Advice needed please

katsu

Some ideas below that may help you.

Tripletdad wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1 (plus 1 company car) can you perhaps give up the other car for the remaining year? That money would help you clear debts, not increase them as you are currently doing.

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1965
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 586.12
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2551.12

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 755
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50 These 2 still seem high. Got energy saving bulbs, things turned off where possible, lined curtains etc?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 65.46
Telephone (land line)................... 9.1
Mobile phone............................ 50 I'd cut this down. Look at things like giffgaff for £10 a month with loads of minutes. If you both go for GG then your calls to each other are fre so you should be able to get this to £20 or less.
TV Licence.............................. 11.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 11.49
Groceries etc. ......................... 600
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 48.41
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 are you saving this in a separate account?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 200
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 43.77 do you get cover at work (often you get say 4x your salary)? Check if that gives you enough cover and whether you could then reduce or cancel this policy.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100 as you said the other child expenses were entertaining the kids, where does this £100 go?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2420.73


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 230000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 232000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 195000...(755)......3.95 (variable) 7 (fixed)
Total secured & HP debts...... 195000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Argos Card.....................700.......10........29.9
Barclaycard CC.................4200......95........7
Barclays Overdraft.............1900......25........19.3
Santander Overdrafts...........3050......40........daily fee
Capital One CC.................800.......45........unknown (partners card)
Total unsecured debts..........10650.....215.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,551.12
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,420.73
Available for debt repayments........... 130.39
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 215
Amount short for making debt repayments. -84.61

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 232,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -195,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,650
Net Assets.............................. 26,350

vickthestick

Tripletdad wrote: »

The child related expenses I have based on an average spend of £50 a week that we spend entertaining the kids. This will be less in the summer when all they need is a park to run around in but in the winter with 4 kids 5 or under unless you can take them out to soft play, activity areas, play groups etc most days they just become stir crazy I the house! It's something I've targeted to cut back on as I think there are plenty of free things that kids love to do. My partner thinks this will be difficult and I don't disagree but needs must.

Hi, I have 6 children so understand entirely what you are saying about keeping them entertained in order to keep your sanity :rotfl:
However... that's a lot of money that you really need to cut back on and this is where your wife has to contribute to the family effort...

As you say, brighter days are on the way so trips to the park, with or without picnics, and arranged with other yummy mummies for adult conversation, are a great free option.
Look out for Doors Open Days, where local castles and houses open their doors for free. Look out for open days for other places too, like our local university's annual open day has fire engines visiting etc. What about countryside ranger events where escorted walks etc are usually free. And don't forget to go and feed ducks. Our local church coffee morning is open for 2 hours with refillable coffee at £1 and juice at 50p with loads of free play for the kids and is a good place to meet up with other small people. We have a ceramic painting place near us with free soft play for 2 hours for the price of a coffee... do you have one? Or just arrange play dates in each other's gardens on a rota.
The councils provides free play events during holidays. Look at their website for info.
Some of my girls are at school - make sure you make the most of lunch and afterschool clubs for your older daughter as they are usually free.
Look at everything locally. And if you can get there without a car, so much the cheaper.

FireWyrm

Keeping kids entertained....


I have two lively girls and although not as many as you, the principle is the same.

1) crafts...decorate the house day. It doesn't have to be Christmas for paper chains. I periodically declare a weekend for this purpose. Prizes are awarded for the best pictures, best ideas etc. Dump a box of coloured paper, glue, glitter, paints etc on the kitchen table and let them have at it.

2) cooking days. If they want cakes, they're going to have to make them as I can't afford to buy them. Eggs, flour, colourings, flarouings etc need not cost the earth. Children have to read me the recipe and tell me what to do. I'm just the kitchen help, they are the chefs. Likewise, periodic dinners where the children can raid my library of recipes and decide on a three course meal for us. My two (7 and 5) are the queens of fusion cooking. Interesting and extremely fun.

3) scavenger hunts. Hide a couple of handful of sweets around the house...send them off to look for them.

4) walks in the country side. Prizes offered for identifying the greatest number of species of trees, plants and animals.

5) we have a concrete patio. A box of chalks and they spend hours decorating it and making murals.

6) planting. It's spring and it's time to dig over the boxes and get them ready for the planting.

7) car washing. A couple of buckets of water, some suds and no particular care how wet and dirty they get...great fun.

8) parks. Public parks are a haven for wildlife and a great place for kids to run and play. A ball, a stick for a bat and you have a basic rounders game like we used to play when we were young.

9) more making stuff....a pound of clay is relatively cheap and I have a number of fairly decent sculptures and plates that mean more to me than anything I've ever bought. We have a local potter who fires them for us, but it doesn't mean you cant get unglazed coffee mugs and paint them yourself. There are a number of 'clubs' that offer this.

10) no tv day. TV gets unplugged, it's up to the kids to figure out something to do.

Linz4383

you could always make your own playdoh too... doesnt take long or cost much

http://www.playdoughrecipe.com/no-tartar-playdough-recipe/

please-let-me-be-lucky

Some brilliant free kids ideas already posted and I must admit I do most of these. Paid days out like farms/zoos etc are rare treats which I try to get as offers on LivingSocial or Groupon for a fraction of the cost. However, Just to add, most cinemas have a kids club which shows films for £1 per child (adults go free!) on weekend mornings and daily through the school holidays. They aren't the latest films but not too out of date either. For example, our local Odeon is showing Puss in Boots this week. If you take your own drinks and sweets its a cheap(er) day out.

You can also join places like English Heritage and National Trust for an initial annual cost but then you can go as often as you like all year. It may seem a lot to pay say £70 upfront but its a godsend in the 6 weeks holidays that its bought and paid for. Most of these places are £20 per family per trip so 4 days out and you're in profit.