I’ve been trying for a baby for 10 years but how do I save the £7,000 needed for IVF?
NICCI Bond is desperate to have a baby and has spent the last ten years trying to conceive with her partner.
She needs £7,000 to pay for IVF before she turns 42, as the clinic says the chances of a successful pregnancy after then are too low - and she doesn't qualify for NHS help.
The 40-year-old from Bradford earns £22,500 a year as a night shift worker at a children's home, plus extra if she works Sundays, but her outgoings leave her with very little cash and she is £10,000 in debt.
Our Cash Clinic expert Holly Thomas pulls no punches in telling Nicci to get a handle on her debts before they spiral out of control.
She also recommends Nicci ditch her pricey Sky subscription and switch from buying food in local convenience stores to shopping in supermarkets.
Nicci told The Sun: “I wish I had enough money to have IVF treatment but I’ve never had the funds no matter how hard I try.
"The clinic wants the money upfront - there’s no option of a payment plan to spread the cost. Plus I have poor credit due to a bunch of debts.
I want to have IVF before it's too late
Nicci Bond
"I’ve had tubal unblocking, a laparoscopy, cell tests, pelvic ultrasounds, 3D imaging, a 16-week course of oestrogen and a few other procedures.
"The majority have been self-paid as my partner has children, which means we’re not always eligible for NHS help.
“I don’t own my home or a car - but I’m not too bothered. The thing that’s driving me to improve my finances is to have IVF before it’s too late.”
Nicci and her partner Bilal, 51, live separately so they don’t have the benefit of splitting household bills between them.
She has already paid out around £5,000 in private consultation fees for treatments and assessments for her fertility over the past five years, to find out the reason she has so far been unsuccessful in falling pregnant.
Cash Clinic looks at where Nicci can try and cut back to fund the IVF she's so desperate for.
Why we've launched Cash Clinic
THE Sun has launched its new Cash Clinic series because we want to help you, our readers, to save cash.
For some, it's easy to get caught up with work and family life and to put our own finances on the back burner.
While for others, it needs an expert's eye to work out where further cutbacks can be made to already tight budgets.
If you'd like our Cash Clinic expert to review your finances and to feature in our series, please email Holly Thomas at cashclinic@mcb777.site
Bills: £273 per month
New spend: £188 per month
Saving: £85 per month
Nicci’s flat is supplied only by electricity and not gas. Her monthly bill from Npower is currently £90 a month.
This figure is high as it incorporates extra to clear a £600 debt. The debt means that she can’t switch to another supplier (unless she could afford to clear it).
She’s currently on a tariff which ends in June 2020 so she should make a note in her diary to call Npower and make sure she switches to the next best deal rather than slipping onto the standard tariff, which is the most expensive.
Nicci was switched to a water meter a few months ago but so far hasn’t seen any reduction to her £35 monthly bill. Nicci should get in touch with the water company to question this.
Line rental, broadband and TV package from Sky is costing £45 a month. Nicci has the most basic TV package. Her contract is up in February so she could speak to Sky to see if it can discount her current deal or switch to a cheaper one.
Alternatively, she could use comparison site to see what she could get from other providers.
At the moment, there’s a deal from TalkTalk offering fast broadband and 105 TV channels for £27.95 a month.
Nicki currently pays £19 a month for a TV licence.
Nicci could save £80 a month by ditching Sky and swapping to a SIM-only mobile deal
Cash Clinic
Home contents insurance costs £24 a month with LV= for her two bedroom flat. She could get a cheaper policy from Privilege for £76 for the year (£6.33 a month), according to comparison site .
Her mobile phone costs £60 a month on a contract to pay for an expensive handset.
The contract has another 10 months to go, after which she should switch to a SIM-only deal which should only cost as little as £10 a month.
Groceries £200 per month
New spend: £150 per month
Saving: £50 per month
Nicci spends around £200 a month on groceries. She picks up smaller bits and pieces from local convenience shops near home as well as an Iceland nearby.
Do you want help in our Cash Clinic? Email [email protected]
She doesn’t have a car and doesn’t want to pay for a taxi or struggle home on the bus with loads of shopping. Getting groceries delivered is too tricky, she says, as she works nights and is asleep during the day.
Nicci is most likely spending well over the odds for cupboard essentials by using smaller convenience stores rather than larger supermarkets.
She should explore doing a monthly shop and getting it delivered. Evening deliveries are often the cheapest anyway. Her shifts start at 10pm and so a delivery at 9pm is possible and might be as little as £1 to £2.
This means she can stock up on tea, coffee, washing up liquid, cleaning products, toilet paper and cupboard foods (such as baked beans) and the like, at much cheaper prices.
Buying in bulk is typically far better value.
She could also plan meals and batch cook and freeze meals. We estimate she could save around £50 a month by following this advice.
Rent: £475 per month
New spend: £475 per month
Saving: £0 per month
Nicci can only really haggle over her rent when her contract comes up for renewal, so for now there's no savings to be made.
Driving lessons: £126 per month
New spend: £126 per month
Saving: £0 per month
At £42 each, driving lessons are not cheap. Yet a driving licence is a good thing for Nicci to have so she can pick up a cheap second hand car one day and drive herself to and from her night shifts.
