Need help, where do I go from here?

muppetyness

Hi, here is our current Statement of Affairs:

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... ...2 (but one is a scrap car with SORN)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................
Partners monthly income after tax.......1613.57
Tax credits.......................................588.28
Child benefit.....................................188.40
Total monthly income.....................2390.25

Monthly Expense Details
Rent................................................758.33
Council tax.......................................107
Electricity.........................................44
Oil..................................................150
Water rates......................................21.10
Telephone (land line).........................20
Mobile phone (x2 locked in contract)....64
TV Licence........................................12.12
Satellite/Cable TV..............................24.50
Internet Services................................25.52 (this is permanent, Partner telecommutes and needs a good reliable broadband connection as part of his employment contract)
Groceries (food, pet food, toiletries, childrens clubs)......450
Clothing................................
Petrol/diesel......................................160 (We live rurally hence the high costs here)
Road tax...........................................20
Car Insurance.....................................56.40 (this is for both of us)
Car maintenance (including MOT)..........40
RAC membership................................10.11
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)........7.40
Pet insurance/vet bills.........................23.25
Contents insurance.............................18.05
Presents (birthday, christmas etc).........20
Entertainment....................................15
Holiday..............................................0
Emergency fund...................................0
Total monthly expenses.................£2046.78


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
Car(s)..................................less than £800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ £800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description......................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
MBNA Virgin credit card.....5392.09.....115.........?
Nationwide platinumcard...4653.........130.........?
Barclays overdraft.............450...........10..........?
Nationwide overdraft.........500...........0............?
Next Catalogue.................813..........90...........?
Total unsecured debts......11808.09....345.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... £2390.25
Expenses......................................£2046.78
Monthly debt payments...................£345
Total left.......................................-£1.53


Our tax credits may go down in April, I am not sure. We had a change in circumstance the year before last so our income figures for this past year will be higher. (My partner changed his job) We have no savings so cannot afford to move due to having no deposit or rent in advance. My partner has no bank accounts, everything is in my name and I don't work, am a stay at home mum.
I do not know where to go from here, we currently have no arrears, but if our tax credits go down we will be in trouble and not able to live on what we have. I make most meals myself from scratch including bread etc, do not buy branded stuff where possible. Sky needs to be got rid of, not sure what else I can cut

Please help, what would be the best way forward?

GeorgieFTB

muppetyness wrote: »

Groceries (food, pet food, toiletries, childrens clubs)......450:eek:
Total left.......................................-£1.53


Our tax credits may go down in April, I am not sure. We had a change in circumstance the year before last so our income figures for this past year will be higher. (My partner changed his job) We have no savings so cannot afford to move due to having no deposit or rent in advance. My partner has no bank accounts, everything is in my name and I don't work, am a stay at home mum.
I do not know where to go from here, we currently have no arrears, but if our tax credits go down we will be in trouble and not able to live on what we have. I make most meals myself from scratch including bread etc, do not buy branded stuff where possible. Sky needs to be got rid of, not sure what else I can cut

Please help, what would be the best way forward?

Good news is you only have to make up £1.53... do you really?? or are you like everyone else and the numbers feel about right but you know there is more money flowing out somewhere... a spending diary is the best solution just write down every little thing that gets spent, my downfall is the work vending machine, but yours will most definately be different.

The other thing to look at is your grocery spend, split out the kids clubs to give you what you really spend then hed on over to the old style board, they should be able to give you many tips to cut spending without cutting quality.

Good luck
Gx

his_missus

Hi!

Is there any way of cutting down the grocery bills? Meal planning - using cheaper cuts of meat and cook longer maybe, shopping at a budget supermarket, buying bulk. Old style forum has loads of ideas for lowering shopping spends.

Keep a spending diary, write down everything you buy, you may be able to find a way to save money (eg. if hubby is buying lunch out, could take a packed lunch)

How many pets do you have? £23 seems a lot if it's just for one dog/cat, try shopping around for a cheaper quote.
Can you buy oil cheaper anywhere else? See if switching electricity supplier will save you anything.
You could always shop around for cheaper mobiles when contracts end.

