newbie

sleepless_saver

You've got £440 for child related expenses, but no child benefit listed as income?

Ames

Could the child expenses be CSA payments being made?

lyndsey151004

its child maintenance my husband has 3 children by his 1st marriage, ive just applied for a new card as im paying interest on mine, o/h's is 0%

lyndsey151004

poorandindenial wrote: »

The good news (if my assumptions about car tax are right) is that you have a surplus. Is that what tends to happen or do you find that you have no cash at the end of the month. If it is the latter then you might find that a spending diary is useful, you basically write down every penny you spend and then look back and work out what you need to trim down on (it also helps put you off spending on non-essentials as you know you will be confronted with it again in the future

thanks for your advise the mobile is 2 contracts, im always at the end of my o/draft at the end of the month the child care is my husbands maintenance for his 3 children by 1st marriage

iwanttosavemoney2008

your hubby is paying too much child support!!

I work out that he should be paying £365.50 but it could be less than this if he has them overnight 52 nights a year. Does he pay through CSA or is it a voluntary agreement?

he should pay 25% of his take home pay
which is 15% for forst child and 5% for each other child
+ 7% off if he has them overnight for 52 nights a year.

Check here https://secureonline.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/calculate-maintenance.asp

iwanttosavemoney2008

lyndsey151004 wrote: »

Monthly income after tax................ 1030
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1462
Benefits................................ 0 do you get working tax / child benefit?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2492

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 846.25
Secured loan repayments................. 110.26
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 19.42
Council tax............................. 90 is this over 10 months ask to pay over 12
Electricity............................. 46 check out comparison site you are paying too much
Gas..................................... 45 as above get them from the same provider it could save you a fortune also cut back on useage when its cold use a jumper use the tumble drier less etc etc
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31
Telephone (land line)................... 11.84
Mobile phone............................ 70 either switch to pay as you go or get a better deal/s work out what you use and get a deal that charges you only for that check the phones tab at the top to see how
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 12.98
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 for 2?? serious downsizing of this is needed I spend that on 5 and 2 are in nappies do a weekly menu and only buy what it needed check moneysaving old style board
Clothing................................ 50 till your debts are sorted you don't need to spend this
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 use the car less walk distances of under a mile
Road tax................................ 302 ??? way too expensive i think this may be an error
Car Insurance........................... 26 again check comparison sites you may get this cheaper still and go through quidco if you can to get cashback
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 440 See my other post about this he is paying too much
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 9.89
Contents insurance...................... 12.35
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10 find out when learners night is and go then you will get your hair cut much cheaper under the watchful eye of a more experienced hairdresser
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2493.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 135000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 137000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 162500...(846.25)...0 Where did you get a 0% mortgage? this can't be right
Secured Debt.................. 6400.....(110.26)...0 same here
Total secured debts........... 168900....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card n & p..............550.......10........0 when do the 0% deals end
credit card m & s..............800.......50........0
credit card rbs................250.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........1600......110.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,492
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,493.99
Available for debt repayments........... -1.99
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 110
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -111.99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 137,000
Total Secured debt...................... -168,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,600
Net Assets.............................. -33,500

I have added my comments in yellow in case you can't tell:rotfl:

lyndsey151004

our phone contracts a for 18 months each and we have only done 6 months, roadtax is £101.00 for 6 months for my car 1.6 astra my o/h has a 1.1 fiesta and his is a lot cheaper, car insurance is the cheapest we could find and have both just renewed, we only really use one car, but there are occasions when we need both, the hairdressers £10.00 is for having my eyebrows done twice a month my little luxury i have, we have the children tues night after work approx 6pm and take them back at 9pm, then fri approx 6pm and take them back sunday at approx 10am every week, im not sure the agreement and figures were worked out, my food bill is for the month and we feed the kids alot of the time we have them and they are 13, 11 and 8 but we are trying to cut the bill down.our gas bill has just been put down as we were being charged £70.00 a month and our elec has just been put down as well, we do dont get any child benefits

Herewegoagain

lyndsey151004 wrote: »

hi i only registered today any tips to get started

hiya lyndsey, not been here that long myselfbutyou'll get lots of help here there a great bunch, just keep asking and kep listening and you can't go wrong ok lol x:D

Jacks_xxx

Hiya sweetie,

The key is to take it all step by step.

Decide that today you're going to read lots of threads on Money Saving Old Style join the Grocery Challenge and do a two week meal plan.

Then tomorrow decide that you're going to go to Uswitch via Quidco and get a better deal on your gas and leccy .

Then the day after check out mobile phone deals and see if you can get a better one. Then ring your provider and ask to be switched to a tariff that works better for you, or is a bit cheaper. (my son does this all the time.)

While all this is going on keep a spending diary and see where the money goes.

In a week or two you'll start to feel more in control and things will look brighter. You might decide that you will use all the savings you've been making to clear that £250 RBS in one fell swoop, then it might take two months to N&P but then you'll be able to throw everything spare at the M&S in month 4, and so on.

If you know where the money's going and make better decisions about spending it you can be on top of this pretty quickly I reckon.


Love Jacks xxx