# Money very tight: where should my priorities lie?



## doubledeb

Age: 37
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 38

Annual gross income from employment or profession:- 40k gross 
Annual gross income of spouse: -self employed but very volitile approx 10k

Monthly take-home pay - €2896 net approx
(inc 260 childrens allowance
200 maintenance)

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

In general are you: 

spending all we earn borrow from peter to pay paul during the month but saving 50 euro a week to cover maintenance on home and emergency car repairs bdays xmas etc (€420 in this account)
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?

Rough estimate of value of home €120k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €265k
*What interest rate are you paying? 2% (tracker)*
*Arears €2,500*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc

Credit union loan 1 (joint names) - 21k outstanding €300 pm (resturctured 6 years left)
Credit union loan 2 (my name) - 6k outstanding €336 pm (not restructured as may need to access cash for daughters college until grant comes in (if approved)) This loan will be finished if I don't borrow from it in 16months time. Recently borrowed 5k to clear the majority of CC.

No other loans

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? no just minimum payment
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 1130 (hoping to move to 0% interest CC soon)

Savings and investments:
as about 420 euro
Do you have a pension scheme? 
Public sector pension
Do you own any investment or other property? 
no
Ages of children: 
17 and 4
Life insurance:
150 pm (loaded for insurance due to illness on my side, have shopped around but no one is cheaper)

monthly household exp
Mortgage - 864
Life ins - 150
food - 500/600 (inc food for 2 dogs)
diesel - 200
gas - 100
esb - 100
sky - 40
phone - 34
mobile - 20
home ins - 40
car ins - 30
13 - tv licence
300 - creche fees (finishing in june) but loosing 130 CA due to daughter finishing school.
200 - savings
26.50 - waste collection
20 - mobile phone



*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *

*I have submitted SFS forms for the last 18 months to our mortgage provider and had been granted int only for 12 months. We have been making full payments since last october but with OH's job we are living week to week. If the mort gets paid esb doesn't etc. We were told to stop paying off any unsecured debt and to pay the mortgage in full. I have explained that in 18 months time i will have an extra €450 pm that I will give to them on top of what we are trying to pay now and that should bring the arrears down too. I have also told them that I will have college fees in sept but they really don't care.*
*They just don't want to know. Im physically worn down from waking every morning and going to bed every night thinking about money.*

*If you were in my situation what would you do*

*Thank you for any advice you may have.*


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## Laughahalla

I would recommend wife gets a full time job if possible. 10k is less than minimum wage. 
I would also stop saving 200 euro per month.
Basic sky package is 27 euro. Cut the 40 euro package. If you are getting multiroom just keep sky in one room and use the free to air channels in the other room.

Is your life assurance to pay off mortgage if you die or to provide a lump sum if you die ? Normal life insurance for a house of your value for a year should  200 euro per year. If its to provide a lump sum then I would consider cancelling it and jut get mortgage protection the will pay off the mortgage if you die.

Most important debts to pay is your mortgage, electricity and gas.
Bord gais allow you to Make 12 equal payments during the year instead of having to pay a huge bill in January and march. 

Get your electricity from bord gais and your gas from flogas.

Get rid of house phone and use pay as you go for mobile. Three has a 20 euro per month deal that gives you all your Internet, (you can use your phone as a wi fi hotspot if you need to use the Internet on a laptop or tablet) , weekend any network, all week three tho three free calls and 2000 texts.  
Shop in aldi, prices much lower than anywhere else. Stop buying processed food and buying take always.  Learn how to cook. It will be cheaper and healthier .

Speak with the credit union to restructure. 
If you restructure with the bank you may lose your tracker. 
St using your credit card.  Cut it up.

Marry your partner, it will cost 150 to register the marriage but you will be entitled to better tax credits and therefore pay less income tax I.e.you will have more take home pay.


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## Janet

Laughahalla said:


> I would recommend wife gets a full time job if possible. 10k is less than minimum wage.


Eh, isn't the OP the wife in this situation and already working full-time?

