Please don't be offened

whitewing

I would agree that about charity shops. I have a well-off friend who occasionally gives stuff to charity shops that still have the labels on.

butterflylady

Thank you for all of your replies,

My SOA is estimates as the minute as I do not go back to work until Jan.

Est Income £ 729
Child Benefit £ 72
CTC £ 88

Contribution to House £180
Food £100
Mobile £25 (I can;t get rid of this as I need it for work not that they pay anything towards it!!:mad: )
Childcare £ 200
Travel £ 80 ( I don;t drive but have to travel to various locations on a daily basis for work, they are meant to contribute towards the bus fare but again this is all up in the air) ( this might have to increase as I am unsure of my patch until I get back so they could be further away then previously costing even more!!)
Sky £ 60 (Phone, Broadband, TV)
Loan Egg £185
Credit Card M&S £60

So I just about break even, I have a partner however he is not able to help as he works very hard for an unfortunatley small amount of money.

I know theres nothing down for birthdays, clothes etc as I just don't have any spare money to put aside for those things.

I have just got lucky as I have been given a large bag of clothes that should last the baby for the next couple of months, but after that I have no idea how I will buy his next lot of clothes.

I am also desperate to leave me job as I know when I start back my life will be made hell and I will end up in a right old state again, however I would not be able to get a job which paid as well!! So I am stuck!!

itsnever2lateisit?

butterflylady wrote: »

Thank you for all of your replies,

My SOA is estimates as the minute as I do not go back to work until Jan.

Est Income £ 729
Child Benefit £ 72
CTC £ 88

Contribution to House £180
Food £100
Mobile £25 (I can;t get rid of this as I need it for work not that they pay anything towards it!!:mad: )Is ths a contract phone if so can you go PAYG? If your employer expects you to make calls then they should pay for them
Childcare £ 200
Travel £ 80 ( I don;t drive but have to travel to various locations on a daily basis for work, they are meant to contribute towards the bus fare but again this is all up in the air) ( this might have to increase as I am unsure of my patch until I get back so they could be further away then previously costing even more!!)
Sky £ 60 (Phone, Broadband, TV)Can you not ruduce the package for now, this is more a 'nice to have' not a need to have
Loan Egg £185 APR
Credit Card M&S £60 again APR

So I just about break even, I have a partner however he is not able to help as he works very hard for an unfortunatley small amount of money.

I know theres nothing down for birthdays, clothes etc as I just don't have any spare money to put aside for those things.

I have just got lucky as I have been given a large bag of clothes that should last the baby for the next couple of months, but after that I have no idea how I will buy his next lot of clothes.

I am also desperate to leave me job as I know when I start back my life will be made hell and I will end up in a right old state again, however I would not be able to get a job which paid as well!! So I am stuck!!

When you have the APR's to hand put them in a snowball calcuator, and it will prioritise the order in which to pay them off.
Make sure that you are getting all the state benefits you are entitled to and at the correct rate, and check to see if you are entitled to a tax rebate for the ear 2007/8

tigerfeet2006

Check you are getting the right CTC etc. here www.entitledto.co.uk

Also look on your local freecycle group it's surprising what is offered https://www.freecycle.org

MKDebt

butterflylady wrote: »

Mobile £25 (I can;t get rid of this as I need it for work not that they pay anything towards it!!:mad: )

If they require you to have it then they are legally obliged to re-imburse you for any expense that you run up using it. Try turning it off...

butterflylady

Hi,

In regards to the mobile, I need it so the various stations where I work can contact me and me be able to contact others in the same role, work will not towards anyones calls. I have looked into PAYG but it would work out more expensive due to the free minutes I currently get.

The £60 for sky should really be classed as bills, as if I didn't pay for the sky I would give the money to my OH towards other bills like insurance, gas, elec etc.

I lose out significantly at work due to not driving as I struggle to have my bus fare paid the ones who drive are on a nice wack per mile, they make money out of it!!

I can't take on a second job as 1: it would effect my tax credits (which are pants already!!) 2: I would have to pay childcare so it would probably cost me more to work then I would be paid 3: Most importantly I would see even less of my son then I do now and I wont get to spend that much time with him once I am back at work.

The Apr on the Loan is 7.9% and the credit card is 4.9% for the life of the balance.

