Hi diddly dee, a whole new life for me...

mintymoneysaver

So here I am, and hoping others will join me on my journey. As of today I am a single mum to my two girls. Hubby and I have not been getting on for a long time, have totally grown apart and decided a good few months ago that this needed to happen. It has been a totally horrible few weeks, and I know it's going to take a good while to get better but it's very amicable. I'll probably like him a lot better, once he's not here anymore! We've told everyone that needs to know and today he has started taking stuff to his new flat which he'll finalise over the weekend. Our girls have taken it hard, as they were bound to, but they are lovely sensible girls of 18 and 14 who will eventually realise that this will be the best thing to do.

So I'm now in total control of my own destiny ( and finances!) I have always been in charge of money and kept a fairly good grip of everything ( Martin has been my saviour) but I now need to make sure everything goes where it should, when it should and that there's enough left over for a little treat or two!

I work 3 days a week ( although have asked if this could be upped to 4 in September, but that depends on what people who are coming back from maternity leave want) Hubby will be paying maintenance so I'm just starting out on the road to financial freedom!

So far I've cancelled Sky sports :T and phoned the tax credits people. I have to send a letter to the council for a council tax reduction so I will do that this afternoon. I will post up a SOA in the next 24 hours, and then hopefully you'll all pitch in to help!
I'm having a break from facebook for the next few weeks till I get my head sorted, so hopefully this thread can keep me entertained instead!:rotfl:

scottishspendaholic

Hi minty,

I just wanted to wish you lots of love and luck - sounds like you're well on the road to financial freedom! Do you have debts (joint or single) you want to tackle? Will you be losing 1 lot of child benefit this summer or will you get it for longer?

Xxx

mintymoneysaver

Thankyou so much. I will lose one lot of child benefit unfortunately, but then I'll also lose a child as she'll be off to the big wide world of Uni, but I have spoken to the child tax credit people and it looks like I will get more from that ( at least for a few months) than I was expecting. I have got 2 debts, one to my mum of £2000 towards my car which is thankfully interest free and also payable on an as and when basis. The other is a credit card debt of about £2300 which is on 0% till next March. That's just in my name, and I'm quite happy to pay it back myself without hubby even knowing it exists ( long story!) I'll hopefully sort out all my SOA to put it on here tomorrow and people could help with that.
Tonight will consist of helping my youngest to pack as she's going away for the weekend with her Grandma, and having tea all together as hubby isn't officially going till tomorrow. Tomorrow he will be taking the last of his things, and I'm keeping out of the way having a lovely lunch with a friend.

mintymoneysaver

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2 ( but one is 18)
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1480
Partners monthly income after tax..... 0
Benefits( child tax credit)................ not sure yet
Child benefit...........................£134
Other income............................ 300 maintenance
Total monthly income.................... £1910 ( plus child tax credit)

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 226
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. £90 ( approx- waiting for discount)
Electricity +Gas...............£92 ( review this regularly online)
Water rates............................. 50.00
Telephone/ internet/ tv .......£56
Mobile phone ( 3 of them)............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries etc. ................. 400
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Car Insurance........................... 33.00
Medical (Denplan).... £20
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 12
Total monthly expenses.................. 1188.00


Assets
Cash.................................... £875
House value (Gross)..................... £150,000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4,800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets........................... 0ver£160,000.

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 37,000...226...... tracker

Total secured & HP debts...... ....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Barclaycard.................2400.......34..........0%
Mum............................2000 as and when 0%

Total unsecured debts..........4400

mintymoneysaver

A bit more detail.... we have always had a joint bills account which all the above bills come out of. We are keeping this for now ( though i have the only card) and it has going into it £800 from me, £300 from maintenance, the child benefit and any tax credits that I will get. I may need to think about the amount I put in but I'm going to leave it running at that level for a month or two and see what happens.

We then used to have a joint spending/ saving account which we both put £300 into. This has now stopped and the balance was transferred to my ISA.

