To think I can save this per month?

[Ilovemycatalot]

After having no savings for as long as I can remember I am trying to save around 300pm. For context I am a single parent with dd 15. My average income pm is £2000. Out of this I pay
600 rent
75 water
60 council tax
45 broadband
20 mobile phones
of course still have food and other daily expenses to consider but do you think this is possible. Also forgot small credit card bill to pay monthly. This is not a goady thread in any way just genuinely curious if others think it would be a struggle on this kind of income?

Do you pay gas/electricity? Run a car?

I’m aiming to put away 300 as I would like a reasonable buffer I’m sick of having no money to fall back on .

No I don’t run a car use public transport

Of course gas/electric 125 pm

Sounds reasonable. Could you move the £300 over to an instant access savings account after you get paid each month? That way if you get an unexpected big expense like broken boiler etc you can get it easily if needed.

That’s what I’m doing every month transferring over to a savings account. Only managed 300 so far!

Bloody hell where do you live that your council tax is only £60/month? Mine is now over £200!

You haven't included your energy bills, but what I would say is, don't get fixated on the £300. Put away whatever you can manage. Some months you will manage £300, some months it will only be £50, and maybe in some bad months it won't be anything. But, as long as you don't touch your savings, they will keep growing.

Lots of expenses youbhavebt included there, could you keep a notebook of all your spending across the month of May and reevaluate at the end of May? My initial thoughts are you would probably be dipping straight in to it as you haven't thought of every outgoing.

Your bills are roughly half your income. So unless you are forgetting an awful lot you should have upwards of £500 left over after food bills

The best thing to do is account for everything you spend in a normal month, including public transport, food, any food/drink you have out of the house, money you give to your child etc. What is left? How much can you reasonably afford to put away? Then, pay yourself first. Transfer it to your savings account on payday.

My biggest spend is probably food really trying to cut back on that.

pull off a bank statement on line and analyse everything that you spend - add on the credit card spending too.
With supermarket bills, split them into essential/treats - then you'll start to get a picture of why you're not achieving savings right now, and where you can cut back.

Single parent here of 2 primary aged children who earns the same as you. I save between 300-500 a month by living hugely frugally. I buy annual costs through Quidco to get the cash back, am not too proud to pack up the end of a workplace buffet and take it home and it makes a meal. Olio, cheap days out with picnics, no restaurant meals etc and this allows me the ability to save a buffer for all the risks in life like redundancy, broken appliance.

in turn though I can usually save for a cheap holiday each year and run a car, and I’m proud of myself for running my home and paying all my bills and managing basically alone.

I think go for it and be super proud of yourself!

Make sure you don't move it into them 0.00000001% certain banks offer. Shop around.
Like Lloyds instant one is about 0.65 but via money box it's 2.3% interest.
Thus why barely anyone saves with Lloyds

Sounds possible. Do you get any maintenance?

Definitely do it as it really eliminates money stress. So your washing machine breaks down and instead of having a panic you remember you have your savings if necessary. The thing you will find is you will not want to touch your savings so will become much better at budgeting the remaining money. Put it in immediately on pay day and act like it never existed.

No maintenance and no chance of getting any sadly.

It certainly sounds doable based on those figures. Transfer it out as soon as you get paid. I save the child benefit separately every month and put away £100 from my wages (I treat that like a bill to pay)

But don't forget things like TV license, TV services like Netflix, amazon, music like Spotify. Life/home insurance. Clubs or pocket money for dd.

I would try and economise on the food shopping, get that as cheap as possible. Meal plan, eat vegetarian at least twice a week, go down a brand, think before shopping (can you make do another few days on store cupboard meals).

And from now write down every expense. From my experience its all the little spends that add up, a prescription, the odd coffee, bus fare, pop to the shops for bread etc.

I've got a Lloyd's monthly saver. You can only pay in £250 per month but it's 4.5%

I have a 3.5% savings account with Lloyds.

My monthly saver shows 1.25....
Might be because I took the money out few months ago to move to better?

Really positive replies !

Your water costs seems high, are you on a meter?

Yes I’m on a meter. Had water debt so payment was increased to cover that.

Are you working and on UC or tax credits? If so, open a Help2Save account.

You can put £50 a month in, and you'll get 50% bonus on top.

https://www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income/eligibility

Also have a look at this budget tool

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/budget-planner