To ask how much spare money you have per month?

[adoggymama]

I'm 19- live with my (older) boyfriend and pay towards rent. I get paid £460 a month total by my job as I work part time due to studying. I only have £40pm left spare money after my payments.

My bills currently:
£160 pm food shopping (includes basic household stuff and body wash etc too). My budget for food shopping is £40per week usually and I shop at a mixture of Lidl's and Morrisons.

£50pm phone contract. (I've tried to change it to a cheaper one but it's under my mums name and she has not had time yet to come with me to the store to change it over to my name and enable me to then go on a cheaper contract, so I pay her £50pm for that.

£150pm rent to my boyfriend. (His rent per month is £450pm and he can easily afford it- earns £3k plus a month). But I like to contribute due to water bills/electric etc.

I also have to pay £30 per month off my credit card (which I had to take out to pay for my course) and £30 per month off a loan I had to take out to pay for my books for my course too.

After all that I have £40pm left for myself. Usually is spent on paying for a date or two each month or extra things I may need. (Most recently new tights for work and envelopes and stamps).

I feel like I'm drowning at the moment with Christmas coming round. I have no nice clothes and honestly always feel like I never contribute enough to our flat/living costs.

Moving back home is not an option for anyone that suggests it.

My partner has vocalised that he is ready to propose to me soon and we looked at rings a month or two ago. We've been together for over a year and half now. Living together for 14 months of that.

@Cazwontbudge no he's not at all! He's lovely and treats me like a princess. We share the housework loads equally and dog walking etc. He's never expected me to do everything or controlled me in any way. (Not that I would ever let him!😉)

Why do you buy food separately? Do you not eat together? I spend £50 pw on food for 2 adults and a baby and that includes formula/nappies and any toiletries/cleaning products we need. Feels like you could make some savings there.

£40 pw on grocery shopping for just you is very steep imo. Why aren't you doing the shop together and splitting if needed? You'll both save and likely cut down on waste. Also, ALDI. Way cheaper than any of the other stores.

@doggy I'm glad about that!
In my case it started wonderfully and went downhill,I just wondered if that was your experience.
Talk to him and study hard! Best of luck.

@MrsL2016 I've suggested joint food shopping and splitting the cost- but he orders his online from Asda as he's a food snob and hates Lidl😅

There is an Aldi in our town but it's not walking or on a bus rout (not that I have enough spare to pay for a long bus return anyway) I don't drive so have to walk everywhere. Morrisons and Lidl and close by. I really try to budget with my food shopping and cook meals that I can reuse left overs and left over ingredients for etc. He's a meat eater though and I'm vegan.🌱

@Cazwontbudge I'm sorry it turned out that way for you!💐
Thank you :) I'm enjoying my studies at the moment! X

Agree tell your mum do it now. I pay 5pounds and get lots if data. There are many deals under ten poynds especially if you link it to your internet provider.

As you're working part time I'm afraid your pretty typical.

Total money coming in to house

1265 pound and rent is paid by housing benefit.
45 pound phone bill
20 pound internet
25 on Netflix / Disneylife / prime.
Gas and electric about 100 a month
Service charge 21 pound.
Food / cleaning / bath stuff - 220 a month
The rest is what’s left for clothes , days out , travel etc.

@MarcieBluebell I would work full time but then i can't get my degree and in the long term get a much better job!

I'm not vegan so can't help with meal planning or making your weekly shop cheaper as I wouldn't know where to start. But I can recommend cookingonabootstrap by Jack Monroe. Jack is vegan and a lot of the (free) recipes on her website are too and they are pence to make. Hopefully that could help you save there. Even if you save £10 a week that's doubling your disposable income.

@MrsL2016 oooh! I've never heard of that- I'll take a look. Thank you :)

No it's great youre studying. Just think of the end goal like you said.

@alwaysbekind2014 - no insurances?!

The point of a relationship is to support each other. If you're studying and he has money you should accept help from him and one day you'll support him back.
Don't be a martyr

We have about £500 each month, we put £300 of that in to joint savings. All of our income is joint. Putting all your cash together isn't for everyone, but I think you need to have a chat with your boyfriend about how you can work finances as a couple. You don't have to share everything but your contribution should be more in line with your income and, to me, it sounds like you're contributing too much at the moment. He earns more so he rightly pays more, and you need to have enough money left for whatever things you might need. If you're as serious as looking at rings together, I'm sure he'll be happy to work out a more comfortable financial plan with you. It won't be forever and you can contribute more as you earn more.

Agreed, the Jack Monroe book is great. Bought for my student daughter, with vegan housemates. T'was a hit.

@MarcieBluebell & @VioletCharlotte just got an email I'm not eligible for a maintenance loan. (I guess it because I'm studying for a HE diploma and not a degree until sep 2019). 😣

Such a nightmare! It's an intensive course with 16hrs self study/reading a week as well as online lessons to attend and work through. I just don't have time to hold down more work!

Definitely going to be having to watch my money even more carefully from now on.

And for anyone asking- sorted my phone bill out last night, it's back to £25 thankfully.

Vegan food should be cheaper than
buying meat. We spend £70 a week for 2 adults and 1 toddler. Toddler has alpro growing up milk so that is expensive. I end up buying her expensive fruits eg blueberries instead of plums which are nutritional virtually the same but she will eat the expensive blueberries.

I have just become a SAHM before that I was part time on £17.5k and DH is on £50k plus a lot of bonus. We jointly spend £25 per month on our phones. £50 a month is way too much.

You need to think about your out goings and what you commit to. A dog is a very expensive commitment and not one I would have taken on as a student. Why did you not take out insurance?

Don’t be getting engaged to a man to a man who you can’t have an honest conversation with about money.

@Jackshouse he brought the dog for us- not me :)

He does have insurance. The surgery costs 5k. Our insurance only pays out 3k on surgery per condition. And since he needs 2 surgeries they're separate operations so it will only pay out 2.4k for one of them. Hence why we need to save 2.4k for the other.

I agree about vegan being cheaper- I buy frozen mince (supermarket brand) and it's great value and delicious. Never liked meat anyway.