A grand a month- reasonable?

[NellieBee]

Hi MNers,

We've made a plan with our finances which, for the next 2 years, will leave us with exactly £1,000 a month leftover. (This is after following all advice on here to get utilities cheapest they can be, etc).

Can we cope on this? I know families manage on less but I am feeling quite anxious about it.

We are a family of 4.

It will need to cover:

-All food
-School lunches
-Petrol (this is about 2-300 a month)
-Clothes
-Birthdays
-Christmas
-Pets (guinea pigs and cats)
-After school clubs
-Any extras

All advice appreciated, thank you.

why do you need the car?

how far away are the children's schools? can they walk? how far away do you work? Can your husband get a bus? what would that cost? it might cost less.

Putting big expenses on the credit card rather defeats the objective of getting debt free doesn't it? Surely find an extra £50 to put in a separate account or live a bit meaner still.

Some of you clearly have no idea what it's like to live rurally with one bus a day to take school children and then bring them home at 4pm, 7 miles from a train station and no alternative way home for kids if they do an after school activity. One train every two hours even if I did park at the station and the train home leaves the station 15 minutes walk from work at 1 minute past 5. Otherwise it's a train at 1 minute past 7 and not getting home until 8.32pm.

taking the DC to 2 different schools on the way

The DC's schools are in different directions so that one person can't have a long school run or make arrangements with other parents who make the school run?

Have you accounted for the petrol savings in the 12 weeks' of holiday if you both work in schools? Can one of you take on some shifts/bar work/seasonal/cleaning/babysitting in the holidays?

OH travels to different schools across the county most schools are on public transport routes, as that is how children get there! what would a one month bus pass cost? it might be worth looking into ( lots of schools around here have no parking anyway)

Surely if DH has a job that involves him travelling to different schools daily he will be allowed to reclaim any mileage that goes over his home to base mileage?

If the OP OH has to be in one school for a meeting then another school for a meeting all over the county, how is a bus pass going to work? The schools here literally have one bus in the morning and one in the afternoon to many areas, and primary schools don't have buses at all.

When I worked in education, we were only allowed to claim miles over and above our normal commute. Because they had moved my job over 50 miles away and it was that or redundancy, my normal commute was 104 miles round trip every day. I never was able to claim much in travelling expenses.

Some of you clearly have no idea what it's like to live rurally with one bus a day to take school children and then bring them home at 4pm, 7 miles from a train station and no alternative way home for kids if they do an after school activity. One train every two hours even if I did park at the station and the train home leaves the station 15 minutes walk from work at 1 minute past 5. Otherwise it's a train at 1 minute past 7 and not getting home until 8.32pm.

These questions always bring out loads of posters insisting on why public transport is impossible for them, whereas in fact it is perfectly possible for most, although not all people, to look at this alternative.

and as privately owned petrol driven cars are on the way out, a lot of people will be forced to find alternatives, including lobbying for better public transport, or moving

Privately owned cars where I am are the only viable mode of transportation. Petrol at the moment because of the miles many people have as a normal commute and electric cars don't have the charging points or the range.

not everyone lives in commuterland with good public transport.

and you are not considering how exprnsove Christmas will be.

Christmas can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be.

And before you say anything I couldn't move because my kids and my support network were where I live and also my ex would have taken me to court to stop me moving any distance that interfered with his seeing the children.

Putting big expenses on the credit card will completely defeat the object of trying to be debt free, as it will add to the debt. Better to build in a small savings fund for these things.

Hate to say it but diesel cheaper than petrol still, and they still use it for buses, taxis. There will be penalties but petrol is a huge item in your budget. I read somewhere that petrol is worse for the planet, but diesel worse for individual health.
This project is so worthwhile, you won't believe the relief when you see the debt begin to fall. Kids can be entertained cheaply, especially in the country, they don't need lots of paid for activities. Good luck

OK this is what I calculated

All food £350
-School lunches - £50 (packed lunches may be less)
-Petrol £250
-Clothes £50 (charity shops a possibility)
-Birthdays £50
-Christmas £50
-Pets (guinea pigs and cats) - £30
-After school clubs £30
-Any extras £140

yep, its doable

Try and shop cheaply for food during the year so that at Christmas and other occasions you can splash out on other things. If you save the £140 for extras each month, then petrol and additional costs will be covered by that. I would also make packed lunches and avoid costa coffees etc/alcohol etc

Is your DH entitled to travel expenses? Certainly worth looking into.

