Cost of living

[FeelingSad4]

Hey all,

So I have been looking at my budget and trying to make cuts where possible, but cannot seem to bring the figures down. I don't know whether I am being unreasonable and my outgoings are normal as I have nothing to compare to / don't feel comfortable asking people in real life, or I am missing the wood for the trees and am massively overspending / cost of living isn'tthat bad.

This is just utilities (house costs are separate) and car insurance / house insurance are annual and from a different pot. So it is just utilities I want to decrease or cut down.

1 adult, 1 dc, 2 cats.

Gas and elec together £140pcm
Water 40.50pcm (meter)
Council tax 177pcm
Tv licence 12.95pcm
Broadband £29.00pcm
Mobile 10.00pcm
Fuel £60pcm
Food £220pcm

It just feels a bit tight at the moment, we aren't eligible for support, and utilities are the only area I can cut

Thank you in advance

There’s a Cost of Living topic that will probably help you with targeted answers. Click on Talk and scroll down to find it.

Ah fabulous thank you, @mumsnet could my post be moved please? Thank you. Sorry still new to posting

Op that all looks quite normal to me, is there nothing outside utilities? Activities, travel, social, clothing, beauty etc (I know you might spend on none of these but just in case)

They all look very reasonable to me. Food is the only cost there that you can do much to control and thats quite low.

So the only spots really ( assuming you won’t lose the cats ) is

water, gas and electric and fuel because your food bill isn’t bad and the others are pretty fixed - although you may find a £5 mobile deal and cut £2 off the broadband if you are lucky

fuel - how much of that is completely unchangeable ? Can you walk more - walk to the shops for food twice a week rather than drive once. Look at what you can replace with walking. 200 miles a week? That’s twice the national average. Can you lift share ?

gas and electric - can you split these out a bit more and check what is happening - yours is double ours and we have an EV. Turn everything you can off whenever you can. Use a small TV if you have a choice

do you have baths? replace with showers that last a couple of minutes at most

do you wash clothes too frequently? Many people wash things too often ( please wash your undies after one wear though!)

what is your boiler temperature set at? Lower tends to be better - ie don’t heat the water so hot that you then add loads of cold , don’t superheat the radiators ( google water temperature on boilers )

how high is your heating in winter ? How well insulated is your home ? Thick curtains / liners ( charity shop) , curtains over the doors. Only heat essential rooms. Use blankets.

If you can't reduce your costs, you need to increase your income. Can you take a second job? Do some babysitting / dog or cat sitting / a bar job in the evenings / do online surveys?

Gas and elec together £140pcm Depends on lots of factors as to whether this is reasonable, look at advice online on how to reduce, some good ideas already posted above. We significantly reduced our heating bill by closing internal doors. Always make sure you're on the cheapest deal. The removal of VAT from electricity will help a little.

Water 40.50pcm (meter) not particularly high and possibly not much scope to reduce.

Council tax 177pcm apart from checking you're on the right band (see Moneysaving Expert), not a lot you can do without moving house

Tv licence 12.95pcm - do you need this? Do you watch live TV and the BBC? If not, cancel it, a cheaper streaming service might be better value.

Broadband £29.00pcm you might be able to get this down a few pounds, always make sure you're on a deal and switch if not. You can also get vouchers that are as good as cash, eg M&S/Amazon

Mobile 10.00pcm if this two of you, it's cheap, if it's just you, you could probaly get it down to £6/7

Fuel £60pcm and Food £220pcm are already low.

Get the Moneysaving Expert weekly newsletter and pick out the tips you can benefit from, eg switching bank accounts for the introductory bonus.

There's a hell of a lot missing from that list op. Haircuts, new clothes, hobby costs, pocket money, birthday presents, school trips, house maintenance, pet, car and home insurance. Any other monthly subscriptions? You need to thi k of everything you actually spend money on. Some of the banking apps are really helpful for this.

"Utilities are the only area I can cut"

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that's the case @FeelingSad4

If you listed out all your regular outgoings on here, the full picture, and included your income, it would make more sense.

For example does "food" include takeaway? Nothing wrong with them but just saying, that could be a hidden budgetary cost.

Does your DC have activities after school that are paid for? Again, this could be a hidden cost....

Sorry, op, I ust read your post again re insurances , but still i think there's a fair bit unaccounted for.

Good point. There's no point cutting a few pounds here and there from your electricity bill if the reason money feels tight is that you do lots of non essential shopping, buy lunch at work every day or are using high end beauty products. A full review of all your money might identify where bigger savings can be made.

replace with showers that last a couple of minutes at most
I've never understood that sentence. Seriously, who only has a two minute shower?

Is your gas/electric what you actually use or is it the amount the companies want? Go on a comparison website and see if you can get a cheaper tariff and/or standing charge.

