Budget- can I make this work?

[Stressedgiraffe]

I need help budgeting. What can I do to reduce things or is it impossible?
What have I forgotten?

Income : 3000
Outgoings
Rent :1650
Bills: 250
Phones: 125

Entertainment
Amazon Inc kindle, prime, audible- 36
Netflix- 7
Aws/gcp- 20

Transport
Bus fares - 200

Food
Approx 500

Pocket money/ things for school
200

That leaves - about 100?
This isn't possible is it?

Ah! Just read your update about having paid for the likes of council tax up front. Crossed posts!

AWS/GCP is Amazon web service and Google cloud platform. I struggle to see why he spends £20 on it. He can use a new email address and get AWS free tier for 12 months? But that’s peanuts compared to your rent.

You can share a prime subscription.

But I think you already know you can’t live on one income and he needs to get a job.

With AWS he should be tearing down what he builds so it shouldn’t be spending £20 idling is what I mean. Does he build with IaC? He should know what that means. Or is he serving traffic there?

I know I guess I'm just venting. I'm trying not to get angry but I'm frustrated and stressed. Hence I'm waking up around 4 each day and working as I can just shut my office door and concentrate on that and not the mess this is

@Stressedgiraffe I'm sorry that you're in this position. Very stressful and you seem to be the only one carrying the weight, which isn't fair at all.

I think you need to drag him up from the sofa and go though this costing sheet with him. He needs an urgent reality check.

You also need to add on the important one off expenses that naturally occur like kids needing new shoes, birthdays and (frugal) Christmas which is not far away.

Ask him what his plan is to get employment. Be clear and tell him that being asleep isn't good enough, you expect bette, and more. He needs to own his problem of being out of work. Ask him what his detailed plan is for contributing financially. Vague promises won't but it. Put him under pressure. A daily report back to you on progress as a minimum.

There are loads of jobs if he can be arsed - retail jobs, working in catering (even washing up as a casual) , working behind a bar, delivery driver, deliverooo, Royal Mail, Leaflet delivery (pays peanuts but better than zero), labouring on building sites. There really is no excuse at all , especially as you are in the SE where employment is buoyant.

Kick him firmly up the arse. He needs it (not that should have to) and you deserve it.

Get yer sturdy boots on and give him a kick.

So come April your bills are going to be going up again. Your current outgoing are not currently sustainable when you factor in Christmas or any other emergency pressures on your money and this will get worse when you need to start paying council tax again next year. If your dh does not get a job then your only option will be downsizing to save on your rent.

Your dh needs to understand the reality of your finances. You need to sit him down and go through it all cost by cost and then start sending him links to temporary Christmas jobs to get his arse in gear.

You don't have a spending issue, more of an income issue. Can you get any UC or work more hours.

You may be able to save some money on food, but £500 a month for family of 4 is not excessive, assuming it also includes toiletries etc.

Good luck

You can't afford the extra mouth that is DH. If you removed him I'd reckon it'd save more than he'll be bringing in with his £80.

Your husband needs to get a job! I know everyone has been saying this but it's the obvious thing. He needs to get a job, ANY job, and soon. Pub, cafe, shop, shelf stacking, call centre, cleaner, doctors receptionist - all jobs I know off the top of my head are available right now in my area. He could apply today and be employed by next week. He needs to step it up.

OP you probably know this but whilst the civil service can be good once you’re in, it’s just about the worst job there is for a quick start 😔 Their recruitment and pre-employment checks take forever.

Even if he didn’t want to work full time, a sixteen hour minimum wage job would bring in £150+ a week, £600+ a month. That’s food bills covered.

Anyone else sense that dh considers these jobs beneath him.

If he's a programmer could he do freelance projects e.g. through Fiverr? It would give him something to tide you over, keep his skills active, help build a portfolio and look good on his CV.

And when he gets fed up of chancers wanting the moon on a stick for hardly any money maybe he'll be more motivated to seek out someone who will pay a regular wage.

Hey OP, coming back to share a few thoughts, you clearly know that the lack of two incomes is the biggest issue but presumably are looking for things to keep your head above water.

Extra income (that doesn't rely on your DH or kids):
-Sell anything unwanted (yours or family members stuff, if they have things they no longer want) on Vinted or eBay. I find vinted the easiest and least faff way of selling, important when your time is very limited.
-Curious cat is a decent survey site for a few extra quid a week. Works best if you can do it in dead time like commuting etc. If you have no real dead time don't bother with surveys.

• if you have a lot of books in the house, consider selling them to Ziffit. Most will only bring 50p or so but if they aren't going to be read again, it's money you may as well have. Similarly computer games can be resold.

Reducing costs
-Shopimium app for supermarket coupons. Use carefully and only buy things you actually need unless the product offer is try it for free.
-Meal planning can probably get the grocery budget down. Probably good to have quite a few meals turning around staples like rice that can be bought cheaply in bulk.

I would strongly recommend reading the forums on MoneySavingExpert for further tips but these are the ones that seem like relatively easy wins.

Thanks for the tips.
I don't think I have much I can sell but I'll take a look.
Meal planning I do already. And cook from scratch anyway
I use smol for washing + dishwasher so that's reasonably cheap.

I think you need 3 plans - short-term (next 3 months), medium term (4-12 months), and longer term.

Short-term, now to Christmas.
Cut back on all things you can. Tell DH and DDs things are super tight, until Dad gets work everyone is on emergency rations, treats are cancelled, groceries are cut right back. Christmas will be low spend. Manage expectations and create a feeling of urgency. Manage on your bare bones budget.

Jan - Sept 24
Begin to seriously consider bugger changes - different cheaper house, closer to available work for both teens and DH without needing public transport.

Longer term
You need a plan for what happens if your DH can’t get a ‘proper’ job and what retirement finances look like, how will kids afford university if they want to go etc. Decide if you want to stay married…

bugger changes is obviously a typo! But appropriate

PS Smol is I think relatively expensive if you compare it to e.g. Lidl dishwasher/detergent. It’s great, but it might also need to go…

Good idea about different plans. I like plans.
Smol I get in 3 month boxes so I have enough till Dec.
Retirement wise I will have an ok pension my pension is 10% from me and 20% from my employer + shares.. I still have 20 years of work to go.

You’ll be OK with your pension then - but I was more thinking about your husband. If he can’t find a ‘proper’ job and is forced into early retirement or working only for e.g. minimum wage, how will that affect things? Might as well think long-term if you’re going to consider everything.

I have no idea. He's only 10 years off pension age but his employment history means he has lots of small pensions somewhere- need to get him to look at something like pension bee

Trying not to sound grabby but I will have a reasonable inheritance so I'll be ok in the future.

So DH is 57. That’s going to make it harder for him to get a ‘proper job’, unless he’s very experienced. However, you said he was sacked from his recent job,and only had his previous one for a short time. Prior to that he was in stable employment, but you don’t say whether he jumped around a lot, or was building a career (apart from lots of small pensions).

What is he waiting for? Sorry, age is against him. He needs to get his arse into gear and get a job now. How many application forms has he filled in this week, or month? One, three? None? He (and your family) can’t afford to be choosy. It’s all very well cutting your cloth, but the obvious solution you don’t want to seem to take. Why not?