It's not much help but I'm sure others will be along soon and will be able to offer more advice xx

muppetyness

We just have the one dog, a whippet. We use petplan as they are the only ones who will pay straight to the vet, if we had a very large bill, we wouldnt be able to pay it then claim back as there is just no spare cash anymore.

I meal plan at the start of each month using google calender whilst doing my online shop.
Sometimes I go instore for the main shop, so adjust for what I find on offer. I still have to buy nappies for 2 of my children, they are too big for cloth nappies now. I use cheap cuts of meat mostly for roasts, value mince and chicken even though I would prefer more ethical stuff. Also cheap sausages for at least one meal a week. We also eat at my parents one day a week, partly to visit them, and also to save on food. The kids also eat there on Wednesdays. I will normally make an extra single pie or something and freeze it for my partner for those days when making a family dinner earlier in the week, I will just have toast etc when I get in with the children. (wed is brownies and rainbows night) My partner eats at home as he works at home, the children all have packed lunches rather than school dinners.

I have started using lidl for bread/milk/veg top ups.

The kids clubs are 3.20 per week, brownies and rainbows. I will also normally buy things like new underwear etc in supermarkets so that sometimes comes in as part of the groceries.

Thanks for the suggestions so far

HappyBunny

You've got sausages and wedges tonight? Can we all come?
Regards AA/RAC cover, when the renewal comes up, give both of them a ring and play them off against each other to get most discount. Also price check for Green Flag and other companies.

muppetyness

GeorgieFTB wrote: »

Good news is you only have to make up £1.53... do you really?? or are you like everyone else and the numbers feel about right but you know there is more money flowing out somewhere... a spending diary is the best solution just write down every little thing that gets spent, my downfall is the work vending machine, but yours will most definately be different.

The other thing to look at is your grocery spend, split out the kids clubs to give you what you really spend then hed on over to the old style board, they should be able to give you many tips to cut spending without cutting quality.

Good luck
Gx

The main place money flows out on i think is the car. We have had to pay over 1000 since october, service, MOT, windscreen etc. It wipe d all our Christmas savings and more. I already use a cheap local mechanic so can't really cut that cost. The estimate above is probably a little conservative tbh!

I have cut impulse buys in the supermarket right down now. Rarely buy choccy bars here and there as I used too but just can't seem to reduce it. I will try the spending diary and see if I can see anything problematic.

I just don't know how to deal with the spiralling debts

muppetyness

HappyBunny wrote: »

You've got sausages and wedges tonight? Can we all come?
Regards AA/RAC cover, when the renewal comes up, give both of them a ring and play them off against each other to get most discount. Also price check for Green Flag and other companies.

Lol, only if you are not opposed to the really cheap factory floor sweepings sausages and home made wedges!

Rac again is for both of us, I did check packages carefully when I joined and they were cheapest. Will check when it is renewal time though

Supadupa

Hello there,

Just having a quick read and two things I thought of that might help. I have twins in nappies and two dogs and I've found some good savings by buying the nappies and dog food through Amazon's subscribe and save.

Basically I get the nappies and a big bag of food delivered straight to my door once a month - saves me a fair bit in price plus I don't have to worry about lugging them around the supermarket :j

Might be worth looking into. Good luck!

kerri_gt

Is there anything you can do to bring in some additional income? You sound like you have one little one at home full time which of course makes it more difficult but what about some childminding or something perhaps at the weekend when your OH could look after the kids? I know it's not idea in terms of you spending time together but in the short term it could bring in some additional cash.

Do you have anything you can ebay or sell locally or at a car boot perhaps? Also, if the 2nd car is SORN, have you looked into selling that for scrap?

