Will we cope

[notnow2]

Already posted in chat but posting here too. Sorry!
Due to getting a mortgage and borrowing money from my mum

we will have 600 a month left after all

bills paid. This includes car insurance and house insurance, childcare, school dinners, gas and electric, council tax, loan repayments etc. Can we survive on this.

We are likely to have 100-200 extra per month as commission but can't bank on it. Also we don't have to pay my mum back every month if emergency comes up.

Sorry for the 3 attempts to post!!

What expenses will you have to pay out of this money. And it depends on a lot of things. How many children do you have and their ages.

Just food and clothes and any entertainment. School dinners included in other budget and kids in childminder 2 nights a week so we only need 5 meals as they eat there and me and DH have snack those nights. Dc are 2,4, nearly 6. To be honest we will buy clothes and treats with commission as DH gets it MOST months. Not guareented of course!

Childminder costs already included as is petrol. I can't think of any other cost unless anyone can? Maybe odd school trip etc!

Try to come up with estimates for the costs you have yet to include, such as fuel for the car, car maintenance and things like MOT & road tax, cost of breakfast and tea, costs of your and DH's lunch when working.

If you can think of all the expenses then with luck you won't get any shocks as they come up.

School shoes and uniform can be big costs and can come at unexpected times. Hand me down clothes for your younger children where possible, also things from friends with older children can help reduce clothing cost.

Using commission for treats sounds a good idea, though you may also want to allocate some of it to paying back debts. So treat and a debt payment with each commission pay.

This will be for 2-3 years. Hope it works

Think of it as £150 per week for food, clothes, any miscellaneous expenses and treats. It might be tight, but it should be do-able.

Will your mortgage rate be fixed for this period? How is a rise in interest rates likely to affect you?

Can you access the last 12 months or so bank statements and form a budget to start with...from there you may need to start looking to see where you can cut costs...

I use the MSE mega spreadsheet for budgeting, it makes you budget for all the stuff you forget about - things that only come around once a year. I find it very helpful

We do this. We're using the YNAB software to keep us on track, but that's just what we have so we have to make it work. We divide up the figure at the beginning of the month into budget categories. If one unavoidably goes over, it has to come from another. So if food is over due to having lots of guests or something, no clothes. It's black and white but forces you to stay out of debt.

www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

try filling this out, it really helps!

Does this include activities for the children i.e. swimming, any music lessons etc. You said the plan will.be for 3 years so with 3dcs the avtivities can be a big expense. Also birthday party invites X 3 (try to stockcheap presents, wrapping paper, cards when you find bargains).
Social expenses like weddings etc, holidays?
But yes it is doable.