Any advice - single parent of two spiralling into debt 24 February 2019 at 6:09PM in Debt-free wannabe 63 replies 13.2K views

sadcuckoo

Hello everyone,

I really cannot make the books balance at the end of each month and seem to be just sinking deeper into debt.
I have two children (one in reception, one in nursery) and am working full-time.
My SoA is below.
"Other child related expenses" is a private speech therapist (NHS waiting list is almost two years), and "emergency fund" contains also emergency childcare expenses / overtime (when I have to work long hours) and domestic help costing £200 (there are chores I cannot do due to health issues).

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 4700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4700

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1200
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 180
Electricity............................. 100
Gas..................................... 100
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 180
Childcare/nursery....................... 1900
Other child related expenses............ 300
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 80
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 60
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 400
Total monthly expenses.................. 5300


Assets
Cash.................................... 400
House value (Gross)..................... 500000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500400


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 240000...(1200).....3.2
Total secured & HP debts...... 240000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................10200.....250.......0
Bank debt......................7400......210.......4
Total unsecured debts..........17600.....460.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,700
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 5,300
Available for debt repayments........... -600
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 460
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,060

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 500,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -240,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,600
Net Assets.............................. 242,800

MovingForwards

Single person discount on the council tax?

Shop around for cheaper gas / electric.

Food - where are you shopping? Try Aldi and Lidl. You should be able to trim it down as the kids are young.

Cut back on clothing, hair cuts and gifts.

What is the 'other insurance', can you get it cheaper somewhere else?

Mobile - when is your contract up? Have sim only.

theoretica

Even without the debt your monthly expenses are more than your income. You need to examine absolutely all your spending. Big questions include whether you could move to a cheaper house (is the equity all yours or would some go to an ex if the house was sold?). Or is there a spare bedroom to take in a lodger? Do you have a prognosis for how long speech therapy will be needed or when the NHS may come through? What cheaper options are there for child care?

Smaller questions are whether you could survive with fewer hours of home help, and trimming a bit here and there off clothing, groceries, presents, entertainment, mobile... check all your insurances and utilities are at the best rates.

ViolaLass

Could you extend your mortgage over a longer period? Once your younger child gets their free hours, you'll be a lot better off.

Got anything you can sell?

Otherwise I agree with what has already been posted.

Mnd

No income from the other parent?

SweetPotatoPie

Could you possibly sell your property and move somewhere smaller and cheaper? You could halve your mortgage, possibly even more! X

Exodi

You earn £4700 a month (or you just skipped doing partner/benefits) - that's insane.

Then you have £1900 a month for childcare - that's even more insane.

To be honest, we're missing the fuller story here.

sadcuckoo

Thanks MovingForwards.

There's no single person discount as the domestic helper is live-in (actually this the reason why it is so cheap). I've only one fully functional hand, so some of the normal domestic duties are tricky. I could probably do without, but it would be a very poor quality of life.
Other insurance is private medical insurance, have to have it as it is an immigration requirement, it is the cheapest that still qualifies as "comprehensive".
I did not know Aldi / Lidl do deliveries (which is important for me), will check now.
Clothes - I even have no idea why it is so high, it was, however, an actual spend over the last year (even a bit higher, I've rounded up). Both children seem to be burning through their uniform and school shoes, the only things i bought for myself in 2018 are winter boots and basic underwear / tights.

sadcuckoo

theoretica wrote: »

Even without the debt your monthly expenses are more than your income. You need to examine absolutely all your spending. Big questions include whether you could move to a cheaper house (is the equity all yours or would some go to an ex if the house was sold?). Or is there a spare bedroom to take in a lodger? Do you have a prognosis for how long speech therapy will be needed or when the NHS may come through? What cheaper options are there for child care?

I will have to share equity with my ex (70 me/30 him), but it does not look like I will get a mortgage on my own at the moment.
It looks like the speech therapy will be needed for another year at least - but, of course, things like this are hard to predict.
The childcare is probably the cheapest already - I need it from 7am to 8 pm (wraparound for the oldest), at £6.5 per hour. It includes school holiday cover fees pro-rated too.

sadcuckoo

ViolaLass wrote: »

Could you extend your mortgage over a longer period? Once your younger child gets their free hours, you'll be a lot better off.

It is already at 30 years. Thanks, I actually had no idea I could get free hours - just checked and it seems to be universal, everyone qualifies.

elsien

Child maintenance?