On £25k but 'poor'?! Misery thread...
Discussion
Been umming and ahhing about whether or not to type this up or not, as it seems a bit of a whinge and I'm sure there are many out there who are worse off than I am.
However; as per the title, with the recent tax credit evaluation we are no longer entitled to Child Tax Credit which is going to hit us hard.
Thing is; every week is a struggle with the shopping bill.
My girlfriend doesn't work; I work full-time. I consider £25k to be modest given the economic 'climate' (hate that expression!) despite being on this wage 4 years ago before the company I did work for went belly-up, I've worked my way back up to £25kpa.
I don't want my girlfriend to have to work; she is there to look after our daughter. If she goes back to work the amount of hours she would need to spend away from home just to cover the childcare costs is stupid. And then what do you gain from that? Less time spent being a mother, with no money left as a result? Seems backwards.
I've looked at our monthly outgoings and can't really reduce anything without it impacting our quality of life considerably.
Rent - £715/month
Cncl Tax - £129/month
Electric - £95/month
Telephone / internet bill - £32/month
Water - £40
That already stands me over a grand before I've done anything.
I sold my car last year for a less expensive one to try and become debt-free, but it hasn't worked, I'm still in debt due to having to move house again and purchasing lots of new furniture.
I basically wanted to reach out and ask what others had done in similar situations?
My girlfriend is able to work and seriously considering it, but our daughter is 9 months old and I've looked into the childcare costs and they are approx. 50% of what I make in a day, per day!!! Madness. She would effectively be working to gain us entitlement to further tax credit.
I can try for a payrise but I'm almost certain it won't happen. I work hard, but we've struggled (as a company) until very recently. Moving to a higher paid job is a nice theory but there's not much out there, and job security is good where I am at present and this is important in my situation.
Just feel a bit pooped.
However; as per the title, with the recent tax credit evaluation we are no longer entitled to Child Tax Credit which is going to hit us hard.
Thing is; every week is a struggle with the shopping bill.
My girlfriend doesn't work; I work full-time. I consider £25k to be modest given the economic 'climate' (hate that expression!) despite being on this wage 4 years ago before the company I did work for went belly-up, I've worked my way back up to £25kpa.
I don't want my girlfriend to have to work; she is there to look after our daughter. If she goes back to work the amount of hours she would need to spend away from home just to cover the childcare costs is stupid. And then what do you gain from that? Less time spent being a mother, with no money left as a result? Seems backwards.
I've looked at our monthly outgoings and can't really reduce anything without it impacting our quality of life considerably.
Rent - £715/month
Cncl Tax - £129/month
Electric - £95/month
Telephone / internet bill - £32/month
Water - £40
That already stands me over a grand before I've done anything.
I sold my car last year for a less expensive one to try and become debt-free, but it hasn't worked, I'm still in debt due to having to move house again and purchasing lots of new furniture.
I basically wanted to reach out and ask what others had done in similar situations?
My girlfriend is able to work and seriously considering it, but our daughter is 9 months old and I've looked into the childcare costs and they are approx. 50% of what I make in a day, per day!!! Madness. She would effectively be working to gain us entitlement to further tax credit.
I can try for a payrise but I'm almost certain it won't happen. I work hard, but we've struggled (as a company) until very recently. Moving to a higher paid job is a nice theory but there's not much out there, and job security is good where I am at present and this is important in my situation.
Just feel a bit pooped.
What do you take home on that, about £1,600?
It sounds like you need a few hundred extra quid a month. It may not be ideal but could your girlfriend not do a few evening shifts at a pub to make up the shortfall until you're earning more? Presuming you can't live somewhere cheaper your fixed costs are too high a proportion of your take home and the only way to solve that is to find ways of earning more.
It sounds like you need a few hundred extra quid a month. It may not be ideal but could your girlfriend not do a few evening shifts at a pub to make up the shortfall until you're earning more? Presuming you can't live somewhere cheaper your fixed costs are too high a proportion of your take home and the only way to solve that is to find ways of earning more.
Sounds like a tough deal.
