I earn £60k and I can’t keep my family warm

[Theyarellthesame]

Exactly that and I’m so, so frightened.

im 31 and I’ve done everything ‘right’ - went to uni, got myself a job and in 8 years increased my wage from £16k to £60k. We waited 13 years to have a baby until we’d saved up £20k so I could afford maternity leave, had £6k-ish left over after mat leave.

I live rurally in one of the cheapest areas in the country in a 4 bed Victorian semi, it’s not grand in any way. Lovely, but a basic 4 bed, 3 storey family home. When we moved in I had the loft insulated but we can’t have a smart meter because of something to do with where the meter is located.

My DH is a SAHP so no childcare costs for my 18 month old and he’d only be able to earn minimum wage so his take home pay per hour would be less than the cost of childcare, hence why he’s a SAHP.

Yesterday I got an email from bulb putting my direct debit up again from £290
to £470. It was £120 2 years ago. On top of everything else going up I just categorically cannot afford to pay that. There isn’t enough money by £149 a month to cover the bills for the household.

I think my options are to cancel paying in to my pension to free up that money or stop paying my student loan? Can you do student loan holidays?

mortgage is on a 5 year fix with 2 years left at 1.99% so that’s as low as it can go, we don’t have Netflix, sky or Prime anymore, we just have a TV license. We do have a Spotify subscription. Both our phones are on £20 a month contracts, we don’t have any debt other than student loans and the mortgage. We do have a dog and his pet insurance is £60 a month but it’s none- negotiable that we keep that going.

We batch cook using the instant pot to avoid putting the oven on, we do use the washing machine a lot because we use reusable nappies. I drive a plug in hybrid so the electric is high because of that.

We have 1 or 2 U.K. holidays a year, usually a static caravan or holiday cottage for a few days. Total cost of holidays per year is around £1k so I’ve already knocked saving for those on the head.

No chance of my wage increasing again any time soon, I’ve pushed very hard for the last 8 years to climb a very greasy ladder and there’s no where else to go from here.

WTF do I do?! There’s news all the time how this is going to get worse again in January and the only advice coming out seems to be ‘go and get a better paid job’ but I HAVE a well paid job! we want another baby but I’m currently telling DH no because we can’t afford it and need to save like crazy.

Im very very frightened, how much worse is it likely to get from here?

I often found if you didn't use a letting agent you'd get more people who weren't fussy (e.g. babies). If you used a letting agent sometimes they just didn't care who they let rooms to.

Student loan repayments are £400 a month, I do contribute a lot to my pension (£750 a month) because DH doesn’t have one

Stop doing that. Pay some to DH in his own private pension for the time he wasn't able to work due to being a SAHP. Is he claiming CB - even if he doesn't get the money due to your wages he gets NI contributions.

Do your student loan and pension come out of the £3k take home?

I would also go back through your bills and see how much gas and electricity you actually use - I live in a 2 bed end of terrace Victorian house with negligible insulation (but do have double glazing) and my bill a few years ago (also with bulb) was £56. It would now be about £140 but obviously the £67 now means it's going to be cheaper than it has been for the last few months). So if yours was £120 when mine was £56 you would expect it to be about £300 less the £67 which is way under their proposed direct debit. Are you keeping the house warmer all the time now because of the baby so you haven't just got price rises, you have increased usage?

If you haven't already, it's worth going and visiting Money Saving Expert and posting an SOA (statement of affairs) on their budgeting boards. They are brutal but helpful.

Not really, OPs income should be absolutely fine for her bills. Her pension should be the last thing to be cut.

There was a thread on here yesterday where a lot of people to the the poster that she was being unreasonable about getting antsy with her partner for wasting energy.

That's because she was a troll who was saying he boiled the kettle too many times and shouldn't have cooked his own dinner in the oven because she had leftovers over her different meal.

This is absolute rubbish! As someone who's worked for one of the big 6 for 25 years I can confirm that energy suppliers would much rather everyone had smart meters but the technology involved means that in some houses it just isn't possible. The meters send messages using SMS so in areas where the phone signal is poor smart meters will not communicate back to the supplier. Also if the meters are in a basement for example, the signal will be blocked.

