Debt... incoming

LBincoming

Sorry not sure I put the car asset bit in right. If we sold them both now, we’d have £26000(approx). However that wouldn’t fully pay off their remaining finance, which I why I put -£4500 before

Elisheba

Just a few things to think about... 

You said earlier your phones are paid off, so £47 a month seems very high for 2 sim only phone contracts. You can get good deals for about £5/6 a month.

£70 a month is a lot for haircuts! Anyway you can reduce that? 

Your electric bill is pretty high. Although that may well  just be the cost of energy these days. Couldn't hurt to make sure you are turning everything off at the wall, not charging items over night, doing dishes once a day after you've had a shower so the water is already hot, that sort of thing. Loads of threads on here about cutting energy use. 

Your grocery bill could be cut by at least £50 a month quite easily I think. I know you said you shop on Lidl and meal plan, but 2 adults and a baby just on solids can eat for less than that no problem.

It's a shame you are stuck with your cars. They are super expensive and costing you a fortune. I saw you said they were 2nd hand, but are they new enough they don't need MOT's, because otherwise £10 a month is nowhere near enough to put aside I would say. 

LBincoming

MovingForwards said:

You've got a few months to save hard and cover the loss for may leave.

Is the council tax spread over 10 or 12 months? It's still the same amount to be paid, but eases the financial pressure over 12 months.

Look for better SIM only contracts, they start from about £6pm.

Delay haircuts and have them every 12 weeks instead as you can't afford £70pm.

Cut back on the entertainment, the weather is nicer and you can do picnics and things with your mates / family.

TV licence, do you watch BBC / iPlayer? 

You know what people will say about the two cars on HP, especially as it's more than your mortgage.

Edit to add - run a benefit check based on 2 kids and paying nursery fees, see what you may be able to claim.

Tried to answer these in order but I’m working off my phone so it’s a bit difficult!

Council tax is over 10 months, unfortunately unless we can show the local council that we’re experiencing financial hardship then we can’t have it over 12 months (the last time I checked anyway).

Definitely worth us both looking at cheaper sim-only contracts, thanks! We both need plenty data for work, but it’s been a long time since we looked.

£70 a month is between us, but I’ll definitely be able to stretch my haircuts out for longer. I doubt my husband will be able to though, shorter hair seems to lose it’s cut very quickly in comparison. He usually goes every 2-3 weeks.

Yep - especially since the entertainment isn’t really all that entertaining. Primarily coffees with various people for me, and the odd beer with friend for my husband. Adds up but doesn’t feel worth the spend when other things are free.

We do watch iplayer sometimes. We mainly pay the TV licence because I’m a bit scared not to though! 

The HP on two cars is ridiculous, I know. We live fairly rural and a car is required for my job… I do regret not having gotten a cheaper car though. It’s something for discussion between myself and my husband though; if I can get my side hustle to cover my wage instead of me going to work then we could easily get rid of one car. (This would also solve the future nursery fee problem)

LBincoming

Elisheba said:

Just a few things to think about... 

You said earlier your phones are paid off, so £47 a month seems very high for 2 sim only phone contracts. You can get good deals for about £5/6 a month.

£70 a month is a lot for haircuts! Anyway you can reduce that? 

Your electric bill is pretty high. Although that may well  just be the cost of energy these days. Couldn't hurt to make sure you are turning everything off at the wall, not charging items over night, doing dishes once a day after you've had a shower so the water is already hot, that sort of thing. Loads of threads on here about cutting energy use. 

Your grocery bill could be cut by at least £50 a month quite easily I think. I know you said you shop on Lidl and meal plan, but 2 adults and a baby just on solids can eat for less than that no problem.

It's a shame you are stuck with your cars. They are super expensive and costing you a fortune. I saw you said they were 2nd hand, but are they new enough they don't need MOT's, because otherwise £10 a month is nowhere near enough to put aside I would say. 

Thank you for your insight!

I’ll definitely look at cheaper phone deals, mine is still through my mother, that’s how long it is since I’ve looked at phone contracts! 

I’ll be able to stretch my haircuts out more, not sure my husband will be able to as much (short hair seems to lose its cut very quickly in comparison to longer hair). I usually pay £65 every 6/7 weeks, he pays around £15 every 2-3 weeks.

