To consolidate credit cards?

kimwp

It's great that you are asking the right questions and looking to sort out your debt. It might be worth considering that your definition of "careful with money" is a bit more spendy than other people might define. For example, £165 on the phones, getting a car on hp, spending on a one year olds birthday to the extent that it causes financial impact are not things that thrifty people do. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad about your choices, but to give you an understanding that "careful with money" actually means spending a lot less (while still having a nice life) than you are doing - taking on that understanding will help you address this.

reggierae

APRS

MBNA - 21.7%

Virgin - 21.66%

Zopa - 29.4%

He’s subcontracting so he has been using the CIS for tax. While I agree, with you, the van is still his vehicle for personal use too and not in addition to a separate vehicle but that’s something for him to look into for his tax return and I’ll deduct it from his net income.

I think my concern is ‘what if’ there aren’t any good months. You never know! I don’t think I can take another 9 months if not years of having 0 in the account at the end of each month and living half a life. 

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The loan is a secured loan on the house at 7%. I know it’s not advisable but at least it will be getting paid off and we’ll have more left over to pay down the remaining cards? Is this incredibly stupid? 

The babies go to a childminder during term-time so we only pay for 1.5 hours each child via tax free childcare during term time weeks. They take a packed lunch so there are no additional fees.

Thanks for the link. I’ll take a look for our previous vehicles too.

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Thanks for your help everyone. Inevitably, coming down post-Christmas into a new year with finances like this feels absolutely hopeless. 

It’s not a sob story at all, but we really have had a lot of bad luck as well as making a lot of bad decisions. Like being fleeced by a builder who put his company into liquidation while I was pregnant leaving our house half finished and annihilating our savings! I’m not a total idiot and we were doing great before 2023! Like I say, having twins has a huge financial impact. Buying a car to fit a 6ft 9 man and two (safe) car seats and a double pram meant we had to use finance as we couldn’t ‘afford’ one big enough for our needs outright, which I know is a bit of a fallacy. We have cut back so much: no meals or drinks out, no activities that aren’t free, no new clothes, no beauty treatments or hair colouring, no sky TV, no holidays. We didn’t buy each other for Christmas and a big birthday. I make every meal and snacks from scratch. 

In terms of income - My income has reduced 60% because of childcare as I only can work 2.5 days. I had to leave my previous employer as they wouldn’t allow me to go part-time so now owe £3k back for enhanced maternity pay. My husband did a year as an employee when the babies were born so he could be here more, so we’re also readjusting to him being self employed and had costs like buying a van etc when things were already tight but it means his earning potential is way more but not guaranteed which is scary. 

But anyway, it’s not about excuses but I want people to understand the context and that I’m not going on wild shopping sprees or gambling or at risk of repeating behaviours. I genuinely just want to plan a way out of this so my children can have a good life! Thanks again! 

Also - I can’t share a link as I’m a new member, but please visit the Twins Trust’s campaigns page if you’d like to read their research and support their plea for more financial help for families with multiples (there’s a template letter for your MP). It could really have helped us. 

RAS

It's a bit late, but for others in this situation, if you return to your pre-maternity leave employer for a brief period, you can keep your maternity benefits, and serve notice ASAP.

TheAble

You haven't mentioned the revert rates on your credit cards as far as I can see but assuming somewhere in the mid-20%s you'll have paid those off in 2 years anyway at the rate you're going.

It looks like you'll have a few costs in your budget drop off in 2025 as well which should help speed things along. So your situation may not be as bad as you think.

Don't put your home at risk by securing the debt on it would be my advice. It's almost always a bad idea.

NeverendingDMP

As a mum.of a singleton then twins I totally get the shock to your budget. Your comment about formula raised my heart rate as it is just shocking how much it costs for two and I remember wondering how on earth we were going to pay for it. . Hopefully you are close to be able to use cows milk not formula as it will help the cost. Despite the comments you are bound to have had in the street twins are not buy one get one free! Kids in general can get very costly so all the budgeting skills you had before now need to be finely tuned. It sounds familiar -i left a good job, went to a part time wage on a third of the salary whilst paying 1.5k a month in childcare(more than my wage). It's hard work. The best thing is you have come to the forum to get advise what to do. I did but perhaps a little too late 😂. Ultimately you will decide what to do but the ideas you will get here can be so useful whilst on the treadmill of life! I'll go back and comment on bits earlier in your thread but one thing to mention is tamba used to do a 10% discount at Clarks for twins if you were a member and they randomly had 20% off events too.  It's worth checking if they still do it. Other shoe shops available but for us they were the only local place that measured feet and I wouldn't do second hand shoes- personal preference -i know not everyone has the choice. I'm guessing they are at the about to cost a fortune in footwear stage. The price of the membership was far less than what the shoes would have cost!

