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.

we are a family of four and we do it for about £600 but we dont have pets and after school club to pay for and only 1 school dinner. Also my DH is the only one who drives so our fuel bill is not as much.

Id say a grand is achievable but it would be tight. We often have to use credit card at the end of the month.

We still manage to have the odd day out and the odd meal out here and there. Its not a life of misery!

Realistically the things you might be able to cut down on (IMO) are:

-All food - Go for a few cheaper meals a week - dahl, frittata, egg and chips.

-School lunches - I agree with a PP - piece of fruit, water, sandwich, chocolate bar (or whatever), and maybe once in a while a few slices of pizza or whatever they see as a treat, from home. Do they have dietary requirements?

-Clothes - Don't buy unless it's a needed item. It's so easy to browse online and spend small amounts of money on things, but it adds up.

-Christmas - Make a list of what you'll need/who you're buying for, set aside a small weekly/monthly budget for it, and buy things as and when they crop up on sale. Lidl had huge rolls of wrapping paper for £1 a few weeks back, that kind of thing. Don't overspend here; it's easy to go crazy over Christmas. Plan a simple Christmas.

And do use QuidCo, TopCashback etc - it adds up!

The Christmas bargain thread on the Christmas board is very helpful for those on a budget. Lots of discount codes, sale alerts and bargains to help spread the cost.

Mention to extended family now that you're buying for children only from now on & they might welcome the opportunity to cut back too. Alternatively, you could suggest a secret santa gift exchange or buying family gifts only like board games.

The works atm has an offer for 10 books for £10 which would make perfect Christmas or birthday gifts to stash away. Add a selection box and it's an acceptable gift for nieces and nephews.

@clairetree1 I HONESTLY don't know why you're on this thread.

You think I can do without a car. I've told you I cant. You have repeated yourself over and over again.

Everyone else- a HUGE thank you. I really appreciate all of your help, advice, suggestions and feedback.

I've put a note in my calendar to come back in 3 months and update you all!

We've talked about it, and will switch to packed lunches.

Yes, this is our self imposed timeline so it's not the end of the world if something comes up and it takes longer, or if we realise in a month or two it's not sustainable and need to extend.

Good luck!

The Money Saving Expert site is great. Have you used the calculator? It lists all possible expenses, even things you might have forgotten.

Is there anything you can cut back on bills wise? Mobiles/Sky etc.

I completely agree about cars being necessary. I grew up 25 miles from my nearest train station. I was 18 the first time I was on a train.

@clairetree1 I HONESTLY don't know why you're on this thread.

because you saked for suggestions, and I gave one, then I was repeatedly challenged about it!

Of course you can do without the second car! But you don't have to if you don't want to, no, you are right, you don't need to justify it, it is entirely your choice,

How old are your kids? Are they old enough to understand that 2 years of sacrifice means you’ll have £X more per month after and will be able to afford a holiday/driving lessons etc.

@Clairetree1

We can physically and mentally cope without a lot of things; processed foods, foods imported from abroad which we can't grow in this country, TV, radio, books, indoor bathrooms etc. We CAN cope without them but it would seriously impact on our living style and enjoyment. She's got 2 kids to take to 2 different schools, then she needs to get to work in the opposite direction from her husband. How would you suggest she do that without a car? Spend hours on different buses everyday? Walk for miles everyday? It's absolutely possible, but it will take away hours of their family time in the evenings and hours of sleep they will miss in the mornings. It makes life just a bit miserable.

OP is looking for suggestions that are actually workable without creating a huge amount of extra logistical planning and hours more of travelling. In her situation, she cannot get rid of the car. Stop banging on about how it's totally manageable when it's it clearly not a feasible option. There are other things they can cut down on first, so that's what OP is going to do. If the situation became dire, then cars might start to go but she isn't there yet.

Do you have to do it over 2 years? If you could do it over 3 would it be more manageable? There's no point in struggling to budget it over 2 years and ending up in more debt from using credit cards etc
But you can do it with £1000 if you're very careful. We've lived well on less!

Good luck op. Will be interested to hear how its going.

