To wonder what's going wrong with our finances!?

[pondering12345]

In the process of moving to a joint account with DH, so using this opportunity to review our monthly finances:

Income
DH take home pay £2600
My take home pay (part time) £1075
Child benefit £145
Total income £3820

Expenses
DH car loan £270
My car loan £160
Mortgage £645
Water £60
Gas and electric £250
Home insurance £15
Broadband £25
Council tax £190
DH credit card £110 (we each use our own credit card for any purchases for ourselves and pay off the following month)
My credit card £100
My phone £35
DH phone £35
DH car tax £20
TV license £15
Zoo membership £20
Apple Music subscription £15
DH contact lenses £40
DH haircut £15
My haircut £20 (£60 every 3 months)
My nails £30
Window cleaner £15
DH petrol £100
My petrol £100
Food £450
Takeaways (one per week) £150
Kids hobbies & swimming £100
Date night £50
Disposable income £500
Total expenses £3535

This leaves less than £300 per month to put towards tonnes of other expenses - annual car insurance, gifts, Christmas, holidays, kids clothes, home and car maintenance etc.

Where are we going wrong here!? I don't feel like we live a particularly lavish lifestyle.

£500 disposable income plus £300 for savings each month? And you're wondering where you're going wrong? That's a tonne of free money. I wish I had your problems.

I'm not sure anything is going wrong, you just aren't particularly high earners combined, have two relatively high car payments, spend £150 a month on takeaways, £200+ a month on credit cards and spend money on other bits and bobs. And you still have money left over. So what's the problem?

What are you spending the £500 a month of disposable income on?!

I'm not sure what the problem is. If you want to save more money, cut down on the takeaways and date nights. You've instantly got £200 more to save.

£500+ a month on cars?!

I agree, more details on how the 'disposable income' is spent, as you've already listed a lot of the things disposable income usually covers

Soz £400+ not £500 but even so!

What's going wrong? Stop spending money on random shit 🤔

I get it, the salaries feel like a lot and should give a decent lifestyle. But, sadly not. Just stop spending for 1 month and see what's left at the end. Supermarket shop only, no take away, no toys or make up etc. Bare essentials for 1 month. See what happens.

Car loans and takeaways

Have you missed car insurance, TV package?

What else can you be spending on which eats up an extra £500?
Zoo membership at £240/year doesn't seem right.
Your phone bills are very high, when the contracts end just use your current phones and get a £5/month SIM only.
Takeaways seem a lot

Mostly family days out, DH pub, me meals out with friends

£30 a month on nails also seems like a lot with little to show for it, £360 a year....

Well that's your answer OP, as unpalatable as it is - you've got to cut down on meals out, family days out if you want more money.

Well what's the £500 disposable a month going on? And the other £210 for credit cards is presumably also disposable income, as is £50 on "date night". What are you actually buying with that money.

Having a weekly takeaway and then complaining you don't have enough money is ridiculous. Cut back on that.

Where are your savings and pension contributions?

When we were starting to be left with nothing at the end of the month, it was the cars that got it! We went down to one car and instantly saved £500 a month. Your cars are costing as much as your mortgage and that's not even including insurance or maintenance.

Also you have £500 disposable income, but also spending £210 between you on CC, and have £300 left at the end of the month?? Soooo muvj frivolous spending!

If you want to save there's plenty there to cut back on. £500 on pub and meals out for a start, £159 on takeaways, the hair, nails, subscriptions. I guess it just depends on your priorities.

Out of curiosity what do you think lavish is? It's a really personal question but for me having two cars, weekly takeaways and regular haircuts would be quite lavish.

What is your priority? Is it savings? Isnit holidays? Is it feeling more comfortable? Once you have that in mind look at ways to reduce your spending to get there. My monthly phone costs is £6 for example which allows me to have other things that are important to me. It's more about making sure I spend more on what really matters to me and less on others. Being conscious of where I'm spending money as well as reducing it when needed.

If you wanted to save you would. No takeaways,meals and days out. Though I would look at getting a water meter as that bill seems very high, and learn to do your own nails.

You would need to prioritise saving though. Nit just what lefts at the end of the month. Transfer it day after payday.

So you're spending £450 on food, £150 on takeaways, more on meals out with friends? Is date night food related too? I think your food spending could be cut a lot.

DH credit card £110 (we each use our own credit card for any purchases for ourselves and pay off the following month)
My credit card £100
Zoo membership £20
Apple Music subscription £15
DH contact lenses £40
DH haircut £15
My haircut £20 (£60 every 3 months)
My nails £30
Window cleaner £15
Takeaways (one per week) £150
Kids hobbies & swimming £100
Date night £50
Disposable income £500

All of these are “nice to have” stuff rather than necessities.

Adds up to a total of £1165. Which is more than you earn.

We have less coming in but more disposable because we cut our own hair, I do my own nails and we don’t have takeaways. I drive an older car which is owned outright and date night is at home with a bottle of wine. Food to feed 4 and a dog, plus a bottle of wine each week is £300 per month at Aldi for us. £70 on phone contracts is a lot- we buy a new handset every 4 years outright and then have a £7 per month sim only deal each. If you cut non essentials and reduce your spending you can easily save loads. Write down everything you spend and see where you can cut back.

There's tons of things you can cut back on. Pub, meals, nails, subscriptions etc etc. that is where your going wrong. Instead of saving your just spending it.

Wow thank you for making this point, that really puts it into perspective! A lot of unnecessary expenses there