Married with high outgoings, is there any help available

C

Colleen

Guest
We are a married couple with four children. I work full time earning €24000 per annum, my husband also works full time earning approx €32000 per annum. We have a mortgage paying €800 per month and our child care costs are €200 per week. We are struggling, is there anyone out there who can advise us on how to get help. I pay alot of money in tax, there was nothing for me in the last buget except for €1000 for our yougest child.
 
Hi Colleen
Take out your phone book and jot down the number of your local MABS office (Money Advice Budgeting Service). Then give them a ring to make an appointment. It might be the most valuable phone call you've ever made!
Good luck with it!

Ruth
 
the budget should help you more than that get onto the revenue website and start seeing if you are entitled to any more deductions - bins & healthcare for example.
Lucky you to have 4 children and be in this predicament - me and dh are putting off having the first child because we are on the same money give or take as you and there is the worry of not bieng able to manage, childcare costs 150 per child where we are.
This is only a short time, teenagers can suplement their own lifestyles - i know i did from 16 onwards and still managed a degree out of it. but get in touuch with MABS before the summer holidays or christmas financial burdens comes along.
 
Colleen said:
We are a married couple with four children. I work full time earning €24000 per annum, my husband also works full time earning approx €32000 per annum. We have a mortgage paying €800 per month and our child care costs are €200 per week. We are struggling, is there anyone out there who can advise us on how to get help. I pay alot of money in tax, there was nothing for me in the last buget except for €1000 for our yougest child.
Click to expand...

MABS is good advice but some practical measures you can look at now.
Is your current mortgage the best deal you can get? Banks are competitive these days and you may be surprised to find that you could improve on this.
Together with the mortgage, tax is usually the biggest expense. Like one of the posters suggested, are you claiming everything you can? There are a host of things you can claim relief against such as bins, pensions, mortgage,
Can you take on a second job or find income from somewhere else. Are you currently part-time or full time, could you use a skill you have at weekends or evenings?
How many cars do you have? Are they new or secondhand, do you really need them?
How many holidays do you take in the year? What type of holidays?
Do you still use Eircom for telephone calls - switch over to the low cost operators such as Tele2, much cheaper.
A great tool to budget with is Microsoft Money - it will get you thinking about spending in areas you never thought about - right down to the no. of times you visit the cinema in a year. All these things add up.


Hope the above gets you thinking

good luck
 
Make sure that you are claiming all the relevant tax reliefs/credits/allowances. See here for a brief summary. Make sure that you are on [broken link removed] which should be more beneficial to you than the other alternatives. Check in case you are owed tax back from previous tax years (up to four past tax years).
 
You might not like this idea - but how about giving up work? That would cut out the need for childcare - and probably save a few other expenses like travel , lunches . After deductions and childcare costs - you are probably clearing about €40 euro a day max for working 7 or 8 hours a day. That's about €5 an hour.
It's worth thinking about. You would have more time with your children and maybe a less stressful life. You will find you will spend less because you will not be treating yourselves to make up for all the rushing about you have to do. If you have 2 cars now - maybe 1 will do if only one of you is working?
You could then qualify for medical card and Family Income Supplement on the sinle income. Also tax would be less.
You would automatically get PRSI contributions paid by the government under the Homemakers Scheme. You would also get 700 euro "carers" tax credit.
I know it's not that simple - you will worry about getting back into work in years to come. Maybe you really enjoy working - and don't want to stay at home.
You should also consider switching the mortgage - maybe to Bank of Scotland who have a good 2 year discount offer with €1000 towards legal fees too. It could help until maybe the youngest starts school?

Good Luck with it .
 
Thank you for all your advise it is much appreciated. I certainly must make inquiries into MABS and I really need to seriosly consider giving up my job.
 
If staying at home, you could consider childminding, keeping your childcare costs to zero, whilst earning up to €10k tax free, without it affecting your home carers credit. There is lots of free training and support, and grants to get you started with equipment/toys etc.
 
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