Pregnant and in debt!

skoszel

Hi,

My partner and I have just discovered that I am 3 weeks pregnant, however we are both starting new jobs in a matter of days and have a ridiculous amount of debt due to silly mistakes when younger and recent relocation. Of course, we want the baby and if it wasn't for the debt would be over-the-moon, but at the moment this has us worried sick. My partner has recently started studying and changed jobs into a completely different industry and therefore has cut salary by half per month. I am due to start a new job in just a few days but have 2 large loans and overdraft under my name and accounts, which worries me when it comes to paying for this when on maternity (this is currently amounting to 650 per month!!!).

Any help and advise would be very much appreciated, we feel blessed for our new career opportunities and of course starting a family - but equally completely out of our depth!

CLAPTON

skoszel wrote: »

Hi,

My partner and I have just discovered that I am 3 weeks pregnant, however we are both starting new jobs in a matter of days and have a ridiculous amount of debt due to silly mistakes when younger and recent relocation. Of course, we want the baby and if it wasn't for the debt would be over-the-moon, but at the moment this has us worried sick. My partner has recently started studying and changed jobs into a completely different industry and therefore has cut salary by half per month. I am due to start a new job in just a few days but have 2 large loans and overdraft under my name and accounts, which worries me when it comes to paying for this when on maternity (this is currently amounting to 650 per month!!!).

Any help and advise would be very much appreciated, we feel blessed for our new career opportunities and of course starting a family - but equally completely out of our depth!

obviously you have already (or at least from this morning) have stopped spending : babies cost very little when young)

need to know your incomes, debt details and spending (just reduced from now) before one can give much advice.

best to repost on the debt free wannabe board and post up full details of your spending, income, debts (SOA) - lots of people in similar situations, lots of money saving advice and lots of support


and congratulations and best wishes for the baby.

skoszel

Hi,

My partner and I have just discovered that I am 3 weeks pregnant, however we are both starting new jobs in a matter of days and have a ridiculous amount of debt due to silly mistakes when younger and recent relocation. Of course, we want the baby and if it wasn't for the debt would be over-the-moon, but at the moment this has us worried sick. My partner has recently started studying and changed jobs into a completely different industry and therefore has cut salary by half per month. I am due to start a new job in just a few days but have 2 large loans and overdraft under my name and accounts, which worries me when it comes to paying for this when on maternity (this is currently amounting to 650 per month!!!).

Any help and advise would be very much appreciated, we feel blessed for our new career opportunities and of course starting a family - but equally completely out of our depth!

skoszel

Hi Clapton,

Thank you! Our spending, income and debt details is as follows;

OH income - 820
My income (approximate as starting new job) - 1450
Total income - 2270

575 - rent
130 - council tax
30 - gas
30 - electricity
30 - water
10 - tv licence
45 - internet/tv
120 - food
230 - fuel
30 - car maintenance
45 - car insurance
10 - pet insurance
20 - dog food and vet, etc
40 - going out (meals, drinks, cinema, etc)
90 - mobiles
35 - haircuts
40 - gym
10 - spotify(!!)
Total outgoings - 1520

315 - loan I (under my accounts)
330 - loan II (under my accounts)
100 - credit card (under OH accounts)
40 - Argos card
40 - minimum overdraft and account fees
60 - OH and account fees OH
debt outgoings - 885

Total outgoings after debt and outgoings - 2405
Overall - -135 per month

We believe that this is everything. The main worry at the moment is how all this (both outgoing and debt) would be paid for when I am on maternity and how maternity would work as I am starting a new job.

Any advise welcome...please!!!

DCFC79

Are the 2 mobiles on contract and due to come to an end ? £90 a month is a huge amount at £1080 (a yearly cost) to spend. There are cheaper sim only deals out there.

Do you need the spotify ?

How far are you from the shops and how many cars do you have ? If you have 2 cars could you keep the most practical one and sell the other and use the proceeds to overpay the loans.

GwylimT

£90 on mobiles, what on earth are you doing with them!

Cancel your spotify, cut down on your going out, if possible cancel your gym membership. However, if there is anything you cancel, make sure you use it for decent purposes, e.g. not going into an over draft, it is easy to end up spending it else where. If you take maternity leave you will naturally be cutting down on fuel as you wont need to get to work, so whatever you spend on fuel you can cut down significantly if you take ML.

What do you spend £30 a month on for car maintenance, or are you averaging what you would spend over a year/putting away as a car emergency fund?

We have three children, they are only as expensive as you need them, the only thing you really need is a car seat, nappies and clothes, clothes can be bought very cheaply, you don't need to spend a lot of nappies and for the length of time that you use them a good car seat is a good investment and works out very reasonable per use.

notanewuser

If you're already pregnant you are unlikely to be eligible for SMP from your new employer but could possibly claim maternity allowance instead.

Tiglath

Is £35 on haircuts really required? Mobiles + haircuts alone are £125 of the £135 you're over budget. Reduce your broadband + TV costs if you can as well.

skoszel

Thank you for all your replies - we have not yet announced the pregnancy so it's nice to know there's advise and support out there.

Our mobiles are on contracts, OH is 50 and mine is 40. Neither of which can be downgraded or cancelled without pre-payment. Is there a way around this?!

I shall certainly be cancelling spotify and gym membership this week.

We only have the one car, so the maintenance of 30 is worked out monthly across the year (tax, mot, service, tyres and emergency!)

As for haircuts, I have found a hairdresser for 10 and only have it cut every couple of months, so this is saved!

Is there any recommended loan companies for consolidation out there? We are hoping that consolidation together could be an option?!

CLAPTON

how much is each individual debt and what is the APR ?

flamingo747

Not much help on the debts side, but as for baby bit
*make sure you claim everything you can, dont forget you should get £81 q month child benefit once baby arrives (though obviously depends on income nowadays)
*look into reusable nappies
*start buying little bits as you go to spread the cost
*freecycle and local sales groups can be a godsend
*have a think which friends and family may have hand me downs they'll give you
*dont forget you'll get tons of presents especially clothes
*don't buy loads of maternity clothes, you aren't in it long!

Congratulations!