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funkypriest

HappyMJ wrote: »

Around £25,000 household income per year for one child.

My income is around £32000
Our household income is £56000.

HappyMJ

funkypriest wrote: »

My income is around £32000
Our household income is £56000.

Then you and your partner are doing very well. The amount of debt you have is manageable and your expenses appear low compared to your income.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

HappyMJ wrote: »

The advice from me with a car worth nothing and no assets would be to consider a DRO or Bankruptcy

Bit drastic when the income still exceeds the outgoings. I don't think either would be granted.

anna_m nailed the high costs - you know that you can change tariffs within contract on most networks, right? Some of them make you wait a few months, but it's possible to switch after 3 - 6 months depending on network.

Also missing hundreds normally points to forgotten spending. I've done this - the small spends that individually seem so trivial (the odd latte, take-away etc.) actually add up to more than you realise. I found these by keeping a full spending log (using, as I love advertising free software, KMyMoney or GnuCash) and using the built-in reports to analyse where I was frittering cash away. As your original numbers say you're not in immediate danger, a couple of months diagnosis would probably be helpful for you to cut your costs effectively.

Goldiegirl

A few things that I noticed


Nil for presents, holidays and child related expenses. Are you sure you never, ever go on holiday, buy a present or buy ANYTHING at all for your child?


Entertainment £25 per month - are you sure about this. If you both go out for just a coffee and cake twice a month you could pay £25 a month and do nothing else. Do you go out for a drink with your friends or stop off after work for a swift half? Or ever go to the cinema? It all mounts up.


If your partner is buying the baby food now, what happens when the child grows up a bit and is eating the same food the you do - who will be paying for the child's food then?


This is why, now that you are a family, it may be time to pool the finances and be a team rather than individuals, and share the expenses of the family.


You say your partner pays for the car finance, the childcare, all child related expenses and still manages to save money. Yet you say you struggle - maybe the split of the expenses is wrong?


That's why I think it's best to pool your money for the family - maybe you could agree an amount each month that you have for personal spending. If you still want to stick to individual finances at least review what you are each responsible for, so you have an equal amount of money left each month

funkypriest

Sanctioned_Parts_List wrote: »

Bit drastic when the income still exceeds the outgoings. I don't think either would be granted.

anna_m nailed the high costs - you know that you can change tariffs within contract on most networks, right? Some of them make you wait a few months, but it's possible to switch after 3 - 6 months depending on network.

Also missing hundreds normally points to forgotten spending. I've done this - the small spends that individually seem so trivial (the odd latte, take-away etc.) actually add up to more than you realise. I found these by keeping a full spending log (using, as I love advertising free software, KMyMoney or GnuCash) and using the built-in reports to analyse where I was frittering cash away. As your original numbers say you're not in immediate danger, a couple of months diagnosis would probably be helpful for you to cut your costs effectively.

I've just started YNAB after getting a free copy. Will be tracking my expenses here as I can use my phone.

If I think about it, lunches at work sometimes are expensive and this may be tipping the scales slightly. Will try the log for a month and see how it goes!

getmore4less

funkypriest wrote: »

My income is around £32000
Our household income is £56000.

Take home

£32k £2070
£24k £1620

and the child benefit on top?

how much are they spending on household shared costs with the car and child costs?

might be the distribution is wrong as well as not budgeting for the "unexpected" much of which will be expected if you think about them.

I would have a look back at 2015 and see where all your money went and use that for the basis of the 2016 to see where you need to adjust.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Two new tyres on a 12 month old car????

How many miles do you do?

I do 8-9000 miles a year and expect tyres to last three years at least.

£250 a month in petrol indicates you don't do too many miles.

getmore4less

Depends on driving style <12k on a front wheel drive driven hard is easy.

The issue is not planning for them if it is using up the surplus this month.
(could be punctures)