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

Give your head a wobble.

Move out of London.

You don't say how much you owe on the credit card. If you are paying it off every month and the mortgage and still have savings I think you are doing well. Your wages aren't massive. Obviously cutting out the coffee and takeaways will help, and be in it together, have a budget, talk about it, squirrel some away when you get paid. It sort of reads like you are lording it up in pret every day and are then shocked that your husband hasnt saved money. If that's the case you really need to get informed and take responsibility.

There's a difference between broke and poor. OP is not poor by any means means, but tye equity and shares aren't accessible at the moment.
The easy answer is to draw up a budget and stick to it. And downsize if you feel you need to. Keep the discretionary spending to a minimum and pay off the credit card to increase savings.

Is it too early to nominate this one for classics?

You're not broke. You are, however, a goady fucker.

You're lucky to have a good dh.
Start sharing the responsibility.

So, what's the credit card bill if you are nearly broke with that much in savings?

Sorry I missed the part where you’re nearly broke?? 😵‍💫😵‍💫🙄🙄

You've managed to get a half a million pound house and have some savings whilst having 2 young children on 68k a year? That sounds like a decent financial position to me!

Just stop the silly spending and you're golden. You don't have a problem OP.

£15k savings 😂

You are NOT nearly broke FFS

This post has made me angrier than anything else I have seen today. Have you considered crowdfunding OP? Perhaps you could call Citizen's Advice or your local Social Services to get advice on how to manage during this difficult time?

Oh do fuck off

Assuming £10 company shares is actually £10k company shares.

You have £15k savings and £300k equity in a house. You could move out of London and buy in cash if you really wanted.

A poor attempt at a goady thread.

Same.

So out of touch!

OP, you'll find good advice on how to curb your spending and to start saving at Money Saving Expert's forums.

It’s not school holidays already is it?!

I'm just curious what part of the OP shows that you're broke?

Stop frittering all your money away on shite and stay on top of your finances for a start.

And you are far from broke - you just haven’t prioritised your money well enough for you to have the standard of living that you want.

OP you made a big mistake putting this in AIBU.
if you had actually spent any time on MN recently you would know that it’s a race to the bottom these days.
A bit like the old Monty Python sketch.
My advice- invest in a good coffee machine and stop having takeaways.

You aren’t broke.

Being broke is having £23 left in your account at end of month if you/I am lucky.

You have answered your own question.

You cut out everything not needed.. no coffees/mags/trips out/use clothes you have/no expensive haircuts/no expensive wine on a Friday night/ bargain shopping with pasta. No holidays. You learn to make free fun by looking for free open days etc.

You learn to live within ( your considerable) means and you pay off your most expensive debts first.
A look around you at what ‘broke’ really means might do you the world of good

Broke is not having essentials in, not being able to pay bills the end of the month, having no savings what so ever.
My Mum was broke bringing up 5 children as a single parent, she would of loved to be in your position. OP you are doing very well compared to a lot of others.

100s of pointless transactions: coffee, pret, McDonald's, cinema trips costing £50 a piece. What can I do to improve our financial situation

Too mysterious and complex to even try to figure out. 😂

Jesus Christ!
I wish I was this ‘broke’😂😂😂

You don’t sound broke at all.

The 100s of pointless transactions aren’t brilliant but unless they’ve led to a mountain of debt you don’t know about, you aren’t broke.

You just need to rein in those small spends that all add up. I’m very similar but it’s a real case of “look after the pennies”

Stop spending money on pointless crap you don't need would be a good starting point. Your husband is right to be pissed off with you. Sit down with him, work out a budget together and stick to it. Review monthly, together. Don't leave it all to him, take responsibility for your actions.