Cancel the TV licence and use a streaming service. Swap between Netflix one month, then Disney+ etc unless you watch a lot of BBC/iplayer.

Me if I’m not washing my hair. Wet, soap up, rinse. Done

Hi thank you all so much, just to provide some extra info.

My wardrobe is complete, I'm not a shopper and most items are at least 3 years old. The only items i buy for myself new each year is underwear.

Toiletries are basic, shampoo and shower gel / bubble bath / deodrant/ cheap nivea cream. I don't wear make up.

My DC is very young and in the bath stage still, but the water isn't very high.

My gas and elec are usage, which i cannot understand as during winter the heating is on 6til 7am annd 5-7pm. The house is new and well insulated, we don't have many appliances etc. Although I do work from home so cost of laptop charging. I am on the cheapest UW tariff.

Looking at my bills, my usage is low but the standing charges are high.

I'd be reluctant to swap the TV licence at the moment, as my LO watches cbeebies and I enjoy BBC for sewing bee/ strictly etc. I don't really follow any other programmes or series, so not sure switching to a streaming series would be best.

I'm not a big consumer / shopper, my LO doesn't do many activities (2pw which equates to under 10pw during term time).

I just feel we are living quite frugally, not uncomfortably as our house is full of fun and nutritous meals etc. I still manage to put something in savings, so I am very lucky. Yet bills still feel high with not much to show for it. I am not sure I am explaining myself properly. Maybe the crux is I feel I am doing everything I can, and hoped for more security or more options for treats at this stage.

I do surveys etc. Which goes towards christmas and birthdays, but would struggle to work another job as I work FT already and would have to pay for childcare in the evenings etc. As it is just us.

Thank you

It’s shit isn’t it working FT and not really having anything left over for the little treats.

Is there some weekend or evening work you could get that you could do at home so wouldn’t need childcare?

Your grocery bill already seems to be pretty pared back and it would be hard
to cut back on utilities.

I hate the scrimping that seems to be the norm for loads of people. It’s miserable worrying about money.

I don’t know if it may be useful for yourself or anyone else to know but BT Broadband do a low cost broadband deal for anyone on benefits. Also anyone on benefits can apply for lower cost water bills from their supplier.

What is your income, and what are your other outgoings? Those figures look normal to low to me, so what is making you struggle with affordability?

Water. Look at water saving devices (your water company may offer them). See if you qualify for other rebates like Non Return to Sewer allowance. Provide regular readings, especially if they haven't read the meter for months. Check for leaks - cistern overflows, leaky garden taps leaking hoses on washing machine and dishwasher leaking taps (it all adds up).
Council tax. See if your local council will spread the cost over 12 months instead of the usual 20. It won't make it any cheaper annually but the monthly payments will be less.

Your costs are all cheaper than mine OP so I doubt there is much to trim tbh.

Looking at my bills, my usage is low but the standing charges are high.

Go on Martin Lewis's website and read up on this. Usually if you don't use much you are better off on a low tariff/high unit price unless you charge an electric car etc.

I totally understand you needing the TV licence considering your young children (I also prefer it tbh). But I have to agree with pp and say your outgoings don't seem that high. It really is brutal atm.

How much are you left with after your bills are paid? Can you increase your incomings? it does sound like you are already careful and a lot more sensible than other people who moan they are broke, but spend their money on stupid things!!

Moneysavinngexpert is a great website for anything money related. You might be able to get better utility rates or other trips/freebies.

Other things to look at might be whether the amount you pay for utilities is accurate for what you use or are you in credit. The majority of the cost is the usage even if the standing charge is £30 a month.

Also check if UW is actually cheapest for your usage. To get it at a decent price usually requires you to have other unnecessary or overpriced services bundled in, so you can save by paying separately from the cheapest providers.

When you add the cost of your mortgage/rent and the money you allocate for things like insurance, does it say that you have enough on paper, suggesting that your budget isn't comprehensive, or you're overspending somewhere.

Have you analysed what you actually spend over a year to see if it's above or below your income? The things you've listed come to around £700 pm, so with mortgage/rent and annual costs, it's easy to see how essentials would take up all of a low to median salary.

Unless you state your complete income and expenditure I don't think you can get much more advice than you already have. Have you checked entitledto to see if you are missing any government help that you may be able to claim? If it's only utilities that you want to cut back on then the only thing to do is ensure you're on the cheapest tariff and to cut back on usage. I don't think from what you have shared seems like you are paying over the top and the fact you are able to save is great.

This looks normal aside from the energy and water which both look high to me.

Are you someone who washes clothes after every wear? Do you use a tumble drier? Dishwasher?

Join the MSE energy club and put in your actual annual useage. We have a lower direct debit than you but our heating is on longer. UW has never been cheapest when I've compared.