Would you look/help with my budget please.

[StressfullTimes]

I have £1416 a month which is enough but my budgeting skills are a little crap and things like kids needing new clothes, school trips or Christmas come as a shock every single time. If I budget my money to the last penny I know I can relieve some of the stress I have been feeling of late. Apart from direct debits leaving my account for essential bills I am going to go cash only. If I take the cash out and use the envelope system I have read about on here I can see the money I have left. I am thinking about online food shopping as you can switch up basket to fit in with budget and Tesco have a range that seems to be in line with Aldi and Lidl prices but I can't pay in cash for that so not sure. I do have debt and some ccj's but I am going to be using Step Change to hopefully help me get that under control. So here it goes, I am willing to switch energy companies if I can get a cheaper rate currently with Eon but have read on here Ovo? I think it is called is cheaper although my credit sucks so might not be possible to switch as I have a credit meter not pre paid, I don't want a pre payment meter as that would just be an added stress. So here it goes,
£1426 -
£642 rent
£15 water
£74 dual fuel
£12 home insurance (part of tenancy agreement that we have this)
£50 Transport
£10 CCJ
£25 CCJ
£30 debt payments but not CCJ
£15 HMRC over payment standing order
£40 BT
£30 Council tax
£6 Netflix (cheaper than tv licence)
Leaves me £454 or £113 a week.
£113-
£60 shopping/house hold/toiletries
Leaves £53
Then if I save £10 week in an envelope for clothes
£10 xmas/birthdays
£10 emergency fund
Should leave me £23 a week spare.
I certainly don't have that much spare money at the moment, this is starting December where I will get no more bank charges as I will use cash so can't over spend. I would absolutely love to have money put away for emergencies it is just one less thing to worry about. The bank charges are anything between £8-£30 a month as the money for direct debit hasn't been there and that is £8 each time and then I get charged £6 as I went over drawn then there isn't enough for a different direct debit because of charges and the cycle continues but today that cycle stops. So I haven't added that to my budget as by using cash that will stop.
Does this look ok am I missing anything? Or am I putting to much into the savings envelopes? I have had a big wake up call and am no longer sticking my head in the sand.
I try and take the dc swimming once a week kids are free in my area and adults who get housing benefit are £1 and locker is 20p so that is £4.80 a month but I don't pay for any other activities.
I do have a other debts that I am not paying anything towards yet hoping step change will help get the payments for them lower than I can and maybe help adjust the payments I have in place now.

BT £40 is a lot. I had their cheapest deal at £18,can you ring & ask them for any cheaper deal(shame your debt etc means new supplier will be tricky). As for cleaning stuff, etc all I really use is own brand bleach spray & toilet bleach & toilet roll. Asda is cheapest for that. (no Aldi nearby). Superdrug are cheapest for toiletries, makeup & moisturiser etc: points system at Superdrug saves £ & gets you free online delivery. Own brand biscuits, coffee/tea, washing powder cuts your food bill right down. (you don't need fabric conditioner). Good luck.

You can get interest frozen. If you get an early appointment with stepchange they can help, but if you have to wait do it now. Contact anyone who is charging interest, say you are getting debt advice and ask them to stop charging. This will stop it getting worse but will affect credit (probably can't get any at the moment anyway). Also try with bank about charges but take precautions in case they freeze account.
Good luck

Food bills can be cut and waste reduced, if you buy most of your vegetables frozen instead of fresh.( Assuming you have a working freezer and money for electric.)

I have rang BT taken a new deal and cut my bill by £18 I am very pleased with that. I also added up bank charges for the year not counting when I got over £300 as it was to depressing but will try and get some back.
The £60 food bill I don't think I can cut anymore. £10 of that goes on household stuff like washing powder, toilet rolls, bin bags, shampoo etc then £50 goes on food. One dc has to have bits from the free from section so that adds slightly to costs. And as to why I feel hungry on that is I feed the dc first so don't ever have breakfast lunch can be hit and miss if there is enough I will but I always have dinner. The free from stuff is more pricey than normal but only the one dc eats it and I buy normal for everybody else.

Stopped counting when I got to £300 that should say

I am now using Step Change I am waiting to hear back about what the plan they have arranged for me. Hopefully the interest is frozen and they manage to negotiate the payments I already make lower

@StressfullTimes i hope you can get some bank charges back. Please keep us up to date, I'll have my fingers crossed for you.

So pleased to hear about BT! Well done for taking some action. Hope the bank stuff works out too.

Will ppl shut up about pip and dla(which is being phased out). It's not an extra payment for being broke, its to cover expenses for being disabled. It's quite hard to get, you have to be substantially affected for a long time. Yes everyone should check their entitlement to benefits, tax credits, but you won't get pip for income support.

A minor point but having £454 a month is not the same as £113 a week. It's only an extra 2-3 days each month but every month except February has more than four weeks in, so if you're spending £113 weekly you will go over budget.

Sorry, missed that the week thing had already been mentioned

I don't like the idea of you not eating. You are the one person your kids are depending on and if you are tired or ill that won't be good. It's at these times that we tend to let go of things and they can easily run away from you again.
Do make sure you have something filling in the day. Think of protein like eggs - 20 large for £1.80 in Iceland. Bowl of pasta and cheap sauce, bit of grated chees. That sort of thing. Do make sure you look after yourself.

I do eat lunch most of the time Doubletrouble99 it is just occasionally I don't towards the end of the week. I know it is important to look after myself for the dc.

Are you sure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to? Free school meals and trips? Does the school do free breakfasts? I’m sure you have because you’re obviously very careful. Do you use a food bank? You should do if you need to.

@Karwomannghia I am getting the right amount of benefits. I thought I wasn't as my housing benefit seemed low but it is the benefit cap. It is onwards and upwards to me from here on.