Struggling- after Maternity leave

lozzaj83

Hi

I am after some advice. Please don't judge I am really in need of some financial direction.

I have recently returned from Maternity leave. My employer didn't offer any additional maternity leave pay so I was on SMP.
My husband is currently on an apprentice wage.
We bought a house 2 weeks before my baby was born so I had to come back to work to pay for the bills. However, with his childcare bill - we are struggling with nothing left at the end of the month.

I work about an hour away from home so i am spending upward of £70 a week in diesel. Not to mention I haven't had a pay review in almost 3 years. We should have money remaining at the end of the month based on each other's pay but our debts became out of control over my maternity leave period, to top up my wage and to pay for funding for my husbands last year at college we are paying roughly £800 a month to loan and credit card repayments. We are now stuck in a rut and I am not sure which way to go and could appreciate some help / ideas. I am happy to discuss figures.

Thanks in advance.

L

Tixy

Hi

Congrats on your baby.

A useful starting point would be to work out how much of shortfall to be able to meet your debt repayments. A statement of affairs is a useful tool to work this out. http://stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php If you wanted to post up the results on here it will help people give you advice.

Once you know the shortfall and can see where you money is going then you can come up with an action plan.
If you have a sizeable shortfall each month then it may be worth contacting one of the debt advice charities for some advice.

Have you been able to keep up with your priority outgoings so far? mortgage / council tax / utilities etc?
Are you behind on the loan or card payments currently?

Have you checked you are getting any / all benefits you may be entitled to claim?

lozzaj83

Thanks - here you go; (edited a few errors)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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................ 2076
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1250
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3326

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1076
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 125
Electricity............................. 78
Gas..................................... 53
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 74
Mobile phone............................ 153
TV Licence.............................. 17
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 240
Road tax................................ 24
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 923
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 45
Buildings insurance..................... 35
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 36
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3162


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 400
Car(s).................................. 1850
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 252250


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 207100...(1076).....4.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 207100....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
cc.............................6500......168.......0
cc.............................4000......123.......0
Loan...........................19200.....431.......0
Total unsecured debts..........29700.....722.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,326
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,162
Available for debt repayments........... 164
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 722
Amount short for making debt repayments. -558

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 252,250
Total HP & Secured debt................. -207,100
Total Unsecured debt.................... -29,700
Net Assets.............................. 15,450

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

All our minimum payments are up to date - mortgage, utilities etc.

The only benefit we are entitled to is Childcare vouchers which my husband and I both claim. nothing else.

mumstheword***

Have you considered other childcare options? Is little one in nursery? Ours go to a childminder which can be a lot cheaper than nursery. I really do sympathise as our SOA looks quite similar, our only saving grace is OH is self-employed, which when its good its good but when its bad...... Hence the £30k of debt we're in.

lozzaj83

mumstheword*** wrote: »

Have you considered other childcare options? Is little one in nursery? Ours go to a childminder which can be a lot cheaper than nursery. I really do sympathise as our SOA looks quite similar, our only saving grace is OH is self-employed, which when its good its good but when its bad...... Hence the £30k of debt we're in.

We have tried some other childminders in the area and tbh they were not the best! and not much cheaper. OH's parents are not much help! He is at nursery full time.

The only thing we do have is that my husband qualifies in 1 month so will be able to take on some private work (sparky) which should be able to help a little!

kelpie35

How about trying to find a job that you could do during the evening / night.

Your OH could look after the baby when you are working and that would save on childcare.

If that is not possible how about your OH getting an evening / weekend job till he qualifies.

Tixy

You should be getting child benefit?

£558 is quite a significant shortfall, and whilst there may be some areas you could reduce your outgoings (your landline & mobiles look very high) it also looks like there are costs that you haven't got in.
E.g. nothing budgeted for clothing at all/nothing for car maintenance/presents etc). Is your diesel cost right? if you spend more than £70 a week that would be closer to £300 a month.

But obviously the mortgage and childcare are easily the biggest costs.

Will your OH get a pay increase when he qualifies? or could he look for better paid work?
Do either of you have any scope in terms of the hours you do that would reduce childcare (i.e. working at different times of the day/one of you working weekends)?

A debt charity may recommend a Debt management plan to you, whereby you default on the debts and they help you work out a monthly amount that you can afford to pay, though this will have a big impact on you credit files. May well be worth getting in touch with one to talk through your options - see this link - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

lozzaj83

Tixy wrote: »

You should be getting child benefit?

£558 is quite a significant shortfall, and whilst there may be some areas you could reduce your outgoings (your landline & mobiles look very high) it also looks like there are costs that you haven't got in.
E.g. nothing budgeted for clothing at all/nothing for car maintenance/presents etc). Is your diesel cost right? if you spend more than £70 a week that would be closer to £300 a month.

