Found out we are nearly broke -

[Pollss]

I thought we were doing well but DH told me we are almost broke.

We are mid 40s & 2 kids in primary school.

Joint gross income is £68k.

We have £190k outstanding on the mortgage on a house worth £525k

We have about £15k in savings and DH has £10 company shares. The children have about £5k each in their ISAs.

i thought we were in a much better financial position. DH has always been a saver whilst I have been a spender. He handed me 6 months' credit card statements and there were just 100s of pointless transactions: coffee, pret, McDonald's, cinema trips costing £50 a piece.

DH doesn't talk to me about our finances because it usually ends in bickering. I was hoping to move to a larger house as our current one is too small but £525k gets you nothing in London.

what can i do to improve our finance situation

what can i do to improve our finance situation

Agree with your DH a figure to overpay the mortgage each month. Set it up and let it go.
You have enough in liquid savings as an emergency cushion.
If it is goes to the mortgage before you see it, you can't spend it on nonsense. It's effectively saving towards your next house.

Also, you are not broke.

Mumsnet can be very nasty at times .

You need a budget. Very specifically, get https://www.ynab.com/ and stop spending on things you don't need

Good luck

He handed me 6 months' credit card statements and there were just 100s of pointless transactions: coffee, pret, McDonald's, cinema trips costing £50 a piece.

what can i do to improve our finance situation

I mean, it's not exactly rocket science OP...

Is this a reverse

And I've walked into town today because it's 13 degrees in my house and I can't afford to put the heating on.

£68k gross for 2 working people isn’t much. Assume one of you is part time? In which case there is an opportunity to increase income, surely?

Seriously??
How are you nearly broke? You have everything you need, A bigger house is a want.
DH might have kept quiet as he thinks you're ok.
Although he shouldn't be leaving you in the dark
There are families choosing whether to heat or eat!
Be grateful you're not one of them
If you want to cut expenses cut out the coffee and McDonald's habit!!!

Because her DH doesn't talk to her about it, so she's carried on blissfully spending, assuming everything is OK because he hasn't said otherwise until now.
Ah right.... its his fault despite he's the saver and she's the spender?
He should be monitoring her spending?
And assuming when op says ' I thought we'd saved more' am assuming she means she thought her dh had?

People saying mumsnet can be nasty and I really agree a lot of women on there are too pjt others down. However this thread is so ignorant to real ‘broke’ have you had to wrap toilet roll around your pants because you can’t afford sanitary products. There’s a lot of people currently unable to feed their children. Heat their homes. They would dream of £1000 never mind £15000 when the answer was in the OP anyway.

£15k savings is a lot more than most people have got

Were we separated at birth another nearly supermodel here!

Try increasing your joint income to about £630,000 per annum. Then you don't have to start cutting back at all and can buy more things.

How on earth are you nearly broke? He's maybe saying it to stop you spending money with not a care in the world, but you are nowhere near broke.

Holy crap 'nearly broke'??? I work and study, my partner works full time, we're in our 40's and we have ZERO savings. I'm constantly living in my overdraft and we're living with my dad in order to save for a house deposit...
I don't think you know what 'nearly broke' means.

Try a side hustle. Have you thought about Deliveroo? Maybe an 'Only Fans' page, whatever that is? Or you could advertise sensual full body massages on Gumtree or Vivastreet, with the proviso: 'note - this is not a sexual service'.

I'm not nearly broke by any means but have recently drastically cut down my working hours (I'm 60 and taught full time for long enough). I'm now such much more aware of things like coffee when out so only buy when it's part of my plan - meeting friends etc. Pret etc isn't special. I've started really thinking about living well on less. No point getting upset or guilty about stuff you've previously frittered away - it's spent and the time's gone - but it's actually quite good fun being more engaged with your budget.

I do understand it's a very easy situation to get stuck in. Good luck!

Use an app called ynab, allocate your income and stick to it. Transfer yourself 100 at the start f the month for the coffee, the McDonald’s etc and when it’s gone it’s gone. You will soon feel much better off.

Household income of £68k won't get you very far in London.

I'm nearly a Top Gun fighter pilot, I mean have seen BOTH films AND been on a plane so nearly there! 🛬

Your poor DH, I'd be fit to be tied if I were him

Save money on fuel bills this winter by never turning your hot water on and getting showered in a wet suit.

OP you are really not nearly broke in terms of finances, however I don’t think you’ve got much left in the self-awareness bank.

Well I think @Pollss your income is really low. You’ve done brilliantly for having such a small monthly spend. You should be congratulating yourself but I fail to see how you could save more because you’d need more coming in. I don’t think for one minute that you’re a spendthrift. Your income just wouldn’t allow it. I think you must be quite tight with your spending as a family actually. So well done you. But don’t be ridiculous and have dreams of wealth when you don’t have an income to support that.

I had to re-read the OP a few times to make sure I hadn't missed a line where she said they had huge debts or had lost their jobs or something!
How on earth is this "nearly broke"??! They have a decent income, savings, and a manageable mortgage!
Just stop frittering money for goodness sake. You have plenty of wiggle room!

Your not ‘ nearly broke’
you just want to keep spending money on stupid stuff aka 💩
It’s simple stop spending !