To really struggle to save money

@redfox14

Did forget to add that I actually do two online shops a week using a delivery pass. Creates a lot less wastage and I only need to meal plan for 3/4 days at a time. What ever is left either gets added into the next lot of meal planning to use up or is frozen. As a result our shopping bill is only approx £80 a week for 2A 2K and we don't exactly starve. We came home from a week visiting relatives yesterday and I managed to create four different meals based around a single carbohydrate but other components to suit preferences. All because I freeze leftovers and am organised in food planning. A decade ago we'd have just ordered takeaway. Obviously click and collect can sometimes work out cheaper. However we are rural and the nearest supermarket is a good few miles away so delivery service works for us.

My motto in life is more money less hours, so I agree with others in that you both ought to look at how to develop at work. Senior TA sounds ideal. Can your partner try to develop too and climb the ladder so to speak?

agree with pp, your household income is low, so v difficult to save when you have a family too.

I would try to increase your salaries somehow. Can you up your hours a bit? Could you take on a second job? Can your partner try to increase their salary?

also look at your outgoings… you mention lots of little extras from boots. Well can you add that to your weekly shop instead and buy supermarket brands or go to places like B&M, Savers. Try to limit picking extra bits up from convenience shops. They can be costly, and this is a small way to find some extra bit of money as these little trips add up.

look at subscriptions, what can be cancelled? Look at phone contracts, can you switch to sim only. I would go thru your bank statements and see where you can start saving - even small amounts, they all add up. I recently cancelled my green chef subscription which was costing me £35-£40 per week on top of my weekly food shop. I now do weekly food shop online and budget £80-£90 per week for two of us (this includes toiletries and cleaning products, also food and treats for our two dogs). I try not to buy coffee out, will make at home. Odd coffee and hot choc out when with a friend or something. Limit takeaways as these are costly. Do collection if you do and save on delivery fees.

Teachers assistants are in demand as babysitters as people have confidence in their abilities. Is there any children at your school who need after school care even on the days you don't work Or during schoolholidays when parents are desperate for minders. . Or you could babysit one night every weekend. It wouldn't be a huge amount but every little bit counts.

I have a bachelor's degree but unfortunately haven't been able to get a job in my degree-related field

What's the degree? There's a huge teacher shortage...

It's very easy for people to say get a full time job. I earn similarly (pro rata 31k) to you albeit slightly less hours. For us we would have to move DS from a school run pre school (30 hours term time with no extra charges so essentially free) back to nursery 52 weeks of the year with extra costs (not entirely sure on costs as moved before 30 hours came in). Then DD would also have to go into after school club circa £200 a month. Plus added cost of holiday clubs as I work 3 days a week so only have to arrange 5 days instead of 3. Then when you account for diesel (I currently WFH), increase in pension, NI and Student loan I would actually be worse off and see my kids less. I currently work during school hours and entirely left to my own devices as long as the work is done. If I move then my industry is 24 hours so I'd have to work a shift pattern and all that comes with it. I'm not entirely sure there would be any career advancement by taking the hit either. I'll also add I'm on a southern wage uplift but currently living up north so I'd struggle to get anywhere near, equivalent salaries here are 25-28k.

My DH does earn considerably more than yours I won't lie. However I do try and top up my salary. I sell a lot on Vinted and use the money made to buy the next size up clothing for the kids. I also use cashback sites and gift cards where I can. I'm also on O2 so use their airtime app to get money off my phone bill. The money I've saved I move straight into a savings account. This then pays for school uniforms and the like. Food wise I bulk cook a lot and buy a lot of base bits to make meals with. For example chopped tomatoes are inexpensive and can be used in so many meals. I also buy pasta and lentils in bulk and batch loads of meals. Also we eat plant based which saves a lot of money (I'm vegetarian but the others eat meat occasionally). Hope some of that helps.

Do you rent or own OP? That would make a massive difference to your UC entitlement, but I still would've thought on those salaries you'd still be entitled to a little bit even if it was £50 if you have a mortgage.

At 1.5 you should be able to claim 15 hours funded for your DCs nursery fees. It's quite easy to work out UC entitlement if you know the formula. I find the calculators a bit shit, one said we were entitled to £300 when in reality we weren't entitled to anything at the time.

In the longer term could you become a teacher? In the short term - enjoy your child and your weekends while trying to prune the unnecessary expenditure. If you can afford to live then there is no need to worry - you can make changes later. Think about what you have rather than what you haven’t. It sounds like you enjoy your child, your relationship and both want to put each other first… puts you ahead of many!

So if you earn more money when full time why doesn't he go part time instead?

first start by logging all expenses for a couple months, this will help both of you see exactly what your spending where. no judgement just print off or log every penny spent.
one way of saving even small amounts monthly is to transfer money to a savings account odd "change" every evening.
so log onto your bank app at 8-9pm (after all outings and shopping basically) and transfer over the change or money so you start the next am with an even amount (ex taking a 9pm balance of 153.81 and transferring the .81 or 3.81 into the other account).
you would be surprised how easily you could squirrel away 50 per month.

Yeah the calculator isn't accurate on entitled to.

What does your dh do for work op?

You need to get what you're entitled to on universal credit OP. Put it in tomorrow.

I am sure he can earn more as a tradesman. My partner pays his labourers £150 a day and they often work 6 days a week. But even at 5 days it's 39k a year.

Do you absolutely need a car? Could you both look to hange jobs in the future to ones you can reach on public transport? It's the thing that made a huge difference to us when we were earning a similar amount.

People are forgetting that as OP points out, if she works more then that’s more money to pay for childcare.

Surely you can get some UC. I would also think about a part-time job for you that pays more and a full-time job for your that pays more. What qualifications do you both have?

Why are you both on such low salaries? I understand your oart time but even the FTE is low. Are you in careers with progression? Are either of you able to do further qualifications or training to get better jobs? That's a very low household income to have a family. Do you get UC?

You will be hard pressed to save anything out of your joined salary. I agree with PP, you prioritize time with your child, your husband wants you to prioritize time with your child so, naturally, money is going to be tight. I would consider spending your time wisely and think about retaining opportunities so that you can get a higher paid job once your child is no longer in nursery.

Thing is @redfox14 you're going to have to make a choice between more time at home and having more money. I made the choice to work more hours (still part time) and focus on my career to get promotions) so we’d have enough money to give our DC experiences, the extras and being able to save for their futures, but if you choose more time at home that’s a perfectly solid choice but obviously you’ll have less money, especially as your both on low incomes.

Realistically you can't not compromise anything and have it all.

Your making your choices to not have money but instead have time. That's a great thing. But with time comes compromises.

You need to change your perspective. Rather than expecting to save instead expect to not save. That's the trade off you've picked.

Once you've accepted being skint then your feeling about being a bit broke should be more positive.

Your time rich but cash poor. You can switch it up anytime. For now this is your choice. Be content with it.

Well, firstly you do need to have a proper grip of your expenditure and know exactly where your money is going. "Bits and bobs" usually means unplanned/non essential outgoings. £37.5K household income is not the poverty line. The level of disposable income you have may just require discipline to enable regular savings. Deliberately saving £50 per month would be a good start.