2 ways out I see. Upskill yourself and earn more. Or as suggested perhaps you can look after your Daughter evenings when the GF works part time? Preferably a combination of both.
Yes its a lifestyle trade off, but anyone doing self study has the same decisions to make. Look at your long term lifestyle. Some short term pain may well allow you much more long term gain.
2 ways out I see. Upskill yourself and earn more. Or as suggested perhaps you can look after your Daughter evenings when the GF works part time? Preferably a combination of both.
Yes its a lifestyle trade off, but anyone doing self study has the same decisions to make. Look at your long term lifestyle. Some short term pain may well allow you much more long term gain.
You're not alone. It is tough at our age/time of life, I have a two year old and another on the way. My wife works, 4 days a week, that's how we manage. She earns £26K doing that. We don't have a penny left over after all the bills are paid. We don't receive any tax credits. My classic car, completely impractical and frivolous, managed to survive the last child but it's going up for sale soon. I honestly don't understand how people manage on less but I guess it's because you don't have a choice, I've been much poorer in my life but then I didn't have dependents (so just went hungry) and I ran up thousands on credit cards.
I would suggest look at some nurseries and your wife working part time, if you have friends with children then you could even share a nanny which can be cheaper than nursery. Some parents are very against nurseries but I tend to have a more rounded view as it does help them with forming relationships with fellow children and setting them up for school. My wife did three days a week when our daughter was 14 months, then moved to four days when she turned two. She loves nursery now and screams with delight when shes sees her friends in the morning. The good news is once they turn three, the government (or as a taxpayer - me) pay for 15 hours a week childcare, which we're looking forward to.
It's tough, but it gets easier. School is free (unless you want to go private).
Worksleepworksleepworksleepworksleepbreedworksleepworksleepworksleepretirdead.
I would suggest look at some nurseries and your wife working part time, if you have friends with children then you could even share a nanny which can be cheaper than nursery. Some parents are very against nurseries but I tend to have a more rounded view as it does help them with forming relationships with fellow children and setting them up for school. My wife did three days a week when our daughter was 14 months, then moved to four days when she turned two. She loves nursery now and screams with delight when shes sees her friends in the morning. The good news is once they turn three, the government (or as a taxpayer - me) pay for 15 hours a week childcare, which we're looking forward to.
It's tough, but it gets easier. School is free (unless you want to go private).
Worksleepworksleepworksleepworksleepbreedworksleepworksleepworksleepretirdead.
My situation is completely different to yours, But your rent and council tax look rather high, my rents around half yours and my council tax is about 2/3rds of what your paying.
My electricity and water are also alot less too.
Id thought that if i had a wife/gf and kid I would actually be better off.
Im on 27k a year and am looking at buy a porsche 996... But im single and dont have any dependants.
I think you just need to tough it out until your child is old enough to go to school and so your GF can get a job.
ETA - Working hard only gets you one thing, tired. Work smart
My electricity and water are also alot less too.
Id thought that if i had a wife/gf and kid I would actually be better off.
Im on 27k a year and am looking at buy a porsche 996... But im single and dont have any dependants.
I think you just need to tough it out until your child is old enough to go to school and so your GF can get a job.
ETA - Working hard only gets you one thing, tired. Work smart
Edited by Odie on Friday 19th July 15:38
Edited by Odie on Friday 19th July 15:39
Childcare is an absolute killer and the reason my wife didn't go back to her old job after our first child was born.
In our case my wife found work in the evenings as a carer, visiting people in their homes to give medication/ help them get ready for bed. It's not something she wanted to do but soon found it wasn't all dealing with poo and sick and she actually met some really nice elderly people who didn't see many faces each day. It wasn't ideal as I'd get home from work and she'd go straight out till about 10:30 each night (plus work a bit at weekends) but it's what needed to be done and didn't cost us anything in childcare.
It's worth thinking outside of a 9-5 job in these situations and how you can make the most out of working what spare hours you do have in evenings or weekends.
