To think there’s not much else I can do with this budget.

Another thing, if you use plastic bottles some places let you add the savings to a gift card rather than using it in store again another way to save small amounts which add up quickly.

I will reiterate, make sure you have VPN, it is the difference to the box not being shut off.

Sorry I forgot to add "do your food shop online" to my post!

A big area you can save is on food shopping. I now only do this and set myself a weekly budget.

I always go a bit over budget in my first round selection, so I then remove the "nice to haves" to get within my budget. It's tough but it does stop you from picking up those little things as you go round the shop!

That's great to get the WFP 🙌

And yay on the dodgy box 😁. There's great stuff on the Channel 4 catch up btw and we can access that for free.

December will be a good month with the bonus payments and extra child credit.

Would you consider ditching meat from your food shop and having a vegetarian diet? I imagine that might save a chunk on food?

Your rent is huge - more than half your wage. Is that typical in your area?

On these threads people always look at the £15 TV subscription and say you don't need it, but in reality £15 doesn't make a huge difference month on month and when you don't have money to go out much, having a choice of TV to watch can be a godsend.

Could you possibly rent somewhere a little cheaper and save £100 + a month there?

Make sure any dodgy box you get has VPN included.

DS has one paid extra for VPN but unlike mates he has never had any issues with, sky Virgin etc

WFP should also have been back dated to date you applied at least that was how they used to do it.

The WFP is going up in new year and there is a one off payment announced in budget, €400 I think (don't quote me) that along with double CB next month will give you a bonus, help towards Christmas. At Christmas the WFP will be paid for 2 weeks the week before Christmas, so nothing Christmas week, be alert to that.

For next year Not sure where you do shopping but if it is Aldi, Dunnes or Tesco, they all do a Christmas saving scheme for food shopping.

€2 a week I save and I cannot tell you how much it relieves the pressure. in Dunnes & Tesco you can use them for anything, clothes, gifts, alcohol.

Aldi can used in middle aisle also

£42 per week is excellent! I hope that makes you feel more comfortable x

Have you looked into a MC,

It's outgoings that get most people over the line. Rent, childcare, travel to work etc

You need to apply at very least you may get a DVC.

HAP I am nearly sure is based on net income, can't find it now though.

I cancelled Disney and then resubscribed with their £1.99 for three months. I get the cheapest Netflix which is like £4.99 it has ads but not bad at all!

@Itgetsharder That’s a shame. But the principle remains - share as many costs as possible with other households. Unite to undermine the system, power to the people etc etc.

Sort out your subscriptions. Find someone to join forces with to share. Eg we share Spotify family with another household (you get 6 slots). Try to only have one tv sub at a time - watch it all, then cancel and move on. For music look at Spotify/Amazon/YouTube - the offering is much of a muchness, but the price varies and sometimes there’s a free trial or welcome back deal.

Try not to be taken by surprise by annual costs. Look over the last 18 months of bank statements and see what crops up. Add in a budget for Christmas/birthdays - actually add up number of people and spend per person (perhaps take the opportunity to agree not to buy for adults or friends). Divide these annual costs by 12 and set the money aside every month. It will be hard for the first six months as you probably won’t have a sinking fund, but thing will get easier and it feels so peaceful to just pay the bill from the pot of money you have set aside.

Not sure how it works in Ireland, but can you split the bin fee with a neighbour? We share our garden waste bin with a neighbour and split the cost.

Your problem isn't the costs you have listed in your opening post, it's all the costs you HAVEN'T listed:

Car insurance
Home/contents insurance
Car tax if you have to pay it
Whatever the Irish equivalent of an MOT is
Car service/new tyres
Clothing for you
Kids clothes and shoes
Haircuts
Dentists
Healthcare/prescriptions
Christmas
Birthday Presents for your kids
Other people's birthday presents
Annualised cost of heating oil
Food
Toiletries
Cleaning products
Eating out
Weekend entertainment
Petrol

You can't possibly work out a functional budget unless you work out what you're actually spending on all of the above. Because if you're overspending on any of these then that may be what means you're struggling, or it may be that it's just hard to manage where you are on that income.

There's a Money Saving Expert concept called a "statement of affairs". Fill that in based on what you actually spend, not what you wish you spent, and you'll have a much better idea of where your money is going.