One wage in, not covering all monthly bills

W

worriedwife

Guest
Age: 30
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 36

Annual gross income from employment or profession: € 40,000 approx
Annual gross income of spouse: unemployed

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

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or - Spending more
(b) saving?

Rough estimate of value of home - € 260,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: € 300,000
What interest rate are you paying? -

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
€10000 loan - pay €210 per month will be cleared June 2012
car finance - €7000 left, in arrears by €800. pay €400 per month
MBNA 1 - €2000
MBNA 2 - €9000

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? No
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?

Savings and investments: no

Do you have a pension scheme? yes

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: N/A

Life insurance - €86 per month

General outgoings
esb (50 a week),
phones 100 a month
Bin charges - €25 a minth
Sky - €30 a month
House insurance €25
Two car insurances - €90 a month
Petrol - approx €60 a week
Food - approx €70 a week
Animal insurance (needed) - €40 per month

Query
Basically I take home €610 a week, my husband is unemployed and has been refused jsa etc due to my wages so mine is the only wage coming in. We are paying €1200 a month for mortgage €200 of which is towards arrears €5000. Car payment and other outgoings are just getting too much - We are already in minus figures each month and I am constantly missing payments etc as we don't have the money. Basically I am losing control here, we are in debt on credit cards etc due to house renovations 3 yrs ago so paying minimum payments there. Husband has been out of work for a year and I just can't seem to get on top of everything. I have cut out gym memberships/vhi - all additional items but still cannot seem to get on top of the situation and have just missed a mortgage payment. I need suggestions on how to improve our situation?
 
Sorry to hear of your situation. Can you rent out a room in your house? Can your husband get a job delvering takeaways etc until something comes up? Maybe you can babysit on a Saturday night for some extra cash. Have a good clear out and sell unwanted items on eBay. I know it's not going to change things dramatically but it will give you a few extra quid. Maybe sell one of the cars and cancel sky. Are you shopping in Aldi? Are you plugging out all the electrics every night? That esb bill seems high
 
sell one of the cars and cancel that car insurance.
why do you "need" pet insurance?
Your phone bills could probably be cut a little too.
get rid of sky.
look over your taxes for the last few years to see if you are due anything back (did you fully claim for medical expenses, bin charges, etc?).
did you take out mortgage protection - if so can you claim now that your spouse is unemployed?
If you can get on top of your arrears, you should try to get a loan to pay off the credit cards - the interest on those is crippling. However, lenders may not be overly keen to lend to you.
Try to get an appointment with MABS.
 
Hi thanks for replies

We need pet insurance as both of our dogs have ongoing illnesses so constantly need to be at vet, may need operations in future. Husband has tried everything, sent off hundreds of job applications. Selling car is not an option, husband spends most mornings driving around dropping off cvs etc, his car is not worth what is owed on it so we wouldn't be any better off - the other vehicle is not worth €1000. Have debated getting rid of sky but realistically we don't go out, we live in a very rural area so it's not an option to get rid of tv. I have not claimed for bins etc but am doing so now. shopping in Lidl every week - the figure for shopping also includes animal food etc :).
 
Are you claiming your husbands tax credits? To me it doesn't seem like you are based on your net salary but I'm no tax expert. Can your husband do a FAS course to increase his chances of getting a job?
 
Hi Legal Lady - yes i am claiming his credits each week. He has already done two courses and is waiting for another course to come up. He has also done a private course in computers. Trust me he is trying absolutely everything - he has applied for any and all jobs that he can. Will have to speak to mortgage company and see what can be done.
 
sorry esb bill is approx €160 - we had arrears so I paid €50 a week, that will go down now as we have cleared arrears
 
For phones you could look at O2 Clear Plans from o2.ie. Its 25 per month and you get unlimited O2 mobile and unlimited irish landline calls. So, unless you spend a lot of text messages you could save another 50 euro.
 
ESB @ 160 every bill is very high for the two of you. Should try and cut it to 80/90.
70 for food is also high, you could get away with 50 on this eating well
the basic sky package is 22 so cut to that.
Phone is high also so you need to look into that.
Can you cut bin charges, see if any of the local companies has a system where you buy the bin outright and then just a tag every time it's full and you put it out.
Try move cc's to one with introductory 0% on transfers. Cut them up.
Any sort of way to bring in extra would do you'll just have to be inventive.

Good luck
 
Life insurance €86 per month? Unless there are health issues this seems very high.

Downgrade life cover to basic mortgage protection of 300k - should be about €35pm.
 
  • Switch to Bord Gais or Airtricity instead of ESB - they are at least 10% cheaper.
  • Cut up the credit cards - only use for internet purchases if really needed.
  • Car insurance at €90 per month seems very expensive given your description of the cars being insured - SHOP AROUND! Try insure.ie to get a better deal.
  • Keep your SKY, allow yourselves some luxury.
  • Are either of ye good at baking/making things? You mention you live in a rural area - could you go to farmers markets and sell home baked produce?
  • Is your husband any use at selling? If he is get him to offer to work for nothing except the commission he gets for selling in a local car garage/company?
  • Give yourselves a break, dont worry too much about these things, if ye are both healthy ye are both rich - head out for dinner and a couple of drinks to "de-stress" once every so often!!
Hope this helps & best of luck.
 
eirefinq said:
head out for dinner and a couple of drinks to "de-stress" once every so often!!
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The OP literally can't make ends meet and can't cover the monthly expenses with her salary so I think dinner and drinks out every so often isn't the sort of advice she needs. The idea to de stress is good, I would suggest pack a cheap picnic, sambos and a flask, and head to one of the gorgeous scenic areas to do a long walk in the fresh air (bring the pets too) Cheap and great to get outdoors and forget the worries. Last weekend we went to Carlingford with the picnic and dog and another nice location is Wicklow. Even Phoenix Park makes a lovely location for a walk and a picnic.
 
aristotle said:
For phones you could look at O2 Clear Plans from o2.ie. Its 25 per month and you get unlimited O2 mobile and unlimited irish landline calls. So, unless you spend a lot of text messages you could save another 50 euro.
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If you have internet use the O2 online free texting service, also use SKYPE for free SKYPE to SKYPE calls. (Actually I don't see it on your list, so ignore this if you do not have broadband). Bin charges at €25/month is expensive. Are you recycling & composting where necessary. Can you put the bins out every two months.
 
worriedwife said:
the figure for shopping also includes animal food etc :).
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I lived in rural Ireland for a good part of my life, raised in a family with dogs & cats, & to this day I have never seen a tin of cat/dog food at my mums house. Quit buying food for the animals & feed them the waste food from the house, it might also cut down on your bin charges.
 
fizzelina said:
The OP literally can't make ends meet and can't cover the monthly expenses with her salary so I think dinner and drinks out every so often isn't the sort of advice she needs.
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Early bird special including a bottle of wine costs no more than €35 for 2. In the grand scheme of things its not a big deal (in my view). Each to their own!
 
You seem to be spending a lot of money on animals. Do you really need to do this? It seems to me that if you get these animals put down you could save a lot of money.
 
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