# Help. separated, trying to get handle on finances



## dubinamerica (16 Oct 2010)

Hi, I separated from my husband a number of months ago and have 3 children (one baby, pre-schooler & a teenager). I would have always worked til recently and dealt with the financial side, but really once the bills were paid didn't need to pay too close attention.. Now I'm finding that I cannot make ends meet and every so often, my a/c is going into overdraft and I need to use savings to cover things. To complicate stuff, there has been no division of assets as yet as unclear if we may reconcile, but there is a mortgage which I am covering. 

I need some assistance regarding tracking my spending, ideas regarding when/how to pay bills, say using child benefit for such a bill, maintenance for such a bill.. streamlining payments, bank accounts etc 

Have had a tough year with a young baby to look after, so only now really starting to focus energy on this, so any pointers regarding best ways to track spending (esp when there's a teenager to take account of), what areas to review etc would be great

Income:  
Illness benefit 285.40 pw  (myself and 3 children) awaiting news regarding OPFP but amount would be the same 
so approx: 1,236 p.m. 
Child Benefit: 437 p.m. (as previous overpayment)
Maintenance 25pw/ 108p.m 
TRS credit 75 p.m. 
Total income:   428 p.w. / 1856 p.m. 

If OPFP comes through may get fuel allowance, not getting MIS but going to look into this further 


Outgoings
Mortgage                          770 p.m.   (on a fixed rate) 
life ins for above mortgage  50 p.m 
Car insurance                     52p.m. 
House insurance                  65 p.m. 
Eircom (inc broadband)        80 p.m. (approx)
Bin collections                     25 p.m. approx (approx 150 payable twice yearly)
Road tax                            need to check this number 
Petrol                                 25 p.m. need to check this ... 
Sky +                                 31 p.m. (sometimes higher if pay per view)
Mobile phones (2)                40p.m. altogether v. rarely go higher than this 
ESB                                   200p.m. approx (need to look at old bills)
Oil                                      200p.m. during bad months (need to average out)
old New Ireland life ins pol       16.86p.m.  (have this about 10 + years)
old canada life ins pol              51.30 p.m.  (have this even longer!)
John of God                            6.35 p.m. 

Not sure how much groceries work out as buy some locally and then may do a big shop every now and again, and try and get pullups/formula/nappies when on a sale.. Any pointers on best how to track this?

Other goings would be getting hair done, clothes for children (again never tracked this), getting stuff done in house, car etc.. Xmas, easter, birthdays etc. 

Any help appreciated.. Thanks : ) 

Can anyone look at the above and help me put soem structure on this please? I need to put  a structured plan in place, one thing I was thinking was to use maintenance to pay ESB bill in advance, before direct debit hits.


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## niceoneted (16 Oct 2010)

Hey 0 have seen a couple of your posts previously and have found you to be quite level headed in them so here goes my response to this post. 

Some things jump out -
Car Ins - unsure what no claims you have or license type but if no claims with full license shop around as you should get better than this. (obviously when up for renewal)  

House ins - again not sure of size of house and contents but shop around. (obviously when up for renewal)

there are cheaper options than eircom for phone/broadband and you can get TV with some companies. Sky - no need for pay for view just at the moment and the basic package for sky is 21 euro at the mo AFAIK.  so look in to all this. 

I take it the 2 mobiles are for you and the teenage child. Try to stick to this. 

ESB is quite high and can be cut back. Turn off lights etc in rooms that are not being used. get CFL's for all rooms but in particular where you have lights on all day - there was a special recently in woodies with 5 for 5 euro I think. cannot quite remember but I bought them. 

Best way to work out all spending is to buy a small notebook and literally write down everything you spend. 

I wish you the best with everything.


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## Brendan Burgess (16 Oct 2010)

Hi dublin

A few things occur to me: 



> my a/c is going into overdraft and I need to use savings to cover things.


How much savings do you have? You are at a very expensive time with an impaired income, so don't feel that you have to cut to the bone. It's ok to dip into savings. 



> Mortgage                          770 p.m.   (on a fixed rate)


How much is the house worth? 
How much remains on the mortgage? 
How long is the fixed rate period and what per cent interest are you paying?


This presumably is the total repayment which includes capital and interest. 

If you are finding the going tough financially, consider moving to interest only temporarily. However, if the interest rate is  high, this might not be a good idea. 

