Need some financial advice

quidsy

Having your daughter with you would unlock a lot of benefits on your salary. My ex gets child benefit, working tax credits, child tax credits & housing benefit totaling around 850 a month on top of a post tax salary of 1200. so Clears around 2k a month, working 35hr week & having 8 year old 5 out of 7 days a week. That would help cover the cost of before & afterschool club whilst still allowing you to work full time & have your child living with you. Just an idea.


Also an 8 year old doesn't need their own bedroom. Both of you sharing for a few years isn't going to kill either of you. Go for a 1 bed.

DWhite

Thanks for the replies, just catching up.
I've mostly decided not to take the 2 bed and I've looked around a bit at some one beds for around £550 pm which is more manageable.
I've also been thinking about shared ownership, theres some one bed apartments available at around £45K with a mortgage of approx £180 pm and rent looks like it's approx £200 pm, obviously those are a bit rough but having done some research it seems to be a good enough estimate. So those together with bills is looking the same as renting a one bed but gets me on the property ladder, and if I try to find something on the lower end of the rent I could potentially have some spare each month to save for a 2 bed in a few years.
All of this is dependent on me being able to stay where I am for a few more months to pay off my credit card (£1700) and build up a deposit of £5K. I'm living virtually rent and bill free here so can throw most of my income into debt and savings. Then it would be a matter of finding somewhere and trying to get a mortgage which is more worrying for me.
Does any of that sound feasible? I realise I'm looking for validation and that ultimately it's my life and my choices, I just don't want to make decisions without having properly thinking them through and there's an abundance of life experience on these boards to help guide me.

DWhite

I realise I'm bumping an old thread, just wanted to share some good news...I have just been offered the job I had applied for! :T Doesn't pay massively more a month but its a steady salary as opposed to an hourly rate with changing hours each week, and it's a step up in my career so I'm pleased and celebrating with a bottle of bubbles I was given for my birthday last year. :beer:

Siebrie

Congratulations!

Gigervamp

Congratulations! Your new job sounds much better.

asparagus1968

That's really great news, may open up a few more options for you.
Well done, and good luck

GreyQueen

:T Congratulations on getting the better job.

With costs-of-living, it is very easy to succumb to creeping lifestyle inflation, particularly when you're out at work all day. You're tired, you're busy, you develop the thoughts that you 'deserve' a little treat because of all the above..... I'm not criticising, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

If it helps, think of frugality as being like muscles. You have to work the frugality muscles out to keep them in shape and make them grow stronger and more fit for purpose. Once you get there, they will carry you almost effortlessly through some hard times.

If you throw the extra salary, plus anything else you can spare, at your debt, you should be able to erode that down rapidly and start building your deposit and also think about building an emergency fund to tide you over mini-crisis without having to resort to credit.

All the best, GQ x

DWhite

Thank you all for the congrats, advice and support.
GQ - I've cleared a chunk of my credit card his week, I had some spare cash so threw £800 towards it, means it's nearly halved now. Fingers crossed I can keep taking chunks out of it for a few months and it will be gone.
I don't tend to buy much other than what I need, a lot of my money goes on bills. I guess the main luxury I have is going out to eat, mainly when I see my daughter as it tends to be an easy go to thing apart from parks. I need to start finding things to do that don't cost much but will keep us both amused. I'm working out the logistics of having her staying with me overnight so that I can spend time with her that way rather than having to drop her back at home after a few hours.
I'm in it for the long haul by the looks of things, but this job offer has made a big step forward for me. Considering it was about a month ago that I was broken down on my bathroom floor thinking there was no hope.

Tiddlywinks

There's no need to go out for a meal.

Mum, daughter, sofa, duvet, movie on the telly and homemade popcorn - cheap and fun.

Have you ever made stove top popcorn? It's much nicer than microwaved and a heck of a lot cheaper too. Literally pennies per portion.

Kids love hearing the popping and the smell is delicious. Loads of 'how to' stuff on YouTube. It's really exciting to see the little kernels go into the pan but then 5 minutes later you have the pan lid shaking because they've all popped.

Also, a 'build your own' pizza night - loads of fun making faces etc with tomatoes and mushrooms and you get to enjoy the end result.

Mexican, Italian, Chinese etc themed nights.

Pamper time doing hair and nails. Picnics in the summer.

Board games... adopt a hobby to share like knitting or scrapbooking. Get a trunk to keep these bits in so that your DD has her things kept safe and together and you get to share those moments.

There's just so much you can do - it's exciting just thinking about it but then I'm just a big kid in a wrinkly body.

8 years old is such a great age - just lose yourself in furry pencil cases, cherry Chapstick etc.... have some fun.

Tink_04

Where I live we have cheap cinema on a weekend for £1.50and we take snacks with us - my daughter loves the library. We enjoy film and pizza nights, very cheap - and great on a rainy afternoon, usually onesis on after a bath and maybe some nail painting too. Kids are usually happy with just attention rather than the money side of things.