Loan is £185 a month until Aug 2010, the credit card has just under £900 on it.

Any help or ideas gratefully received.

Gemmzie

O2 do a month to month contract for £15 - 200 minutes, 400 texts and unlimited texts O2 to O2. Would save £10 a month

locutus2003

Have a look on eBay for baby clothes. I've bought loads over the years for my DS (who's now 3.5) and will be soon for my DD (who's 3 months old) - you can get some good bargains. Also, if you have NCT nearly new sales near you - you don't have to be a member and I've had some good stuff from there too. Finally, the supermarkets all do SOME good value stuff (although some I think is very dear) - for example I bought some jeans for my son in Asda and they were 1.75.

Good luck

x

chevalier

my comments are in blue

butterflylady wrote: »

So I just about break even, I have a partner however he is not able to help as he works very hard for an unfortunatley small amount of money. Can he get a better job, retrain in the evenings, get a second job? There are free courses on the web that are home based for example eg www.visiontolearn.co.uk. Is all the debt yours? Or has it been spent on joint things. It seems to me that you need to do a joint SOA, so that you both know how little money there is and that you BOTH need to cut back.

I know theres nothing down for birthdays, clothes etc as I just don't have any spare money to put aside for those things. Are you crafty? Could you make cheap but thoughtful presents. Again if you little one is young then look in charity shops for his presents. HE won't know that they are second hand.

I have just got lucky as I have been given a large bag of clothes that should last the baby for the next couple of months, but after that I have no idea how I will buy his next lot of clothes. Someone mentioned www.freecycle.org. You have to join and you have to offer something first (ie the baby clothes just grown out of or anything really), but then you can check on there regularly for baby stuff. My group for sure has baby clothes offered on there, and other things like buggies etc. You just have to pick it up for FREE!:D You can also get other things on there, I just got a washing machine off my local group for FREE. Saved me a fortune.

I am also desperate to leave me job as I know when I start back my life will be made hell and I will end up in a right old state again, however I would not be able to get a job which paid as well!! So I am stuck!!

If you job is really that pants then you have two choices. 1) note down all bullying, or whatever the issue is and then complain officially about it. 2) Whilst you are off NOW look for another job. You do not know for sure that you won't get a similar paid job if you don't really do your research. Also could you retrain for something with more money. The OU offer help with fees for people on low incomes, so it might not be as expensive as you think.

Ref other sorts of income. There are loads of survey sites on the web, that pay you in points or money to do surveys. Both of you can join up to them. Also make sure that all your utilies are with the cheapest providers with www.uswitch.com. If any are not, then check on www.quidco.com or www.topcashback.co.uk to see if your prospective new provider is offering cash back. There is also www.pigsback.com where you can get points for vouchers (including Boots so you could get your baby stuff free from the vouchers and get Boots points). There is a thread here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=594373

which halfway down the 1st page gives you all the answer to the quizzes for the day.

Hope this helps
chev

butterflylady

Hi

Thanks for all of your comments, My OH could in theory get a better paid job however almost 3 years ago he walked out of a very stressful job as he couldn't cope. He very nearly had a breakdown and it has taken a long time to 'get him back' if you see what I mean.

He has offered to get another job in the new year but I don't want him to get a job that will make him ill again. I want him to wait for one which suits him.

I feel now espically as we have a young child it is better to have a well OH who can be a dad too one who is seriously ill and can not get out of bed!!!

I have been looking for a new job, however I can not leave my job until the middle of march as they paid extra maternity leave which I would have to pay back if I did not do 3 months service, this would be in the area of £2000+ so I don't really want to add it too my debt.

The debts I have listed are mine, my OH has some outstanding on his credit card. All the money he has goes to paying the household bills that aren't listed on mine eg council tax, water, elec, gas, his half of the mortgage and food. I am very lucky in that I was meant to be contributing an extra £100 a month but that stopped when I went on too maternity leave and it wont be restarting!!

On the positive side, I managed to get OH to call his last mortgage providers re the exit fee and they are going to send him a refund of £165:j :j

also the nice people he serves have the christmas spirt and have given him some tips, he has very kindly given them to me to pay off some of my credit card £300 :j :j :j .

So now I have to think of some way to repay him!!! I wonder how????????