To ask you to look at my budget and for the money savvy amongst you to give me some advice?

[Swinningforza]

Context is I'm a lone parent renting in the south east. I am financially responsible for my children for 50 percent of the time but I get no maintenance.

My monthly family budget is as follows, with the emphasis on each number being a limit not a target:

Housing 1050 (includes monthly rent 975, sofa payment and then bits and bobs like paint etc)
Bills (TV license, prime, audible, bt, 3, car insurance, water, council tax, energy) 350
Food (grocery shopping) 400
Childcare, clubs, school lunch, and education things (2 primary aged children) 360
Personal care (medicine, prescriptions exercise) 150
Eating out (3 times per month) 150
Shopping for me (my clothes, shoes for work make up etc) 75
Leisure (kids days out, entrance for attractions, films bought on Google etc) 100
My lunch at work 40
Miscellaneous (bits and bobs) 50
Monthly payments to a savings account (to cover 500 for Xmas and 250 for each child's birthday 500 for car tax and mot) 291
A family loan towards house deposit (15k at 2.5 percent over 10 years) 141
Petrol 300
Socialising (3 evenings out a month ) 150

Total: £3,577

I work as a self employed consultant and I earn per month after tax and allowing for 6 weeks holiday per year: £4,800

(This figure is with a recent increase in pay and I would think it is a stable figure going forward)

Which leaves me with £1223 to pay an outstanding tax bill and to save for a house.

The outstanding tax to pay (2 tax years which are being calculated now I think it's going to be about 7k - was frantically trying to pay off debt acrrued for solicitor's bills for child arrangements order and divorce and did not put aside for tax .

I'm also trying to save for a house deposit (trying to get to 10 percent of a 300k property).

I have the 15k family loan for house deposit in premium bonds but aware I am likely to need a large chunk of that for tax.

Any thoughts or suggestions, is there anything I've missed or could do better with? I think the overall goal is to not have a fairly ok quality of life ie it's unrealistic for me not to go out or to have kids days out, but to be financially stable and able to buy my own home within 3 years.

£75 a month feels a little high for clothing; does this include the children?

It’s a small saving, but could you consider making lunches to save another £500 a year?

Do you ‘sweep’ at the bed of the month to save the extra few pounds?

Th kids birthday cost feels high?

I think when trying to maintain a banance between comfort and saving, your friends are discount codes/eBay/
Black Friday. Whatever you save on what you’d buy full price does toward the savings, but you take off the budget at full price. Eg, if you have £75 for clothes, but find a £75 dress on eBay for £40, you’ve used your monthly budget and save the £35 difference.

Can you work around the children and cut the cost of childcare? I do all my work during the school day /when they are in bed /at their dads which means I have a zero childcare bill

I think your food bill is high, especially considering you also pay extra for school lunches, £40 on lunch for work & £150 a month eating out. If you meal plan & take packed lunches to work you should easily be able to cut this down. Have you checked out the forums on moneysavingexpert? There’s loads of tips on there for saving money, cutting food bills down etc.

sounds as though you are being very sensible about things and working it all out. I think if the family gave you £15k towards a house deposit they would not agree to it being used for tax you simply chose not to set aside when you were paid however so do check that with the family first.

If you are a self employed consultant how did you get a pay rise? Do you mean you put up your rates to your various clients?

Could you take less holiday - eg some years I take 2 weeks and never more than 4 as even with your childcare costs might earn more?

We once hired someone for weekend mornings to baby sit and both worked then - that might help you get extra money in.

On the spending nothing looks bad to me. I hardly ever eat out but that's just my personal preference. You could probably take sandwhiches to work to save on the lunches there and may be the personal medical things or health things could be reduced but only you know your situation. My children's father paid nothing and did not have the children so I would have had at least double your childcare costs so at least you are spared that.

HMRC may well let you pay back the tax over a long period. Have you checked you have claimed all your business expenses on your tax return?

How the other half live!

I would get rid of audible and go to a charity shop with a good audiobook section.

Keep Prime, it will pay for itself in not having to take multiple trips to the post office to collect.

Don't buy films on Google buy second hand DVDs on Amazon and use your prime to get them delivered.

We are effectively mortgage free and we do not eat out three times a month, you do not need to do this.

Equally do you really need a budget for socialising on top of eating out. ?

Can't you bring your lunch four days a week and have a treat on a Friday?

Do you have a coffee habit you have forgotten to mention ?

Why do you have a loan from family that you're paying tax on, but that you don't even need yet as you haven't yet saved up the rest of the deposit?

Sorry, interest not tax 😄

Petrol is 300 a month, that's a lot.
Eating out and socialising 300 a month, that's also a lot.

Anyway you could cut back either of those?