But obviously the mortgage and childcare are easily the biggest costs.

Will your OH get a pay increase when he qualifies? or could he look for better paid work?
Do either of you have any scope in terms of the hours you do that would reduce childcare (i.e. working at different times of the day/one of you working weekends)?

A debt charity may recommend a Debt management plan to you, whereby you default on the debts and they help you work out a monthly amount that you can afford to pay, though this will have a big impact on you credit files. May well be worth getting in touch with one to talk through your options - see this link - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Our mobiles are a joint contract tied in until August - so we can't do anything with those for the mean time - by then I will just change to a sim only contract. Our landline cost is covered by our TV, broadband and phone line package - again tied in until Jan 2016.

I haven't budgeted for clothing / presents etc, as I tend to use credit card to cover short fall
OH should get a payrise - and i am looking for other roles with more money. I worry that if i take on another job it will not benefit me for tax purposes working weekends/ evenings? We both already work 7.30 - 6.30, don't get me wrong we are both not work shy but have very stressful jobs with long hours and a new baby!

Reya

Firstly, congratulations on your new addition!

I don't even know where to begin with regard to the childcare/nursery fees. I knew they could be expensive, but holy moly; it's almost as much as your monthly mortgage! :eek: Others can probably advise you better on those, as I don't have any children.

The things that stuck out to me are:

Gas & Electric is a combined £131 per month. This is very high, especially now we're coming into the warmer months. You shouldn't be needing the heating on much at all at the moment, so is this a fixed monthly direct debit? If so, see if you can save money by switching suppliers. (Go through Quidco and you might get some money back, too.)

A tip I was given by a gas service person was to not only turn down the heating thermostat but (if your boiler is gas-fired) to turn down the temperature on that, too. Your water won't come out quite as red-hot, but I can't think of any time that I run the hot tap and use it as-is; I always cool it down a bit with cold water anyway. Worth looking into, and apparently it can save quite a few quid over the year.

Landline telephone, I assume is a bundle that includes internet and any satellite TV? (ie: a Sky-type package.) If it is, can you cut down on the package in any way? Strip out the satellite TV (if, indeed, you do have one) and switch to Freesat or even Freeview? Look into switching providers if you can.

Mobile phones: I assume (again!) that's for two of them, but even splitting the amount in two that's almost £77 per month per phone; combined, that's £22 a month more than you're spending on heating and lighting your home! Are you using all of your minutes and texts? If not, see if you can move down to the cheapest option your phone provider(s) offer, and - once you're out of contract - look into going PAYG or sim-only with someone like GiffGaff. Your yearly spend on mobile phones is currently £1836

TV Licence: This should be £12.12. Are you overpaying for any particular reason?

Groceries are quite reasonable, but - if you don't already - try switching down a brand (eg: if you always have name brand baked beans, try store own brand). For some things this will be a no-go (they do taste different and sometimes not anywhere near as nice!) but for many things you probably won't even notice the difference. If you have an Aldi or Lidl nearby, use those as much as you can, and take advantage of Aldi's "Super Six" fruit and veg offer (they always advertise them online, so you can plan your weekly menu around what's on offer). Take packed lunches in to work (get a cheap little coolbag, take your own milk, sugar/sweeteners, teabags/coffee, and your own sarnies)! Have a look at the Old Style Board for ideas, and check out blogs like Frugal Queen and A Girl Called Jack for cheap and nutritious meals for the family.

Pet insurance: Can you get this any lower? There are a few options here, although I don't have pets so can't advise you where to go for these. Other people can, and likely will, though

Life assurance: Is this not included as part of a work benefits package? I'm guessing 'no', since your employer sounds like they're not the kind to offer much in the way of benefits at all, what with the lack of extra maternity pay and no salary review for three years. Is it worth the risk of asking for a pay review?

Haircuts, entertainment, presents, car maintenance: You really need something here. If you don't budget for it, it's going to go on the credit cards.

Emergency fund: You really need something here, even if it's only ten quid a month.

Are your credit cards and loan really all at 0% APR? If you're not sure, you need to dig those out and check.

The killer for this budget is the childcare expenses. Unless you can get those reduced (eg: one of you taking another job on a later shift so that they can look after little one during the day) or bring in some extra income (weekend, evening work) then I'm going with Tixy's advice: get in touch with one of the debt charities at the link there, and see what they advise you to do.

Best of luck

ETA: I type too slowly, so you've already answered a few of these

lozzaj83

Firstly, congratulations on your new addition!