NeverendingDMP

reggierae said:

...

Benefits................................ 0 - have you double checked just in case- turn to us benefits calculator is a good one. 

Secured/HP loan repayments..............  £797 (HP with 2 years remaining plus work van PCP)

 I'd avoid putting any other debts on secured loans or mortgages.  Been there done that. Just makes the debts drag on forever.

Council tax............................. £195 - you can ring them and say you can't afford it and offer to pay it over 12 months instead. Might help with the budgeting till you catch up from your mat leave.

Mobile phone............................ £167.51 (two phones + a phone I pay for for my mother) -can save a lot once out of contract 

Clothing................................ 50-children grow quick. Sales and second hand can keep the costs down but footwear, when walking, wellies for child minder etc, is going to bump the costs up

Childcare/nursery....................... £35 per week. Are you using tax free childcare, and thank goodness for the new govt childcare schemes.  

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... £50 pre paid for prescriptions can be cheaper if you need it.

Professional loan………. £130.72 for course renewal loan for 12 months ending in October, £200pcm to my previous employer for leaving after maternity leave, will be repaid in September .

least that will be gone by end of year

Family loan: 700 remaining, paying £150pcm-

will be gone soon, then maybe swap this to an emergency /Xmas fund?

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... £50-see if there are any nct sales nearby. You can sell and buy -I remember filling two massive bags for Christmas for about £20. Big tip though. Don't take the kids so your hands are free to grab what you see and queue/get there early to be one of the first ones in! Younger toys tend to be plastic or wood so a good pack of antibacterial wipes and your off. It's also good for Coats, clothes, snowsuits,wellies and dress up outfits!

£316 remaining and that’s without anything coming up which it always tends to! -ive been budgeting years and still things crop up. I can guarantee if you kept a spending diary you will see how that 316 can so easily vanish. My money still evaporates. 

See comments above. Remember one day at a time. Young children are busy little things and mum and dad need to try and look after themselves too xx

ManyWays

The loan is a secured loan on the house at 7%.
I know it’s not advisable but at least it will be getting paid off and we’ll have more left over to pay down the remaining cards?
Is this incredibly stupid? 
Yes this would be very stupid, do not do it. Secured loans are dangerous for anyone, but no-one with a variable income should take one. 

Who is your mortgage lender and when does your fix end?

kimwp

Re the secured loan - a secured loan means you can lose your house if you can't pay it.

If you can't afford your credit cards and unsecured loans, then you just stop paying them (and a few admin things) until they default, interest stops being charged and you only pay them what you can afford/a nominal sum. It wrecks your credit history for a bit, but it's better than losing your house.

reggierae

NeverendingDMP said:

As a mum.of a singleton then twins I totally get the shock to your budget. Your comment about formula raised my heart rate as it is just shocking how much it costs for two and I remember wondering how on earth we were going to pay for it. . Hopefully you are close to be able to use cows milk not formula as it will help the cost. Despite the comments you are bound to have had in the street twins are not buy one get one free! Kids in general can get very costly so all the budgeting skills you had before now need to be finely tuned. It sounds familiar -i left a good job, went to a part time wage on a third of the salary whilst paying 1.5k a month in childcare(more than my wage). It's hard work. The best thing is you have come to the forum to get advise what to do. I did but perhaps a little too late 😂. Ultimately you will decide what to do but the ideas you will get here can be so useful whilst on the treadmill of life! I'll go back and comment on bits earlier in your thread but one thing to mention is tamba used to do a 10% discount at Clarks for twins if you were a member and they randomly had 20% off events too.  It's worth checking if they still do it. Other shoe shops available but for us they were the only local place that measured feet and I wouldn't do second hand shoes- personal preference -i know not everyone has the choice. I'm guessing they are at the about to cost a fortune in footwear stage. The price of the membership was far less than what the shoes would have cost!

Thank you so much for this. It really is a unique challenge!  Fortunately, the new 15 free hours is a massive help otherwise our situation would be even worse! I can’t image how people did it before they were introduced. I’ve become so doom and gloom warning friends hoping to get pregnant about having a contingency in place case it’s twins. I am transitioning to cows milk which will help, but even with weaning I think must spend about £20 on fruit for them alone 🤣.

reggierae

Thanks again everyone. I think I’m just a bit panicked at the thought of spending another year doing nothing and going nowhere and being stuck home with two toddlers! Feeling a lot better about things today. 

Would it be wise to pay down my MBNA card with the largest amount £13k as they always offer 0% balance transfer which I could then move the other cards to?

Or would it be better to pay £2300 off Zopa with the higher interest rate even though the monthly payment is small?