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Debt advice needed for reduced outgoings

Katieellen23
Katieellen23 Posts: 8 Forumite
edited 30 December 2019 at 1:56PM in Budgeting & bank accounts
This is my first post on here so please just helpful advice and no judgement.

I need help working out how to reduce our monthly outgoings

My partner earns between £2500 and £3500 each month (commission based)
I previously earned £1550 each month, I am on maternity leave currently and will be returning to work part time so will earn around £1000 going forward. We will need to pay for childcare at about £400 per month when I return to work in June

We need to reduce our outgoings to assist with reduced wage whilst on maternity and to cope with childcare costs. Our joint outgoings are as follows:

Mortgage £553
Council tax £172
Child Maintenance (partners from previous relationship) £368
Gas & Electric £80
TV licence £13.20
BT £22.99
Tesco Loan £91.62 (balance £4500 with 4.5 years to go)
Other unsecured loan £100 (balance £1000)
Car finance £160
Negative equity loan £60 (balance £900 due to end in April 2021)
Credit cards payments £50 (£5000 outstanding on cards)
0% finance loan £13.89
Phone contracts £55
Insurances £43
Store cards £20 (£320 outstanding)
We live in a large 3 bedroom detached home, we have looked into reducing gas/electric bills but we cannot find a better deal. We were considering topping up our Tesco Loan to allow us to pay off the other loan at £100, the negative equity loan for £60 and store cards. The rate is 2.9% APR on the loan so significantly lower than the rate on the other loan and cards. We both have very good credit ratingsm
I would just like advice on how best we can reduce our outgoings during this time?
Thank you

Comments

  • Post this on the Debt-Free Wannabe board.
  • Hi and welcome to the forum :)

    We need to see a complete Statement of Affairs (SOA) for best advice.

    Please complete your SOA, using the online form linked above. Please remember to click on the 'format for MSE' button near the bottom of the form and then paste it into your thread.

    For the best advice, guidance and support, I recommend you post your SOA into a new thread in the Debt-Free Wannabe (DFW) board
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • You may get more responses from the debt free wannabe board.

    One place I save a lot of money is in the kitchen. Cooking from scratch, portioning and freezing, meal planning with an aim of 0 waste and avoiding convenience foods/takeaways saves me loads each month - if you're willing to have some veggie meals then you can save even more as lentils/beans are pennies compared to meats. For recipes/tips check out the old style board. You don't mention how many you're cooking for or your monthly food costs, so I have no idea if you're doing this already.

    Also - your listed outgoings are under £2k. You must be spending more on something if you're struggling to manage on £2.5k minimum a month. Obvious stuff like car payments = insurance, tax and petrol too. You'll get better advice if you list absolutely everything.
  • Katieellen23
    Katieellen23 Posts: 8 Forumite
    edited 30 December 2019 at 2:34PM
    Household Information
    Number of adults in household........... 2
    Number of children in household......... 1
    Number of cars owned....................

    Monthly Income Details
    Monthly income after tax................ 950
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 2700
    Benefits................................ 0
    Other income............................ 0
    Total monthly income.................... 3650
    Monthly Expense Details
    Mortgage................................ 553
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 160
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 172
    Electricity............................. 40
    Gas..................................... 40
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 36
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 55
    TV Licence.............................. 13.2
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
    Internet Services....................... 0
    Groceries etc. ......................... 320
    Clothing................................ 50
    Petrol/diesel........................... 250
    Road tax................................ 20
    Car Insurance........................... 30
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 400
    Other child related expenses............ 50
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
    Buildings insurance..................... 13
    Contents insurance...................... 13
    Life assurance ......................... 40
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
    Haircuts................................ 0
    Entertainment........................... 0
    Holiday................................. 0
    Emergency fund.......................... 0
    Child maintenance ...................... 368
    Total monthly expenses.................. 2646.2

    Assets
    Cash.................................... 5000
    House value (Gross)..................... 155000
    Shares and bonds........................ 0
    Car(s).................................. 4500
    Other assets............................ 0
    Total Assets............................ 164500


    Secured & HP Debts
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 142500...(553)......2.9
    Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6900.....(160)......8.9%
    Total secured & HP debts...... 149400....-.........-

    Unsecured Debts
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Credit card ...................4600......50........0%
    Credit card ...................400.......10........21%
    Store card ....................250.......9........21%
    Loan ..........................1000......100.......0%
    Loan ..........................4500......91.82.....2.9%
    Store card ....................78........5.........21%
    Total unsecured debts..........10828.....265.82....-


    Monthly Budget Summary
    Total monthly income.................... 3,650
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,646.2
    Available for debt repayments........... 1,003.8
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 265.82
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 737.98

    Personal Balance Sheet Summary
    Total assets (things you own)........... 164,500
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -149,400
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,828
    Net Assets.............................. 4,272
  • Willing2Learn
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 30 December 2019 at 2:39PM
    There is something wrong with your SOA as it shows you have a 'spare' £738 left over each month!! (or do you really have this surplus?)

    Edit: I see you have started a new thread on the DFW board. I will use that thread instead of this one :)
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • We do have a surplus of around that amount however due to the amount of commitments we have we are keen to clear some things or refinance debt to improve our situation. We want to be able to put more money away per month in savings for our child and for holidays. I was looking for advice on the best way to potentially consolidate our debt and reduce what we pay each month. We have a good combined income but we are not able to live the life we should be able to because of the high level of commitments we have
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,781 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Surely you can use that surplus to pay off the 21% cards immediately?
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 18,319 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    Benefits................................ 0
    What about your Child Benefit £20.70 = £82.80 every 4 weeks.

    Childcare/nursery....................... 400 ?
    In OP you said that was from June. So why list it now?

    Anyway to reduce the £55 a month mobile costs?
    Life in the slow lane
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