Eating out (3 times per month) 150
Shopping for me (my clothes, shoes for work make up etc) 75
Leisure (kids days out, entrance for attractions, films bought on Google etc) 100
My lunch at work 40
Miscellaneous (bits and bobs) 50
Socialising (3 evenings out a month ) 150
500 for Xmas and 250 for each child's birthday

All of this could be cut out or drastically reduced.
Make packed lunches from your food shop.
Stop eating out at 50 a pop.
Stop or reduce nights out as 3 at 50 a pop is a lot.
Why are you paying for films on Google when you have Prime?
Kids like free days out too. 100 per month on days out is madness.
The amount you spend on their birthdays and Christmas could be reduced by at least 50%.
Do you need 75 pounds worth of new clothes every month?

Have you got the best utilities deals? Shop around especially for phone.
Id get rid of audible too. You get free audiobooks online from your library and YouTube.
Reduce food costs if you can.

This is so helpful thank you very very much I'm just typing up an answer questions

I agree that £400 can be reduced if its just you and 2 young children.

What do you spend £150 on for medicines and prescriptions?

And yes do more free day outs and watch films on prime.

Answers to all questions that should say!

Personal care, prescriptions, etc £150 - do you have significant chronic illnesses?

Dining out and socialising £300 . Why? Dine in and socialise over half a bottle of wine.

Children's leisure, attractions, films on google - a theme park twice a year I get, softplay twice a month at £30 I get but what happened to the park and leaf kicking?
£75 on work stuff I think is ok.
If it's just you and 2 primary dc for half the time I also think £400 on food is rather high - especially with all those days out and socialising.

I think you are being rather extravagant and I say that as a high earner in a high income household.

cut down on eating out, nights out and make up for starters - you have a tax bill looming - that is the priority also you are paying back a £15K loan for a house deposit - but you don't own a house - why?

£400 on breakfast and dinners only is a huge, huge amount.

@WannabeGlamper she's saying she has been Kent £15k towards house but thanks she may need to use some of that for her tax bill but in any case she's paying interest on that £15k

Audible: sign up to library and get free audiobooks via their app.

Food seems a bit high, make lunches and treat yourself just once a month to bought lunch ( it's what I did my whole working life)
Eating out 3 x a month? Stop altogether or at least reduce it
Kids presents seem instance to me, reduce the amount you spend and save it/ pay off tax bill
Clothes: obviously the kids need clothes but do you? Really could you cut down

We all have different ways of economising

oh and I am a lone parent with 3 aged 17, 15 and 10 - I spend half what you do on food each month!

I've totted up over a grand there that could easily be halved op.

No offence but you shouldn't need to spend £400 a month on food when you have the dc 50%of the time.

£150 per month for socialising and another £150 a month to eat out is extravagant imo.

I don't think the clothes budget is high like previous posters say,I actually think it's under.
If I added up over just the last three months what I've had to kit my dc and myself out in like school uniforms,bags,shoes. New winter boots,trainers,winter coats,suitable wet weather clothes due to growth etc. It's in the high hundreds. £75 a month over a year wouldn't do my household and myself but that's just me.
Household bills and utilities look normal.

The rest looks normalise to me

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To ask you to look at my budget and for the money savvy amongst you to give me some advice?7
Today 14:49Swinningforza

Context is I'm a lone parent renting in the south east. I am financially responsible for my children for 50 percent of the time but I get no maintenance.

You could get on the housing ladder much faster if you were a bit less spendthrift. Here are my gentle suggestions (I slashed our budget much deeper so we could save a deposit). As the savings grow the motivation will too.

Food (grocery shopping) 400 shop around, you could easily cut this to £350
Eating out (3 times per month) 150 cut to £100 and shop around for deals etc
Shopping for me (my clothes, shoes for work make up etc) 75 I managed to go 2 years without buying anything new. Definitely reduce to £50
Leisure (kids days out, entrance for attractions, films bought on Google etc) 100 half this, use Tesco /nectar vouchers and shop around for free but fun stuff
Monthly payments to a savings account (to cover 500 for Xmas and 250 for each child's birthday 500 for car tax and mot) 291 you really don't need to spend anywhere near this amount to give them great birthdays and Christmas. You could easily keep it to £100 each but let's day £150 while you adjust
Petrol 300- think about working from home etc to cut this, this is v high!
Socialising (3 evenings out a month ) 150 cut to £100

That's slashed off around £600 possibly more , per month, without really impacting.

600×12 is an additional £7000 in one year alone ...

Sorry I don't understand this, @glasshalfsomething how does this work?

I think when trying to maintain a banance between comfort and saving, your friends are discount codes/eBay/
Black Friday. Whatever you save on what you’d buy full price does toward the savings, but you take off the budget at full price. Eg, if you have £75 for clothes, but find a £75 dress on eBay for £40, you’ve used your monthly budget and save the £35 difference.

Monthly payments to a savings account (to cover 500 for Xmas and 250 for each child's birthday 500 for car tax and mot) 291

This doesn't add up. £2000 over a year is only £167 a month.
Use the other £124 towards your tax bill

Probably was t very clear. I meant if you saved on a purchase, that you would have happily paid full price for, to put the saving value away, rather than using it to buy something else.

So you see shoes at £50 you want. Get them for £35 with an online discount. Put the £15 in to savings. but, don’t spend the other £40 of your clothes budget, presume you’ve only £20 left as you would have had if you’d paid full price.