What business is the OH involved in, though?  Is he working all the time but not always earning, or does he sometimes have a lot of time on his hands?  Do you have a garden where you can grow at least some of your own fruit and veg?  If he's got a lot of time on his hands, can he spend it researching and producing cheap, healthy meals from scratch, for example?  Or does all his free time go into chasing new business?  And, as Laughahalla suggests, can he get a fulltime job doing something else?




Laughahalla said:


> I would also stop saving 200 euro per month.


I'd think very seriously about this one before stopping it.  Perhaps reducing it might be an idea.  But if, as I understand from the original post, these savings are actually just to cover expenses that will come up (car maintenance, etc.), then it is might not be a great idea to stop completely.



Laughahalla said:


> Marry your partner, it will cost 150 to register the marriage but you will be entitled to better tax credits and therefore pay less income tax I.e.you will have more take home pay.


I didn't see whether you were married or not in your post.  Maybe you can clarify this.  You mentioned a maintenance payment in your income, is this from an ex-husband/partner for child support?  

I'd say looking at your food expenses is one good place to start.   Have you kept a spending diary to track exactly where the money is going and potentially figure out ways to cut back?  I assume you're already doing things like bringing lunches to work, not buying coffees while out and all that.

Is the daughter who's just about to finish school/enter college working part-time and contributing to her own expenses (buying her own clothes, make-up, entertainment and so on)?  If not, she should be, if not now then as soon as her Leaving is finished.  I know you want to help her with money if she needs it going to college but if the reality is that you don't have the money without getting into more debt, then you need to be upfront with her about that and maybe even consider her deferring for a year in order to work and save the money herself (assuming she can find a job that is).

Could you contemplate living without television entirely and relying on DVDs (from the library) for your televisual viewing pleasure?  You'd still have to pay the licence but could save the cable at least.  

It is horrible to be constantly thinking and worrying about money and looking at every single option you can to try and change things is helpful as it can give you a more positive direction to go in than just chasing thoughts around in your head.  If you can't stop thinking, get on the internet and start browsing all of the many threads here on people's various situations and how they are dealing with them as well as any personal finance blogs you can find.  I found reading about what others are doing an enourmous help.  Even if not everything they do is applicable to me and my situation there is a certain mindset that it is useful to have when getting and staying out of debt that is fairly universal.


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## Bronte

The only solution appears to be to go into further arrears on the mortgage. I cannot see where else you can make any savings. When was your last contact with the bank. The fact you've gone into arrears already should help them to come to a solution such as the interest only again until you can get back on track when you will have an extra 450 Euro coming in. 

I don't think the CA (child allowance I assume) ends when your daughter finishes school as long as she goes into further education. 

(The savings figure of 200 a month is a bit misleading, in reality it's another bill because that is what you use it for.)

Sorry not to be of much help to you.  You're doing the best you can and nobody can do anymore than that.


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## doubledeb

Laughahalla said:


> I would recommend wife gets a full time job if possible. 10k is less than minimum wage.
> I would also stop saving 200 euro per month.
> Basic sky package is 27 euro. Cut the 40 euro package. If you are getting multiroom just keep sky in one room and use the free to air channels in the other room.
> 
> Is your life assurance to pay off mortgage if you die or to provide a lump sum if you die ? Normal life insurance for a house of your value for a year should 200 euro per year. If its to provide a lump sum then I would consider cancelling it and jut get mortgage protection the will pay off the mortgage if you die.
> 
> Most important debts to pay is your mortgage, electricity and gas.
> Bord gais allow you to Make 12 equal payments during the year instead of having to pay a huge bill in January and march.
> 
> Get your electricity from bord gais and your gas from flogas.
> 
> Get rid of house phone and use pay as you go for mobile. Three has a 20 euro per month deal that gives you all your Internet, (you can use your phone as a wi fi hotspot if you need to use the Internet on a laptop or tablet) , weekend any network, all week three tho three free calls and 2000 texts.
> Shop in aldi, prices much lower than anywhere else. Stop buying processed food and buying take always. Learn how to cook. It will be cheaper and healthier .
> 
> Speak with the credit union to restructure.
> If you restructure with the bank you may lose your tracker.
> St using your credit card. Cut it up.
> 
> Marry your partner, it will cost 150 to register the marriage but you will be entitled to better tax credits and therefore pay less income tax I.e.you will have more take home pay.