I don't even know where to begin with regard to the childcare/nursery fees. I knew they could be expensive, but holy moly; it's almost as much as your monthly mortgage! :eek: Others can probably advise you better on those, as I don't have any children.

The things that stuck out to me are:

Gas & Electric is a combined £131 per month. This is very high, especially now we're coming into the warmer months. You shouldn't be needing the heating on much at all at the moment, so is this a fixed monthly direct debit? If so, see if you can save money by switching suppliers. (Go through Quidco and you might get some money back, too.) we have looked at reducing these- we are a little in debt with this as we didnt offer a meter reading for a couple of months so need to clear that with them before moving to another supplier.

A tip I was given by a gas service person was to not only turn down the heating thermostat but (if your boiler is gas-fired) to turn down the temperature on that, too. Your water won't come out quite as red-hot, but I can't think of any time that I run the hot tap and use it as-is; I always cool it down a bit with cold water anyway. Worth looking into, and apparently it can save quite a few quid over the year. will try the thermostate thing. we only have the boiler come on for an hour in the morning and not at all for the rest of the day as we have a log fire.

Landline telephone, I assume is a bundle that includes internet and any satellite TV? (ie: a Sky-type package.) If it is, can you cut down on the package in any way? Strip out the satellite TV (if, indeed, you do have one) and switch to Freesat or even Freeview? Look into switching providers if you can.it is a virgin pack - Ive already tried to remove some of the bundle - but tied in until Jan 2016

Mobile phones: I assume (again!) that's for two of them, but even splitting the amount in two that's almost £77 per month per phone; combined, that's £22 a month more than you're spending on heating and lighting your home! Are you using all of your minutes and texts? If not, see if you can move down to the cheapest option your phone provider(s) offer, and - once you're out of contract - look into going PAYG or sim-only with someone like GiffGaff. Your yearly spend on mobile phones is currently £1836 This was my husband's set up - i'll have a chat with him!

TV Licence: This should be £12.12. Are you overpaying for any particular reason? my error on the form it is £12.12!

Groceries are quite reasonable, but - if you don't already - try switching down a brand (eg: if you always have name brand baked beans, try store own brand). For some things this will be a no-go (they do taste different and sometimes not anywhere near as nice!) but for many things you probably won't even notice the difference. If you have an Aldi or Lidl nearby, use those as much as you can, and take advantage of Aldi's "Super Six" fruit and veg offer (they always advertise them online, so you can plan your weekly menu around what's on offer). Take packed lunches in to work (get a cheap little coolbag, take your own milk, sugar/sweeteners, teabags/coffee, and your own sarnies)! Have a look at the Old Style Board for ideas, and check out blogs like Frugal Queen and A Girl Called Jack for cheap and nutritious meals for the family. We are doing this as well. have switched to Lidl and taking pasta / sandwiches/ salad to work.

Pet insurance: Can you get this any lower? There are a few options here, although I don't have pets so can't advise you where to go for these. Other people can, and likely will, though Unfortunatly we were in the middle of a claim when or insurance changed over so we couldn't switch. Would have loved to on this one!

Life assurance: Is this not included as part of a work benefits package? I'm guessing 'no', since your employer sounds like they're not the kind to offer much in the way of benefits at all, what with the lack of extra maternity pay and no salary review for three years. Is it worth the risk of asking for a pay review?I am worried to but I think this really needs to be addressed!

Haircuts, entertainment, presents, car maintenance: You really need something here. If you don't budget for it, it's going to go on the credit cards.

Emergency fund: You really need something here, even if it's only ten quid a month.

Are your credit cards and loan really all at 0% APR? If you're not sure, you need to dig those out and check. I dont have the paperwork with me to fill this out - will dig them out when I get back.

The killer for this budget is the childcare expenses. Unless you can get those reduced (eg: one of you taking another job on a later shift so that they can look after little one during the day) or bring in some extra income (weekend, evening work) then I'm going with Tixy's advice: get in touch with one of the debt charities at the link there, and see what they advise you to do.

Best of luck

ETA: I type too slowly, so you've already answered a few of these
Thanks xx

lhead123

Do you get child benefit? For one child it's a little over £80 every 4 weeks.

Have you looking into tax credits and made sure you're not missing out on anything? have a look here: http://www.entitledto.co.uk/ and see if you can get anything. It's normally calculated on last years (april-april) wages and seeing as you were on MAT leave they don't count the first £100 per week of that as income. With you partner on aprentice wage you should be able to get something. The childcare element of tax credits might help towards childcare costs.

If you are entitiled to anything the website will tell you - it will ask if your income has changed this year and yours has gone up so bear in mind what you may qualify for this year you may not get next year xx