Baby on the way and SOA

Compingchris

Evening all. Thanks again for the advice.
MallyGirl, that is a fantastic idea. I will do that as I'm quite keen to save the money but would always worry what to do it I needed to get home.

[Deleted User]

Compingchris wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1805
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3005

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 965
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 165 - If this is over 10 months, swapping to 12 month will reduce it to £137-50.
Electricity............................. 44
Gas..................................... 44
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 - You could reduce this to about £20 for two phones.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 80
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 - Never?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings insurance..................... 6
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 7
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0 - Nothing?
Emergency fund.......................... 150
Total monthly expenses.................. 2098.12


Assets
Cash.................................... 3000
House value (Gross)..................... 260000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 266000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 197000...(965)......4.14
Total secured & HP debts...... 197000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,005
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,098.12
Available for debt repayments........... 906.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 906.88

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 266,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -197,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 69,000

I've added a few comments but, TBH, I can't see much wrong with your SOA.

Given you have over £900 left, have you considered using some of it to overpay your mortgage?

If you increased your mortgage payment to £1,500, you would have it paid off in 175 months (rather than the current 352 months), and save yourself £77,610 in interest.

Prothet_of_Doom

TBH your car sharing vs emergency problem ? IF it truely is an emergency, then most 'decent' Bosses would drive you themselves, and the worst might phone you a taxi. If the taxi cost £25, you'd need 4 emergencies every month not to break even. Not very likely is it ?

My problem with car sharing is you are compromised on when you go home. If the driver, desperately needs to stay another half hour, it's churlish to stand hovering over him, waiting to go, and can get frustrating, if you don't set up the rules in advance.
When our kids were little, I had nobody who lived within 5 miles of me, but I did have an "emergency" arrangement with 2 blokes, where if either of us had a car problem, one of the others would be happy to go out of thier way for a few days.

ampersand

Hello Cc - Congratulations first and foremost, quickly followed by same to EverTheOptimist and her post 11.

Car share is not the way if you take on a 2nd job, even temporarily, and would limit those options.

If breastfeeding is encouraged and possible -
http://www.laleche.org.uk/
[search out your local contacts], Mrs Cc will bloom and any pregnancy weight gain will fall away. Big savings is just another benefit:-)

Check/Post on freecycle for littl'un's buggy/pusher/stroller. You can recycle it yourselves when it's outgrown.

Read Martin's main article on comping:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/make-money-surveys

and take your pick. You'll receive loads of advice and it will be an easy way for MrsCc to do something in the little pockets of time between tending baby.

A friend likes http://www.tickBox/, perhaps because she had 2 immediate wins, John Lewis and Homebase vouchers totalling £750!
[mse doesn't let me write it all in lower case, dkw]

If you don't have a My Waitrose card, both take one out now, Many benefits - won't go into them all here, it's effective immediately and allows you both a free hot drink daily. It's a good place to sit, collect thoughts, glance at papers. MrsCc and baby may find it a good regular little pause in their day when you can't join them.

Venture here:
http://www.mumsnet.com/

Also check out what your local library offers in the way of Mum/baby groups/activities. Your wife's daily life will change more than yours and it's worth trying different things once, to see if they fit.

I realise my post does not hard-fix on your finances, but you are not in immediate need of this. Nor does your attitude need any radical shift. Your little one seems likely to have the blessing of a marvellous template to painlessly absorb from Mum and Dad. This is one of the greatest gifts you will be giving her/him.

Were it not so, PAYG, freeview, charity shops[where MrsCc's good eye for fashion/cut/quality is a sure bonus]and other cuts and mechanisms would be suggested.

Whether or not you shop at Mr T[I finesse Waitrose and MrT, with a Clubcard+ Card, sadly not available now], think about amassing points against holiday/meals out/membership/days out deals. Never use them for shopping.

Do start a little holiday savings pot. It doesn't matter how/where you eventually use it. It could be baby's first bit of bucket and spade seaside by summer next year - if there is one.

'With my misses due to go on maternity leave in 8 months ...' So, MrsCc is returning to work?

I wish you all well.

Weird_Nev

That all looks pretty good to be honest. I can't see any obvious excesses at all.

Don't forget, your missus will get £500/mo statutory maternity pay for 6 months, and you get £80/mo child benefit as well. We found that although we worried about losing my wifes income, we actually managed fine.

We found that our food bill actually went DOWN - My wife was able to cook meals more frequently whilst on leave, and didn't by coffees/lunch at work any more. However, you will need to make a budget for clothes, baby buggies, kitting out he nursery, nappies and postentially baby formula etc (I think we were spending £20/week on baby formula for 9 months!). You don't have to spend a lot bu you do have s spend something. Check out deals, bundles of clothes on ebay etc and don't fall into the trap of thinking everything must be new and the best. Baby doesn't care, and stuff falls out of use or gets sold/passed on quickly! Lots of people want to offer gifts too, so take advantage of that. LEt people know the gender - people will buy useful stuff then. If you don't let them know, then they don't know what to buy and you end up with a billion teddies and no clothes!

Good luck. You finances look in good health really.

lilian1977

Hi

Congrats to you. As others have said, all looks good.

What we did was work out how much we were losing per month when I went to my statutory pay (v complex spreadsheet!) and worked out what we could sacrifice each month to make up the shortfall. I took a year off so we saved the equivalent of my salary to cover the 3 months unpaid - didn't end up needing most of it as I was so used to budgeting by then but it was nice to know it was there.

Have a look at your local Childrens Centre (if you still have one, we're lucky enough to have 3 in walking distance) as they will have courses like baby massage, baby babble, stay and play etc which are either free or a 50p drinks kitty donation. Saved my sanity many times.

NCT bumps and babies groups are great and you don't need to be an NCT member to go along. Again, a small donation to cover drinks but mum will get a brew and cake and some much needed chat with other new mums.

Have a look on Facebook to see if there is a local selling group, most of my DSs stuff comes from there now and it's a good place to sell on grown out of clothes.

Your wife will get free prescriptions and dental treatment so if she has a dentists appointment booked in for near her due date, get her to move it to afterwards, especially if her teeth are in good condition anyway.

Good luck xx