 
Thank you for your reply.

I am the one working full time I am the wife!
OH is a taxi driver working 7 days per week.  He is a qualifed plasterer, there are no full time jobs out there for him.  I look on the fas website and jobs.ie every single day.  
The savings of 200 pm aren't exactly savings as they are used for unexpected things that crop up eg car maintenance etc.  My OH cannot be without a car as this is his job so any repairs can't wait.
Our life insurance is high due to heavy loading due to health problems.  I am actually in the process of getting quotes from other providers as we speak.
I have a deal with my home phone/internet provider at the moment for 24pm for the next 4 months.  I will think about getting rid of this when that ends.
We don't buy takeaways and do shop in aldi.
Learn how to cook?  I don't remember saying that we don't??
I don't use the credit card.  I am paying the minimum payment every month.
The tax credits issue has already been taken care of.


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## doubledeb

Bronte said:


> The only solution appears to be to go into further arrears on the mortgage. I cannot see where else you can make any savings. When was your last contact with the bank. The fact you've gone into arrears already should help them to come to a solution such as the interest only again until you can get back on track when you will have an extra 450 Euro coming in.
> 
> I don't think the CA (child allowance I assume) ends when your daughter finishes school as long as she goes into further education.
> 
> (The savings figure of 200 a month is a bit misleading, in reality it's another bill because that is what you use it for.)
> 
> Sorry not to be of much help to you. You're doing the best you can and nobody can do anymore than that.


 
Thank you for your reply.

 I am in contact with the bank every month ( they ring me each month and my stomach turns)  The last time they rang after I had filled out the usual SFS, they rang and said my application for interest only has been denied as I am servicing un-secured loans.  I hadn't applied for IO in the first place I just filled out the form as they had requested it!

Unfortunately the childrens allowance ends when your child reaches 18 or completes the leaving cert, whichever comes first.

I agree if they gave us 12 months interest only things would definately be better all round and I could give over and above our monthly payment next year.  I doubt they would agree to that though.


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## yellowroses

Could you cut back on food? 500/600 seems very high. We are a family of 4 & spend 200 euro a month on food shopping & that includes nappies/wipes etc. Get rid of Sky too & maybe think of getting saorview, can you use either mobil or landline & cut back there. Try & pay gas over 12 months at a set amount, turn down the thermostat too. Its hard but once you cut out things you see that you dont need all of them. We have 372 euro a week total for a family of 4 & 200 of that alone goes on rent, we sold our car & use public transport, we layer up at home & turn heating off more often than we used to. Our cb goes straight off credit union loan, maybe see if you can consolidate your own loans. Also mabs are fantastic. We found them very helpful & while things are very tight we have been able to cut back alot. Best of luck


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## wednesday

Who is your mortgage provider? 

Under new agreements - that are being kept VERY quiet - your largest debtor can speak on your behalf with ANY other creditors you have. My mortgage provider have got both of my unsecured loans restructured. 

Going interest only is really a very short-term solution, by not paying anything off the principal, you are just going to end up paying so much more. Could your mortgage be restructured to lengthen the term, so that you can be paying off at least some of the principal? I would contact my mortgage provider again and look to speak to a real person face-to-face as opposed to Joe Bloggs on the end of the phone. It really helps. 

Complete you financial statement again and structure in repair costs etc as part of your OH's business.

Keep your chin up  You're in the same boat as a LOT of people.


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## kennyb3

Few things;

1. Is your husband actually making 10k per annum? You say it's volatile - how sure are you it's 10k?

- You need to look at this very strictly. Does that cover all his car costs (insurance, diesel, radio rental, tax etc etc.). Is the 30pm car insurance re a second car?

- You need to be 100% sure it's worth his while.