@clairetree1 I’ve just looked out of curiosity and for me to get a weekly season train pass to work would cost £101 and I spend approx £45 per week on petrol for my 20mile each way commute. It would also take me 90 mins not 40 mins to do each way. Now factor in DH doing the same in the opposite direction at £60 per week train rather than £45 petrol and we are losing out. ‘‘Tis would cost £60 more per week and seriously affect our free time and work life balance.
And that doesn’t take into account any other trips in the car which go into the weekly petrol. I need a car to travel the 10 miles to my horses as walking is out of the question.

Maybe if your whole life is in one town then the age of the car is gone, but for me it certainly isn’t. Schools are not on public transport routes they are on council school bus routes.

Perhaps think through your ‘advice’ before giving it in future.

If I didn’t have my car, I could not do my job. I have to drive to different sites, different locations on different days and sometimes only 15-30 min between appointment. Some people need to get real!

Claire I need my car. I cannot parent without it. What do you suggest I do in the situation where you decide I can do without it?

If no one has mentioned it already, check out Dave Ramsey.

Of course you can do without the second car! But you don't have to if you don't want to, no, you are right, you don't need to justify it, it is entirely your choice.

No, she can't. I can't work out if you're being deliberately goady or you just don't have the capacity to understand what you've been told. It's really not that tricky to understand.

We also have two cars. We need two cars. There is no public transport from our village, we need to be in two different places at the same time, miles apart. Aside from that, DD has medical issues which mean lots of hospital appointments and I am MILs carer, which also entails GP/hospital appts. Lots of people have circumstances which are clearly more challenging to navigate than the idealistic bubble you live in.

We have that, and we generally get by but have slow slippage. Things like house/ car insurance or boiler breakdowns tip the balance and can take months to recover from and slowly eat our small savings. We don’t holiday and days out are v v limited. 3 children (plus 2 adult children with the odd expense but moved out) and 2 adults.

Of course you can do without the second car!

So how do you suggest that OP gets herself and the child to school and work?

For me
-only ever packed lunch

• clothes are nearly all hand me down or second hand

-Lidl, we still have lots of fruit and veg affordably -cars- bangernomics! -generally I don’t use cash back or loyalty card schemes. Shopping around saves far more -in lean times, deal in cash. Take it out so you see it going from a set weekly amount.

• give kids some budget control and choices, eg let them see what things cost (I exclude books)

-skills swap if you can a bit for kids activities -you’ll be amazed what there are YouTube videos in, I cleaned the boiler filter with one this morning and got it all happy again! And I have no prior experience, but we’ve build up our abilities with odd jobs

We're doing a similar self-imposed thing for DH's US student debt. I think it's doable.

Are you signed up to one of those online things which tracks your budget and outgoings? I found that really useful for keeping discipline.

Think about doing a month tracking everything you buy at the supermarket and everything you throw away. Enter it all in a spreadsheet and see what the trends are.

It'll give an idea of where you can save costs or plan leftovers into your week. It also helps to show where you could bulk buy to save money over a longer period. For us, bulk buying pulses & spices, pasta, coffee, flour, loo roll, and stuff for the cats saves about $40 a month.

OP, I've been doing a version of this for 30 years now. It's become second nature. Spend NOTHING you don't absolutely need to; it's only for a couple of years and you can splurge then. My practical tip is buy a Huge box of washing powder; Costco or Lidl or Aldi. Then buy ni other cleaning stuff, you can use the powder for clothes, floors, and dissolved in a spray bottle for bathroom cleaning and the rest. It'll last for ages. It's all detergent in the end. Good luck. You really can do it and it'll fly by like all the family years do:)

@NellieBee can I suggest that you take a look at the frugal threads on 'credit crunch' and the debt support thread in money matters- I often lurk on these threads as there is so much useful information.

I noticed a suggestion by another poster regarding child minding for other DC in the school holiday whilst you are at home with yours. Obviously there is paperwork to do in connection with this but assume as you work in a school (don't think you said your role) you will already have DBS. Appreciate you may not want to be surrounded by other people's DC in your holiday but this did sound like it maybe a useful source of extra income (or you could just sell your car ,,,, )

So how do you suggest that OP gets herself and the child to school and work?

Maybe through the medium of darnce?