Can you get one of the two in nappies out of them? Reading that you have to pay for Rainbows and Brownies suggest the oldest two are at least 4/5 and 7. If that's correct, does a 4/5yr old really need nappies? Even if it's just at nighttime, perhaps it would be worth going through the training to get him/her out of them (of course if it's a medical condition I hope I haven't caused offence, and if so, can you get assistance with the costs there?)

Do you grow any of your own veg? It could be worth looking into - lots of people have spare seeds, try posting on Freegle/Freecycle or see if there is a local allotment/gardening society you could get in contact with - it would be great for the kids to get involved with.

I also suggest that you check the APRs on your debts as you haven't included those. And if you haven't already, ditch the Next catalogue - it will only sit there as tempation. If the kids need more clothes, look for hand me downs from friends, or again check out Freecycle as kids clothes get offered a lot on there.

muppetyness

kerri_gt wrote: »

Is there anything you can do to bring in some additional income? You sound like you have one little one at home full time which of course makes it more difficult but what about some childminding or something perhaps at the weekend when your OH could look after the kids? I know it's not idea in terms of you spending time together but in the short term it could bring in some additional cash.

Do you have anything you can ebay or sell locally or at a car boot perhaps? Also, if the 2nd car is SORN, have you looked into selling that for scrap?

Can you get one of the two in nappies out of them? Reading that you have to pay for Rainbows and Brownies suggest the oldest two are at least 4/5 and 7. If that's correct, does a 4/5yr old really need nappies? Even if it's just at nighttime, perhaps it would be worth going through the training to get him/her out of them (of course if it's a medical condition I hope I haven't caused offence, and if so, can you get assistance with the costs there?)

Do you grow any of your own veg? It could be worth looking into - lots of people have spare seeds, try posting on Freegle/Freecycle or see if there is a local allotment/gardening society you could get in contact with - it would be great for the kids to get involved with.

I also suggest that you check the APRs on your debts as you haven't included those. And if you haven't already, ditch the Next catalogue - it will only sit there as tempation. If the kids need more clothes, look for hand me downs from friends, or again check out Freecycle as kids clothes get offered a lot on there.

Hi, my middle daughter is still in night nappies at six. We are currently under a enurisis clinic to try and cure this, she is about to go on medication. Believe me, if we could get her out of nappies we would have lol. I did ask about getting her nappies on prescription but was told I couldn't as their aim was to get her out of them?!?

The little one has just come out of daytime nappies but still wets at night.

We have tried growing veg before, most got ate by rabbits and bugs lol. We are looking into it again, but are stumped as to how to pay for rabbit proofing etc. Will go see if I can find out a cheap way of doing this, as one of the only good things about this house is the size of the garden. Lots of space for veg plot.

I stopped using next, it was the only way I could afford clothes for us previously and also we got our fridgefreezer when the last one died, from them in the sale. Hence the size of that bill. (they were actually cheaper than the usual high street appliance stores)

With regards to me finding work, I am a trained nanny so could possibly do babysitting work, there's no way this house would be cleared for childminding tbh.
The only thing I worry about is that this would decrease our tax credits so I can't see how we would be better off, also I do not know how to go about paying tax on babysitting as it is all cash in hand. I could go down the supermarket job route, but again, anything I make would surely be knocked of our tax credits making us no better off?

Please correct me if I am wrong wrt tax credits!

When smallest starts school I will look for work to fit around that but it probably won't make us any better off...

anh1904

If a car is on SORN, then if you can, strip it for parts and Ebay, you'll get much more than the scrap value.
Look at RAC/AA, I think the family membership for one on the site is about £45 annually.
Over £70 for your phone, TV and BB is high, there must be room to negotiate with Sky/Virgin/BT to get a better deal.
Given you only run the one car, your uinsurance seems very high at over £600 - is that right?
Only needing to find a couple of £££s to break even, you should then reduce debt and snowball.
If you can find anything to bring in extra cash (DVDs, CDs, Books, etc) then all the better.
Good luck.