2. Get rid of sky - you can't afford it. (480e per year saved)

3. 100e for gas and esb each per month? I'd use 80e per month in the depths of winter. what size is the house?

4. 74e per month on 3 phones? (home & 2 mobiles).

5. As you said shop around for life assurance asap.

6. Food bill seems very high too. How much are the 2 dogs costing out of this?

Lots of little things can free up an extra €100 - €200 per month.

The ending of creche fees will help you too.

If you're husband is really taking in 10k net after everything you are earning a combines €3,729 per month - your mortgage is €864pm, so there is definitely a way out of it.


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## dmos87

cashier said:


> Are you serious, how can one feed a family of 4 nutritious meals on €50 a week, I would say it would be impossible unless a family is self sufficent having their own veg, home made bread and perhaps a cow in the garden.



We are a family of three (baby is almost 5 months). At the moment the cost of formula and baby rices are hiking up our shopping bill, but once baby can eat what we are eating we'll also be spending under 50 a week on groceries. There are heaps of deals out there, you just have to be thrifty and smart with your money. I don't grow veg, but I wish I had the space to!

*Breakfast:*

We have porridge for breakfast everyday (1.5KG bag is €2.75 - flahavans), with Golden Syrup (90c). We make the porridge with 1/2 cup of Water and 1 cup of Milk - a 3L bottle of milk in Tesco's is €2.19 which does us the week. I don't purchase a bag of porridge every week, but if I did (likely once baby is eating it too), *breakfast total comes to €5.84 per week.* We have fruit too, which is covered below. 

*Lunches:*

I am Coeliac, which makes this tricky for me as sandwiches etc are off my menu. I am able to eat oats thankfully and Corn Flour, I don't have reactions to these. I make my own bread at home using Gluten Free flour (Doves Farm - €1.99 for a KG - enough for two loafs a week with some left over). The recipe calls for Buttermilk (1L = 79c). Other ingredients are simply sugar, salt (1 teaspoon of each) and i throw in a small few porridgef oats too. Caster Sugar 500g is 95c, and salt 750g is 45c - Simple ingredients that we all have at home and dont purchase too often - probably every 2-3 months or so. Even if I was to buy these every week, the cost for my bread is €4.18 per week. I usually have these with either baked beans (batchelors big tin is 99c, does two days) or I might make scrambled eggs (a dozen for €1.99, will do me a week and a half easily). Those are 4 euros max a week. So *my lunch total comes to max €8.18 Per week.* 

Hubby then likes to get 2 x bagettes per week ( 1 euro each), and fills them with Lettuce (89c for Iceberg, does the week), chicken (I'll cover that in a bit below) and cheese (tesco red cheddar for €3.19, again usually does the week for lunches). He has fruit also (tesco have any three for €4 deals - so a bag of mandarins, a bunch of bananas and a bag of apples -plenty to choose from and do the week). *Hubbys lunch total is max €10.08 per week.*

*Meats and Dinners:*

Meats - Cork Meat Company have 40 Chicken Breasts for €34 euros. I buy this bulk deal, and when I get home I use sandwich bags to divide them into bags of 4 chicken breasts. Into the freezer they go and I defrost when needed. Using 8 per week for 2 x dinners and meat for lunch sandwiches gives you a weekly cost of about €7. I buy the Meat Companys Peri Peri sauce too (€2.50) to flavour the chicken and that lasts 2 weeks. They also have 1lb of marinated diced beef for €4.00. I buy 1 of these to cover two dinners. I also buy a packet of rashers a week (€2.25) for Saturday and Sunday Brunch so that if we want to sway away from porridge or anything else, I make rashers and poached eggs. If not used one week, the rashers are frozen till next time we want them

To go with dinners - Chips (McCains are just oil and potato so I can have them €2.59, potatoes are €1.49 for 1KG, long grain rice 1KG is €1.39, Carrots are 99c for a bag. I buy a jar of Jalfrezi too - €1.35. 

