How to manage ?

[lassie]

Age: 37
Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a

Annual gross income from employment or profession:65k
Annual gross income of spouse:

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed private sector

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
spending more then i earn
Rough estimate of value of home 290k 1209 pm
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 240k
What interest rate are you paying? 3.65

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
credit union 29k 658pm
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? no
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 3200

Savings and investments: credit union 4k

Do you have a pension scheme? yes

Do you own any investment or other property? no

Ages of children: 15, 8,4

Life insurance: n/a


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? [/QUOTE]
I can't seem to manage every month . I get paid monthly and i am always stuck Waiting for the child benifit 487 and the trs 121
net pay per month 3600

mortgage 1209 pm
credit union 639 pm
credit card 100 pm
life insurance 110 pm
house insurance 50pm
car insurance 100 pm
phone 70 pm
internet 30 pm
eircom phone watch 39 pm
car tax 40pm (pay it every 3 months)
childcare 720 pm
while bin 40 pm
upc 50 pm
gas 160 pm
esb 109 pm
food 150 pw
petrol 200 pm
i have an ex partner who is on sw and doesn't pay any maintenance or anything towards the mortgage which is both our names.
on paper i don't think i am too bad but the money just disappears nearly the day i get paid
If any one gets sick or if any thing out of the ordinary happens then we are basically in dire straits .
This is how the month goes :I get paid monthly i pay bills etc and do a weeks shop then i have nothing left. I have to wait then for trs to come in and the child benefit usually two weeks of no money at all . it is the same way every month . how do i make it last ?
any advice at all on how to manage better reduce out goings etc . i need to try to balance out what i have over the month better . how do i avoid the low weeks where the bank balance is nil ? I would also like to save for an emergency fund.
thank you

 

[lassie]

how to manage

sorry should have mentioned i tried last year to refinance morgage to pay off cc and cu loan and I was refussed . The reason given at the time was poor credit history . i had arrears on my credit card and my ex had gotten credit of 500 from a catalogue in my name which I knew nothing about and it went to a debt collection agency . I had no idea untill they called to the door . I have paid that now and my card payments are now up to date but only paying the minimum payments . i did look at a subprime lender for the remortgage but the payments would have been more then the current payments to the CU and the mortgage.

 

[sadie]

You may be eligible for a GP Visit card as there are some allowances for dependents and mortgage payments and childcare, and travel to work expenses as well.
So if after all that your weekly income is less than the max allowed you are eligible for a GP Visit Card.
If you contact the Dept of Health or your local health centre, it may be tedious to get the form completed etc but worth it if you get the Card.

Also are your Tax Allowances correct for your circumstances? Could you be owed any Tax back for previous years? Do you claim all your correct reliefs for Bin collection etc.

Your Life Insurance seems very high, maybe you have mortgage protection in there or something.

 

[Giggsey]

3200 from credit U to pay off credit card and then cut it up.

life insurance 110 pm > seems a lot?
house insurance 50pm > seems a lot, depends on rebuild cost, guess 400 a year.
car insurance 100 pm > seems a lot, 1200, did you shop around for this?
phone 70 pm
internet 30 pm > some deals available for internet & phone together?
childcare 720 pm > Will this go down next year when all your kids in school?

 

[doubledeb]

Your insurance seems very high as well at €1200 per year. Also the gas and esb seem very high. I am in a similar position financially but have discovered the main one I can cut down is the grocerys. Even if your ex is on sw he is still responsible for maintanence payments as he is probably getting an allowance for the kids. even 30 or 40 euro a week would go a long way.

 

[Hurling Fan]

Could you ex-partner help out a bit with the childcare if he is on sw. This would be a huge saving.

Also are you claiming the free pre-school year for your 4 year old. Probably too late for this year but if the 4 year old isn't starting primary school in September this year make sure to register for September.

Good luck.

 

[pinkyBear]

Hi there,
Your food bill is quiet high too, we used to have a food bill like that and then we started shopping in aldi, 3 times a month for staples and then 1 monthly shop in Dunnes for things I cant get in Aldi.

I also posted in a previous post I have also cut down on meat based dinners as well and make my own pasta sauces...

 

[dmos87]

What car are you driving?!?! I paid €369 euros total for my car insurance this year. I'm 23, female, two years no claims bonus (actually more but I switched providers and lost the paperwork).

1200 euros a year for car insurance is what I paid for my second year driving at the age of 19. You need to shop around!

A good idea here is asking your ex-partner to help out with the childminding if he is on SW. It will save you heaps, and can be his contribution until he finds work. There are lots of things he can do with the kids that are free.

I hate to say it, but a lot of what you listed are not necessities. Eircom phonewatch keeps you secure, yes, but you cannot really afford it. Try and get packages for all of your products - TV, BB and Landline if you must. Between your phone, internet and TV you pay 150 euros per month, there are DEFINITELY better deals out there!

Your gas bill pm is very high too - do what you can to cut back here, I know it can be hard with Gas but every little helps!

Try and do what you can with the ESB as well - my mother goes around the house every couple of hours and ensures that anything not in use is not plugged into the socket. This has helped her loads, teenagers don't see a problem with leaving things plugged in!!

Best of luck to you