How am I supposed to do this without being in debt?

[orangepinkblue]

I thought I earned a decent amount. Take home is 3,200.

Mortgage around 1,000. This is far better than rent round here.
Car finance (yes I need car for work!), 290.
Childcare full times, 1,400.
Credit card payments (interest free) 80.
Travel to and from work, 150 a month.

Last year energy costs were around 250 a month in winter. I don’t know what I’m going to do? I have no partner and don’t seem to have any access to other support due to my income. Things like car tax, insurance for car and home, food, petrol, I don’t know how I will manage this?

Your ex sounds like such a bastard for letting his kids live like this. It sounds like you’re doing your best but you and them shouldn’t have to be going cold and potentially hungry because he won’t cough up. Call the CMS today. It’ll be painfully slow but do it. Also, have you tried food banks?

You need to claim CMS.

The Government have said they are bringing in legislation so that assets/inheritance will be taken into account not just earned income

The issue there is the childcare . How old is your child ? Any close to the 30 hours free ?

You can ask for six month interest only for your mortgage with no impact on your credit rating.

In your circumstances I might be tempted. Try and save some money to cover you beyond the six months.

How near to the free hours would that get you?

Why do have such an expensive car? No one needs a car that expensive.

That's a key area to look at cutting costs on in future

See my post on page 2. I pay that a month for a second hand Ford Fiesta. It's not a luxurious car.

In case you hadn't noticed, the second hand car market went stratospheric over the last 2-3 years and interest rates are many times higher than they were. £290/month doesn't mean you're driving a high-end car.

Ahh I didn't realise you were having a name change fail?

Not really if it is safe, reliable and economical.

False economy to buy something that has a bigger chance of going wrong/uses more fuel given the fuel budget OP has stated.

Plus the massive fact she is a full time single working parent with a child to get to/from nursery as well as getting herself to work.

The inconvenience of having a less reliable car is huge.

I'm not the OP (see my previous post).

It's just rather tiring when people think a £290/month car means you're driving a high-powered Audi and is some sort of luxury. Times have changed and you can't pick up reliable second hand cars for a couple of grand anymore. My first car cost me £2,500 back in 2007. The equivalent car now is £13k.

Any promotion prospects? If not could you look at getting a better paid job elsewhere with either condensed hours or closer to home to save on fuel?

Do you have a spare room to get a lodger? Could your daughter move into your room to enable this?

Interest only mortgage for 6 months and switching to a childminder should help save cash for this winter especially with a lodger. The longer term strategy is getting a better paid job or increasing income some other way.

OP hasn't indicated that she's a teacher unless I've missed that bit

The huge amount on childcare is a temporary situation for a couple of years - as soon as you get the 30hrs free, it’ll come right down and you’ll be able to afford to live again. In the long run staying in work is massively worth it, as you stay current in your profession, keep pension contributions going, etc. Short term pain for long term gain.

We just built up credit card debt to pay for living costs when nursery fees were taking all the money. Yes, it takes a while to pay the debt down, but it’s doable once you aren’t paying for nursery!

I"m not talking about a less reliable car, just a small reliable car.

I drive a tiny Kia Picanto and it's brilliantly reliable and didn't cost much to buy even a fairly new one and doesn't cost much at all to run. Not fashionable and no status symbol but I don't care..

You have no idea what the OP is driving or what her commute is like.

I wouldn’t want to do my drive in a tiny car 🤷🏻‍♀️, maybe OP doesn’t. She’s earning £50k pa and isn’t living extravagantly - her problem is simply the astronomical childcare costs.

You can’t pay full time childcare costs on one wage short of 6figures- it’s shit but u would be going after the father of my child. Would he look after them?

how many more years of childcare? Will the funded 2yr help coming in make a dent?

But when you have astronomical childcare costs, you might need to buy a smaller/cheaper car.

Do you have any family who would have your child / children for a day a week so you can cut down on the childcare expense?

No, nor have they indicated they are a baker, an artist or a lover of grammar...they were all suggestions to give a range of ideas.

Can you do any working from home days? That could reduce travel costs.

It's the childcare though, how old and how many children? I'd think about looking for a childminder. That's an extortionate amount especially if you're already using tax free childcare!

If op is in debt then her "wants" don't come into it

I earn a lot more than £50k and am quite happy in a tiny car. It's exactly the same traffic whatever you're sitting in.

The fact of it is that she's broke because she's managing it all on her own. Her ex doesn't work but doesn't do childcare or provide any maintenance. That should be illegal.

This is so out of touch. Prices have increased and 290 for a car I'd say is cheap...

Is your child in a nursery or at a childminders? I looked at both near me and the childminders were all cheaper than the nurseries

My car isn’t extravagant and I pay £200 a month. Cars aren’t cheap if you want something reliable that you depend on. More chance of something going wrong and paying repair costs with money you don’t have. Don’t change your car OP.

Have you actually done a calculation on https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ ? Because with those childcare costs you might get some help from uc. You can’t have both uc and tax free, but you might be better off with uc?