Likewise, if the rate is high, and if you don't qualify for a tracker on expiry of the fixed rate period, you might consider using your savings towards reducing the outstanding balance on the mortgage.(This is a complicated decision though) 



> not getting MIS but going to look into this further


MIS will pay only the interest on the mortgage and not the capital element of the repayment. The level of savings will be taken into account when calculating MIS. 

Brendan


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## mercman (16 Oct 2010)

Dublin, if you are on your own and it might look that way into the future, it is time to sort the matters as if it intends to stay that way.

Motor Insurance could be reduced if you are the only driver. Ladydrive or other might be cheaper. As already pointed out shop around for the Home Insurance. The Life Assurance Policy may be reduced if you are on your own, one to cover instead of two. The Eircom bill for phone and broadband must be available cheaper from O2, Vodafone or others. Move the ESB to Airtricity or Bord Gais. Instead of the full Sky package and extras you might be best geting a 'freeview' receiver. €200 approx for purchase instead of your monthly outgoings.

The two Investment Policies (New Ireland and Canada Life could be parked up temporarily until you have matters sorted out.  Without knowing the full scope of the Policies or their purpose, you could be best to stall payments on these until you are in a better position to keep funding them.

John of God is a very personal issue so I will not offer comment.

My heart goes out to you. Best of luck.


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## Yachtie (16 Oct 2010)

I can't comment on your outgoings but can offer advice re baby stuff. I buy Boots own brand nappies which I find extremely good. My son is in size 4 and I get 2 x 54 nappies ofr €14. They've been on special for ages. I also get small jars of baby food from Boots as they have any 7 for €4 (stage 1) and any 7 for €4.50 (stage 2). Formula costs about the same everywhere so you'd be wasting your time shopping around. I also use my Boots Loyalty Card all the time and at least once a month I collect €10 - €15 worth of points which can be put towards the purchase. 

As for baby and pre-schooler clothes, Penneys are godsend. Their stuff wears and washes really well and is so cheap it's nearly disposable. Plus I find their cotton to be on par with a lot more expensive brands. Children's clothes there are also fabuous so well worth a look if you already haven't.


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## Lilywhite (16 Oct 2010)

Hi, just looking at your outgoings..your car insurance, bins, oil and monthly house insurance are all way too high. Maybe sit down and work them out. Bins, for eg can be €299 per annum if you use the small black bin and large green recycle one. The other bills seem way too high. Put on that extra layer of clothes on the kids. We had NO central heating growing up, but neither did the other kids! Again, sit down and compare prices. Its YOUR money. Can insurance seems OTT as well. Difficult times for everyone, but you will come through to the other side. Best of luck!


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## z107 (17 Oct 2010)

> To complicate stuff, there has been no division of assets as yet as unclear if we may reconcile, but there is a mortgage which I am covering.


Are you covering all of the mortgage? If your husband has an interest in the house, then they should probably be contributing something.


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## Galwaygirl (17 Oct 2010)

> Maintenance 25pw/ 108p.m


 
This seems low maintenance for 3 kids. Is it negotiable?

Broadband - we have phone with Vodafone, 45 per month (or 40 if you go for off peak package) this includes all local & National calls, line rental and broadband. I also nominate 3 vodafone mobile numbers for free calls, this is handy for calling each other and saving on mobile credit. We use Skype for any long distance calls.

Electricity - move suppliers, I recently moved to Bord Gais and it was the easiest 13% saving ever! 

Best of luck with everything.


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## dubinamerica (19 Oct 2010)

