How to afford full time childcare working full time?

katekat

Please could some of you help me to answer the question, what do we do wrong.
We have a total income of £47,000 per household (South East), 2 adulds, 2 children, age 1 and 5. So far we we paying only 2 days per week for a childminder for my OS and OH worked evenings and weekends to be able to stay at home with OS for 3 days per week. Still, we struggled with debt having a regular overdraft which grew regurarly every month.
Now we are faced with a situation that my OH need to change his job and go back working 9-5, same as I work at the moment. We would have to face over £800 per month for a childminder, plus I would have to reduce my working hours and income to be able to do school runs...
I read some opinions people live of a £30k per year salary per household, having to pay mortgage etc, and still had some pocket money left over. Are there any benefits from the govmnt if there is just one person working? We do not qualify for any tax credits or benefits due to income, eventhough we can hardly afford paying £360 per month, not to mention £800!! :mad:

I am quite devastated and not sure what to do... what are the areas where you can save in the easiest way? Majority of our cost goes to mortgage (£800), council tax (bloody £150) , bills, loan, petrol, car etc. Food and grocery is a big struggle to reduce, spending min. £100 per week.

Any of you been there done that?

Many thanks,

K.

19lottie82

hi OP - get yourself over to the debt free wannabe section of the board and post up a Statement of Affairs (SOA), the posters there are great at helping people out when it comes to saving money and cutting costs.

onlyroz

Do your employers provide childcare vouchers? Because if you both claim the maximum amount of £243 a month each then this should save you around £100 a month in tax.

Other than that I'd suggest looking at ways to reduce your outgoings (I think the debt forum can help with this if you post a statement of affairs) or increasing your income, e.g. by one of you taking an additional evening/weekend job.

You might want to "shop around" for childcare because the price does vary between childminders and nurseries. Also, when your youngest turns 3 they will qualify for the 15 free hours. So you're basically looking at tightening your belts for another few years until both children are at school, and then you'll only have to worry about wrap around care.

Are there any relatives who might be able to do a day or two a week?

katekat

Hiya, I'm already using Childcare vouchers, but not sure if they will have them at OH's new job....

Does it mean it is normal to get in debt while children are small, they you pay it off whle to grow bigger?

I wish I had family over to help, both of us have no family to help out...

I will check out the SOA, many thanks.

fannyanna

I think you’re going to need to post your SOA in order to get any true value from responses. Are you prepared to do that?

People are very helpful and I’m sure they will be able to come up with some solutions for you. You might find that you can cut back on some bills somewhere to fee up some money. Or you might find that you’re able to survive on one income so that one of you can stay at home and provide the childcare. I know that probably sounds crazy but as you’ve just found out childcare can cost a fortune and sometimes it makes financial sense to stay at home rather than work and pay your whole salary to someone else.

sassyblue

katekat wrote: »

Hiya, I'm already using Childcare vouchers, but not sure if they will have them at OH's new job....

Does it mean it is normal to get in debt while children are small, they you pay it off whle to grow bigger?

I wish I had family over to help, both of us have no family to help out...

I will check out the SOA, many thanks.

What's your mortgage like? Amount left and years left to pay? Interest only or repayment?

I'm sure once you've done your SOA you'll be able to survive on hubbys wage.... There's loads of tips on the oldstyle and grocery shopping boards. Where do you shop too? Aldis and Lidls are the best value for money and the products are very good.

I'm interested in your predicament because once l've given up work we'll be existing on less than 30K but l think it's do-able (well hopefully in our situation :cool:)
xx

onlyroz

katekat wrote: »

Does it mean it is normal to get in debt while children are small, they you pay it off whle to grow bigger?

No, I wouldn't say it's normal to get into debt, but I think it's fairly common to have a few years either living on one income or paying most of a salary in childcare.

I do know of people who paid pretty much their entire salary in childcare because they did not want to harm their career prospects by taking an extended break. You basically have to decide what is best for your individual family's needs.

Another thought - might it be possible for you or your partner to put in a flexible working request to adjust your hours around your childcare needs? E.g. if your husband started early and ended early, while you started late and ended late it might mean that you don't need quite so much childcare.

Every parent has the right to request flexible working arrangements and your employer has to have a sound business reason for refusing your request.

sassyblue

Some more thoughts..... Initially this is going to be difficult for you for two years, as your 1 year old will get some free time at nursery when they turn 3 - you could get a part time job then? So aim for that timeframe?

Maybe you could restructure the mortgage so for those two years you are only paying the interest, but once you go back to work full time or part time you can up the payments again?

Could you get an evening job? Some of my mum friends work in supermarkets in the evening. What do you do now?

Any

£100 on groceries with such a small kids is a lot....
You must be able to get that down!!

I agree you will need to post statement of affairs.. and yes, it is fairly normal to be on a breadline when little ones are very little.

Some people also get into debt, feeling they still should have fulfilling life and latest items, but then spend most of the rest of their lives paying it back, so it is definintely not advisable long term!

If you think about it, you get into the debt now, then school kicks in, then you just about live fine but debts not being touched, interest adding on and on... until children leave home and then you are faced with 10 years repayment schedule.. that is very tight, would one of you lose job anywhere in this timeline you are in very very deep sugar.

Mrs_Imp

We can't afford full-time childcare. At the moment I work 2 days a week, and don't earn enough to pay tax. I take home £20 a week after childcare and petrol. If I were to work full-time, I'd still take home £20 a week after childcare and petrol.

When no 2 arrives it would cost me £30 a day to go to work :eek: Unfortunately, for some families, going back to work is simply not an affordable option.

pinkshoes

I think it's just a case of balancing the books and prioritising any left over money. Our joint income this year is £44k, and our childcare is £1000 a month (1 child), but we manage just fine...

No debts though for us, except the mortgage. At weekends we tend to go and do FREE things, and I meal plan to keep the weekly shopping bill down, so our outgoings are reasonably low and predictable.