Overspending please help

[SunConure]

To be losing £500 per month. I am overspending by about £500 every month and I need some help to get it under control.
£1100 mortgage + council tax + electric gas etc
£110 phones for me and dc (in contract! )
£500 food (I am addressing this - joined a larder!)
£360 medical bills
£280 cleaner
£200 utilities on holiday home (no mortgage)

£200 travel to work
£100 pet insurance (high b/c of past claim)
£100 dc pocket money and activities
£200 loan repayments
£100 car
£2-300 on general living

£580 on holiday home and cleaner stands out.

Clean yourself and your over half way there?

Cleaner has to go is the first step

The medical bills sound a lot, as do the vet bills. The holiday home could go.

The cleaner could go.

The food bills sound high.

Perhaps just look at what you really need and what you don’t . 👍

Doesn't it seem a bit obvious?

Sell the holiday home, lose the cleaner.

Magic

Well there are some obvious things to look at ...

£110 phones for me and dc (in contract! ) - this is ridiculously high. When do contracts end; can you negotiate a reduction?

£360 medical bills - can these be reduced?

£280 cleaner - guessing this is for your own house and holiday home? You could at least clean your own house. If your dc is/are old enough for phones, they are old enough to help

£2-300 on general living - can you break this down? Any savings to be made?

You're sending around £70 a week on a cleaner?

Is that related to your medical bills cost? Or something that could go.

Do you need a holiday home?

Can you cut the £2-300 on general living? Eg how much of thar is coffee and cake? Or pre brought lunches? Or stuff from Avon that you don't really need?

I know you've said you're addressing the food bill but you might need to be quite ruthless on that.

How many people are you feeding?

Hehe you are asking this while stating you have a cleaner and holiday home....

Why are you spending £360 a month on medical bills?

How many people are you feeding for £500 a month?

Drop the cleaner

Do you get income from holiday home to offset the cost?

Not so easy to sell it, it’s in France the market is slow
but I take on board about the cleaner
it reduces my stress so much though to have a clean house

Is there a reason that you or a family member cannot do your own cleaning?

Is your holiday home an asset? Ie do you rent it out when you aren't using it and does it bring in a net income?

Cancel the pet insurance, I did as could no longer afford..but then save a bit each month for emergency pet bill

This is a good reply thank you. The medical bills are for my post traumatic stress disorder and it’s not on the nhs. I am going to try to rent the holiday home

Thank you

The phone bills are insane. What were you thinking?

lose the cleaner, get on the NHS waiting list (I assume you are already) and have a real think about what is realistic for your budget when it comes to phones next time.

Any way to reduce the medical bills?

Is the treatment actually effective? Or does it just feel 'safer' to be doing it?

Is there an alternative?

Is the PTSD diagnosed? Could the NHS treat it?

Food costs are just me and my ds so just two of us

Ok well that is obviously a ridiculous amount on food then 😉

That should be really easy to cut down on.

It is definitely working but it takes a long time.

I know but I have got myself in a mess I used to have a high pay job but getting laid off

Get rid of the cleaner. I would love a cleaner but I can't afford one.

Sell the holiday home or if not get a tenant so that the bills are paid.

Cut your food bill.

What is included in 'general living'?

Cancel the cleaner today

Put the holiday home on all the various Airbnb type sites. Advertise it in your local Facebook group, tell your friends it's available at mates rates. Get it generating any income quickly

Speak to your private therapist, tell them your situation and see if they offer reduced fees, or scale back your appointment frequency by half

What pet are you insuring? Think very carefully if you can afford a pet at all. But if it's not a dog, I wouldn't insure it.

Scale back on your DC pocket money and activities

£500 for two people's food costs is crackers! What on earth are you eating? Where are you shopping? You can get this down to £300 and eat incredibly healthy including meat/cheese/fish if you cook from scratch and don't buy packaged meals/snacks or alcohol

What are you general living costs? Break them down for us

Definitely lose the cleaner or at least cut down how often they come. I get that having someone else clean reduces your stress, but getting in debt will probably increase your stress by a lot more!

And the medical bills, is that for weekly PTSD therapy? Could you again go less often, fortnightly instead of weekly for example?

The grocery shop is also crazy to me. Maybe you're shopping at Waitrose or something? Definitely should be able to make savings there.

How old is your DC, depending on their age £100 could be quite a lot for pocket money

Pause the cleaner, whilst laid off you'll have time to do the cleaning.

The food shop can definitely reduce if youre getting laid off you'll have more time

Reduce the pocket money - time for DC to learn that outgoings and niceties are the first thing to cut when income stops.

Is the pet old? We cancelled our pet insurance when it got so high, figured we would put the monrhly payments toward any eventuality in the future.

Do an audit if all your payments in the main and holiday home, see if there is anything you can drop, reduce or cancel. Drop/reduce things like Sky, make sure youre on cheapest tariffs.

Mobile phone- switch to SIMO when out of contract.

General living is things like clothes, restaurants, decorating the house, holidays