I think it’s very doable but if you’re used to more than I can understand the anxiety

Can you do any of the following (sorry if they’ve been already mentioned):

Cut down on clothes for the next 2 years, unless it’s swinging round their ankles they can wear it

Start buying bits for Christmas now, any bargains you see for presents or have a Xmas cupboard (don’t tell anyone it’s there) you can squirrel food in when you see good deals

Budget on school lunches and switch to the likes of Aldi /Lidl or own brands if you haven’t already

Shop around for petrol as prices vary from area/town/type

Sell any pre owned items such as branded clothes kids have outgrown or old smartphones etc?

You’re lucky it’s a finite situation - my income will permanently halve soon.

What cars do you drive? My friends car takes £60 to fill and needs filling twice a month. Whilst my hubby car takes £45 to fill and he fills it 1 week in 3.

We have a decent sized family car and a cheap run around which is fuel efficient and good on tax.

Personally I wouldn't get a diesel (again) we used ours in city traffic and unless you are going to really open up the engine regularly, its a false economy.

Whether it is doable depends entirely on your expectations, also whether things like broken cars, pets and white goods need to come out the £1k.

But one thing people suggesting public transport often forget is how long buses can take in some parts of the country. There simply might be not enough hours in the day to take the bus, especially for the DH who has to visit different schools. There isn't going to be a bus sat waiting for him to go straight to the next school when he finishes at the first one. With changes and waiting a short car journey could take 1-2 hours as there may be one bus an hour or less, at an inconveient time.

Can the DCs take packed lunches instead of school lunches? The main thing you should watch is reducing spending on food and drink out of the house, and things like magazines and other little non essentials, because these can add up to loads, and are very expensive compared with taking packed lunches and picnics.

You must know how to cut food spending and realise that 'normal basic shopping' is cooked from scratch food from Lidl or Aldi not organic everything that looks nice from Waitrose, which will cost at least twice as much.

If you have a look if any local attractions do season tickets, or things like National Trust membership, this might work out as a cost effective way of doing things and getting out of the house, as long as you take a picnic and your own drinks and snacks of course.

also, walk where you can, eg, to the local shops, school, etc so just use your car for work and nothing else. Healthier too. I walk 3.5 miles to and from work saving myself £25 a week in bus fare (£100 a month) I also bulk buy things on offer and freeze them, things like staples (bread milk etc). I would buy mince, chicken, fish fingers etc in large quantities then you can defrost it in portions and make family meals as required. Get own brands of products like shampoo, washing up liquid and washing tablets, soap, bleach, sanitary towels etc. Cut your familys hair yourself. Buy clothes in end of season sale in the next size up (eg if you DC is 5 get them age 6/7 so they don't grow out of it quickly. Have showers instead of baths, or share the water for a bath, there is loads to be saved if you write it all down

I have 1000 after my bills and manage but there is only me to pay for as my adult children pay for themselves (2 at home aged 23 and 29) so its easier but I manage to live on 500 a month and save the rest for holidays etc but I know a family of 4 has a larger food and clothing bill but I do think you will manage. The main thing is for one of you to take control of the finances and budget accordingly

If your DH decides to go out for afterwork drinks every Friday or you get hair cuts and manicures that isn't budgeted for that's where problems start.

My parents cut costs when I was younger by writing everything down they spent, and I mean everything and then decided not to buy newspapers, to stop using the car for small trips, recycle items, eg cloths were washed and reused not thrown out. its actually quite enjoyable when you realise what you have saved.

Do either of you have expensive hobbies? I swapped to playing bridge as it only cost me a pound for a 4 hour night out and that included coffee and biscuits. Previously I spent a lot more out for a drink, meal or bingo. I still had treats and went out but by rewarding myself for being frugal when I needed to. Join Martin lewis money saving forum and look for vouchers, discounts etc online

Where I live there is one bus a week to town in at 10:30 out about 2:30pm. It is run by volunteers. The school bus goes to another village not town. I have to drive to work. Our county stopped paying staff for mileage. Not sure if the Headteachers still gets it. I found this out when I tried to claim for a course miles away more than 30 from school. I had to pay for it. They didn't pay for my train fare or taxi last year to a training course in another county. I really wanted to do the course and the trainer and I shared a taxi back which she was allowed to claim. She had trained me before and I had helped her pack everything away.

I think it might be doable. You need to plan meals and look out for bargains to freeze at the end of the day. Lots of products get marked down including meat, fish and veg. I go after school.😃
If you live in the country can you access freebies of fruit. I offered black currants and courgettes. Apple trees are laden this year and people don't like to waste them. If you can beg a greengrocer for the cardboard trays they will keep longer. Loads of plums just now. We all share it around in our village as we don't like to see waste. You can bulk out meals with puddings and have smaller portions for mains.
Good luck with it.

Get this thread moved to the money matters or credit crunch board. There are a lot of very financially savvy posters on there who will help you out. You'll get more help and understanding there, this isn't the right place for it.