£1000 a month debts and about to start Maternity Leave!

Lmh71365

Bambos -
We have always cut back on presents by making them! I draw for a passtime and my husband is an engineer so we have always found it more fun & personal to make them. My friend cuts my hair for free & my partner is bald!
Medical - my partner has a prescription which the NHS will not fund. It costs the same as normal prescriptions but we cannot pre-pay it. It is essential. Obviously my medical care is all free at the moment - yay!
Car Insurance - it made me put something in this box, I have shopped around, I have two non-fault accidents and no no claims for various reasons, my partner has only been driving for 3 years. I paid outright for it though and it's not due until December so if doesn't need go go in there. Also, I don't pay any maintainence on the car though as it is new, under warranty, we have paid for a fixed price service plan, and I work at the dealership. Any parts needed eg tyres won't rear their heads until I'm back at work.
We have two phone contracts at £40 each and then as we don't have a landline, there are always higher charges if we've had to deal with any 0800 numbers so I've accounted for that. Neither of us can change our contracts yet.
Groceries - my partner and I live happily on £20 per week food by shopping around, per planning meals and buying value items. I'm not sure how having a baby will affect this. She will be breastfeed but we need nappies etc?
Water Bill - we are on a metre but (due to an admin error) we weren't paying for about 6 months - this reflects our water bill AND compounded debt. I've been told this is average for two people?
Fuel - this is already cut back by my partner cycling to work when he doesn't have to drop me to mine (I'm half way).

We cannot sell the car as it is financed and in about £10,000 of negative equity.
My current income ranges between £1500 and £1900 a month due to my lower sales figures. If I take maternity we get £590 a month. If he does, he gets nothing until 6 months and I have to return to work 1 month after having a baby. £1200 + £600 is £1800, so my average income or more. So we are better for me to stay home for the next 6 months??
We have nothing to sell that we wouldn't have to replace at same or similar cost. We've already sold everything we could! He is looking into a second job, it's just not easy.

Lawa

Also please do not garentee you will be able to breastfeed I couldnt due to medical issues so if you cant you wwill be looking at 10 a week milk and 10 a week nappies and creams ect.

Once baby is here walk and sorn your car. save on petrol and tax then.

burty_budget

Just a small thing, you can get Skype on computers and most phones now I think and you can make free 0800 calls on that.

cavework

Could you both move in with Mum for a while and pool your resources ?

Lmh71365

Ah ha! I didn't think of skyping 0800 numbers!

SORNing the car is not an option as it is still essential. We can severely limit it's use, eg. I can walk with baby to most places. But it's not feasible at all to go without - as it's financed it still has to be taxed and insured, it is still parked on a road, my partner works 20 miles away and whilst he can cycle most days it's not ALWAYS possible (eg. Severe weather, illness). And our local supermarket and doctors surgeries are not walking distance with a baby. Each are approx 5 miles away. Also, my mother lives 30 miles away, we will be dependant on her for some babysitting duties and I'm trying to help her sell the house so need to be able to see her. Trains do not run to her (she lives in the middle of nowhere).

I am aware that we can trim some money off (and I know that every little helps) by cutting back on absolutely everything but we have done a significant amount of this already since my wages have already dropped and the remainder we can shave off doesn't come close to the £1000 a month shortfall.

What I need is a drastic solution to my debts, like a IVA or something - I'm taking it this is completely impossible with the debts being in my mums name or guaranteed by her? Is there nothing I can do besides trying to scrimping and scraping even further to save maybe a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty pounds?

Lmh71365

I have suggested this to my Mum. Is it a possibility but she is quite against it. A) she is under investigation for council tax fraud after applying as a single person after we all moved out as myself and my younger brother was still registered there, she is fighting it as he is a student and does not contribute to income or live there during term times, she is worried how it would then look to turn around and say I was living there. as she is trying to sell the house it is in showroom condition with several well presented bedrooms; she's worried about the impact both of us and the baby would have on her ability to sell the house. C) we would be spending £5-600 a month commuting, this is what I used to spend when I lived at home, everything is a 20-30 minute drive away.
That is not to say it's ruled out but she is firmly against it.

We are still in the first 6 months of our tenancy - would this prevent us moving out under extreme circumstances. And we are worried about getting a new tenancy with our freshly-ruined credit ratings.

jaydeeuk1

OK, everyone's thinking it but I'm going to say it.
Why didn't you wait till you could afford to have kids? I've known houses be on the market for years before selling. I was in a larger amount of debt than you and wife and I would have loved to have kids at a younger age but didn't want them born in to poverty or have the tax payer pay for us. Children aren't a right, if we couldn't afford it we wouldn't have had them.

Lmh71365

It wasn't a planned pregnancy. When my husband and I first got together many years ago, I fell pregnant, we had planned an abortion but I then miscarried, we found out this was because my body attacked the pregnancy like an unwanted foreign body. I was on the pill and fell pregnant again last year. After what we had been through last time, and the slim chance it would make it, we decided not to abort and thankfully our little one has made it.

Also, we assumed the house would sell in time.

I don't think the other people on this forum were thinking that. Isn't your role here to advise, not judge. If I could go back to the start of my to pregnancy, knowing I would find myself in this situation, I would still not abort my little girl.

*~Zephyr~*

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

OK, everyone's thinking it but I'm going to say it.
Why didn't you wait till you could afford to have kids?

No jaydeeuk, not everyone is thinking it. OP already said in an early post that this wasn't a planned pregnancy. Contraception sometimes fail, or people make mistakes and get caught out. Don't be so judgy.

OP, there's not a lot in your SOA that can be cut drastically. Until phone contracts end and you get some NCD built up, there's not a lot to be cut away there. You need to look at the other side and increase the money coming in.

I think the only way you're going to manage is for you to go back to work once the 6 weeks of 90% pay are up. What were you earning at your pre-pregnancy on-form levels? Would that salary cover your OH going part-time or giving up work?

If you OH went part-time, would he be able to claim WTC to cover child care?

Or, if you can't/won't go back to work early, can you get an evening job to go to once OH gets home from work? My cousin has been doing this since having her little one. She stacks shelves in a supermarket 10pm til 2am. It's tough, but you do what you have to to get those ends to meet.

greensalad

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 590
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1790

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 499
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 120 < can you spread it to over 12 months (if only 10). Councils usually offer this as an option
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 55 < seems expensive
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 100 < way too high! Why are you paying this much?! When do your contracts run out? Cancel contract ASAP, keep old handset, get sim only (£7 month from Three)
TV Licence.............................. 16 < are you paying the correct amount, are you being charged for direct debt or paying over a certain number of months? Reduce where you can
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 < seems low
Clothing................................ 20 < 240 per year too expensive
Petrol/diesel........................... 120 < is this for you commuting? Seems a lot if not
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 120 < how old are you? This is very high (I'm only 24 and pay about £60 for two of us young'uns)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 2
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40 < why so much. You'd be better off getting a NHS top-up plan if you really need and claiming back your costs. Cheaper than £480.
Contents insurance...................... 0 < No contents insurance?!
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10\
Haircuts................................ 0 < why zero?
Entertainment........................... 0 < why zero?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

Some points above. I'd get out of that phone contract ASAP.