does look a little high to be honest, I think maybe thats much lower. I think I usually do 2 shops a month, so probably about 90 in total - half.

The rent is high, but you should see some of the rents around here. We're paying half what a lot of people I know are paying x

leon103

What area is it?

WOuld a mortgage be better option?

madasapinkcat

We're in Gloucestershire and a morgage is out of the question on in the area we are in. It would probably be about double what we're paying on rent. I could live in a different village, but I need to be close to my Mother. x

Sinkingindebt_2

Thats only down the road from me...im in Wiltshire, South west too. Can you not move to a town? Villages would be expensive in the cotswolds. I know this would be huge upheaval but for a 2 bed terraced Im sure you could save at least £200pm on the £820 you pay currently. I used to live in Stroud once apon a time. Bourton on the water is about 1/2 hour from me.

woohoo_postingid

Ok, by cutting out the personal allowance, that enables you to pay back your husband his £200 per month within 3 months.
£15 lunch per week = £60 per month.
You should only be paying half the TV license if thats the way things are = £5.25 per month.
Bit confused with the Council Tax. If the rent is £820 per month, I can't imagine the council tax only being £85. If it is, you should only pay £42.50
You've already said the food is probably only about £90 - saving you £90 (although this is still very high).

That's around £200 saved already. In 3 months you will have another £200 after paying hubby back. Thats £400 per month extra to chuck at your loan(s).

As has already been said though, you need to look at these together rather than as seperate debts

CLAPTON

even without clear idea of your OH income and expenses, it would seem that taking 200 for PA, 45 for mobile, 60 for lunches, food at 180, gym and a cleaner that there is enough money there to make a real impresssion into your debts.
the issue is more how much do you and maybe more significantly does your OH really want a child?
there seems to me (and apologises if i'm incorrect) that theres an element of control freakery here. rather that addressing the best and optimal way of clearing the debt before having the child, he spends money on things (holidays, gym) for you.
maybe you need to sit down with him and discuss the issues around having a child, how you will cope with your debt payments will you are on maternity leave etc. If you could both agree to economise (no gym, holidays, lunches (take food from home) , no 200 pa etc etc) then see how quickly you could pay off the debt.

Sinkingindebt_2

I think together your joint income would clear of the debt so quick you would be less stressed too. What does he earn if you dont mind me asking? Try talking him round perhaps? I know men can be stubborn (sorry guys), but he will see the benefit, as you will be less stressed and have more money too...xx