Overwhelmed

enthusiasticsaver

I am confused. Are you working part time or caring for a sick relative or both? Your childcare is expensive for the money you earn. If the rent goes soon you presumably will have £520 to pay towards the debt? The car travel costs are high too. Can that be cut back at all? If the childcare and travel costs are all related to your job it looks like it is costing you more than you are earning.

Rubyblossom

Thank you both.

The £200 income is Child Maintenance and recently checked it with CSA and it within a couple of pounds for what I would get if I went through them.

I have moved in with my Father to Care for him as he is terminally ill, he has Carers coming in to do his Personal Hygeine (He is bed ridden and incontinent). I do everything else for him. I work Thursday and Friday from 08.00 - 16.45. So I pay £105 50 a week for morning childcare and pay £20 a week for after school care on a Friday. Their Father has them on a Thursday. I pay £20 a week to park at work. I could get rid of this by using satelitte parking, but just a little traffic can make me late for work.
My petrol is work travel to the next town over, school run currently live in countryside away from school, and errands for family and my Father.

I love this job and it took me years to get off benefits. I know that eventually it could lead to full time work and my childcare will eventually disappear in a few years. The childcare provider is the only one in my small town that takes from 07.00 and it costs!

Thanks again.

DCFC79

Rubyblossom wrote: »

I mostly shop at Asda. I buy mostly Smart Price, cereals are Asda own brand, the only brands are Warbutons Bread and Fairy Liquid.

The phones I will give them a ring.

Just thought suddenly will anyone give me a discount for working for NHS. I get it on my childcare?

I cant say if the network will do anything about it now but its something to consider net year.

Re the discount, yes theres a website i believe, and im pretty sure it was on hukd (google it if you havent heard of it before ).

Rubyblossom

DCFC79 wrote: »

I cant say if the network will do anything about it now but its something to consider net year.

Re the discount, yes theres a website i believe, and im pretty sure it was on hukd (google it if you havent heard of it before ).

Thanks you have been really helpful .

EssexHebridean

OK - let's take a look - but before I do, so sorry to hear about your father. It must be incredibly difficult, but he must be so grateful to have you with him at this time.

Rubyblossom wrote: »

Household Information
Number of adults in household.............1
Relative I care for finances seperate.
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 545
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1646
Other income........................... 200 I know you say you've checked it, but this really does seem crazily low for 4 children.
Total monthly income.................... 2381

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ ..... .0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 520.00
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 131.00
^ Halved in Jan
Electricity............................ 80.00 Thids combined with the gas is very steep - is this partly because of additional costs involved in keeping the place warmer because of your Father's ill health?
Gas.................................... 80.00
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18.35
Telephone (land line).................. . 0
Mobile phone x 3...................... 50.00
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
^ Going in Jan
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200.00
Clothing in kids and uniforms 50.00
Petrol/diesel........................... 100.00
Road tax................................ 17.93 Are you actually paying this on monthly Direct Debit?
Car Insurance........................... 63.92 This is VERY pricey - have you done the comparison site thing?
Car Maintenance 20.56 This is very precise - are you paying in to some kind of scheme that covers the maintenance/MOT/tyres etc or something like that?
Car parking...........................................80.00 Any way of reducing this? Park somewhere a little further away but free?
Other travel................................................. 0
Childcare/nursery..............................502.00 This is swallowing pretty much all your income. On the other side, I understand your point about loving the job and the children won;t be the age they are (and thus needing this level of care) forever, so I presume you're looking at this as an investment in your future?
Other child related expenses........... 120.00 This seems high if not actually for childcare? What does this cover?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc). 0
Pet insurance/vet bills.............................. 0
Buildings insurance................................... 0
Contents insurance............................ 13.88
Life assurance .......................................... 0
Other insurance..........................................0
Presents (birthday, christmasetc). 90.83 This is well over £1k a year. I think you need to look at reducing this to be honest.
Haircuts.............................................. .10.00
Entertainment..............................................0
Spends 5.00 Is this realistic? Bearing in mind hyou have nothing in for entertainment Il;m not convinced it is...
Holiday.................................................... 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You have to start this
Pension 2.10
Total monthly expenses................. 2157.69

Unsecured
C/C...............................500.00..... 50...............0
Loan...........................1333.50....116................0
Overdraft...................2850.00.....40..........18.28
^This is just the monthly interest not paying any off.
Total unsec debts..4683.50....206......

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,381.00
Expenses (including HP & secured) 2157.69
Available for debt repayments....... 223.31
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 206.00
Amount left after debt repayments.... 17.31

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

Once you have the saving on your rent and council tax then tackle the overdraft first - in the meantime throw any spare you can at that - as you rightly say, at the moment it's just stagnant, isn't it.

Remember that while you're caring for your father, you do need to take some time for YOU too. It's an incredibly stressful time, don't lose sight of the fact that you need support too.

leespot

Not wanting to add to your stresses, but also keep in mind that in the future when you receive any inheritance and depending on how much, it might be wise to budget ahead for any possible reduction in means tested benefits, too.

White-as-Snow

Not sure who your mobiles are with but vodafone offer a discount of 30% to people who work for certain companies. vodafone advantage scheme it's called. we only found out when we asked them to cancel our contracts >.< sneaky sneaky

Smodlet

As usual, EssexHebridean has said it all already (hi, EH) I just wanted to say best of luck and I am so glad you have a job you love. I bet it is helping you to stay sane right about now, huh? You hang in there; it will get better.

All the best,

S x

sammyjammy

Is your job permanent? Have you considered asking for a carer break? Did your Housing benefit stop immediately you moved in with your dad? Did you share the circumstances and temporary nature of this with them?

Consider sharing your to do list with us, we might be able to give you some quick wins you can tick off and forget, mentally that would ease some pressure.

What happens with your dad when you are working? Can your children's father help take more care of the children temporarily to give you a break? Even if its just a few hours in the evenings.

EssexHebridean

:hello: Smodlet!

Great post above from Sammyjammy - if you can get some respite by means of the childrens Dad looking after them then that not only potentially gives you some "me time" but also maybe gets you some quality time with just you and your Dad.

Have you investigated the "Hospice at Home" charities? May be worth bearing in mind - the focus is on allowing people to remain in their own home and supporting both community care services and the family members who are taking the burden day to day.