Debt/credit cards and TTC

[toffee87]

Like most people wanting to TTC/or actively TTC I worry about money. Basically we have £4,000 on a credit card, which we can easily pay the minimum payments of £90 a month. We are in our overdraft too, but that will be paid off very soon.

The credit card is on a 0% balance transfer card for 22 months (21 from now). We are aiming to pay about £1500-2000 of it over the next year before TTC. It will be likely that we'll have to transfer it again to another 0% card.

Our joint income pre-tax is £38,700 a year the moment we have approx £200 spare to spend on whatever (after all food, bills, morgtage putting £160 on CC, paying off overdraft etc). Currently our disposable income goes on meals, take aways, books etc-all of which we can live without.

Part of me thinks we should aim to completely clear it (around 2 years) before TTC. Another part of me says to go for it in a year(ish) time as long as we know we can pay the min payments. The other part says, like a lot say, if we wait for money, we'll never had kids.

I'd love to hear from people in a similar situation-people that have credit cards which will go on for a good while, but aren't out of their depth.

Thanks,

Broody x

 

[xcharx]

Try and work it out so that your credit card will be paid off by time you go on maternity leave I think that would be best? So maybe start ttc in just over a year (assuming you fall pregnant quickly).

Cx

 

[toffee87]

That's what I'm thinking

 

[xcharx]

Yea that's what Id do Cx

 

[toffee87]

I'm just working out what we spend each year on birthdays (other peoples) as well as other stuff. I'm setting up a standing order to our savings account, so that we don't keep going overdrawn. What happens is we spend our 'pocket money' and then don't have any left for stuff that come up.

 

[amie-leigh]

I think you are being pretty sensible about it
If it was me I'd be thinking about aiming to TTC 18months from now so you could clear a big chunk of it and possibly put some money aside for the baby (they aint cheap ) x

 

[alchemy]

We have to CC debt, just DH's student loan and our car. We plan to have those both paid off before TTC, then me work for another year because all my money can go into savings, as well as part of DH's paycheck. Both of us grew up in families where it was paycheck to paycheck and sometimes the paycheck didn;t come in time. I don't want our kid to live like that.

 

[Hayley90]

id clear as much of the debt as you can before ttc, then get saving for the baby stuff & mat leave...1st babies arent cheap, and mat leave is a killer. that £30k+ salary will drop massively and you wont have ANY 'pocket money' to spare, some people cant even cover bills. x

 

[toffee87]

I don't earn 30k+ haha, our joint income is that. OH earns £24,400 and I earn £14400. For me it'll drop 350 a month on mat leave-which in theory we can do. It'll be childcare that'd screw us, hopefully our family will help (mum has already said she will, if she can't she said she would help with nursery fees-I haven't asked for that though).

I know my parents (both are remarried) will want to help with the pram/cot. I'm happy to second hand clothes-as they grow out of them so fast anyway and just get the 'posh stuff' new.

I'll be doing quite a bit of overtime over the next few weeks, so I'm hoping to clear the overdraft a little sooner so we can crack on with the card

And over the next few months I'm setting up standing orders to our savings account to cover stuff that we only do every few months or once per year i.e. birthdays, cats injections/food (we buy food in bulk), car servicing. We already set up a Christmas one, so we won't be skint this December for prezzies and going out! What has been happening is we spend our weekly 'pocket money' and then have to use our overdraft for the other stuff that isn't in our monthly out goings. So if we spread the cost and do standing orders every month, we should be a lot more organised!

 

[Hayley90]

I don't earn 30k+ haha, our joint income is that. OH earns £24,400 and I earn £14400. For me it'll drop 350 a month on mat leave-which in theory we can do. It'll be childcare that'd screw us, hopefully our family will help (mum has already said she will, if she can't she said she would help with nursery fees-I haven't asked for that though).

I know my parents (both are remarried) will want to help with the pram/cot. I'm happy to second hand clothes-as they grow out of them so fast anyway and just get the 'posh stuff' new.

I'll be doing quite a bit of overtime over the next few weeks, so I'm hoping to clear the overdraft a little sooner so we can crack on with the card

thats what i meant, mat leave is a killer - household budgets go out the window as you effectively have to live on one salary and just buy 'extras' with mat pay

 

[toffee87]

Yeah, I've pretty much accepted that. Fun times, eh!

 

[Sarahkka]

You are doing two great things by focusing on getting rid of the debt before you have a baby:
1) You are freeing up cash flow and reducing interest paid to the creditors -
2) You are getting yourself used to living on less income by being strict with yourself about savings, debt repayment, and budgeting. This will put you in a much easier position once you hit mat leave as you will already be in the habit of living on less and will be less likely to commit the classic mistake of continuing to spend as though you have two incomes. Really smart!
Good luck with all of it!