Once Nicki passes her driving test she'll be able to save by shopping at supermarkets instead of convenience stores
Cash Clinic
She estimates she’ll take her test in April, so can be £126 a month better off in just a few months.
Pet: £42 per month
New spend: £42 per month
Saving: £0 per month
Nicci’s pet Chihuahua, April, is reasonably cheap to feed, being such a small dog.
She spends around £30 a month on her food and £12 a month on pet insurance - a good value price, we found.
Of course again, she may save if she buys pet food in bulk from bigger supermarkets.
Entertainment: £100 per month
New Spend: £100 per month
Saving: £0 per month
Nicci enjoys going out for dinner at Nando's and to the local pub on a Saturday night.
She spends around £100 a month - £25 a week. That’s already a modest amount and cutting back further would result in not much opportunity to socialise.
Clothing: £50 per month
New spend: £50 per month
Saving: £0 per month
Nicci says she loves to shop but is frugal these days and heads to charity shops to pick up designer bargains. We can’t argue with that.
Travel: £80 per month
New spend: £80 per month
Saving: £0 per month
Nicci often gets taxis to and from work as she often works Sundays when public transport is not as easy to get, and because of her working hours - starting at 10pm and finishing at 8am. The bus is less than half the price at £3.20 each way.
These costs will reduce when Nicci is driving, though there would be an initial outlay for the car as well as insurance and road tax costs to consider.
Debt: £70 per month
New spend: £70 per month
Savings: £0 per month
Nicci bought a fridge/freezer and a bed from Very, using finance. She owes £900 charged at 49.9 per cent and is paying back £70 with another 13 payments to go.
She also owes £130,000 from her student loans and pays back £120 a month - though this is taken automatically from her salary.
And there's £10,000 of debt which is spread across four establishments - two banks and two debt collection agencies.
It's vital Nicci addresses her debts - StepChange may be able to help for free
Cash Clinic
At the moment, Nicci admits she has been ignoring the correspondence and isn’t making any monthly repayments to clear any of the debt.
We suspect that this will catch up with her in the near future and have recommended she seek immediate help from a free debt charity such as .
There are numerous options for Nicci that an adviser will be able to discuss with her. The crucial thing is not to bury her head in the sand.
The debt is most likely growing by the day with sky-high interest charges.
A debt charity can step in and act to freeze those charges and work out the best way for the debt to be cleared.
Savings: £250 per month
New spend: £250 per month
Income boost: 60p per month
Nicci tries to put away £250 a month but often ends up dipping into it to pay for extras that occur - such as £400 last month for dental work.
She currently has £650 in a Santander Everyday savings account earning 0.35 per cent.
She should open an account paying a higher rate such as with Marcus by Goldman Sachs paying 1.45 per cent. A regular saver wouldn’t work for Nicci as she often needs access to the money.
She would receive £2.27 in a year from her existing account compared to £9.42 from Marcus.
What has Cash Clinic managed to save Nicci?
We have been able to identify some modest adjustments that Nicci could make to reduce her monthly expenditure - amounting to £1,620.60 a year.
And as long as Nicci passes her driving test she’ll save the £120 a month on driving lessons and can start saving for a car.
Should she manage to continue saving £250 a month and factoring in our suggested savings, Nicci could have the £7,000 she needs in under two years, making the deadline of age 42.
To meet this deadline sooner, Nicci could use a pre-eligibility tool to check if she qualifies for any loans or 0 per cent credit cards that she could use to help fund her IVF.
These tools only leave soft searches on your credit file, which don't damage your score. MoneySavingExpert.com has both a and a checker.
But much hinges on the debt Nicci has accrued and what agreements can be made with her creditors.
She may have to first rebuild her credit score using a credit card that is designed to do just that.
How we saved Nicci £1,620 a year
HERE'S what Cash Clinic has saved Nicci:
- Bills (telecoms, mobile, and home insurance) - £85/month or £1,020/year
- Groceries - £50/month or £600/year
- Savings boost - 41p/month or £4.92/year
TOTAL SAVINGS: £1,624.92 a year (£135.41 a month)
In addition, Nicci could, alongside her GP, make what's called an to her local clinical commissioning group, which sets the rules on NHS-funded IVF in her area.
If this fails, she could try to appeal her local authority's decision on NHS funded IVF. Charity, Fertility Network UK, has on its website you can use.
The problem is that NHS funding is a postcode lottery in the UK.
If Nicci has to go down the private route, she should check prices with other local clinics in her area - the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has a you can use that also lists patient feedback.
Some clinics also offer repayment plans, so it's worth Nicci checking if any nearby offer this.
Nicci said: "This has all been really helpful in getting me see my finances clearly. Once you're in lots of debt it can be really difficult to see a way out. Especially when you want money to fund other things that life throws at you.
"I'm in a worse position in that I've been told I'm not eligible for NHS funding for any fertility treatment because my partner already has children.
"But I have now contacted a debt charity and have an appointment set up. Fingers crossed 2020 will be a better year for my finances."
