SOA - your words of wisdom please

Prothet_of_Doom

cosmomo wrote: »

Reason for not working - school hours. Have not found a job that is highly enough paid to cover cost of childcare/second car/loss of CTC etc. Partner cannot be relied on for school pickups and not willing/able to give up work (mental health) or get better paid job. Have another few years until youngest out of primary school and more self sufficient when I anticipate things will change. Is that a pathetic attitude?

.

Not pathetic at all.

I question the need to get someone to give you a job. Why not use that time to become self employed. Could you 'dog walk', clean houses, mow lawns, make cakes, design cards, write software, do book keeping, etc from home?

Also there are the weekends. My wife worked in an estate agent on some utter pittance of a wage, 9 hours a week end. Which kept us out of the gutter.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

cosmomo wrote: »

Is £10 a month for haircuts and £0 for entertainment realistic?

No. I feel like crap because my hair looks like crap. Partner got £30 cinema voucher for his birthday which we used to treat the kids to The Muppets Movie! Every couple of months we cave in and go to a film or similar...basically our kids know that they can't do the stuff their friends do.

You say your kids know they can't do the stuff their friends do, yet they go to music lessons and ballet class?

£200 is a lot of money for these things when you don't really have it to spare. If your children really enjoy these things, perhaps you could cut them (i.e. shorter lessons, or every 2 weeks) to half the bill?

There's really nothing you can do about the bus fare? Is it not worth contacting the school about to see if there is anything available? As FireWyrm says, surely the LEA needs to provide travel?

cosmomo

FireWyrm wrote: »

Do you have a proper budget plan going forwards? I mean a real financial tracking system that you use all the time? I suspect that there are a number of spends that are simply slipping through the cracks and beneath your notice accounting for the chronic overspending and debt. Try YNAB (you need a budget) which you can buy for about £30 (I know it's a lot) or you can use my version here : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/58m07i0jklqny0e/n3c1E0QUVw

Thanks for this. Have downloaded it and have been fiddling around putting everything in it this morning. Absolutely horrifying! but in a good way.
You really need to get a grip on what you are spending and where, especially as you are tight for money.

I'm curious, why dont you get any help with the school bus? Surely if the LEA sent you to the school, they must provide the travel to it?
As from 2 years ago the LEA only provide a bus to the nearest school (as long as that is 3 or more miles away). DC1's school is a grammar in a nearby town. No help available from anywhere - believe me I've tried! Have even applied to local charitable trust. No viable alternative public bus (we're quite rural). DC2 will be taking local public bus to grammar in another town which is accessible by bus.

As for groceries, mine is £250 a month for 5 (including a baby with a milk intolerance), so eminently doable and not necessarily by compromising quality either. I shop at Aldi, I only buy fresh whole meat and fish and if it comes in a packet, I avoid it. Yes, you'll have to cook, but you probably arnt as time-poor as you think. I plan all meals at the beginning of the month on a whiteboard for the coming month. I shop bi-weekly and I dont buy anything I dont actually need. There are plenty of survival mechanisms you can use over at the Old Style board and meal planning is pretty much the best solution to run-away grocery budgets. You'll be surprised how much you save by simply doing a bit of advanced planning.

I do cook mostly from scratch so that isn't a problem. Suspect the fact that I tend to do three £30 -£40 shops a week is the problem. Have Asda delivery ordered (£43) for this afternoon as a result of yesterday afternoons meal planning. It should cover the week (with the exception of milk which I can get cheaper locally and bread which I make)

cosmomo

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

You say your kids know they can't do the stuff their friends do, yet they go to music lessons and ballet class?

£200 is a lot of money for these things when you don't really have it to spare. If your children really enjoy these things, perhaps you could cut them (i.e. shorter lessons, or every 2 weeks) to half the bill?

Yes will have to cut the music lessons. DC2 can start school lessons in September which will be much cheaper - I will talk to her about taking a break until then. Funnily enough I suspect there may be help for music at DC1's school. I will look into it next week. They are both teaching themselves Music Theory already which is saving a few quid. Trouble is we are trying to live a middle class lifestyle on a very small budget. May be I should send them busking! I've always justified the expense by keeping within the child benefit. I'm just not being realistic though.

Happier_Me

Hi

I would look at family friendly ways to boost your income but you obviously need to consider any impact on your CTC. Have you thought about childminding part time, for instance. There are websites that pay to write articles also (Lionbridge is one, I think).

You can reduce your food bill a little, meal planning is essential but batch cooking is the key, bulking up meals with cheap veggies and beans to make them go further. I always have lasagne and cottage pies in the freezer and I can make three family meals now with the same amount of meat I used to use for one!

Have your circumstances changed? You have a relatively small mortgage compared to your house value and this would suggest your income has been much higher previously.

Good luck

ellesbellesxxx

I am a music teacher and am wondering which area you are in? In my county (and certainly in neighbouring ones) the county council music services has music centres for children with small groups/orchestras/theory which are subsidised heavily by county. Works out at 4.50 a week, 20 a month at the moment which for 3 hours music on a Sat morning, is amazing I am sure you will agree!
Def worth looking into county music groups to see if that helps.
Otherwise great idea to stop for time being then start again in Sept.


