Money Struggle

I think you should start looking at where your 1500 a month discretionary income is going.

With 2 kids it should be possible to get most bills under 250 a week including food.

Where is the other €1500 going?

Firstly I would look at things like your Sky, Broadband, Phone Plans, Bins, Gas, Electricity etc.
Can you save money anywhere?
Ring them all individually and ask when your contract ends.
I slashed my Sky bill from €39 to €21.50 per month yesterday.

Changing utility providers is a good way to save money; Flogas are best for gas and Energia for electricity last time I looked. That may have changed since.

Now with your current debts, I would urge you to call the companies you owe the money too and explain your dire circumstances. It is highly likely you will be able to restructure your monthly payments and lower them a bit.

If you don't find the companies very helpful individually, engage the help of MABS who will act on your behalf.

To earn a little extra cash sign up for some online surveys.
Red C Live is a good one, you could get a cheque for €50 every 2-4 months/
It's not a huge amount but every little helps.

Yeah actually I thought that was €300 per week on childcare. If that's your monthly then you definitely need to look at the rest of your bills. if you're renting you mightn't have the ability to change providers much but I'm sure you can cut down a few things.

I find getting on top of food outgoings to be the most useful for cutting down things. Shop in Lidl/Aldi, and cook in bulk. Invest in a slow-cooker for winter, it makes even the cheapest meats lovely and tender, and less work when you get in with the kids. You can make big batches of stuff and freeze for later in the week.

Look at going pre-pay with mobiles, lots of providers have a "top up by €20 and get everything free" kind of deal.

Think about getting rid of TV altogether and just having broadband with a chromecast- 90% of stuff is available for much cheaper/ free on catchup or netflix, the kids won't miss the tv subscription really and you could cut €40 a month off your bill.

We are lucky in that our childcare is €300 per month as they are looked after by close family member.

This is what an average month looks like:

Rent €700
Debt €1200
Childcare €300
ESB €100
Gas €60
Car insurance x2 €125
Sky TV €28
TV license €13.33
Contact Lenses €12.75
Car Tax €70
Bins €24
Broadband €45
Prescription Meds (unavoidable) €86
Vitamins €8
Groceries €320
Nappies €40
Diesel €260
Christmas Club €20

These are rough figures but when i add them up they come to approx €3,400.... on paper it looks like i should have an excess of €300 per month or €69 per week but this always seems to get sucked up by unexpected trip to doctor/dentist, car trouble, unexpected bill, medicine, damaged car wheels etc etc

Our sky bill is our single source of entertainment, we dont smoke, cant drink as cant afford to go to the pub. used to go swimming on a saturday but cant afford that anymore, we dont go to the movies as we cant afford it and babysitter etc so i feel that without the sky we would crack up

We do have 2 cars which i feel is a big hit on our finances, but as we both work 1 hour from home (in different directions) i cant see a way around this

To be honest im praying that i get made redundant from work so i can get a lump some to clear debt then maybe pick up a job (i would take anything) closer to home so we can get rid of one car

I can't switch gas providers as i am behind on my bill and I am going to look into getting metres in to help cut down those bills

Other than that i cant see any way out, we shop in aldi buy the cheapest of the cheap, herself bakes own bread, makes treats for the kids etc.

We are from very large families so the kids get a lot of clothes from their cousins but i know for a fact herself hasnt bought herself an item of clothing in about a year

The max you have to pay for prescription is 144 a month, can you see if you can buy a few months at a time? That way 3 months would cost 144 as oppose to 250

Listen, its so easy for outgoings to exceed what is budgeted for. I often show my eldest my weekly budget list when he asks me for money and he can't believe all that we pay for!! Life happens and gets in the way.

Debts have to be cleared :-( And in terms of going down any debt settlement arrangement, I can understand your concerns about that. Your income levels probably wouldn't allow for any settlement to be reached anyways as, on paper, you are financially capable of repaying your loans. Its just that you have no life because of it but banks dont really care about that!

