Are we financially overcommitted?

[bookwormhere]

Hi,

I am trying to be a little more organised with our finances. We earn well but I am concerned that we are over committed. Here are our numbers....

Joint take home pay - 7.1K ( 4.8k dh and 2.1k me)
Mortgage - £1878 - this increased when the rates went up :(
Household bills inc insurances etc - £814
Food - £600 - on a good month!
Car payment - £325
Debt ( renovation and consolidation of debts) - £449
Credit card payment - £180
mobile phones X4 - £117
Internet - £21
MOT/car repair/house emergency fund - £200
Gym pass X 2 - £47
School trips/uniform/meals - £140
Contact lenses - £21
Prescriptions - £18
Christmas/birthday savings - £120
Days out/holidays - £250
Driving lessons for DS - £120
Fun money ( meals out, treats etc - £300

Total - £5700

So this means that our of our 7.1K we are spending 80% of it each month. It also means that we have about £1400 a month left to save etc. Our removations completely stripped our savings and we still have about 15K of work to do that I am not prepared to borrow for, so we need to save for that.

Do we appear to be overcommitted??

No, but I'd make the credit card and debt repayments a priority.

Can you get an annual prepayment prescription card. I haven't go a clue what they're actually called. I'd scrap the gym as you can exercise without one.

You need to break down and review the cost of your 'household bills incl insurances' in case you can get any of them cheaper eg broadband, insurance, mobile phones.

You have a lot of debt to say you apparently have a decent amount of spare money, which suggests you could be leaking money that you're not aware of.

Have you looked at what you actually spend money on? Most bank accounts allow you to download and categorise your spending, or provide in app data that will show you how much you really spend on groceries, eating out, lunches and coffee etc, which might be different to what you think you spend.

For a more comprehensive approach, along with pointers towards reducing costs, have a look at the moneysavingexpert money makeover:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Have you factored in council tax and utilities?

It looks ok to me but you might be missing out things that can easily add up to a few hundred quid a month if you don't include them, eg:

Fuel
Haircuts
Nails / beauty
Birthday gifts
Window cleaners
Clothes
Phone chargers
School trips
Netflix/prime

Why all the debts? That's definitely something to get under control

Also how old are the children? Do they have hobbies/clubs?

Unless it's included in bills, you haven't accounted for any petrol.

When the car payment ends will this mean you can keep the car without further expense and save up for the next one rather than borrowing/leasing?

If you're serious about being more financially secure, you could cut back on meals out, holidays, gym etc to free up money to get out of debt and finish your house renovation (if this isn't urgent work, can it wait until you're debt free?)

You could reduce your mobile costs by nearly £100 pm when you're out of contract.

I think you’re massively under estimating what you’re actually spending … £300 between the two of you on “fun” stuff, so £150 each, that’s £35 a week ish. Couple of coffees, magazine, snack run at work and it’s gone.

likewise, do you actually only spend £3k all all days out, holidays in a year?

I would keep a budget for a few months and track where every penny goes, then reassess.