To think it’s normal to live paycheck to paycheck?

[Colacubegirl]

I work part time and have young DC. I just really struggle to save, as soon as I put £100 away I end up needing to spend it the next month.

I have so much pressure on myself to save some money for the future, I really want to, but really struggling with cost of living and this year is so busy. 4 weddings! Lots of milestone birthdays etc. Christmas has just been and gone.

Do you live month to month?

I have a Plum account linked to my bank account and that siphons off small amounts of money throughout the month.
You don't notice it being taken out really and you can adjust the settings to suit your needs. You can also instantly draw it out if you need to. I usually use the money for holidays/Christmas/emergencies etc.

Yes Op in the real world it’s totally normal as the cost of bills, food etc just doesn’t match with what most ppl earn.
For example I’m always in my overdraft a week before pay day and I earn above minimum wage.

Yes it's normal.

What's a bit off though is expecting to build up a savings pot when you only work PT and are presumably on benefits.

I'm married and we have separate accounts. It's not unusual. We share expenses to suit.

I second YNAB. But if op household bills expenses and costs are split correctly, there should be opportunity for both to save or spend.

So writing down all the spend plus credit cars repayments and interest would be useful. If you got into debt because you work p/t but still pay for essentials 50/50 then your debt is shared.

I think in a family with sufficient money it's normal to have separate savings, DH and I both have our own savings accounts. However, we set up things so the boring essentials come out of the joint account and we have the same amount of savings and spending money. It's a bit leaky because we sometimes disagree on essentials vs 'fun' money (is a teenager getting yet another pair of trainers essential or fun money? What about driving lessons?) but it allows us to prioritise what we think is important.

Anyway, I think that @Colacubegirl should sit down with her DH and rearrange their money to make things fairer between them. They should both be left with the same spending/saving money. If he isn't prepared to do that she should start thinking about returning to work FT and possibly divorcing him (maybe check how much he'd have to give you if you were to separate and remind him of that).

I don’t think it’s normal to be a family where one has significantly more than the other. It makes no sense to me at all.

Why are you living with no spare money but your partner has savings? It’s just weird.

Not normal for me - I save a big chunk of my salary each month but then I don't have children and my outgoings are quite low. I appreciate this isn't the norm for most people, though.

A money saving app you have to pay for doesn’t sound like a sensible place to start. Have you contacted the Stepchange charity? They are outstanding - and free.