Sort out finances after wife lost her job.
Comments
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Yes, pay off the mos expensive debt firsts (i.e. those with the highest interest rates.)
However, as well as reducing debt you need to stop building it up - so clearing your barclaycard debt and reducing that of your wife would be the place to start,but that would need to be on the basis that you and she also stop putting new spending onto the credit cards - otherwise you may end up back in the same position in another few months.
Your comment about your wife still putting things on cards is concerning - you and she need to be on the same page about reducing spending, and that may need to be in conjunction with you ensuring that she does have some money each month so that there is less pressure for her to spend on cards?
Yes, this is very accurate! one of the reasons i'm trying to free up money is so she can have some for any additional expenses she might have.0 -
I'm going to be ruthless and do some straight talking:
Mobile phone............................ 60
-- when are your contacts up? Look at swapping to sim only
TV Licence.............................. 38.87
-- have you just started paying this? Why not pay for 12 months?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
-- ditch some of the packages
Clothing................................ 100
-- don't buy anything, I'm sure you have enough in the wardrobe, just stick to smalls for the rest of this year
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
-- you say you get this back, how much of this is your wife's?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
-- nothing for any of these??
Other travel............................ 200
-- you have two cars, what's this for?
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 20
-- shop around on renewal
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
-- you have a mortgage, currently being paid on one salary, what happens if you are never able to work ever again, or off sick for a few years?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
-- you never buy each other anything?
Haircuts................................ 60
-- have them done every few months
Entertainment........................... 100
-- monitor exactly how much you are spending
Eating out ............................. 200
-- monitor this and cut back, you don't need to eat out
Coaching ............................... 110
-- ??
NS&I Bond .............................. 200
-- where's the cash as it's not listed anywhere
GYM..................................... 35
-- when is the contact up?
You also have two cars, ditch the one, instantly you are freeing up cash. If you live in the middle of nowhere then buy a budget car.
Your wife will now be starting to lose confidence with each interview, she needs to just get a job, any job, then carry on hunting for whatever it is she normally does, even temp work brings in money, pays the bills and takes the pressure off you.
Neither of you can carry on spending like you have two incomes.Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear it in 2026.0 -
durzoblint wrote: »Yes, this is very accurate! one of the reasons i'm trying to free up money is so she can have some for any additional expenses she might have.
I took the suggestion to mean that your wife should stop spending, rather than spend cash you give her instead of putting it on her credit card.
If you don't have enough income to service your debts, you need to question every spend.1 -
What is your wife doing? Is she signing on for national insurance if she is not working. If she doesn't it could it impact on her pension rights.
Check out .gov.uk for informationTallyhoh! Stopped Smoking October 2000. Saved £29382.50 so far!0 -
I think you and your wife need a much more collaborative approach to your finances.
There is no point at all thinking about ‘my money’ and ‘her money’, you’re married so it all belongs to both of you, whoever earns it. When she is both back working and the debts are gone you might want to keep some discretionary spending money separate for fun stuff/presents etc., but certainly for now you both need to be working together to make the household budget add up.1 -
MovingForwards wrote: »I'm going to be ruthless and do some straight talking:
Mobile phone............................ 60
-- when are your contacts up? Look at swapping to sim only
TV Licence.............................. 38.87
-- have you just started paying this? Why not pay for 12 months?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
-- ditch some of the packages
Clothing................................ 100
-- don't buy anything, I'm sure you have enough in the wardrobe, just stick to smalls for the rest of this year
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
-- you say you get this back, how much of this is your wife's?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
-- nothing for any of these??
Other travel............................ 200
-- you have two cars, what's this for?
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 20
-- shop around on renewal
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
-- you have a mortgage, currently being paid on one salary, what happens if you are never able to work ever again, or off sick for a few years?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
-- you never buy each other anything?
Haircuts................................ 60
-- have them done every few months
Entertainment........................... 100
-- monitor exactly how much you are spending
Eating out ............................. 200
-- monitor this and cut back, you don't need to eat out
Coaching ............................... 110
-- ??
NS&I Bond .............................. 200
-- where's the cash as it's not listed anywhere
GYM..................................... 35
-- when is the contact up?
You also have two cars, ditch the one, instantly you are freeing up cash. If you live in the middle of nowhere then buy a budget car.
Your wife will now be starting to lose confidence with each interview, she needs to just get a job, any job, then carry on hunting for whatever it is she normally does, even temp work brings in money, pays the bills and takes the pressure off you.
Neither of you can carry on spending like you have two incomes.
A lot of the costs i put up there were approximate. Transportation for instance is one of them, with work i'm either driving to locations out of london or taking trains within london so its either fuel or train not both. Same we clothing, we don't buy clothes monthly but might buy some over the holiday sales so i divided it by 12.
The NS&I contributions form part of the stocks & bond figure.
I have life and other insurance as part of my work benefits package.
i'm taking a look at all the other costs you mentioned and will be cutting them down within the month.0 -
I cam here from the other thread, but there are some questions:
I cam here from the other thread, but there are some questions:
TV licence - seems an awful lot, it about £12
Car tax, insurance and MOT - I pay annually for mine and same with TV licence, but I still divide it by 12 so I know the monthly cost.
Mobile phone - anyway you can it down to SIM only, I'm paying £9 a month for 200 minutes and 2GB data, never gone over.
Satellite TV - switch to freeview.0 -
onwards&upwards wrote: »I think you and your wife need a much more collaborative approach to your finances.
There is no point at all thinking about ‘my money’ and ‘her money’, you’re married so it all belongs to both of you, whoever earns it. When she is both back working and the debts are gone you might want to keep some discretionary spending money separate for fun stuff/presents etc., but certainly for now you both need to be working together to make the household budget add up.
Well its not working at the moment, any attempt to curb expenses is seen as me being controlling hence the stealth credit card purchases. I guess i have let it go on for too long and now i can't ignore it.
Tbh i have also continued to spend like we are on 2 incomes, so i will also be cutting down on a lot of my expenses.1 -
I cam here from the other thread, but there are some questions:
TV Licence.............................. 38.87
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
TV licence - seems an awful lot, it about £12
Car tax, insurance and MOT - I pay annually for mine and same with TV licence, but I still divide it by 12 so I know the monthly cost.
You're right! i just checked, that figure is taken out quarterly. I saw it was on the Dec statement, but the last time it was taken out before then was Sept. I will update the SOA shortly0 -
You both need to sit down and go through it all together. Mainly so she can see it all laid out and not feel like she has no control. Make sure there is no blame and that joint goals are what need to be focused on. So TV package, does she want to keep this because she is home in the day more? That's fine, but then something else needs to give, such as more home cooking rather than eating out. Want to keep an expensive second car? Then TV package goes and mobile downgraded. These decisions need to be made together. Open up some savings pots (online savers) to start putting money aside for car maintenance, xmas and birthday presents, house maintenance etc.
Your one income is high, more than we have for a family of six, once you are both on the same page you hold be able to see where your priorities lie and where you can make savings in order to start digging your way out.
Your wife needs to look at her NI contributions while out of work if she isn't claiming any benefits she isn't accruing any which will be an issue later on. I believe someone else posted a link.
Finally have a look at the diaries section for a variety of different incomes all on the same journey. One by Desperate Dan, is by a man on a high income with lots of debt, his journey may resonate with you. Have a search on the debt free diary section.
Well done for starting :jDebt free Feb 2021 🎉1
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