I'm useless with money.

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

As the title states. Since last Christmas I've basically lived pay check to pay check, with a monthly payday loan of £200 that I pay £240 to clear then reborrow each month. Christmas this year is terrifying me.

Long story short, I have four children aged between 7 and 12. I've been a lone parent for 7 years though I have reconciled with DH (not kids dad) 2 months ago. He is currently job hunting.

I work as a manager of a shop, 4 week days, one day and weekends off. Monthly wage is roughly a grand. However we receive £300 of our wage half way through the month, the rest is given on pay day so £700.

Universal credit varies as my hours can vary slightly depending on holiday cover, staff sick etc, so I'd average it out at £900 monthly.

I also receive 61.00 child benefit weekly and £81 child maintenance weekly.

Summary monthly income:

Wage: 1000
UC: 900
CB: 244
CM: 324
Payday loan: 200
Total: 2668

Outgoings:

Rent: 360
Council tax: 75
Payday loan: 240
Mobile (three contracts) 66
Internet: 40
Debt: 50
School dinners: 160
Electric: 120
Gas: 20 a month (will increase to same as electric in winter due to gas heating, single glazing and highlands of Scotland!)
TV licence: 24
Spotify family: 14.99
Netflix: 7.99
Pet insurance: 25
Pocket money: 80
Ejuice/coils: 50
Xbox live: 5.99
Gardener: 40 (big gardens)
Window cleaner: 8.00
Food: I don't know. I'd say 450 a month?
Argos card: 100-150

Total: 1980.

I know this doesn't take into account haircuts, clothes, childcare when needed. Basically I don't really know my income and outgoings because it varies each month.

I need a budgeting for dummies guide, how to work out what's being spent where each month and any other advice. Please!

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Can't find a second hand spin dry but I will keep an eye out.

The plan this month is to get a proper idea of what is spent on electricity and how finances stand after cutbacks, then look into going back to billed electricity.

It goes without saying the wonga loan will be paid off and not taken out. There shouldn't be any need to, with making cutbacks and changing how we do things.

I'm actually very embarrassed about how wasteful I've been and for so long. That alone will keep me right. As will knowing I will be able to do things like decorate without struggling.

You've all been fantastic, including the ones that were a bit less polite in response, I needed that too.

[RandomMess]

I think some of it is natural interest. I'm naturally really interested in the detail, like saving up - even as a child!!

Teach your DC about this, get them involved it's an important thing in life often overlooked.

[ivykaty44]

Onlygodknowswhy really good to hear that you're getting yourself sorted.

Can I ask are you paid weekly fortnightly or monthly?

[GreenTulips]

Why not ask the kids to forage round the house for pennies? Get a big pop bottle and keep them in there, they can use what they find to buy each other a Christmas gift

I found over £40 doing this recently

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

I'm paid monthly, however we get an interim payment of some of our wage half way through the month. I receive universal credit which is monthly, child benefit and child maintenance which is weekly, so income is there but comes in sporadically.

I love the penny use, will definitely do that. I've just cancelled one of the phone contracts that's barely used so that's another £18 saved.

[ivykaty44]

I would work out how much money you need for food, petrol & expenses each week.

Then withdraw that amount in cash each week. Fill the fridge and the tank the same day. The remaining money has to last until the following week.

This way you get used to seeing money, knowing how much is left in your purse, and knowing how many days are left until you get more cash.

It makes money become real and valuable

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Three days in to the new ‘good with money’ me. I think I’ve got a little obsessed with receipts and spreadsheets, I actually got a bit annoyed with DH for spending and not bringing me the receipt 😮😂

Although it’s definitely cheaper to shop at the likes of Lidl, we decided to use tesco and get a Clubcard as the could be useful in regard to the Christmas saver scheme. I meal planned for the next 7 days and the shop came to £94, that is however including the likes of toothpaste, washing powder and packed lunches for school. It was mostly either tesco or tesco every day value brand. With the distance to Lidl we would have to get a taxi back with all the shopping which would be about £10.

I even, for the first time ever, took my own bag to the shop, instead of paying 5p for one. And scrimped together £1 in cash to buy the chips we forgot, from the local shop so I could avoid the 50p card charge that I would have just paid a week ago.

Small steps and all that 😊

[RandomMess]

Well done you!

Often you can get a good deal on an annual delivery pass for Tesco or Sainsbury's delivery - like a £1 per delivery- it's fab.

[GreenTulips]

Keep going!

Once you start it becomes second nature - and where once you'd save X and take a holiday or treat you then think 'hang on' we should save 2xX so we don't spend all the money in one go

[Fluffycloudland77]

Card charges are under 5% of the transaction. Your locals raking it in.

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Little savings today, I usually get my eyebrows and lip waxed once a month, costs £15. I got nair wax strips from Poundland so saved £14.

I do dye my hair roughly every 6 weeks as i have black hair and a lot of grey for my age. Home dyed but still £6 roughly a month, going to shop around to see if I can get cheaper.

I bought £1 water bottles in b&m for the four kids, small enough to fit in lunch boxes and will save buying cartons for the week.

I also got 10 food storage boxes for £1.99 and will cook a batch meal tonight then freeze so I have lunches for work all week.

It’s my sons birthday in 5 days so I’m going to crack on planning food for his party, as cheap as I can. He hasn’t really asked for anything overly expensive which I’m grateful for.

