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

'Broke' is not having enough money coming in each month to pay bills, buy food and essentials.

Most couples I know would think you are in a very comfortable position and would love to have that kind of money to fall back on.

If you 'need' to have more money start saving instead of spending.

You aren't broke, you just like wasting money! We earn 20k more than you and wouldn't dream of spending 100s in pointless transactions

How on earth is that nearly broke? It’s really offensive to those who actually are nearly broke. You own a house, have savings, have shares and your children have savings! If you’re spending money on cafes and McDonald’s etc, just stop. That’s very wasteful.l

This is a joke right?

For goodness sake you have a house, you earn a decent salary and you have savings.

You are not broke...

But you are clearly wasting your money on frivolous stuff you don't need.

The answer is - do a budget and stick to it. Tell the DC what you’re doing and that you won’t be budging. Work out what you want to save and allocate a modest amount for a monthly treat eg one cinema trip.

Cut out all the pointless spending eg coffees out. Make your own.

I have worked for over 30 years and practically always brought my lunch and drinks from home. Colleagues who are saving hard stop going to the on-campus Costa.

You’re not broke - not with those savings and equity.

😆🤣😆🤣

Really made me laugh this morning Goody!

You are not "nearly broke", don't be so silly.

If you want a bigger house you will need to earn more and spend less. Stop spending money on pointless shit and figure out how to increase your salary.

And you need to take responsibility for your contribution to the family's financial position. It blows my mind that a grown up woman can have no idea how much family money there is, let her "hubby" take care of it all, and then stamp her foot and sulk because she thought the magic money tree would cough up a bigger house without her having to make any effort at all.

The missing information is how big are your credit card bills and do you finish the month with any money left?

It doesn't seem like a big issue to me. Definitely not nearly broke unless you're maxed out on your cards and struggling to pay the minimum back.

How the fuck is this nearly broke?!

You’re not nearly broke, but you can agree with your DH that you are frittering away money. Sit down together and work out a budget, include money for savings for Christmas, birthdays, and monthly discretionary spending for fun stuff and stick to it. If you want more money to fund a more expensive lifestyle or bigger house you need to think about whether to have the opportunity to increase your earning potential.

Get rid of ur credit card.
I find only paying in cash helps. I get an amount out each week and that’s wot I spend. No cash left I go without. Using a card makes us less more likely to over spend.
you are certainly not broke just need to reign yourself in.

Stop buying all this crap, give yourself a limited allowance for the month for these types of spends, and transfer most of the equivalent spend to your savings account as soon as your salary comes in. That will put you back on track.

I can’t see how you interpret that as nearly broke.

I was hoping to move to a larger house as our current one is too small
So why are you frittering away money?

And what's with the "He handed me 6 months' credit card statements". Are you saying that this is the first time that you have looked at them?

She brought out Jessica Fletcher.... that's not good 😂

It's about to go off

Nearly broke? Bloody hell.....sorry.

You are not nearly broke. Your DH income is more than I've ever earned in my life. You have savings behind you, you already have a mortgaged property so you aren't renting. Maybe you'd like a bigger place but with small children you may have to wait on that.

What's more, you're frittering away money on coffees, snacks and whatever else. You don't seem to know anything about money and therefore I wonder what else you are frittering money away on - could you cut down on the weekly food shop for instance? Sounds like you need to budget more carefully too.

Really, you have no idea about what 'broke' really means....

Are you taking the piss?

I wish I was as broke as you 🙄

Reduce the small things like coffees, pretzels etc. take lunches to work most of the time, take coffee from home, the little things are the ones that cost surprisingly a lot cumulatively because you don't think about spending,

I suspect what your dh is saying is you are spending more than earning currently

Hahaha I don't think the OP is coming back 😂

Are you paying off the credit card every month? Or are you carrying a balance?

Agree with others you are not broke. Get rid of the credit card, start saving, look for a job with better pay. That’s about it really, good luck!

What the…..

Exactly.
Some MN posters come across as so thick one has to assume they’re trolls.

Cut up the credit card, start repaying the credit card debt & transfer a £x to a prepaid debit card like revolut for your spends. Once the money is spent, that's it until you top up the next month.

Sell anything you don't need and use that to overpay your credit card debt. Look at your statement & see where you can make savings. Change your utilities to cheaper contracts, eat out less & take picnics and take your own cinema snacks. Buy less fiod and gifts at Christmas and use up what's in your food cupboards before shopping.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

But no you're not broke, just a careless spender.