Hi
Thanks all for the feedback on this, I really appreciate it. I've taken a look through the posts and here's some additional info..
Car ins - got a few quotes for this, and this was the best one. It's spread over 10 months with no additional fee. Will def ring more places next time around as the no claims will be building up and will try ladydrive etc as mentioned here. 
House ins - rang around for this too, and had received a letter from KBC at one stage to indicate the minimum amount of insurance, though I'd say the rebuild cost may well be lower now
　
Phone/ TV / broadband
Currently with Eircom & have sky for TV.. Definitely a 2euro saving p.m. here as I just checked our package. Would need to take a further look for packages with O2/vodafone etc for broadband and UPC for TV. Any feedback on UPC? Same channels as Sky?? Looked at their website but couldn't see a full listing easily displayed. Would need to be able to record programmes as can only sit late at night to watch a bit of telly : ) 
Mobile - yep, one for myself and one for teenager
ESB - trying to switch to energy efficient ones throughout & will keep an eye for those offers. I would use the dishwasher daily, and the washing machine seems to be constantly on, and tumble drier used a bit.. Also have electric hobs & cooker and recently have been trying to cook two meals at same time and freeze some food. Going to check the bordgais web site as that sounds great, anyone know is that a limited offer, say for a year? Any cost to switch back if need be?
　
House/mortgage .. 
There's about 125K left on the mortgage 
fixed at 4.89 % til end of next year. 
Around 20 years left. 
Yes, that's the full repayment including capital and interest (bulk being interest around 400/500 pm. I think) 
Will look further into MIS and need to follow up with solicitor on this as no division of assets which seems to complicate applying for this. 
At the moment, I'm covering mortgage but I have access to savings in my name (which I believe would be up for grabs as technically both of ours) so am using savings quite a bit. 
New Ireland/Canada Life
Two old life insurance policies we have years and years.. Probably need to review need for these alright. Have policy for the house but these would be additional and CL includes critical illness
Baby stuff - thanks for the pointers. Have been lucky in that family & friends have passed down next to new clothing for younger kiddies and older girl loves Penneys. Am trying to buy in bulk if I see a deal (say for dry nites, SMA etc) and using loyalty cards whereever I shop. 
Bins - I'm with a private company as no collection from council. The minimum payment is about 300 p.a. and because I've kept below the weight so far, I haven't had to pay extra for the past year. I've heard of people getting waivers and so on, but how would that work if private? If I had to drive to the local dump would cost a fair whack in petrol so don't think it would be any cheaper. 
Heating - yes definitely very high over some of the months. Baby was only newborn last winter so had to keep (a v. large) house warm. Am strict now on getting blinds/curtains closed before it gets cold and keeping heat at a minimum, so keeping fingers crossed weather won't be as severe as last year. Had considered the cavity insulation previously, but haven't had time to look into this. Also need to get windows checked and stuff sealed as can feel draughts in certain spots. 
Maintenance 
Yes .. v. low at 8.33 p.w. per child .. Husband is not working and would be getting 196 p.w. but would consider that he is contributing more as I am using savings at times. Don't think that this would be increased to be honest but would certainly have to be looked at if the situation remains as is. 
I'll take a look at the bordgais site and try and lookup some of the tv/broadband stuff on this forum to get some ideas. 
Thanks so much for the feedback and if there's anything additional from the above, please let me know, as it is definitely helping to focus the mind and giving me a starting point : )


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## babygirl (20 Oct 2010)

ring sky and tell them you want to cancel, they will offer you a deal....€10 a month for the next 6 months. its a saving of at least €12 a month.
worth a phone call!


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## dubinamerica (5 Nov 2010)

Thanks for the input. right now I have a more immediate issue in that there's a hold on our joint bank accounts, so I cannot access those savings, even though my husband had initially indicated that I could use the savings if I was stuck for paying bills (and said that he was contributing savings which explained the v. low maintenance).

I am starting to fill out the budget planner spreadsheet provided in this forum, but still struggling to get a handle on things.

Right now I have a bank of ireland savings a/c where my child beneift goes, a boi current a/c where some of the insurance payments go out and an AIB account which I use for mortgage and other various payments. 

Does anyone have any pointers as to how to structure income/outgoings? Say have one account for monthly income/outgoings, withdraw a certain amount per week for groceries and so on. I am half afraid to go through this to be honest as on a day to day, I am keeping spending low but then there are expenses (say something wrong in the house, car, christmas) where I have no option but to spend money and that is where I am finding it most difficult to trace. any advice at all would be appreciated.

Also - can someone run through the UPC deals if poss? Can i get same channels as sky? Sky+ is my lifeline with the recording feature. 

Thank you again for your help.


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## niceoneted (5 Nov 2010)

In relation to your question on how to manage things what I do is work out on an annual basis known expenses (based on previous yrs), all utilities, petrol, christmas, birthdays, hair etc. I get paid weekly so work it down to how much is needed a week and I put this into one account and call it my budget account. It will cover all bills as needed and I don't have to worry about them. It took me one hard yr to organise it in order to have the money pre saved. In terms of christmas I just allocate 10 euro a week so there is a fund there and so on. 
I then have an account for long term savings, one for short term savings - if I want to do anything to house/holidays etc. One cash flow account. Money is directed from my wages to each of the accounts. 
Don't know about UPC but you can cut your sky back to the basic -I think its now 23 euro.