I’m going to see how much the kids watch Netflix and will cancel it if it’s not very often.

And today I’m going to look at energy suppliers to see if I can get it cheaper.

Very addictive this is 😊

[Fluffycloudland77]

The Aldi dye is meant to be ok. You might be in credit with the utilities, it's worth asking the question.

If you have a soakaway on your property you don't have to pay surface water charge & its retrospective with some water boards. I did mine and the whole road of 40 houses had a rebate. The water board knew we didn't have to pay but charged us anyway.

I bet if you apply to cancel Netflix they offer it you at a discount.

[antimatter]

Well done! You will be debt free by the end of the month and save a lot too.

[Out2pasture]

sadly with some providers you have to call them up, claim your a good customer and demand a rebate or else you will change companies.
I look out for competitors having promotions, call up my provider and demand the same rate.
some companies have start up charges, but if you say you are going on holiday for 3-6 months and request services be on hold they don't charge disconnect or reconnection fees.

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Hey all, I tried money saving markets energy comparison and apparently I cant get cheaper than what I already have. The results all showed a 0 yearly saving. I didn’t know how many kWh I use or what my rate actually is so they calculated using standard rate.

I am now on day 5 of spread sheeting and I’ve worked out my average daily spend on electricity to be £4.75 a day. So basically for the average 31 day month I am paying £145.

I’m not sure what to do now!

[Fluffycloudland77]

No one spends £5 a day on electric. Promise. That's like me using 40 kWh a day. I use about 5kwh a day & cook on electric not gas.

I know it's boring & tedious but find out your unit rate & measure your use for one week. X 52.

Then you know your useage, electric companies reckon electric use is pretty static year round.

[RandomMess]

You need to work it out, Meyer reading same time every day for a week.

If you are using that much you have a faulty meter!!

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Urgh, I’ll do my best, this electricity is confusing. My DH and I shower twice a day, morning and evening. My 2 DD’s shower once a day, my 2 DS, whenever I can pin them down in the bath.

I had a new heating system put in about six months ago, I think it works with both gas and electricity. For example I’ve been out of gas for weeks but I still have hot water. Before if I ran out of gas, no hot water.

I think if it works off the panel next to my boiler, the hot water is set to continuous.

I don’t use the gas heating yet, I have an electric flame effect stove in my lounge that fans heat and only put that on first thing for half an hour to warm the lounge for the kids.

My DH is addicted to decaf coffee and probably had a cup every half hour. So much kettle boiling.

I use hair dryer most days and straighteners.

Tumble dryer is at least once a day. Sometimes up to three times.

The kids leave lights on everywhere. We tell them and my DH is obsessed with turning everything off.

On top of that we have the kids charging tablets and phones, is charging our phones and charging e-cigarettes. Xbox and tv’s on.

The lamp in the boys room is left on overnight as my ASD son hates the dark and often wakes up in the night. The lamp in the lounge is left on too as the dog is in there and I can’t bring myself to leave him in the dark. Sometimes the hallway light is on overnight too as I worry about the kids falling down the stairs at night. I have wooden stairs with carpet treads. I also have the fan going all night in my bedroom as my DH and I both like the room really cool and the white noise it provides.

I’m fairly sure it’s my attitude to electricity that causes the £4.75 average a day. Prepaid meter.

[Fluffycloudland77]

It'll be the hot water. Everything's cheaper to run on gas.

Do you have a hot water tank?. Is the water thermostat set to 60c & not 70c? Defaults 70c on some systems but 60c is just as safe.

I turned mils combi boiler to 60 because it was coming out too hot (she asked, I have some boundaries)

Is the dog scared of the dark? I shut our bedroom curtains in the day so the cat isn't woken up by the sun.

Aldi do LED bulbs quite cheaply, pop one in your sons nightlight. Everyone bangs on how little energy saving bulbs use but they still use three times as much electric as led.

[RandomMess]

Turn the hot water off continuous that would explain it!!!

[RandomMess]

Just turn it on when no gas and to heat up for like an hour then turn it off.

Have you the instructions still?

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Braved the control panel as the instructions were never given to me and I now have the hot water set to come on for two hours a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

I will get LED bulbs.

The dog is 12 and he tends to bark if the lamp is off so I leave it on and he settles better. I don’t know if that means he is scared of the dark though.

[OnlyGodKnowsWhy]

Hmm I have no idea if I have a hot water tank. Genius aren’t I? I have the main unit in the closet under my stairs and there is another tank thing in the closet in my kitchen. The water is definitely too hot.

[Yorkshiremum17]

I think the laundry would be a false economy, £30 a week is £120 to £150 per month depending on whether it's a 4 or 5 week month! If it's £30 a month I guess apart from the inconvenience it's not too bad.
Do you still get bills with meters? If so, just look at the last couple of years bills, it will tell you your average kilowatt per year usage.
Is your hot water on an emergen heater type thing, that is an incredibly expensive way to heat your water. You'd should have an instruction book somewhere, check exactly how your water is heated, if you can't find a book, Google your heating system instructions, if all else fails go back to the installers. If it is an emergen heater it's much better to have it on for a couple of hours a day. We used to have press on for 1hour in the morning and the same on an evening. That was plenty for 3 of us to do showers daily and a bath if you wanted one, washing up and cleaning. You might need to do it a bit longer for the numbers in your house, but I think would work out cheaper than running it all the time.

[Yorkshiremum17]

Doh, cross post