Help Please LONG!!

loopyone

I am in a rut.
I am going back to work in September. (On Maternity Leave) The boys (aged 7 mnths and 2 years) were only supposed to be in Nursery 1 day a week (Steve and my Mum were going to have them the other 2 days I was working.
However - my mum got made redundant then got a new full time job and Steves company messed up the overtime rota and he didnt get enough extra OT hours to have one day off a week)
So I now need childcare for 3 days a week.. But Nursery will cost for the 2 of them £1250

Now once I have paid this I still have money left over to contribute to the bills etc.. ( Our monthly living costs are almost £3000!! - thats EXCLUDING nursery!!!)

I cant afford to give up work as DH wont be able to cover the costs on his own.

I can reduce some of the costs - giving up Sky, not having swim lessons for the boys BUT that will only save about £100 - £150 a month
Obviously we have debt which is putting the costs up and is our own fault but I never thought that I would need this much childcare!.

We are not entitled to any child tax credits.. Or we are to the tune of I think £1 a week.. hmm

My Mum is going to contribute a bit to the childcare - BUT even with that I am falling short

I dont know what to do. DH is looking for a job that pays better but that takes time.. we dont have

We are planning on moving soon too which should help (or at least we wont be paying rent anymore).

We could give up a car I suppose mine costs £120 a month (HP) but I hate being carless I live in a tiny village and it would mean DH would need to change his hours again to do the dropping off and picking up when i work and to pick me up etc.

I have looked at childminders - none in local area with vacancies as yet.. but still looking BUT Fred wont do as well unless in a structured setting hes too umm WILD!

I have also looked at a Nanny but thats the same cost as a Nursery.. Though the agency is looking at one who has her own child also so this may reduce

My last thought was an au-pair but I dont know if I could trust someone to look after the boys without qualifications, but then we as parents have no qualifications do we?
OH HELP!!!!!

My next train of thought was to possibly get one loan (I Know) to reduce the monthly outgoings to one payment ?

Once my hubby has a new job we will be getting a mortgage and moving... I have already spoken to a mortgage advisor and our credit etc is fine and we will have a gaurentor (we need more than 3.5 salary as we live in surrey!) Will one big loan make a difference?

Our parents will help out for a few months I think so we dont miss payments etc but what if he doesnt get a better paying job soon?? How long can they help for? we need to look at reducing costs now really

I will happily post a breakdown of costs/budget should anyone which to help me see where I can cut back!

Thanks
Lorraine

misspoppy

are you sure you won't get any additional tax credit have you tried the entitled to website to check the position once you are both back at work and paying that much child care?

Also i don't know anything about them but people talk about a childcare voucher scheme through work do either of your employers offer this?

loopyone

Hi Thanks

Yes I have been through entitled to about 10 times with every possibly scenario.. Even if I gave up work it would only give us £10 a week.. Not enough to cover things.. SO I need to work but thats still not enough..

We already get childcare vouchers, thats taken into the budget too

Thanks though

misspoppy

Then I suggest you post up an SOA and let people make money saving advice.

newmum1

Could you give up work then you would get help with rent and council tax and other benefits, this would reduce your outgoings until you are in a better position once your debts are reduced, your outgoings at £3000 a month seem very high but post a soa as misspoppy said then we will all try to help reduce them for you.

loopyone

Rent-1,100.00 Council Tax-170.00 Gas-30.00 Electric-75.00 Water-21.00 TV-10.95 House Insurance-11.00 Car-119.79 Car insurance x 2-45.00 Family Equity-40.00 O2 Lorraine-30.00 O2 Steve-35.00 Loan Lorraine-158.24 Loan Steve-151.03 Internet-26.99 Phone-10.99 Sky-26.00 Tax Credits Payback-66.00
Food-220.00 Petrol-150.00 Clothes-25.00 Pictures-10.00 Extras-50.00 Swimming (98*4*2)-65.30 Toddlers-8.50 Credit Card PaymentsAsmuch as possible

I am sure there are things I have missed, car tax, birthdays christmas? EEEK

Thanks
Lorraine

wannasavemoney

Hi Loopyone, as Miss Poppy says, post up an soa, see ss's sticky on how to do this and then some more people on these boards will be able to help. When is your 2 year old going to be 3? You'll be entitled to money off childcare equivalent to 2.5 hours per day then. Good luck with the soa, sometimes writing it all down and trying to cut back can work wonders to the outgoings. Also, although it is hard with 2 youngsters, try to keep a spending diary and take up one of the challenges that stops you spending any money unnecessarily, I found that worked wonders for me. hth.

Edited: the sticky i refer to is called 'first time posters'

Fidget

newmum1 wrote: »

Could you give up work then you would get help with rent and council tax and other benefits, this would reduce your outgoings until you are in a better position once your debts are reduced, your outgoings at £3000 a month seem very high but post a soa as misspoppy said then we will all try to help reduce them for you.

I'm pretty sure, if you are married or living as though in a marriage with your partner, you are not entitled to any benefits at all except Child Benefit and £10 per week tax credits. I'm in a similar position with just one child and we all have to live on partner's wage of £18k until I get a job.

loopyone

Apologies about my SOA coming out like it did I copied from excel and it obvioulsy didnt like it! Will try again

binty

Re internet, phone & sky, could you look into an inclusive package that covers all three?

HairyHandofDartmoor

Your rent seems very expensive! Could you move to a smaller house or a less expensive area? If you were able to move to a bigger village/town then you might not be dependent upon two cars which would save you quite a bit of money.

I know this seems drastic but you did say you were thinking of moving anyway and sometimes drastic measures are called for to get out of debt. As you have seen other people can be unreliable (through no fault of their own sometimes).