Struggling to afford everything

[pandabear13]

Hi I am hoping someone may be able to give me some practical advice. I am feeling very stressed and worried about the situation so please don't be too hard on me.

I am finding it really difficult to meet payments on debts I have. l am working part time 3 days a week making on average £850 per month. I have a 2 year old in nursery for 2 of these days which costs £58 per day. £150 out of my wages goes directly to pay for childcare vouchers so I get around £700 pay each month after the vouchers have been taken out. The remaining childcare fees come out of my wages.

I have debts from when I was working full time which at the time seemed affordable but since being part time after maternity leave it is much more difficult to afford the minimum payments.

My husband is working full time and pays the majority of the bills. I pay childcare and my debt payments, my car finance and insurance, phone contract and activities and bits needed for my DD.

I would ideally like to go back to work more hours but at the moment I am earning under the threshold for tax and if I went up even one day I would be paying tax and more national insurance, when I have tried to work this out taking additional childcare costs into account it doesn't seem to work out with me being better off, as at the moment I am making under £20 per day after nursery fees are taken off (except for the one day a week I work and my DD isn't in nursery).

I get £70 per week in tax credits at the moment but I am also thinking if I work more hours this would be reduced?

I have considered changing jobs and working nights but my DD would still need to be in nursery in the day so I could sleep.

I just cant think of a solution to this situation and I am getting more and more stressed about it.

Thanks for any help.

Mydcaremarvel
OP earns about £10k/year, I doubt very much that her DH is covering the mortgage and bills on just £6k/year!

I do wish people would think twice before giving well-meaning but misguided "advice". Based on the information given, OP is not going to get funded childcare for 2yo and she is not likely to be better off on tax free childcare either.

Ha cross post. Well I think your advice was terrible so I guess we're even

@AnotherEmma the op receives £70 a week working tax credit, the threshold for wtc is very low.

If only there was an equivalent word for "mansplaining" when someone tries to tell a benefits adviser about tax credits

I’m owed money by an ex partner for a loan that I took out on both our halves about 4yrs ago. I have one year left to pay off. He had a bad credit history & declared bankrupt prior to me meeting him. He had a good job but he spends his money on drink, cigarettes etc. Unfortunately we didn’t have an agreement to confirm that he owes me. I don’t get money from him on a regular basis & this is not helping my financial situation. How do I get him to pay what he owes me?

Hi there @pandabear13
First thing to bear in mind is that your horrible debt situation will get better as soon as you are no longer paying for full time child care
finances are horrific for every family with tiny kids

Secondly, switch any "ticking over" card debts onto standing order so that you can ignore them

Then do a joint family budget
as it would be madness for one of you to be paying interest if the other has cash to spare

But it will get better

Is there anyone you can ask to loan you the money to pay off your debts, parent or someone? that you can the pay back and explain that next year you can increase payments once you get free childcare. What about a 0 per cent credit card

I would have a play around with the entitled top calculator to see what you may be better claiming

I was surprised how much money a couple could be earning and still receive help with childcare through UC

No harm looking at the calculators, but be aware they might not be 100% accurate

Other have given great debt advice, being proactive in finding ways of getting the debt paid of and using snowballing techniques rather than just paying the minimum

Have you look at 0% Credit cards
Have you looked for cheaper suppliers for gas electric etc
Can you do a sort out and sell stuff on eBay? Kids stuff always sells well.
Look and see if you have and Tesco or other vouchers to use
Look for discount codes if you need to buy anything
Ring the shop account and ask if they can do a repayment plan

All this is short term until your DD starts the free hours, so keep that in mind

Food - over cook every time and aim to freeze on portion - do this with takeaways as well - that means every 3 meals you have a free dinner - bulk out stews etc with extra cheap vegetables and store in tin folk containers - they then cook from frozen and it’s a night off from cooking as well!

Tonight we have Shepard’s pie, lasagne and chili - kids can chose - I also cook and freeze pulled pork and spagbol