In our case my wife found work in the evenings as a carer, visiting people in their homes to give medication/ help them get ready for bed. It's not something she wanted to do but soon found it wasn't all dealing with poo and sick and she actually met some really nice elderly people who didn't see many faces each day. It wasn't ideal as I'd get home from work and she'd go straight out till about 10:30 each night (plus work a bit at weekends) but it's what needed to be done and didn't cost us anything in childcare.
It's worth thinking outside of a 9-5 job in these situations and how you can make the most out of working what spare hours you do have in evenings or weekends.
I have thought about gaining further qualifications but there seems little out there in my line of work, which is within the construction / manufacturing industry but office-based. I couldn't find a course locally which would provide me with a valid qualification.
I will update my CV as it's been a few months since I last looked around for other work, regardless.
I will update my CV as it's been a few months since I last looked around for other work, regardless.
Thanks for all the advice / words people.
She's a part-qualified dental nurse and has been offered work at a local practice. Problem is, she can't drive, which represents even more issues with getting her back to work. Her father has bought her a car, but in order for her to get back to work she has to pass her test, get insured and get to the place of work, which is going to cost us money we don't have. Catch 22!
I work bloody hard, but the company isn't keen to develop into anything, they are just happy balancing the books and riding the tide of work we bring in. For reference, I'm an estimator / salesman for a timber door company, working in the construction industry. Work is surprisingly abundant right now.
MiseryStreak said:
You're not alone. It is tough at our age/time of life, I have a two year old and another on the way. My wife works, 4 days a week, that's how we manage. She earns £26K doing that. We don't have a penny left over after all the bills are paid. We don't receive any tax credits. My classic car, completely impractical and frivolous, managed to survive the last child but it's going up for sale soon. I honestly don't understand how people manage on less but I guess it's because you don't have a choice, I've been much poorer in my life but then I didn't have dependents (so just went hungry) and I ran up thousands on credit cards.
I would suggest look at some nurseries and your wife working part time, if you have friends with children then you could even share a nanny which can be cheaper than nursery. Some parents are very against nurseries but I tend to have a more rounded view as it does help them with forming relationships with fellow children and setting them up for school. My wife did three days a week when our daughter was 14 months, then moved to four days when she turned two. She loves nursery now and screams with delight when shes sees her friends in the morning. The good news is once they turn three, the government (or as a taxpayer - me) pay for 15 hours a week childcare, which we're looking forward to.
It's tough, but it gets easier. School is free (unless you want to go private).
Worksleepworksleepworksleepworksleepbreedworksleepworksleepworksleepretirdead.
It's mad, but I think the costs she got for childcare at the nursery around the corner were in the region of £40 a day. That's a big chunk of what she could expect to earn in a day! I would suggest look at some nurseries and your wife working part time, if you have friends with children then you could even share a nanny which can be cheaper than nursery. Some parents are very against nurseries but I tend to have a more rounded view as it does help them with forming relationships with fellow children and setting them up for school. My wife did three days a week when our daughter was 14 months, then moved to four days when she turned two. She loves nursery now and screams with delight when shes sees her friends in the morning. The good news is once they turn three, the government (or as a taxpayer - me) pay for 15 hours a week childcare, which we're looking forward to.
It's tough, but it gets easier. School is free (unless you want to go private).
Worksleepworksleepworksleepworksleepbreedworksleepworksleepworksleepretirdead.
She's a part-qualified dental nurse and has been offered work at a local practice. Problem is, she can't drive, which represents even more issues with getting her back to work. Her father has bought her a car, but in order for her to get back to work she has to pass her test, get insured and get to the place of work, which is going to cost us money we don't have. Catch 22!
Odie said:
My situation is completely different to yours, But your rent and council tax look rather high, my rents around half yours and my council tax is about 2/3rds of what your paying.
My electricity and water are also alot less too.
Id thought that if i had a wife/gf and kid I would actually be better off.
Im on 27k a year and am looking at buy a porsche 996... But im single and dont have any dependants.
I think you just need to tough it out until your child is old enough to go to school and so your GF can get a job.