Yes that bill is for gas and electric combined, it used to be £140 a month so it’s gone up massively due to energy prices, as we’ve made a real effort to keep the heating off when it needn’t be on, planning washing loads for when we can hang it outside instead of using the dryer etc.

 I plan our weekly meals and go with a list, but we could definitely cut down some of the less frugal meals I sometimes cook to reduce the bill a bit. Usually £80 for a pay-day pantry shop (as I call it) then around £30 a week after that, but we often end up overspending on junk type snacks, even though they’re not needed at all.

If I get get my side hustle to pay what my wage does or slightly under after maternity leave, then we could potentially lose one of the cars (and also solve the future nursery fees issue too). But that’s just a pipe dream if we can’t sort ourselves out a bit!

flipflopflo

I bought a set of clippers and my husband just regularly buzzed his hair with that. He’s saved over £1k in a year. I’ve grown my hair long with no fringe and hubby trims the ends for me regularly and I go to the hairdresser every six months-ish, saved a fortune. 

LBincoming

flipflopflo said:

I bought a set of clippers and my husband just regularly buzzed his hair with that. He’s saved over £1k in a year. I’ve grown my hair long with no fringe and hubby trims the ends for me regularly and I go to the hairdresser every six months-ish, saved a fortune. 

I did my husband’s hair in lockdown myself and he said it was a decent cut then… now the hairdressers are all open he won’t let me near his head haha!

MovingForwards

Check the council site again as it's the first time I've heard of people having to be in financial difficulty to pay over 12 months.

Is your water on a meter or regular bill? If the latter, again look to spread that over a year.

If you're watching iPlayer then you'll still need a licence.

Your OH will have to cut back too. Mine does his own, I tidy it up, and occasionally he goes to the barber.  I rarely go to the hairdresser and when I do, opt for the lowest 'grade' rather than top stylist. I also do dye my own hair, brows and eyelashes.

For your top up shop it should only be things like bread, milk, fruit and veg, definitely not £30s worth. Look at having meat-free meals a couple of times a week too.

Elisheba

I have to say I resented paying for a hairdresser so much I learned how to cut my own hair off YouTube  It's just a simple fringe and layered style, and my hair has a bit of a wave so that hides a lot of sins, but it looks fine. I also stopped dying my hair, but before I used home dye kits, which were only £6 or 7 every 2/3 months. 

LBincoming

MovingForwards said:

Check the council site again as it's the first time I've heard of people having to be in financial difficulty to pay over 12 months.

Is your water on a meter or regular bill? If the latter, again look to spread that over a year.

If you're watching iPlayer then you'll still need a licence.

Your OH will have to cut back too. Mine does his own, I tidy it up, and occasionally he goes to the barber.  I rarely go to the hairdresser and when I do, opt for the lowest 'grade' rather than top stylist. I also do dye my own hair, brows and eyelashes.

For your top up shop it should only be things like bread, milk, fruit and veg, definitely not £30s worth. Look at having meat-free meals a couple of times a week too.

We’re on a meter thankfully, we don’t use loads of water but currently one of our toilet overflow pipes is leaking significantly- thankfully my dad is coming to fix it tomorrow.

Haven’t quite got the courage to dye my own hair, after a few ginger/blonde disasters in my teenage years. I don’t pay for nails/eyebrows/lashes though.

That’s all that seems to be in our top-up shops for about £30 haha! I’m going to work on making more frugal meals - it’s all in my hands because I’m the only one that cooks (which suits me fine). I don’t pay for Slimming World but everything is made for their healthy eating principals, so we get through a shed load of fresh fruit and veg each week.

Thanks for all your help!

LBincoming

Elisheba said:

I have to say I resented paying for a hairdresser so much I learned how to cut my own hair off YouTube  It's just a simple fringe and layered style, and my hair has a bit of a wave so that hides a lot of sins, but it looks fine. I also stopped dying my hair, but before I used home dye kits, which were only £6 or 7 every 2/3 months. 

I’ve always hated going to the hairdresser as it feels like wasted time, never-mind paying for it! I used to have to use two box dyes per hair dye time, due to the length/thickness of my hair though and it ended up striped gingery-blonde so I swore I’d never use them again haha! I did grow my roots out in lockdown, which meant I only needed to go to the hairdressers every 12 weeks or so once they opened back up, might do that again.