To think there’s not much else I can do with this budget.

[Itgetsharder]

My main income is approximately 2600
child benefits 280

So that’s 2860

Rent 1400
Life insurance 84 (which I will be reducing in the new year, I just can’t do it yet)
Internet and phone 52 (again contract is up in Feb, though most deals are similar)
Netflix 15
Disney 11
Bins 23
Apple 20
DS football 25
Electricity 120

Total 1750
Leftover 1110
Amount leftover is to cover food, petrol, other clubs for dc every so often (they are not monthly costs) more like termly and their dad pays half of them too.
I have my DC 50:50 custody but it doesn’t make a huge difference to food costs.
Im not saving a lot and would like to be saving more although I’m getting there.

Theres not much I can cut is there? The dc watch both Disney and Netflix, I watch Netflix and I use Apple Music etc A LOT.

I absolutely love Apple music, I’m a big Apple fan/user. The 20 includes Apple TV, music, iCloud storage, arcade fitness etc. I know it seems like an excuse but I’ve had that way too long to get rid and get Spotify. Thank you though

Get the advert version of Disney and Netflix, about £5 each and there's hardly any ads on Netflix anyway.

Look for a cheaper mobile contract. I only pay £4.50 sim only Lebara, loads of minutes/texts and 3gb data I think, I don't use much.

Any luck on the MC?

No, I can still apply under special circumstances so ill try that

Get yourself a money manager App, or, if you are able to, set up your own Excel spreadsheet.
The problem with your calculations could be that you don’t seem to be budgeting for annual outgoings E.g. Car Insurance.
You’ve mentioned Life Insurance (my question would be: if you ditch that, what do you gain? If only the premium back, what have you lost? And if you kept the Life Insurance, will it pay out a lump sum in future? So think carefully before cancelling outright).
Do you have a Credit card? Also include that (plan to pay off).
Make a list of all potential outgoings that are a once-a-year expense (Home Insurance, Holiday, Car Tax, TV License, Car Insurance, Hire Purchase Etc.) and note the next date they will be due. Don’t forget Council Tax, either - as this is a 10-month run, you have the opportunity to save that amount in the 2months it isn’t due per year!
As soon as you pay any annual premium, take the amount you just paid, add 10%(or more, if past increases indicate this isn’t enough), divide that amount by 12, and budget for that monthly.
If you’ve got a payment coming up in any number of months less than 12, look at last year’s amount, add 10% and divide that by the number of month until the next due date and budget for that until payment is due, then revert to putting aside 1/12th monthly.
Some subscriptions are quarterly, so do similar for any you may have, too.
Meal plan, and shop using a list. Buy only what you need - food waste costs are often overlooked. Also, batch-cook where possible.
We did this when we wanted to move house. The first three months were difficult (beans on toast months) but once we were on to putting aside a monthly amount for annual/quarterly bills, budgeting for monthly bills and sticking to a meal plan, we were able to start saving any excess!
Good Luck, OP😊

I worked medical cards, if you want to on me, I can try to see what if anything you may have missed

Thank you for this advice, I won’t be cancelling the life insurance, I need to change the policy as this is the dual policy I have been paying which includes my ex. I plan on changing the policy soon as we are now separated. So it will reduce.
No council tax here either thank god- I couldn’t cope with another bill like that!

There's also a single parent tax credit available. You can apply for it through the myaccount revenue service. Only one parent can claim it however so if your ex has applied already then it'll be denied. I think it can even be backdated to the time of separation.

I have a very similar set up to you. However I earn a small bit more and get just over €100 per week from the working family payment so hopefully you'll get approved for more than the €42.

@dee104 wow, god I hope so. I rang them last week to gauge the timescale and she said 42…I wonder did I do my figures wrong 😑 I do get a bonus in work and heath insurance so this might change figures.

I do have my tax credits changed too! I did that about 3 months ago, I’m hoping I’ll have a bit of a rebate too! That would be fab!

I do this yearly as self assessment, it all adds up also the rental tax credit of 1000 , don't forget about that . The rents here are going through the roof I live in a fairly rural area and rental properties are hard to come by . Ones with registered landlords are even harder get

I have all my rent tax credits in already, which is great, I put it in last month. I will definitely be putting in my medical expenses…I always put in the difference between my expenses and what the insurance paid for. This year it’s well over €400 and I can put in the health insurance BIK I pay too. I’m really hoping on a rebate!

You sound like you are doing all you can , hopefully things will get easier and I'll light a candle for a big rebate for you.

I could cry with joy! My tax credits have kicked in I think so In my pay I got tax back! My net is more than my gross by an extra 1100! 🤣🤣 bloody delighted 🙌

AMAZING news 🎉🎉🎉

@TheKeatingFive I’m so happy, it has really perked me up, I’m sick and run down at the moment and i even have coldsores which I haven’t had in YEARS. Thanks for your support 🥰

Well done 👏

Ah thank you ☺️ I’m going to chuck it in a savings pot 🙌

I got a bit more tax back this month again and with tax credits my pay was over 3k! Bloody delighted! The dodgy box didn’t work out for me though…too many issues so I’m back to Netflix/disney. Might try again another time.

You need to get VPN with the box / firestick.

I pay extra for the VPN when I renew the licence. Never had issues in last 3yrs.

Alternatively my mam just got Saorview in, initial outlay but no monthly bill.

From that I would pick one streaming service.

Kids will adjust and move on

I thought saorview was on all new tellys , I can't say we watch much on it because it's all Netflix sky and dodgy box for other things we can't get on them. I've had no issues with dodgy box other than I have terrible WiFi working off a sim so I connect to phone and use my data and it's fine then. I'd love to cancel sky but the recording facilities are worth it . I never watch anything live anymore

Thank you, I’ll look into it again and try someone else and see how I go.

Food prep. Make a food plan each week or a 2 weekley plan and bulk cook and prep and freeze. You only buy what is needed to prepare the meals.

You don't need all those services. Stick to one provider netflix or disney or apple.
Find alternatives that are free. We use NewPipe app on our phones we can watch and view videos for free and download onto our devices for free both audio / playlists / videos.
You can listen to Music free on Newpipe while your device is turned off. Same functionality as Youtube but you can't comment on videos - who cares.
We don't pay for any services at all. We have 2 DC and no TV and no media services other then New pipe. So we don't have to pay for TV license etc.

Never heard of newpipe thanks but on looking it up it’s not available on iPhones.

satelliteireland.ie/saorview-and-free-to-air-hd-combi-tv/

Initial outlay but no monthly bill

That’s a large initial outlay I think I’ll stick with Netflix.