£80,000

chevalier

Hi there
Ref the debts, do you know what the highest APR one is. Often it will help you if you pay the minimum to every other debt except the one with the highest apr. That way you are minimising the amount of interest that you repay.

Also if you are both doing shifts, how is child care going to work? Or would you have to factor in nursery fees into this budget?

Ref the food. Can you this weekend do a stock take of your cupboards and freezer. Then have a challenge to only live out of these for a week? Except for milk and fresh stuff? You may be surprised how long you can stretch this out for!

Then you need to plan your meals and then shop to a list. If you have a market near you, you will find that fresh stuff is generally cheaper there than at the supermarket, so it is another way to save.

good luck
chev

DVardysShadow

chevalier wrote: »

... Ref the debts, do you know what the highest APR one is. Often it will help you if you pay the minimum to every other debt except the one with the highest apr. That way you are minimising the amount of interest that you repay.

Normally, I would agree with this. But thejames is on such a financial knife edge with this that initially there will be no money left over until one of the loans is paid off in full - and I think it may be necessary to live with the credit card debt which will be on higher interest rates, in order to pay down another loan, which will be the quickest way to free up useful chunks of monthly income.

Yes, in the long run it will cost more, but the immediate issue is to ensure that they get through the first period of this when they are most at risk of going under.

Skintandstressed

Hi thejames!

Your post is really quite interesting and I wish you well on your journey to sorting out your debt, you're in a good place on here and I can see that you've already had a lot of good advice.

I will admit as this is turning into such a big thread I haven't read it all. The one thing that is standing out to me is your franchise business - I'm assuming that this is classed as a self employed income? Have you got an accountant who you could speak to? Are you claiming everything legitametly possible against your earnings and therfore minimising your tax bill? For example, phones, use of home for business purposes, motor expenses / mileage claims... it all adds up over the year and say for example there were £1000 of expenses that you have not claimed, then as a basic rate tax payer at 20% this would be an immediate saving of £200 per year.

Additionally if you are making a loss on your franchise business then there could be an offset against your employed earnings and therefore a tax rebate.

If you do have an accountant I would suggest that you consult them pronto, otherwise I think that most reputable firms these days do offer a free initial consultation - if you go down this route then have as much info ready as possible in order to get the most out of the free meeting.

thejames

Willow_K wrote: »

Also, if your mom is going to be in a managerial position, will you be paying her a wage? In a new business with no capital, this is going to put you in a vulnerable position unless you can guarantee the business will make enough money to cover the salary - don't forget you will have employers National Insurance contributions on that.

If you are just going to pay your mom cash in hand and treat it as your own drawings, be careful that with your full time job, you don't go over the higher rate tax rate.

Also remember to put around 25% of profit each month away into a separate bank account for Tax and NI at the end of the year - you don't want HMRC chasing you on top of the other debts.

The other option is getting your mom to work as a contractor and invoice the business each month. That way, it is a simple overhead for your business and your mom will have to sort her own tax and NI out. In fact, I would suggest that this is your best option.

It's really worth getting a good accountant with a self-employed business - they are worth their weight in gold if they know their stuff - this is not an area to skimp on!

Mum is doing this all for free until we can both get a wage from it. Mum is actually a living angel I'm sure.

thejames

chevalier wrote: »

Hi there
Ref the debts, do you know what the highest APR one is. Often it will help you if you pay the minimum to every other debt except the one with the highest apr. That way you are minimising the amount of interest that you repay.

Also if you are both doing shifts, how is child care going to work? Or would you have to factor in nursery fees into this budget?

Ref the food. Can you this weekend do a stock take of your cupboards and freezer. Then have a challenge to only live out of these for a week? Except for milk and fresh stuff? You may be surprised how long you can stretch this out for!

Then you need to plan your meals and then shop to a list. If you have a market near you, you will find that fresh stuff is generally cheaper there than at the supermarket, so it is another way to save.

good luck
chev

I would try to work a shift pattern around his but I'm sure child care costs will come in somewhere. Again it's all going to take some working out.

We made a start before Xmas with checking cupboards before shopping so now we have to work on that budget getting smaller.

thejames

I spoke to my husband yesterday regarding my going back to full time work I made a deal that I would do this but there had to be immediate changes.

Ie. food taken to work.
Must eat leftovers (he has issues with leftover food)
We shop together and check food together and at cheaper shops such as aldi etc.. We always shop at sains as its close.
We check on better deals for elect gas insurance etc (this must be done before I comit to working ft.
Elect must all be turned off nothing on stand by
He sorts the boiler timers out.
We search the house for items to sell.
We look at the boards on here 'together' for ways of cutting costs.

This must all be achieved before I commit to going back full time so I know we are in a routine.

With regards to the franchise I took it on so we could have a future and it was something I could relate to, I have buried my head in the sand with this as I didn't really know what I was doing, but now I feel we're sorting ourself on a road of positivity I will be better equipped to deal with this.

natlie

Hi there
I read earlier in your first post I think that you said you were drinking a lot - have you cut back now? I was wondering if this is why your grocery shop is so high? sorry if it sounds nosy
Your water rates are low - we pay £45 a month here

I dont have as much debt as you but I have 3 children and I work 2 jobs as my OH has depression - it is hard but your not the only one and your right about it being for the future. It just seems to get more expensive as they get older
Nat

thejames

natlie wrote: »

Hi there
I read earlier in your first post I think that you said you were drinking a lot - have you cut back now? I was wondering if this is why your grocery shop is so high? sorry if it sounds nosy
Your water rates are low - we pay £45 a month here

I dont have as much debt as you but I have 3 children and I work 2 jobs as my OH has depression - it is hard but your not the only one and your right about it being for the future. It just seems to get more expensive as they get older
Nat

Im on the road to cutting back and it's probably not helped with the shopping costs. I don't really mind working ft but I've had a hard time the last six years there and I hate being there but I'm doing this for my family so I have a good reason to fight and get on with it.

thejames

We're cutting the credut cards up tonight!

We've also decided to use cash and leave debit cards at home locked up. :eek:

Happytogetdebtfree

Wow that's a big step well done :-) xx