Evenings maybe but not nights-you can’t do childcare having done a nightshift then go and do another nightshift-as me how I know!

That was a troll. The thread was designed for people to think the op was unreasonable

£750 on pension per month, blimey. So when you say you can't afford to keep your family warm that's not really true, you're just choosing to prioritise other stuff.

Your set up does sound a little unusual. You say your DH would only be earning minimum wage if he was working. Can he use this period as a SAHP to study, do something to up his earning potential?

I know others have mentioned it but again - is the direct debits reasonable? We are paying way less than that - family of 4. I am careful with how much energy we use but the main thing is I keep on top of it a lot. Like you we can’t get a smart metre but I don’t think I’d benefit much anyway as I take monthly metre readings and calculate regularly how much I anticipate we will use on it over the month/ year. I won’t put my direct debit up to stupid amounts because I know it’s incorrect. They can ask for £500 a month if they want but I know we don’t use anything like it and won’t pay more than about £180 a month.

Figure out what your usage actually is. Figure out how much that actually means spending.

Oh also I don’t know about your energy supplier, but ours is direct debiting the £66 / £67 a month into our account the day after we pay our direct debit, so net I’m not paying anymore a month. I know Octopus are just reducing direct debits by the £66 so a different approach. If yours is refunding back to you, that gives you £66 a month more towards it than maybe you thought.

Don't move. The costs of moving are horrendous, (stamp duty, agent fees, removals - and then when blinds etc don't fit or the "new" house needs work that you didn't notice when you bought.
Lodger? DP increases his earnings...
Or shut off two of the bedrooms to reduce heat loss
Use heated throw instead of heating - and then just ride it out.

But the reality is it is hard

You don’t need a letting agent.

Go on Spare Room, flag the baby and price the rent accordingly. You could definitely find someone who needs somewhere cheap to live who won’t mind the baby.

No but children need to be fed and warm first. Those are the priorities here!

If you have 4 bedrooms you can easily find a lodger.

Agreed re Victorian houses and fireplaces. DM has an iron stove thing, I don't but looking into getting one or doing a fire in fireplace. Honestly when they're on and burning smokeless fuel you can open a living room door and the heat will heat almost whole house. Chimney does need to be swept though.

Yes this - we’ve had someone round to fit a smart metre at least five times. I truly believe if it was possible they would have installed it rather than just wasting their own time / money!

Would you do that? Would you work nightshift and then be in sole charge of an 18 month old all day? Or are you just saying that because he is a man and you think he should be the one out earning money.

A weekend job, or an evening job in a pub maybe. But family time is important and being awake enough to carr for your child is extremely important.

You need to reduce your pension contributions.

Your DH needs to get a job - being a SAHP is not viable in your circumstances. Is there the option of flexible working in your workplace? Perhaps you start earlier/later and work around his hours.

You're shouldering a lot of the responsibility for this OP. He needs to start contributing more and also planning for a career that will provide him with more than minimum wage.

Airing on the side of caution OP you're making yourself very vulnerable financially here.

No, there wouldn’t. It would be suggested she find work.

£750 into a pension pot when you’re a higher rate owner is an extremely sensible move if she stopped paying that amount she wouldn’t find a self with an extra £750 in her pocket, student loans would have a little bit more national insurance would have a little bit more tax would have a little bit more.

Who on earth would want to let a room to a stranger when they have a baby in the house? Anyway, they are using all the bedrooms.
Better to get at the root of the over spending and get the Bulb direct debit amount addressed - that salary and the mortgage amount with no childcare costs means it is eminently achievable to live within their means on the income they have.
Agree with all the PPs suggesting a cheaper car

OP, I didn’t qualify into my profession until I was 29 and the I wasn’t allowed to save into my pension scheme for another two years (different rules back then) so whilst I think it is a great idea to save for a pension ASAP, you need to cut back your on payments for the time being. Not stop them altogether, but you are putting far in excess of the basic amount. If you put in 5% of your salary that would be £250 per month.

What you seem to be asking is: can I save £500 a month without making any changes to my life? The answer to that question is no