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## Papercut (5 Nov 2010)

dubinamerica said:


> Also - can someone run through the UPC deals if poss? Can i get same channels as sky? Sky+ is my lifeline with the recording feature.



There are over 60 channels on the basic package, but the channels available on the different packages are all shown on the UPC site by either scrolling down & clicking the Channels tab, or clicking 'more info' - it all depends on whether you're looking at just TV or bundled Broadband, TV & Phone packages pages on the site.

Even the new Value +HD package gives you BBC HD, which isn't really the attraction, but the HD box allows you to record 140 hours of standard definition compared to just 80 hours on the Digital+ box.

You could save some money by opting for the bundled TV, Broadband & Phone package. As a new customer you would get a better deal than an existing one trying to upgrade, & would definitely be cheaper than what you are paying Eircom & Sky.

You should check out the  Boards Exclusive Offer  - it's still going, & if you check out  This Thread  over there you might be able to decide which package you want to go for.

Just as an example, their basic Fibre Starter Pack for €60 a month includes Digital Value, Digital+ HD, Fibre Power Broadband 8Mb & Home Phone with Freetime World (free _off-peak_ local and national fixed landline calls and 400 _off-peak_  international minutes per month to fixed landline numbers (excludes  calls to mobile, premium rate, SMS and non geographic numbers) in  selected international destinations). You can see details  HERE  . Channels included are listed by scrolling down & clicking on the 'Channels' tab.

It's always cheaper to order online, but (if you're not going to order through the Boards Deal link or the designated number that they have), you can always just dial 1908 & ask to be put through to the online sales team. It is possible to haggle with them for the best deal, so do your research before signing up for anything.


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## annR (5 Nov 2010)

You need some kind of annual budget where you can 

- see your incomings against your outgoings on an annual basis
- allow for expenses that will probably come up later on and see if you will have enough

I have an annual spreadsheet where
- the top bit is incomings, 
- the middle bit is "fixed expenses" i.e. the ones you think won't change
- the bottom bit is "variable expenses" i.e. stuff that you think you might be able to cut back.  
- Another section is for expenses that might be one-off but you can foresee them coming along based on past experience.

As to how to structure the accounts and cashflow I'm not great at that. but maybe you could structure your different accounts according to the above sections.  You could see a bit more clearly what is being paid for by what and therefore which accounts need to have a certain amount in them. AndIf you are able to cut back on something, you would know which account that spare money actually is in which could be moved to, say the account for saving for one off expenses.


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## Thirsty (5 Nov 2010)

If your husband isn't working then he should be available to provide some childcare - see if you can increase your income by working even 2/3 days per week. 

Granted the climate has changed somewhat in recent years, but long term you are going to have to return to work anyway.

There's a good spreadsheet on www.solo.ie - it's intended for calculating child maintenance, but you'll find it useful to work out your outgoings etc.,


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## twain (6 Nov 2010)

Try the mabs website, or ring them. They offer very good advice on money managing and will outline how best to deal with creditors or they will act as an intermediatory between you and your creditors. I dont know how difficult a situation you are in but you could apply for interest only on your mortgage temporarily. It allows some breathing space as it greatly reduces the payment but should be considered a temporary measure. Also if you have credit cards or other debts you can apply for forebearance whereby you apply to pay only what you can afford based on your financial statement which mabs will help you with. You can also arrange an appointment with them but depending on where you live you may have long wait. Good luck with it.


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## windy (6 Nov 2010)

Contact MABS.  They are brilliant and will help you work out your finances and it might help ease the terrible burden that is on your shoulders at the mo.

Good luck


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## dubinamerica (11 Nov 2010)

Great thanks for all the info and the link to that spreadsheet. I am going to try and move all direct debits (fixed amounts for life ins etc and variable ones such as phone) into the one account and let my weekly social welfare roll in there and cover all those payments. 

That will leave me with child benefit money for groceries, petrol, home heating oil etc and so on and in reality I don't think I'll be able to meet outgoings, based solely on current income. 

I'm going to gather up info and see if I can apply for MIS, although we don't have a legal separation agreement. Awaiting medical card and also awaiting OPFP to be processed and possibly may get some back money in relation to that. 

Down the road will definitely be looking to return to work, as have always worked but for now I need to budget based on what income I have and it's not pretty. I will put a call into MABS to see if they have any suggestions.  And will check whether it makes sense to change from Sky to UPC and if it's available in my area.


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