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 think your husband needs to look at getting a job some evenings or weekends or in the longer term retraining and getting a better job that is more than childcare.

You have bought a house that is too big and thus too expensive for your needs. I would get it on the market and find somewhere smaller.

This group is really good for money saving ideas -

www.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=sharewww.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=share&exp=9594

Rent out one of the rooms.

Hang on now.
If this was a reverse and a poster came on to say she looks after their DC during the day but her DH also wants her to get an evening job to make money there would be uproar.

Why would their be an uproar? I would give the same advice to any family

@canyoudtep when the OP gets home from work before his job starts? In the morning when he gets home?

I'm confused. Why would childcare for one child need to cost more than the NMW? Childminders don't all cost over £9.50 an hour; not do nurseries. It's a luxury to have one partner not earning at all tbh, and a bit nuts if you're struggling to pay the bills.

I don’t think there would be. Everyone is struggling financially at the moment and people are doing whatever they can to manage.

DH could do childminding

How exactly is he meant to get a night job when he is a SAHP? When are posters proposing he sleeps?

He has one! He works behind a bar 2 nights a week and also has a side hustle that makes about £100 a month. In total his income is about £350 a month which is what we use to pay for food.

Sad reality is that most people don't want male childminders.

OP, your mortgage is fine.
In your shoes, I'd figure out your actual useage and how much you are paying per kWh and standing charge and figure what you really should be paying. If your DD is being set too high, cancel it.

All sounds a bit strange to me. Average wage in the UK is far less than this I believe.

£60K a year is £3600 a month take home.

You'd have to give a breakdown of your costs in order for people to really determine whether your claims are justified.

£470 a month on fuel is a lot.

There would be a stream of change the locks
I'm sure of it.

Okay so

Income 3000 a month

Mortgage 800
Dog 60
Phones 40
Tv licence 15
Energy 500
That's 1415...

What is the other £1600 a month going on? How much for cars / food / insurance? Something isn't adding up with these figures?

That's the expenses you've told us about...

I think they mean working a few hours in the pm - like from 6pm -12am type thing hence bar work suggestions.

A night job doesn’t have to mean literally overnight. Plenty of parents work in the evening!

Can your DP do takeaway deliveries? Does he drive? He could do Amazon Flex delivery with baby. I’ve done it before. The shifts are generally 2-3 hours long, £20+ per hour. He could choose to do them in the day or evening, up to 10PM. 12 shifts at 2 hours long could pay your bill.

or could he consider taking some professional qualifications? Like Open University? Free IT qualification from Coursera then get a tech job from home.

Excellent so he needs to take on more shifts in the job he already has and work five evenings a week. Very Part time is a luxury you can’t afford

Your expenditure must be very high. You need to cut your cloth accordingly.

How is that going to work though as he needs to be awake during the day for the childcare? My DH used to work nights and there is no way he could have looked after an 18 month old after a night shift.

What's your actual readings though? I'm taking that it's estimated are you sending readings in every month? This makes a HUGE difference.

Its amazing how much difference a weekend job or evening job on minimim wage actually makes if you arent used to the money. It makes more than you increasing your salary by a bit becausd it will be tax free whereas yours will have 40% tax.
Plus it keeps his employment record going.