Supporting wife to further education

Monkey85

Looking for peoples thoughts on my current situation. I have recently got married, which took a real toll on our finances. Truth be told we spent way more than we could afford.

In isolation that would be fine but pretty much as soon as we married my wife decided she wanted to better herself and go back to college and university. We have two children so this would mean taking on childcare costs of over £400 per month. I was kean to support her decision as in the long run it would mean a better income but we are a few months in and i feel our debt is getting out of control.

I've done the usual review of outgoings - reducing where possible. Cutting back non essentials etc but it's still not enough. So I'm at the point where I think i need to tell her we simply cannot afford to do this right now, she will be gutted and really we should have thought it though more from the start.:(

Would people struggle through and try to get by the next few years until she qualifies or push her quit now to just bring in an income for now until we are in a better position?

Cheers

rockabillygirl

What is your wife studying? Could she study with the open university from home - saving childcare and meaning she could also work? Regardless, you need to talk to her about it.

boliston

What sort of funding is she entitled to - my OH did a uni course a few years ago and luckily was entitled to a fairly good grant and student loan as well as tuition fees so it was possible even if it meant cutting back on expensive holidays etc - also you will get a 25% council tax reduction if there is only one adult who is not a student in the house.

AllyMac

It depends whether you mean struggle through as in tighten your belts or each month slip further into debt with essentials going onto a credit card?
If the latter, I would only do it now if it was a well budgeted amount with clear plans to manage it - basically a planned cost of retraining.

You say college then uni - so is she doing some kind of access course first? Look into part time options to do what she needs to do to have a shot at uni. If this is a one year course, maybe as a family you can afford that - but uni will have to wait with a year or more saving up gap between. Completing this year may help her feel better that she's not just having to drop out.

How old are your children? Are childcare costs coming down soon? (starting school, or turning 3 for funded hours)

What I would say, is if you can't afford it now, make a realistic plan for when and how you afford it - and stick to that.

Could she work around whatever free childcare you have and as a family you agree that ALL goes into a dedicated retraining fund for her? Then post an SOA and put everything into finding an amount you can save each month for this goal.

FBaby

You say back to college and University, which course is she doing? No chance to have a part-time job around it, evenings or week-ends? Did she work FT before?

theoretica

I don't think you should decide what outcome you want and then tell or try to persuade your wife to it - how does she think it is working out?

It is common to end university with debt at least form student loans - is the debt you are getting into more than average? Has she spoken to the university hardship officers about more help with the childcare? As a student she will also be exempt from council tax, are you claining the single person reduction?

Monkey85

Hadn't thought of that but probably not possible as she is studying midwifery. Will check just in case.

Thanks

Monkey85

We have recently sorted the council tax which is good.

In terms of other funding she is entitled to nothing at the moment as it is a one year college course before uni and I earn above the threshold for any grants etc

Monkey85

Hi

She worked about 30hrs before but has cut this back because of starting college. The biggest change is the childcare costs. They are a big chunk of our income now.

She is trying to take on more hours but it pains me to have me working all week then her all weekend. Family time is important to me so would at least like one day together.

helphelphelphelp

Check what the entry requirements are for midwifery. I did a nursing degree and was able to continue working as the university I wanted to go to accepted an Open University Diploma which I studied from home. As I was a mature student and my O levels were too old, I did my adult literacy and numeracy (part time courses and finished in a couple of weeks) as the university I was at accepted these as GCSE equivalent.

Monkey85

AllyMac wrote: »

It depends whether you mean struggle through as in tighten your belts or each month slip further into debt with essentials going onto a credit card?
If the latter, I would only do it now if it was a well budgeted amount with clear plans to manage it - basically a planned cost of retraining.

You say college then uni - so is she doing some kind of access course first? Look into part time options to do what she needs to do to have a shot at uni. If this is a one year course, maybe as a family you can afford that - but uni will have to wait with a year or more saving up gap between. Completing this year may help her feel better that she's not just having to drop out.

How old are your children? Are childcare costs coming down soon? (starting school, or turning 3 for funded hours)

What I would say, is if you can't afford it now, make a realistic plan for when and how you afford it - and stick to that.

Could she work around whatever free childcare you have and as a family you agree that ALL goes into a dedicated retraining fund for her? Then post an SOA and put everything into finding an amount you can save each month for this goal.

Thanks for this reply, you made some really good points. It is an access to higher education course that she is doing at the moment but she has already submitted her UCAS application for university so not sure if withdrawing the application with a negative impact is possible ( I wouldnt want it to affect her chances of getting into the Uni she wants in the future).

Our youngest has just turned 2 so childcare should reduce when she tunrs 3, which is why I am leaning towards just riding it out and cutting back as much as we can. As you say we need a plan, which is something I should have done from the start so lesson learned on that front.

I think I will go through the figures again tonight and come up with some sort of plan.

Thanks again