So in theory I will then have £600 a month to spend on any car/ clothing/ hairdressing/ household/ expenses that come up. My aim is to transfer anything that's left over in my account at the end of the month to the ISA and use this for any major expenses/ holidays etc. I suppose that's where I'm going to have to be more careful. I know there is enough for the bills, but I need to start being more careful with the luxuries so that I can afford these things as and when they crop up! I have got a Tesco credit card which i will use, but I aim to use it for the points and then transfer the money across straight away so that it doesn't end up with me owing any money on it.

I have already slipped up today by treating myself to a new top, but I reckoned I deserved it after the week I've been through plus I've got a couple of things ending on ebay on Sunday so that should cover it!

I'm a competition fan too, so any wins from those can be used as Christmas, birthday presents hopefully.

My husband movd the last of his stuff today so i'm keeping myself busy by going on here. Going to get myself a nice glass of wine in a few minutes and settle down with the phone as I have a few close friends that I need to tell. They'll be very understanding but it's stomach churning having to tell people. Having said that everyone has been absolutely lovely, my in laws phoned me today and couldn't have been nicer...

Standingtall

Hi Mintymoneysaver and welcome to the world of single parenthood:beer:

Just one thing I wanted to draw your attention to. I have a take home pay just a little higher than yours and have one child remaining at home. My tax credits have just been stopped completely. The moral is - please do not depend on them because I suspect you will not get them for long. My suspicion is that you will only get them until your eldest goes to uni.

Nonetheless you look to be in comfortable position, mainly due to your low mortgage.

Best of luck:j

josiebabie

Didn't want to read and run!

When I became a single mum nearly two years ago this website taught me everything I needed to get myself through it!
I now am speeding through debt repayments, have a lovely new boyfriend and more money than when me and 'im we're together!

Wishing you so much luck xxx

mintymoneysaver

Standingtall wrote: »

Hi Mintymoneysaver and welcome to the world of single parenthood:beer:

Just one thing I wanted to draw your attention to. I have a take home pay just a little higher than yours and have one child remaining at home. My tax credits have just been stopped completely. The moral is - please do not depend on them because I suspect you will not get them for long. My suspicion is that you will only get them until your eldest goes to uni.

Nonetheless you look to be in comfortable position, mainly due to your low mortgage.

Best of luck:j

Thankyou, I'm pretty sure you're right. I'm going to make the most of it while it lasts but I'll make sure I inform them as soon as circumstances change. I think the cut off is £26000 isn't it? If I go to 4 days whcih I have asked for ( but it totally depends on whether that will be available) then it would definitely take me above that. When she does go away thankfully we have been saving in my husband's share sceme at work so we will be able to help her out without it eating into my budget at all. She'll also hopefully get a few more bursaries etc now than she would have done.

I suppose eventually at some point I will have to try and buy my husband out but he is not in any rush for that to happen at the moment, as he says, it's a home for our daughters.

Josie, thanks for your kind words, I do know it's for the best, it's just still a bit surreal at the moment.

mintymoneysaver

Rather strange having the bed to myself last night, but I guess I'll get used to it. I've had it to myself before as husband often took himself off ( as did I) to things with friends. We always were uite independent of each other especially in the last few years. Had a lovely talk with my sister last night which made me laugh. She said something about us both changing ( me and OH) and I said "It worries me when people say that because I worry about how I've changed" and she said "I think when everyone says that they're just being polite, you haven't changed at all, it's just him who changed into someone not particularly nice!"

Off to Wales for the day today to meet up with my mum and daughter, and also the friends they are staying with. Dropping daughter and her boyfriend off in Llandudno where I think they're going to do a bit of walking as he's in training for the 3 peaks challenge. She's never done so much exercise since she started going out with him!

Barbeduk

Hi Minty,

You seem to be coping really well given the circumstances. Hope you have a lovely time in Wales.

Only thing I can really recommend is the grocery challenge, the April thread is up and running. Really helps to keep you on track with that part of your budget. Have managed to keep my spends to £260 a month for 4 of us, was probably in excess of £500 this time last year.

Good luck.:)

mintymoneysaver

Great day, and managed to speak to one of our closest friends today who I haven't had chance to tell yet. They were lovely which always makes me feel better. People including our parents have been so good and understanding.
I will have a look at the grocery challenge, I do waste far too much money on food!