AIBU to be effed off that it’s 3 days after payday and I’m already skint!

[MisplacedMyFurCoat]

Paid some bills, did a big shop, and somehow there’s £100 left in the account. Right enough, the car needed repairs that came out of this month’s money but still.

Maybe IABU, I know we’re all right in the greater scheme of things. No-one will be starving, there are some savings I can dip into (again!) but honestly, so fed up. Feels like I’m only working to pay out all the money as soon as it comes in these days.

Just needed a vent, sorry. And if anyone has a really good lentil dal recipe, I’ll take it! 😅

I did a freezer and cupboard list yesterday - it surprised me how much we’ve actually got in and how little I actually need to buy from the shop to get a week of meals. Can you do similar?

Can you switch banks - a lot give £100+ for that
Have you checked all bills / insurance and switched recently?
Any unused subscriptions?

Ditto!

no savings to dip into unfortunately but freezer and cupboard are stocked up!
we have a membership for local museums so can still do a day out at the weekend but being broke sucks.

I've just started doing the whole burner second bank account to switch to get bonuses. It will take a little bit of my actual time and then some time waiting, but it's easy money really. If you have a partner/adult kids at home, they can do it as well. Martin Lewis podcast had a whole section on it a few weeks ago. Some people have made hundreds doing it. Much better pay for the time than online surveys!!

I feel your pain as this was me last month, I have no clue where my wages went :(

Thanks everyone! The advice and commiserations are both very welcome 🙂

I already do a monthly meal plan, incorporating anything we have in. The big shop was to get this week’s groceries plus non-perishables, toiletries etc for the rest of the month. There’s still some meat left in the freezer from when we last stocked up. It might mostly get us through the month, I think, as we eat relatively little of it anyway due to a combination of taste/preference/environmental considerations.

So that leaves dairy/bread/vegetables/fruit, fuel/travel and anything that might come up unexpectedly. Like I said, I’m very aware we’re not about to starve or anything, but obviously keen to take as little as possible out of the savings.

Re longer term budgeting, we’re already on pretty good deals for insurance, energy, broadband etc and only have 2 subscriptions between us all (Amazon Prime and a paid newspaper - but even that’s on a student discount). The big bills are the mortgage (still very reasonable compared to some of my friends - lucky timing of the last remortgage) and the nursery. There’s not much I can do to reduce either. The car is starting to become expensive, too (it’s ancient!) but so far, it’s still cheaper to keep fixing it than to fork out for a new(er) one.

I guess what really gets me is that I should be doing fine on paper - OK job, have done my best to keep spending reasonable etc - and I’m still coming up short!

I used to be able to put away a little bit of money most months (hence the savings) but it feels like I’m coming nowhere near that now. I haven’t suddenly become more spendy - if anything, I’ve been trying to be more careful. It just seems like the money doesn’t go anywhere near as far as it used to even just a few months ago.

The burner bank account is a really good shout, thanks. Will have to look into it.

Hard agree. I used to save, invest, spend. Now it’s just bills and basic life. So many business now not getting our money as we are not going on the trips, carrying out the home improvements, going on the date nights etc. Multiply this household across the country and it’s not looking good.