Have you gone to moneysupermarket/uswitch to see if you can get energy cheaper? If you found cheaper, go via Quid co to get cashback too Same for life insurance... amazing how it all adds up xx

[Deleted User]

cosmomo wrote: »

I've not included the £95 trip that child has to go on in May.

Has to :huh:

It's compulsory?

Other travel is child's bus fare to school. It's a private bus, there is no help available and no alternative unless I drive myself (35 mile round trip). And yes it really is 1450 a year.

Might actually be cheaper to drive them.

35 miles is say 3.5L of petrol.

At about £1-25 per Litre, that's about £4-40 per day.

Even if they went to school for the full 260 days (365/7*5), which they don't, that's only £1,144 per year.

That's at least £306pa (£25-50pm) less.

Taking off 7 weeks holiday (isn't it actually more than that?), gets it down to about £990pa.

That's the best part of £500pa less.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0 - Any opportunity for you to work, even part time?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1127.52
Benefits................................ 721.44
Other income............................ 188
Total monthly income.................... 2036.96

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 339
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 33.329999999999984
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.05
Telephone (land line)................... 20 - Including Internet Services, this is £40pm. Check for a better deal.
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - This is high, even for 5 people.
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 15.42
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 116.66
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 218
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 - Never?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13.95
Contents insurance...................... 13.95
Life assurance ......................... 21.8
Other insurance......................... 5.96 - What is this?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here, particularly as you are a home owner.

Total monthly expenses.................. 1960.24


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 275000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 276500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 74668....(339)......1.79
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(33.33)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 84668.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................2834.54...28.63.....0
Overdraft......................1650......0.........12
Total unsecured debts..........4484.54...28.63.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,036.96
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,960.24
Available for debt repayments........... 76.72
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 28.63
Amount left after debt repayments....... 48.09

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 276,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -84,668
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,484.54
Net Assets.............................. 187,347.46

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I notice your outstanding mortgage is less than 1/3rd of the value of the house.

Have you considered selling and buying something cheaper?

cosmomo

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Has to :huh:

It's compulsory? Yes unfortunately. And it's for the PE curriculum. Will phone next week to see if we can spread payments though..

Might actually be cheaper to drive them.

35 miles is say 3.5L of petrol. Round trip TWICE per day

At about £1-25 per Litre, that's about £4-40 per day.
1.35 per litre (diesel)

Even if they went to school for the full 260 days (365/7*5), which they don't, that's only £1,144 per year.

That's at least £306pa (£25-50pm) less.

Taking off 7 weeks holiday (isn't it actually more than that?), gets it down to about £990pa. x 2, because it's 70 miles per day not 35. I made that mistake when I first worked it out too.



I notice your outstanding mortgage is less than 1/3rd of the value of the house.

Have you considered selling and buying something cheaper?

Yes we have considered that, but with earnings of only 15.5k and the potential profit from the sale of the house (less green deal loan, sale/purchase costs etc) we couldn't afford much else in the area. At the moment we feel we are better to stick it out for a few difficult years. Of course if it comes to it, we will have to sell.

The 'Other Insurance' is a 30k life insurance policy taken out to cover endowment (got rid of endowment years ago, kept insurance because it was so cheap)

Medical /dentist - free prescriptions and NHS dentist.

Phone/broadband - tied in til Sept

cosmomo

ellesbellesxxx wrote: »

I am a music teacher and am wondering which area you are in? In my county (and certainly in neighbouring ones) the county council music services has music centres for children with small groups/orchestras/theory which are subsidised heavily by county. Works out at 4.50 a week, 20 a month at the moment which for 3 hours music on a Sat morning, is amazing I am sure you will agree! Yes we have a great one. It's under threat from Sept because they want the music teachers to take a 50% cut in wages! They don't offer violin/ flute lessons for my grade 5 and 6 children though. Great orchestra/choir opportunites though
Def worth looking into county music groups to see if that helps.
Otherwise great idea to stop for time being then start again in Sept. This is happening.


Have you gone to moneysupermarket/uswitch to see if you can get energy cheaper? If you found cheaper, go via Quid co to get cashback too Same for life insurance... amazing how it all adds up xx

Energy changing as of next week. WIll look into life insurance.

cosmomo

Happier_Me wrote: »

Hi

I would look at family friendly ways to boost your income but you obviously need to consider any impact on your CTC. Have you thought about childminding part time, for instance. There are websites that pay to write articles also (Lionbridge is one, I think).
Was a writer of sorts in previous life. Will look into this - thanks!

You can reduce your food bill a little, meal planning is essential but batch cooking is the key, bulking up meals with cheap veggies and beans to make them go further. I always have lasagne and cottage pies in the freezer and I can make three family meals now with the same amount of meat I used to use for one!

Have your circumstances changed? You have a relatively small mortgage compared to your house value and this would suggest your income has been much higher previously.
Have lived in house nearly 20 years. Circumstances changed about 7 years ago and our income dropped to a third of what it had been. It has increased slightly since then. We have used all our savings now.

Good luck

Thankyou very much - you are all really helpful and it is certainly making me think more realistically