Where to start?

devonsdreamer

MONTLY OUTGOINGS
Rent £595
Water £40
Gas & Elec £67
Council tax £127
Car insurance £50
House insurance £14
Life insurance £43.03
Mobile phones £60
TV licence 11.37
Pre-school £96
Petrol £60
Clothing £50
Dental £5
Tax mot upkeep £50
phone, net, tv £30
Nappies £16
Food £300
School expenses £5
Gifts £30
Entertainment £20
Total 1669.40


MONTLY INCOME

wages 800
Tax credits 480
Child benefit 120.80
benefits 161

Total income : 1561.80


So before I even pay debt I am already overspending by 107.60 (that is if my maths is correct)

My debts stand at

DEBTS TOTAL MONTLY PAYMENTS (interest £) APR
Amex 3000
Barclaycard 4000 83 (54.54)
Capital 1 591.18 29.95 (15)
Asda 892.02 26.76 (13.39)
Virgin 3682.37 5 (0)
Overdraft 1 a 1249.08 (13.36)
Overdraft 2 b 2800 (22.41)
Overdraft 3 b2 1400 (24)
Loan 10,000 138.44
Eye payment 1080 83.05 (0)
Catalogue 1 L 374 123.76 (0)
Catalogue 2 a 200 40 (0)

Total debt: 31694.26 mothly min payments £529.96
min int added monthly £141

webitha

firstly if you have your 3yr old niece living with you why are you not getting CB and financial help from parents? if i where you i would get this sorted asap are you claiming other tax credits for her if not why not

also with the food i feed 2 adults 3 kids with humungous appetites inc nappies on £200/£250 a month i say start menu planning around what you got in and only buy what you need over tinternet to stop impulse buys and use codes from here or better still use aldi/netto/lidl they veg/fruit is loads better and cheaper within that budget of mine i buy all houshold stuff stardrops for everything, bog roll, shampoo etc

can you ask the council to pay CT over 12 months instead of 10
can you get any of the insurances cheaper and use quidco for the cashback

personaly id ditch the life insurance too if your renting you can always restart when your better off

good luck my lovely and keep posting

oh oh oh dont forget to start a spending diary and write EVERYTHING in it down to the last bar of choc you will be v surprised i cannot praise this high enough i was shocked when i started mine ive had t stop it now tho as 5 days out of 7 it were blank tho it took me a couple of months to get to that stage lol

webitha

and i know what you mean about preschool my DD is also 3 in jan so im reaaaallllllly looking forward to april lol

devonsdreamer

THanks so much fo r the reply- the reason for my neice being with us is rather complicated and for her safety her Dad is not aware that is living with. He did not contribute to her when she was living with her Mum and as far as I am aware has no job and another baby with new partner. My sister is not as yet employed and my worry is if I ask for money she may decide she would rather have her daughter living with her and that would notbe the best outcome for the child. I have applied for child benefit and expect to get it - so far I have been waiting 6 weeks.

Shopping - my netto aldi etc are about 15 miles away in the city centre- nearest supermarket is tesco (within 5 miles) I have informed my hubby that we will be meal planning and shopping on the internet i find asda online is the best.

raq

our food bill is £80.00per week for the 5 of us, nappies included and eat well. I also do the asda and lidl shop and it is fab. We have a mortgage but no life insurance as we are trying our best to clear as much debt as possible as my husband got a better paid job. Once things start to settle down then we will look into life insurance. Debt comes first at the moment.

Most weekend we take the kids walking, local park, friends, arts and crafts anything at the moment whilst we are paying debt. They are very happy just spending time with us. I really try and not use the car if I can, and you would be surprised on how well it does the kids, yourself for the exercise and the cost of the car, plus the polution.

C_Ronaldo

To the OP i do recommend having a look at shopping in aldi, lidl or netto(depending where you live), you say you renewed your phone contracts but did you get a cheaper monthly price or stick with the previous monthly payments

devonsdreamer

Some of the debt (a very small portion) has been from spening on the things we needed for our neice eg bed, clothes etc. We are also expected to buy her christmas and birthday presentsso having to take out of the pot put aside for my children and spread it around the three- we get no financial (or emotional!) support from any family member - we are also starting the legal processes and I am having to keep my fingers crossed we get legal aid.

I LOVE to walk and I only use the car for essential journeys - I go to college once a week which is a 30 mile round trip, I live in quite a rural very hilly area and the two little ones arent able to walk as far is needed for the village - I am not able to walk places I use to go before my neice came so to save money we dont go-

I have joined seefilmsfirst.com and get invitations to see free films that gives us adults that much needed break although we cant go together as we have no childcare.

We have a park on our street so spend a lot of time there, we too spend most of our free time doing no cost activities-but have to use the car to get anywhere and parking is always a cost as we live in devon so that comes in the £20 entertainment. I always take pack lunch so never buy food out.

we have friend round the house for our social life both adults and children - i dont drink so no alchol cost for me. and no paying for mums and tot as we go to friends or they come to us.

Phone contracts we got cheaper and better deals - I am going to sell my husbands old handset on ebay mine had broken.

INSURANCE- so do you think the best thing is to cancel it or try to get a cheaper policy?

preschool fees will be for 3 months then it will reduce and not be above £60 monthly when they get vouchers (and are on 5 mornings a week)

In_Search_Of_Me

aww hugs for you, the sorting is the worst bit. Have you contacted social services re your niece? What you are effectively doing is a private fostering arrangement & you can get financial & emotional support with this. Worth looking into ..yes you have social workers in but contary to popular beief we are human & will help where we can! Her mum shsould also be contributing towards her keep as she will at least be getting CB atthe moment! Are you eligible to tax credits, childcare vouchers etc? As others have said its a good idea to do your spending diary - spendingdiary.com has an online one that does pretty graphs for you!
Can you get any work in the eves? I know it's hard but sometimes people like tesco do shelf stacking etc which you could do while the kids are in bed...unsure what else to suggest but just wanted to say welcome; dont despair - there are pleanty in the same boat (ie more out than in!). It may be worth you ringing CCCS etc for free advice ad DONT go to one the the schiesters who advertise!

devonsdreamer

Thank you fishface- yes I have contacted SS I have been told by them as it is a private family arangment that they will offer no support at all - financial or emotionaly- my neice was not considered "at risk" and SS have not been involved at all and although I have asked they say they have no need to be involved. I would quite happily work with a SW to ensure a long term positive outcome for my neice.

I think the next step is CCCS not sure this is a situation I can juggle my way out of

devonsdreamer

I have looked into going to work - we are stuck in that catch 22 situation that I couldnt earn more than we get in benefits so would increase stress (sorting childcare etc) without financial benefit- if my husband does overtime it is taken out of the pot - he finds this quite demotivating- good news as I am a part time student I can apply for a book grant of £70 so if i get that it will help with my cost