Struggling- after Maternity leave

lozzaj83

Do you get child benefit? For one child it's a little over £80 every 4 weeks. Thanks - i keep missing this one - we get £82 a month.

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. My husband and I have childcare voucher scheme at work which saves us a little bit - but unfortunatly we have both looked at tax credit and neither of us are entitled to anything

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

Would it be

lozzaj83

We are only in a 2 year fixed mortgage - would it be worth looking at remortgaging to clear some of the debts if the mortgage monthly repayments were less than we are currently paying? How does that work? If it wasn't for the debts we would have £500 ish remaining a month!

Should i take out a small loan to cover the credit cards if they monthly repayments are lower?

DCFC79

If you get a loan to pay off the cards then cut the cards up and close the accounts otherwise there's the risk of getting yourself in the same position your in now.

sugarcube84

Does your SOA take into account your childcare vouchers?




Also is there any chance of moving to a cheaper nursery? I started out paying £40/day not including any meals/nappies/wipes in a posh/semi rural area as it was near my mum who helped out, When I changed work location I then swapped to one on the way to work in a more built up area I got an extra 30mins a day as they were open from 7.30 rather than 8 and it included all meals, snacks, nappies and wipes and it was £30/day.


Congrats and I know how hard it is to work long hours/commute with a small baby so i'm not surprised you don't want to look for another job but there are things like surveys etc which you could do in the evening when baby goes to bed. I found it covered bdays/xmas etc.

Tixy

In terms of remortgaging, it is generally advised not to turn unsecured debts in to secured debts. You put your house at a greater risk if you have a change in circumstances.

I wouldn't get a loan if you are already financially struggling, and its unlikely to be cheaper than the card repayments anyway, and you'd quite likely struggle to get accepted for one anyway when they assess your affordability.

If you don't expect any signficant changes soon (such as being able to increase your income) then I would speak to one of the debt advice charities. Even if you decide not to use them in the end it is still worth talking things through with them.

japmis

Tixy wrote: »

In terms of remortgaging, it is generally advised not to turn unsecured debts in to secured debts. You put your house at a greater risk if you have a change in circumstances.

It *may* be worth remortgaging if only to reduce your monthly payment e.g. don't borrow anymore money, but decreasing your LTV percentage can lower your mortgage payments.

National_Debtline

lozzaj83 wrote: »

We are only in a 2 year fixed mortgage - would it be worth looking at remortgaging to clear some of the debts if the mortgage monthly repayments were less than we are currently paying? How does that work? If it wasn't for the debts we would have £500 ish remaining a month!

Should i take out a small loan to cover the credit cards if they monthly repayments are lower?

Hi lozza


There are cases where consolidating can turn out to be the best option, but this all depends on your ability to stick to the route that's been charted. Before contemplating anything like this, you need to be sure that your revamped budget allows adequate room for emergencies and one-off expenditure, as it will no longer be a question of sticking such expenses on a credit card.


Remortgaging may be cheaper than an unsecured consolidation loan, but does mean that you are left with a greater amount secured against your home. On the flip side, if seeking an unsecured loan, the lender will treat you as if you owe both the loan and your existing credit debts (as they can't guarantee that you'll use one to pay off the other straight away). That can make it harder to be approved for one (and subsequently influences the interest rate you are charged on the loan).


We can't offer financial advice, so it's probably worth you having a chat with the Money Advice Service at some point:


www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk


Dennis
@natdebtline