If you had £200/300 per month extra

[Dragontooth]

I'm finally going up a couple of pay grades and I'm looking forward to being able to do more than just pay bills for the first time!
Single parent of two, full time working out of the house, commute is up to an hour and a half each way per day. I'm overweight (size 16) and exhausted. Diet is terrible.
New job will make me shorter of time and so I'm looking for ways to improve my life using the extra ££.
What do you think will help most? Not all obvs!

• cleaner
• gardener (we have a huge garden which I can't keep on top off) all grass and borders
• overpay mortgage? Shorten length
• weight loss injections
• personal trainer
• meal plan boxes
• nice gym membership with pool
• add extra to savings account
• cut one day a week at work
• declutterring service (house is messy!)

Any other suggestions welcome!

One off decluttering service and then cleaner and gardener. It will give you some time back. And having a cleaner is a great motivator for keeping your house tidy.

Sign up to nutracheck or similar for calorie counting - at size 16, you don’t need weight loss injections. But you say your diet is terrible so focus on that. Start making changes to your diet, slowly and steadily. E.g., cut down on one thing for a few weeks, once that’s a habit, move on to something else. Would you actually have time to go to the gym? If not, why not treat yourself to some weights and try out exercising at home? Caroline Girvan, Les mills etc. eating better and exercising will help with the exhaustion.

Weight loss injections for a month or 2. Then cleaner, and a bit of savings.

@Arlobaby I think you need to be on them for longer than a month or two

I was in a similar position. I joined a gym (but new job was/is more flexible so this was do-able) and got a cleaner. Cleaner was life changing tbh.

I wouldn't bother with the gym, just because you pay doesn't mean you'll go.

A gardener would free up loads of time. When I worked long hours I'd find it stressful to fit it in because you could guarantee when I had a few hours spare it would rain and I wouldn't be able to cut the grass anyway.

In my experience meal boxes didn't save me any time. We would regularly have items that were either poor quality or missing and I'd have to go to the shop to replace.

Weightloss injections could be a good way to kick start a big lifestyle change.

You need to remember interest. If you open a first direct 7% regular saver and put £300 a month in, after a year you have £3600 you put in plus £136.50 of interest. If you then put that £3736.50 in a new account at say 4% interest, that's another £150 a year so you end up with almost £4K in savings despite not adding anything to it that second year. It can sit there and build with you adding less to it. You could leave that interest there building. You could take that interest and that become your Christmas present pot for your kids.

If you pay money off mortgage, you could ask it come off the repayments without shortening the term (while continuing to pay at higher level). That should help offset any increase in interest rates if at end of fixed term, or mean after new fix your mortgage would be even lower so you have even more disposable income down the line when overpaying by same amount.

It is hard. But it's longer term goal.

Cleaner is a must once you can afford it.

Dropping a day is wonderful if you opt for a midweek day when the children are at school /childcare so you get 'me ' time and leave the weekends for family time.

Any spare money pay down the mortgage .

Do none of the diet things and instead do your own garden and cut one meal a day out and then save the extra £200 a month for a rainy day.

When I was in a better position financially, I used the extra money on savings for a holiday fund and presents. The overpayment on a .mortgage I think is only worth it if the interest rate is low.

I think for you, narrow down your top 3 then it will be easier to decide. Congratulations on the extra income.

I used them for a month to kick start me, and then came off them and carried on losing.

I think the weight loss injections are about £200 a month, which is a huge chunk out of your money.

I would absolutely get a cleaner and gardener.

The less you have to do on the mundane stuff, the more time you’ll have to eat healthy and exercise.

I wouldn’t bother with the gym, I would just get out and walk as much as possible.
The benefits of walking outdoors are huge.

Stress is a huge factor when it comes to weight.
If you have more free time, you will be less stressed and can sleep more.

I would definitely declutter too but it’s up to you if you do this with a company or do it yourself.
The less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep clean.

Focus on sleep, walking, calorie counting (and eating more protein and less carbs) for weight loss.
If you’ve had no change in your weight after 4 weeks then perhaps look into the injections but I don’t think you’ll need them.

That amount would be huge to me

Cleaner 100%. Transformed my life. Gives me hours back and she does a much better job than me. She's an angel

Cleaner and gardener.

If your diet is terrible and you're a size 16, you can sort that without the expense and side effects of weight loss drugs.

Without a doubt - garden, cleaner, de-clutterer. You'll be buying help, and more time for yourself.

& change your eating habits- if you have a big appetite you can still eat, as long as it's different food. Diets don't work for me & I don't have the time and inclination for calorie counting. I'm never going to have a small appetite.

Instead of rice, I eat cauliflower rice. No bread - crispbread instead, any that's not too crunchy. Minimal processed food. I still have potatoes as saw a poster on here once talking about resistant starch - lots of information about it online but basically once cooked, cooling potatoes then sticking them in the fridge overnight turns their active starch into resistant starch.

Resistant starch is a pre-biotic and also has around 40% lower glycaemic impact. so it's beneficial for gut health and weight loss. It's worked for me. Not just for weight, I have more energy. That surprised me.

Don't be too busy for your health, it's just not worth it. If your health goes then your job goes.

Get the cleaner, gardener etc and work out at home, even 20 minutes daily in 2 x 10 minutes bursts is something. You can lift dumbbells and do leg raises whilst watching TV.

Ideally you'd get a job which doesn't require a 3 hour commute but if that's not possible at least you can free up time for self-care and relaxation.

I've been thinking about getting a cleaner and this post and thread has decided me. Cleaner it is.

50% on pension
50% on ISA

Put 50% of your pay increase into savings straight away so you don't get used to having it.

Use the other 50% to start eating healthier and increase your fitness, future you will be eternally greatful.

This was me a few months back. I immediately transfer the surplus amount into a different account on payday. I really would recommend the gym / PT but only if you have time and will go. Reason being, start with health, if you can get to a better and healthier place, the other bits become a lot easier like cleaning and gardening and meal planning / healthy eating. Maybe you could split it so X amount into mortgage overpayment, X to gym and X to cleaner

Just to add the gym with nice pool and spa has made a massive boost to my overall health and mental well-being. Often these gyms have nice lounges and play areas indoor and out for the kids. If it's rainy day we can spend most of the afternoon there and so it can often pay for itself if you know what I mean.

If you are getting by financially now, and your workplace would find it acceptable , then I would drop a day at work .

Then you have a day to clean and garden (exercise) and make up some cheap, healthy meals. Working a day less will mean less petrol and you'll be saving the commute time as well as the working time .

Have a good session or two with a declutterer to make a start. Then
Cleaner. (You'll likely tidy a bit for the cleaner which helps)
Robot mower as you've a big lawn + gardener for the borders and edging the lawn.
Smaller plate + healthier food. Just cut out the snacks etc, add in more veg. A very decent hair cut - which will make you FEEL fab, which in turn will motivate eating more sensibly.
Save the rest in an ISA.

Declutter, it’s a one off and then cleaner and overpay mortgage and save.

Save it. No one ever regretted saving money, but plenty regret spending it.

Congratulations on your promotion.

I'm a single parent working full time with 1 DC so very little time to myself. I would DEFINITELY get a weekly or fortnightly cleaner. This has been life changing for me.

Ditto handyman and gardening jobs.

Yes as well to over paying into your mortgage, it doesn't have to be every month, just when you can.

I would not drop your hours for now personally, you'll be working just as hard in fewer days for less pay. Why do that to yourself. Enjoy your pay rise!👏

Cleaner plus savings.