We make our own pizza's as a treat for Saturday night - the dough is covered in the flour already bought, sauce is made from Plum Tomatoes (74c), a clove of Garlic (a bunch is 79c, so less than 10c), mozarella (59c) and Salami (93c). Its gorgeous tasting, we have fun making it and its our treat night. On Sundays we are lucky that we always go to our parents for sunday dinner so no cost there. *Total for dinners comes to €25.92 per week.*

*OVERALL TOTAL IS €50.02* for the above, and for a lot of the things listed about I don't buy each and every week so truthfully its less. Plenty of fruit and some veg (thats a fussy hubby!). I do what I can with what I can, meal plan, and dont let things go to waste at all. I tend to always have either carrotts or broccoli in the freezer as I alternate these each week. The baby's stuff is an added cost at the moment with formula and baby rice costs, but in another few weeks he'll be having pureed fruit and veggies. I reckon my cost for us three will be definitely under 70 euros regardless. We are not deprived, eat very well and I always have the cupboards and fridge stocked up. I do think though that if I wasn't a coeliac my shopping would be less but thats life.

For the record, the homemade bread I make is delicious, cheap to make, and quick - 30 minutes in the aga. I know lots of people that make their own bread. A loaf of Gluten free bread is usually about 4-5 euros, and tastes like cardboard. All prices above other than meat is tescos.


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## dmos87

My dogs I cost separately - they are purebreds and I cant alter their diet. Royal Canin, I order from Amazon.co.uk. Save 10% for subscribing to an order each month (which is used) and its at least 10 euros cheaper than over here. You should take a look if yours are also purebred.


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## STEINER

dmos87 said:


> My dogs I cost separately - they are purebreds and I cant alter their diet. Royal Canin, I order from Amazon.co.uk. Save 10% for subscribing to an order each month (which is used) and its at least 10 euros cheaper than over here. You should take a look if yours are also purebred.



How much do you spend on feeding your K9's per week?

Your human food budget is admirable from the financial perspective.  However, I couldn't stick to a a weekly meat diet of chicken, diced beef and rashers.  I like a bit of variety, bacon, pork, lamb, ham, beef and variety also in various cuts and joints.  Fish also.


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## dmos87

STEINER said:


> How much do you spend on feeding your K9's per week?
> 
> Your human food budget is admirable from the financial perspective. However, I couldn't stick to a a weekly meat diet of chicken, diced beef and rashers. I like a bit of variety, bacon, pork, lamb, ham, beef and variety also in various cuts and joints. Fish also.


 
The dogs work out at about 7 euros a week, for three dogs - we also feed the inlaws dog as she spends the day with our two. 

For our food, I do vary it of course - some nights I'll cook a ham instead of chicken and use it too for sandwiches, theres heaps of variation but too much to put up here  Ham fillet is 4 euros! I love fish but the hubby doesnt, so I have a small stock of cod, prawns etc. in the freezer for any nights he's out. The above is the stuff we both like and are happy with, but sometimes I throw in a pasta bake (gluten free pasta is rotten so we dont do it often), lasagne, etc.. With the nice weather lately its been lots of chicken and beef, which suits us. When its cold its all about stews  The Cork Meat Company place really is fantastic - loads and loads of options and very very reasonably priced. I can't fault them. Steiner you'd be a happy man/woman with all the different cuts available there! 

I posted my food shopping with costs for the OP to see that she could easily cut her food bill to 300 a month with ease for her family, thats freeing up another 300 for them while still eating well.


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## Bronte

That's a great post dmos on how to make your food budget stretch.  Should be a key post to link to when people come on here trying to cut their budgets.

Not sure what the baby rice is and why it is costing you a lot, is it the baby food in jars?


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## poppy1

We are a family of 4 - 2 kids under 5  but i find it hard to do our food shopping for less than €450 - 500 per 4-5 wks (husband gets paid monthly so sometimes there can be 5wks) kids love fruit so i have to buy fruit twice a wk, bananas, oranges, grapes, strawberries, blueberries etc! i try and buy on offer when i can. i buy weekly meat deals of 20 euro and also fish 10 euro -  then spend 80 on the rest. As kids are in creche full time i have to send in all food before we had kids we spent 60 a wk on food. we bring our lunch to work and we do not get takeaways so i cook from scratch 7 days a wk which can get v boring. i also get 1 bottle of wine a fortnight.

would love to see a budget mealplanner thread


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## Mrs Vimes

That's impressive budgeting there DMOS, but you are 2 adults and a baby and OP is 3 adults and a small child so I don't think your budget could be stretched that far!

