Help please! SOA Included

Iwantanewlife

Thank you Katsu! They are some top tips, I will make sure I’m signed up to all by Monday. Have a lovely weekend

lopsyfa

Iwantanewlife wrote: »

Hey! My bank says £82.80? or is this me being really silly!

I got a letter from child benefit people the other month, saying that i may have this reduced due to my income being over the threshold, i had to fill in a form but haven't heard anything back yet!

Is it possible to sacrifice some (or more) of your salary into a pension or childcare voucher to allow you to keep more/all of your child benefits. You can read more here:

https://citywire.co.uk/funds-insider/news/earning-over-50k-you-dont-need-to-miss-out-on-child-benefit/a682507

Iwantanewlife

Thanks for the suggestion. I am earning £50k per year + company car. I am already in the highest pension category (only sensible thing I’ve done ��) and I get more of a contribution if I use the new childcare tax scheme as opposed to childcare vouchers. I will have a look and see if I can pay any over and above into my pension and see what difference it makes.

I get why the government are cutting child benefit for ‘higher earners’ but as you can see, even minus the debts I’m hardly rolling in it. I’m still a single mum with no contribution from his father, and living in London, most of my living costs goes to housing. I don’t know seems like living and childcare costs have not been put into consideration for this when it’s a single parent family. Maybe im just feeling a bit stressed so it’s an extra thing I could do without lol

Time2Go_25

What % are you paying towards your pension as I would have thought on £55k a year you would be taking home more than £2600 a month

tigerfeet2006

Could I suggest that you put your EF savings into a Credit Union account (Google Credit Union and your area or London). Credit Unions are not for profit member owned co-operatives. If you have an emergency then you can access your savings or if you need more than your savings you can get a CU loan at a reasonable rate. But the way there loans work are you pay a percentage to pay your loan and a percentage into your savings, so you are still saving even if it’s slightly less than before.

Here is an example of a CU in London
https://www.credit-union.coop/content.asp?section=17

Iwantanewlife

Pdel61 - off the top of my head, I believe it’s 20% but I am not 100% sure. I also pay back nearly £200 for my student loan (straight out of my salary). I have an Audi company car, and that is taxed pretty high.

It’s funny you’ve noticed that, as I also thought my tax was through the roof, I went and checked it with HMRC and they said I owe them £50 - typical ey lol!

Iwantanewlife

Hi Tigerfeet, I have actually looked at this before, do credit union loans work for people with less than desirable credit scores? Also, do you think it would be an option to do that and pay of the ridiculous loan using a loan from them as their APR’s are bound to be lower than my nightmare 89%!!!

Iwantanewlife

I remember sitting in my office, at a job I hated, realising that I was about to be in real trouble with my finances. A single mum, with a good job, but poor credit history due to being completed uneducated about budgeting and general finances, I had made some really stupid choices. Not only had I made poor choices, but I had also made myself really stressed and completely unhappy with life. I spent weeks lurking on this forum, reading and learning, before I got the guts to write my own post admitting I had a problem. Enough was enough, and I was going to change my life (hence the profile name). 

A year on, I am like a different person. I have a new job, with a much higher salary, and more to the point I love it. I have learnt how to budget and how to understand financial products and making financial decisions. Every month I budget, working off the zero pound ethos. It works, and it works every time. 

So the reason for me to resurrect this old post is to announce, as of today I AM DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My last credit card was paid off today, and not only have I cleared all my debts I also have £6,000 in savings. I really want to say a massive thank you to the members of this forum, I can honestly say without coming to you guys I would never of done it. 

For anyone who is starting their journey please keep the faith, please listen to the advice given. Even when its hard to hear or you feel like there is no hope. There is, and me and many others are proof of that. 

Naomim

What a great post and well done! 

It does give faith to those of us newly on the journey that it's possible.

Thank you

Iwantanewlife

It really is possible, not that I ever thought it at the time! I had many up and downs (if your seriously bored, my diary is 'New Life Pending'). I added to the debt as life took over at times, but to now finally have the chapter closed Is such a relief and one I waited for for a long time. Keep using this forum, keep talking about it, live and breath a budget and tune in to Dave Ramsey - you will get there!