ETA - Working hard only gets you one thing, tired. Work smart
We were living in a pokey flat at £675/month, so the £40 jump to a small house with driveway and garden didn't seem to extreme for what it offered. It's about average for a small house / 2-bed flat in the area. Again, we have looked at moving further afield but this will see my girlfriend cut-off socially as she has not got her driving license yet.My electricity and water are also alot less too.
Id thought that if i had a wife/gf and kid I would actually be better off.
Im on 27k a year and am looking at buy a porsche 996... But im single and dont have any dependants.
I think you just need to tough it out until your child is old enough to go to school and so your GF can get a job.
ETA - Working hard only gets you one thing, tired. Work smart
I work bloody hard, but the company isn't keen to develop into anything, they are just happy balancing the books and riding the tide of work we bring in. For reference, I'm an estimator / salesman for a timber door company, working in the construction industry. Work is surprisingly abundant right now.
Yell_M3 said:
What kind of work do you do?
As above, I'm an estimator-come-salesman in the construction industry. It bears no resemblance to my skills in CAD but I have always been a natural sales person, so I've kind of 'ended up' here!jdw1234 said:
Can your girlfiend look after another kid at the same time for payment?
We are trying this option too, however the parent has been continually letting us down and I think we will need to start asking others, as she has arranged for my girlfriend to look after her kids one day and cancelled in the evening on the day before, which is not very courteous when we have made arrangements ourselves - grr!jdw1234 said:
Can your girlfiend look after another kid at the same time for payment?
Good suggestion but my understanding is there is a HUGE amount of red tape involved being a child carer so in less it is an agreement with a friend/relative for cash then it's more likely far more work for little reward.Obviously your biggest problem is your rent, It's a rubbish position to be in where you are spending half your salary on rent which gives you little opportunity to save toward buying your own place :-(
As a rough guide on a 25 year repayment basis at current mortgage rates around 3-4% you could nearly fund £150k with £700pm
Have you looked at local housing association schemes which require smaller deposits and for example let you buy between 50-80% of a property. There are also schemes which give you a equity loan which gets repaid when you sell.
Eric Mc said:
I thought the standard PH comment here would be why have a child when money is tight?
Perhaps since it's Friday and it's sunny everyone is in a more pleasant mood;)I agree with your statement but often a lack of planning is involved - not suggesting that the OP is in that position.
aka_kerrly said:
Perhaps since it's Friday and it's sunny everyone is in a more pleasant mood;)
I agree with your statement but often a lack of planning is involved - not suggesting that the OP is in that position.
Probably the heat.I agree with your statement but often a lack of planning is involved - not suggesting that the OP is in that position.
I've seen others in similar circumstances being ripped to pieces here.
£90 a month for electricity and £40 a month for water seem high.
Could you get a better deal by switching electricity suppliers? Or having a water meter installed?
Also think about the most cost-effective use of energy: tumble dryers, dishwashers and electric cookers are expensive to run compared with line drying outside, washing a few dishes in the sink, and cooking in a microwave.
Sorry if the above sounds like teaching granny to suck eggs, but I'm amazed at the extent to which some people waste energy.
Also look at your food budget. I'm sure you could shave costs here with a bit of thought and planning. Plan a menu for the week, shop to that, and make the most of fresh foods in season. Also investigate the frozen veg section at the supermarket - frozen vegetables are far cheaper than fresh, and there's no loss of nutritional quality. Grow things such as fresh herbs which are expensive to buy.
Could you get a better deal by switching electricity suppliers? Or having a water meter installed?
Also think about the most cost-effective use of energy: tumble dryers, dishwashers and electric cookers are expensive to run compared with line drying outside, washing a few dishes in the sink, and cooking in a microwave.
Sorry if the above sounds like teaching granny to suck eggs, but I'm amazed at the extent to which some people waste energy.
Also look at your food budget. I'm sure you could shave costs here with a bit of thought and planning. Plan a menu for the week, shop to that, and make the most of fresh foods in season. Also investigate the frozen veg section at the supermarket - frozen vegetables are far cheaper than fresh, and there's no loss of nutritional quality. Grow things such as fresh herbs which are expensive to buy.
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