Sick of it

[purplerobot]

The cost of living.

I earn £1865 after tax which sounds ok right? I also get £474 universal credit and £160 child benefit.

So can anyone explain how I simply cannot afford to live!!! I am sick of it!!!! I work full time and have 2 kids, never have any savings at all.

I don't go out ever. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't buy new clothes or anything at all. No nails or shoes or whatever. Nothing. I work and I stay home or visit friends.

I have credit cards maxed out that I pay the minimum on (£210 - will be paid off when I remortgage)

I have a mortgage £593 per month. Childcare £90 but that's included in universal credit.

My car is expensive at £175, I had no choice at the time as my old car blew its turbo and I had no money to fix it or replace it. I can't use public transport as I live semi-rurally so trains would cost more each month than the car to get to work and to get to the next city (I'm a carer for my sibling)

I spent fuck all on food. I try to stick to £50 per week. I don't eat lunch at work or buy coffees.

It's literally all bills. Nothing left over.

Never have any savings because I don't have anything left at the end of the month. Credit cards maxed out on things like school uniform, food, Xmas.

IM SICK OF IT.

How does anyone afford to live?

No child maintenance either as I'm widowed.

Sorry just needed to vent .

i did quick maths... and your income is about £2500 and your outgoings are £1200 approx unless i've miscalculated... so where is the £1300 going?

Also to add, no money at all means no holidays for the kids, no days out or trips, nothing. Which gives me immense mum guilt.

Have you tried keeping a diary of everything you’re spending? Because you should have almost £1500 per month left after the amounts you’ve quoted in your post (apart from food), so it looks like there should be some flex in your budget for fun stuff unless you have a big financial commitment you haven’t mentioned,

My bills are more than just a mortgage food and credit cards... I'll post the breakdown

I can relate OP. Unfortunately we live in a time when most households need two full time incomes to have a decent quality of life.

Does your bank have a facility that breaks down where your money goes? Mine is on the app in spending insights.

My biggest outgoing is food (two teenage boys) followed by gas and electric.

Mortgage 593
Credit cards 215
Gas/elec 180
Phone 30 (mine and eldest child)
Internet 40
Food 200
Diesel 200
Pet insurance 25
Life insurance 55
Car insurance 50
Gap insurance 15
Home insurance £13
Gym 19
Council tax 160 (inc small arrears)
Tax underpayment (not even my fault but that's another story...) £60
Water £42
Car £175
Union £18
Amazon £8.99
Childcare £95 or there abouts depending
Ring doorbell £5.95
Prescriptions pre paid £12

And that's before the other shit each year divided monthly like
Glasses and eye test (£95 divided by 12 = £11)
MOT and car maintenance (so far is £510 this year, can't afford a decent car!) £40
Kids birthdays £25 (£150 each)
Kids uniforms £20
Kids hair cuts (twice a year, £60 total. I don't get mine done)

There's probably more but I forget

I only mentioned mortgage food and credit cards.. there's also utilities, diesel etc I've just posted the breakdown that I can remember

Yes, my biggest is mortgage and then food and then gas and elec/diesel equally. It's rubbish. I'm really sick of working just to pay bills and barely even managing to do that!

It just disappears. There seems to constantly be someone or something requiring £100 from me.

I get it, I'm single and live alone and it's tough
My two treat things are
Gym and netball at £59pm combined
I have nothing after I've paid bills, food, petrol etc and those two things

Haircut every 9 - 12 months as it's expensive with a curly hairdresser
I need new glasses but having to use zilch for those and can't afford until next month

Sorry, what is gap insurance?

I'm fairly sure that you can get internet for less than £40 per month - I'd also look into SIM only contracts for the phones (damn site cheaper than paying off the phones as well, even after the phones are paid off iykwim - I pay about £15 per month).

Do you need the amazon? could you manage without it?

And finally, have you made sure that you're on the cheapest energy tariff?

Sorry, none of that is going to save much more than maybe £50 per month, but it's a start

Also do you really need the gym membership? could you consider training at home/ running instead? I have a few fitness DVDs I would be happy to send you if it would help

I’ve just seen your breakdown - that does look tough.

Having done the maths, I think technically you should have around £250/month left, but that’s the kind of amount that would disappear quickly if the kids (or you!) need new clothes / shoes, you have car repairs etc. But could you put £10 or £20 per month out of that into a separate account for ‘fun’? It’s not going to get you a holiday, but may mean you can have a couple of days out, meals out or whatever works.

BTW, I'm only asking questions, please don't think I'm expecting you to live without x,y,z if you can't. I hope you can rearrange things a bit to make life a little easier

Phone 30 (mine and eldest child)

• are you still paying off handsets? If not, get sim only, much cheaper. We pay £24 for 4 of us.

Internet 40

• def possible to get broadband for less than £40 pm

Car insurance 50
More expensive to pay monthly than annually, same for home insurance. When is your renewal due? Sweet spot for getting quotes is about 21-24 days before your renewal is due. Make sure you shop around.

Consider whether you do really need Amazon and Ring doorbell sub.

Yeah I get it- living on one income is a killer.

No advice just solidarity.

Also, nothing wrong with looking into renegotiating your mortgage. A different company may off lower interest rates or longer fixed rates of something.

And do you really need the ring doorbell? Could you manage without for a while?

I’d drop Amazon, ring doorbell and if you can, the gym. Could you change car to drop that expense a bit?

OP if you claim UC you can get BT essentials fibre for £20 a month. Not a massive saving but a saving all the same.

I know it's only £15 per month but why do you bother with GAP insurance. It's so obviously a scam they are not allowed to sell it anymore?

And you've included GAP and MOT costs. If your car is 3 years old GAP is even more of a waste of money.

Internet/Broadband. You are paying £40. I am getting 900mbps for £25.

If things are that tight Amazon needs to go. £9

Ring also not necessary unless you need to review video often.. £6

Already £45 per month reduction (£540 per year)

Agree with PP, stop the Amazon and Ring Door bell subscriptions.

Regarding food shop - do you meal prep and shop about and be savvy?

If you don’t use the gym atleast 3-4 times per week cancel your membership. Work out at home. Use free YouTube workouts and buy some basic weights.

You say the tax payment isn’t your fault - can you not appeal this somehow?

Regarding car insurance - when your renewal is due follow Martin Lewis’ step by step to find the cheapest deal. Infact go on Martin Lewis’ website for all kinds of money advice!

I know it’s shit but sometimes if we are struggling we really need to make practical sacrifices.

all the best op

£40 a month for broadband is maybe the best deal Op can get living semi rurally; the only connection in my area is virgin and that's £65 a month for the fastest speed & download and even than it's still shit. Can't pick up the Wi-Fi in my bedroom.

Anyway wish I could make some suggestion Op but hopefully something will give sooner or later 💐

Any career progression on the cards?

Have you tried eating dust?

Don't stop the Amazon. Or at least switch to netflix. You need something to do in life. Unless people are expecting you to crack out the charity shop boardgames in candlelight.