Credit union may offer a restructured loan - extend loan term, reduce monthly repayments (you will end up paying a little bit more interest). Credit card - is this a set amount you pay monthly?

Club55 wrote: »

We do have 2 cars which i feel is a big hit on our finances, but as we both work 1 hour from home (in different directions) i cant see a way around this

To be honest im praying that i get made redundant from work so i can get a lump some to clear debt then maybe pick up a job (i would take anything) closer to home so we can get rid of one car

The 2 cars jumped out at me. Are your places of work accessible by public transport? Even if it takes longer by public transport, it would save money if you can cut it down to one car. Or what about the possibility of car pooling with any work colleagues?

You could also look for a job closer to home as you suggested (if the pay is right - take into account money you'd save by not having to commute by car).

If you can find a way to live with only one car, I think that would save you a lot of money. Is there even a way to work from home occasionally? Even one day a week working from home would save a lot on petrol.

Club55 wrote: »

I could get a bus but it would cost approx €40-€50 per week so not sure if that would help any, my wife can't as she is going to a remote location and her co-workers are all local to that office if you get what I mean

Two cars really is a drain, i am always afraid for her to be at home ie at weekends while im at work with no second car, i worry about the kids what if they need go to to hospital etc. probably silly i know,

Need to have a really good think about this

Some quick maths based on the other car related figures you provided show you'd save between 6-16euro a week if you change to public transport... which granted isn't much at all, but is a start. But if you sell a car, that will help clear some debt too? Not to mention not having to pay for unexpected car issues as they arise.

I know what you mean about the emergency situations, but you're just going to have to weigh up your options there

OP I know that you dream of owning a home but the way you are going, you're never going to be able to. As you can't save a deposit.

So by extending the terms on your loans you're not really putting yourself in a worse situation mortgage wise, but you are lightening your load each month and looking after your mental health by reducing your stress.

I would love to own a home one day too but I couldn't live on virtually no money in the meantime to get there.

You seem to be at the very minimum outgoings wise, your sky and broadband seem to look to be the cheapest you could get so really the only place you could cut back is on the loan repayments.

By the way, just because you're in arrears on your gas doesn't mean you can't move. Some companies (such a Bord Gais) will check if you're 'debt flagged' but not all will. BG are expensive anyway.
There's no harm in calling another gas company and trying to switch, you may get lucky. And then just arrange to pay your current supplier back at a tenner a week or something, whatever you can afford.

Pre payment Meters are OK for budgeting purposes but you won't save money; the cost of them is higher to run as you get charged the company's standard rate, whereas direct debit options can save you up to 20%.

Edited to add - just seen another poster ask about your salary and this is a good point. An average of €1850 take home each isn't fantastic, are you looking at other options closer to home? Have you had a pay rise in the last couple of years, if not is it something you could approach with your boss or your wife could?

Any chance you could bike to work? The bike to work scheme might help there, and once you have the right gear you have no further big outlay.

Check that you are claiming whatever you can back from Revenue at the end of the year - you get 20% of certain medical expenses back. As well as that, ring Revenue and get a P21 balancing statement, I know a few people who got a nice little bit back.

Reusable nappies would also save you money (too much faff for me but some swear by them.) It might also help with the bin charges if they charge by weight because a bin bag of those weighs a ton! But if they are at the age where you'll soon be toilet training there might not be much point switching.

I found I saved a bit by batch cooking in bulk and freezing meals, and by using a slow cooker along with cheaper cuts of meat.

You really need to consolidate all your debt into one loan.
If you are paying 1200pm, that's 14400 a year. If you get a personal loan of 32k with repayments of 1k pm, the loan will be cleared in c3 years vs the 6/7 years you are currently facing.
While you would only be freeing up 200 pm, there would be light at the end of the tunnel if you knew that debt would be cleared & you could start saving for a house in 2019.
Definitely consult MABS. Best of luck OP