Just remembering the ability of my teenaged brothers to eat everything my mother brought home - like a cloud of locusts!


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## dmos87

Bronte said:


> That's a great post dmos on how to make your food budget stretch. Should be a key post to link to when people come on here trying to cut their budgets.
> 
> Not sure what the baby rice is and why it is costing you a lot, is it the baby food in jars?


 
Its more formula - €10.79 a tub and we go through one and a half a week, easily. Then theres baby rice for one meal a day at the moment, but thats soon to be two meals. It'll reduce the price of the formula slowly, but instead theres the cost of baby rice. I'm starting to puree this week. Have melon and banana and apples to puree and I'm going to mix it WITH the rice to stretch it more. Also have broccoli, carrotts and sweet potato. 

I've been buying a pack of cow and gate rice each week for a while now as I'm about to enter into unpaid mat leave so I wont have the bob over the summer to splurge on it. Its my first baby so its all new and taking a while to get used to. Looking at the press i may have bought more than anticipated!! 



> That's impressive budgeting there DMOS, but you are 2 adults and a baby and OP is 3 adults and a small child so I don't think your budget could be stretched that far!
> 
> Just remembering the ability of my teenaged brothers to eat everything my mother brought home - like a cloud of locusts!


 
Oh absolutely, i agree - she will spend more each week, but it shouldnt be any more than 20 euros or so on the extra person. I do believe she could half her budget to 300 euros and eat very well with planning, and thats why I posted. I also think the teenager here is female, which might ease the pain a bit!


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## shopgirl

Just in case you didn't see this - a blog by a single parent on how to cook good food for very little money.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...eal-with-a-girl-called-jack-blog-8611806.html


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## Bronte

dmos87 said:


> I've been buying a pack of cow and gate rice each week for a while now as I'm about to enter into unpaid mat leave so I wont have the bob over the summer to splurge on it.


 
Don't think you need to buy this stuff at all, I never did, only used fruit purees and vegetables with milk I think or a soup.  So there you have another saving.


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## Janet

I don't have kids but a good friend of mine had her second nearly a year ago and has been waxing lyrical about baby-led weaning.  She said it was one thing to spend lots of time pureeing and making special baby-suitable stuff for the freezer when it was her first but trying to do the same with a toddler running around, not to mention just general more exhaustion was crazy.  Everyone will do it their own way but just thought I'd mention it in case you haven't already heard of it.


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## Nige

My two were weaned using baby-led weaning. It's great. Just give them what you are having (but without the salt).  At seven months the younger one was eating barbecued ribs at a family birthday party.

However, I don't see how anyone can have "plenty of fruit and veg" and spend €50 a week on food. I spend at least €20 a week on fruit alone.


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## dmos87

Nige said:


> However, I don't see how anyone can have "plenty of fruit and veg" and spend €50 a week on food. I spend at least €20 a week on fruit alone.


 
Tesco have a 3 for €4 deal on every week. Three packs of fruit for 4 euros. I get bananas, apples and mandarins. My local Centra also do fruit deals and I get my pears there as the LO loves pureed pears.

Veg deals also available, you just have to look for them. At the moment Rooster potatoes 1Kg pack is 49 cent in Tescos. Great Deal.

I would happily provide you with a link to this on their website but you need to be logged into your online account to see it. I would highly recommend taking a look, but here are some details: 

Mixed Chillies, Carrots (600g), Leek, green pepper, Avocado, all 49c. 

Also if you order online for the first time, you get €10 off


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## Mrs Vimes

Tesco lag far behind the other supermarkets when it comes to fruit and veg deals - supervalu do 3 for €2, aldi have their super 6 (which started it all) and lidl have a couple of things each week.


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