No more maintenance from ex, budgeting help please

[Namechangedebthelp]

I seperated from my abusive ex around 2 years ago and he left me with quite large amounts of debt. I've been gradually paying off the debt and there is around £8000 left but all on interest free credit card at the moment.

I work full time and have 1DC. Up till now ex has paid maintenance but has recently lost his job. Due to the circumstances he is very unlikely to get another job and could go to prison.

I've been trying to figure out a new budget but it's looking very tight. Have listed my outgoings below, if anyone has any suggestions of places I can make savings it would be greatly appreciated.

Total monthly income including child benefit =2003

Rent 825
Council tax 105
Childcare 190
Broadband and phone line 40
Netflix 5
Mobile 10
Home insurance 15
Car loan 100
Car insurance 89
Gas/elec 49
Water 30
Fuel 175
Food around 40 a week
Was paying 300 a month off Credit card and will now reduce to 170.

This leaves me £40 a month and thats with no extras for school uniform, trips, birthday or things going wrong.

Am looking for a better broadband deal but other than that not really sure. Help please!

I currently claim universal credit and only get a small amount, I get some of the childcare back as part of that payment. The universal credit payment made up the original 2003 income.

Ex may well have taken my id etc still illegal as the documents should have been signed by me on licenced premises. So the merc garage probably acted illegally as well, amazing what can happen when they want to meet targets. Long story short he brought car home and I didn't realise it was in my name until a letter came through from the finance company addressed to me.

And yes I should have challenged it at the time but ex was dangerous and I hadn't got out at that time.

Anyways will keep plugging away at trying to reduce some of the other outgoings.

You have nothing to lose by looking into the legal position of that fraudulent loan...

Are you in a town/city with language schools? In the summer holidays (next year and on) you could consider moving DD into your room and use her room for hosting language students. The money should be enough to help pay off some more of the debt, then later on it could be used for a holiday.

Plus it could be interesting for you and DD, lots of people around me host students and really enjoy it.

Obviously my suggestion won't help you at the moment, but hopefully give you a bit of hope that you can clear the debt so you don't feel too bad if you have to pay only the minimum payment sometimes.

FCA for the loan when you've got time. Dh works for Merc, I didn't go in to sign my finance docs, they've known us both for best part of 20 years but it's still naughty.

Do you get a single person discount on your council tax (I'm assuming you're the only adult in your household)? That's 25% off if you're the only adult in the household.

Ive not many ideas to help you save im afraid but i thought do you have anything you could sell to either help pay off the debt quicker or put into a savings account to give you a bit of breathing space when your monthly spend goes over?

broadband and landline should be about £25 all in - that may even give you some calls. I work on all calls made from the landline and a payg £10 mobile so people can call me, spend about £20 a year on topups. plusnet and sky include calls to mobiles in their unlimited call packages which are cheaper than your mobile cost.

lose netflix - but I cant see a tv licence in there which is £12.

I pay £10 per month for home and building insurance
£37 per month for broadband - no landline
£10 mobile phone
Who do you rent from? Looking at your rent cost I would guess it is a council property? I would seriously advise you to visit district council and get prices of their home insurance if my guess is correct - as it will be much cheaper and usually a better deal

I see you’re claiming Uc but are you claiming council tax relief (not 25%discount for being alone in property ) you do this alongside UC

Why would OP need a tv licence? Op may not watch live tv and not need a tv licence.

Op do you use car for commuting? The fuel bill is high, is there a way of reducing this as it’s twice as much as your rent?

Sorry 😐 e cause me your rent I’ve been reading wrong

I would still look at trying to reduce fuel bill...

Where is MOT and car tax budget?

No car mot/repairs budget in there. I was putting aside £50 a month for this but will need to make enough savings elsewhere to continue doing this.

I don't have a TV licence as we don't watch any live TV. Netflix is the only TV we watch so trying to hold onto it for DC to watch but can cancel if needed.

Made a few calls regarding broadband today. I can't sign up for either TalkTalk or plusnet as demand is too high in the area, was told to check back in a few weeks.

Could you negotiate working from home a couple of days and so save on the childcare those days?

fair enough - no tv licence needed. possibly not worth it for a fiver, but dvds cost pennies from charity shops for kid viewing.

demand too high for broadband?? well I never!

Recheck benefits you are entitled to, as if your maintenance payment from ExDP has been reduced then sometimes what you are entitled to goes up!
Also is your Credit Card a virgin one? I have £5k on a virgin card for 40months zero interest and the minimum monthly payment is £25 only. I have that as a direct debit, and then chunks couple hundred a month off. But if a have a bad month (I.e. extra childcare in August and a car service) I know I have some spare. Good luck

Tesco mobile sim only from £7.50
Broadband/home phone can easily be got for £20 or less if you shop around.
Are you using all the loyalty cards/vouchers/discounts you have can?

Money saving expert site is good for help shopping around, increasing income ideas, signposting to vouchers/discounts/sales.

"Can't sign up for either TalkTalk or plusnet as demand is too high in the area, was told to check back in a few weeks." Do it sooner than that - squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Ploppy - maintenance payments haven't affected benefits calculations for many years.

Are you on a water meter?

Talk talk is rather cheap for broadband.
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sell car and buy a run around
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If you get too desperate, move up north as that'll halve your rent literally.

It might be worth getting some quotes for your car insurance now, even if you’re mid year - it could work out cheaper to switch even factoring in your cancellation charges for your current provider.

I’ve just done mine and used gocompare, confused.com, MoneySuperMarket, Swintons and comparethemarket, and have managed to get my car insurance cheaper than last years (and managed to insure both our cars for less than my renewal price!).

You could look at taking out a 0% Credit Card for purchases and put your insurance on that, would save the 29.9% fee for paying monthly?

Plusnet do a discount if you pay for the services up front, could reduce you monthly costs if you put it on the purchase card also.

How long do you have left on your 0% Credit Card that you’re paying off?

Talktalk now ordered so £20 a month saving in the bag!

According to MSE 21 data before car insurance renewal is the optimum time for the cheapest quote.

Also look at where you can make money as well as save op - for example any old clothes/furniture/toys etc that you could sell on eBay or Facebook marketplace.

Coupon sites I you have the time can help save money

Do your food shop online and often when you sign up for the first shop you can get deals like £20 off a £60 shop etc so you can a bit more food for our money - do the first shop and then shop else where.