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!

You can buy moon lights for bedrooms - it's 1p a day to run and give a glow with out bright light
Or we have a plug in torch it sits on a holder as a night light or picked up to be used as a torch.

Having a light on destroys sleep, look it up!

It’s the Worcester green star 15i and the manual online is terrifying. You can adjust everything from central heating temperature and flow rate to appliance flow and temp, I think that’s the taps but not entirely sure.

Poor dog. He needs his lamp then if the dark makes him bark.

Most manuals are on the Internet as PDF. I store them in the kindle app or iBooks.

How big is the tank in the kitchen? About 4-5ft high?.

If you can set water to an hour 2 X a day it must have a tank, combi boilers have no time setting for water.

Think I will pass the manual to DH, it doesn’t help that I don’t have gas as the display is in ‘service mode’ at the moment!

The dog is a spoiled pooch I rescued him two years ago, I knitted him a blanket and every night he gets his fluffy pillow, tucked in with his blanket and a pat. I will switch the bulb for an led one though. I used to be bad and let him sleep at the end of my bed but he’s prone to throwing up on occasion so now he is banished to the lounge.

@PigletJohn - can you help?

I'm sure it's the hot water on constant that could have been the issue if it is using electric rather than gas, sounds like immersion in the tank?

Have you gas most of the time or not?

About 4ft I think? I will revisit this in the morning, did a full 9-6pm shift in the shop today on my own due to staff on holiday, my head is whirling!

I stopped using the gas in the summer as I did last year as my old system, you just didn’t get hot water without gas, but the shower was still hot and I boiled kettle for dishes.

I think when it’s just hot water, £10 of gas lasts a week?

Bet that's a hot water tank then.

I think it is but will be controlled by the panel next to the boiler under the stairs, with many confusing buttons and flashing lights. The symbol is currently ‘qualified engineer’ but it does that when there is no ignition because there is no gas.

Ok I'm back to wondering if you have a faulty electric meter as that should be an efficient boiler...

Right I will start taking a reading at 11pm every night for the next week and see what it says I’m using. I’m so confused, the electric/gas has never been my strong point and clearly still isn’t!

How on earth do you get £900 from universal credit?? I don't get nowhere near that and ive got childcare costs inc in mine.
Also you definitely do need a tv licence to watch bbc iplayer

Electric £120 a month is a lot

however it might be a regular payment on a direct debit, in which case it might include an inaccurate estimate; or an outstanding balance due to past underpayments.

have a look at your electricity meter morning and evening for a few days; see how many kWh you use per day and what the day/night split is. Electricity currently costs about 14p per kWh.

Even an immersion heater should not cost that much. Please upload photographs of the controls on your boiler, and of your hot water cylinder if you have one, especially any cables and switches around it.

Do you have an electric shower?

Could there be any electric heaters that have accidentally been left on?

Energy from electricity costs four or five times as much as gas, so use gas for your heating and hot water.

Light bulbs, radios, extractor fans, phone chargers, TVs use so little energy that it is not worth thinking about. An energy-saving or LED bulb runs for about 125 hours for 14p.

But a tumble drier costs about 50p an hour.

Op has a prepayment meter! Unless there is debt on there, or there is debt on it that shouldn't be...

p.s.

if you have an electric shower, it will cost somewhere in the region of £1.50 an hour.

If you have a hot water cylinder, the colour is important. Is it copper, silver, white, blue, green, yellow; or wrapped in red?

Always stressed, I get the basic allowance, housing allowance and support for 4 dc. They get my wage amount every month from HMRC. It fluctuates same as my wage. DH is unemployed currently.

if your boiler programmer says "service mode" show a closeup picture of it and its model number. In a rented home it might be an "SI" model.

PigletJohn, I will upload in the morning if that’s okay, I’m full of a cold and headed to bed but thank you, I’d appreciate any help you’d be willing to give.

Thank you PigletJohn you are a

How are you getting on @OnlyGodKnowsWhy ? I desperately want you to be able to sort out your electricity usage!

Hey, I’m sorry that was really rude of me, i haven’t tracked my electricity yet, had a full on few days. I’ve also hit a snag with my spreadsheet, I mustn’t have saved it one night as the figures don’t add up, there is a £28 difference from my bank transaction expenses and what it shows on my sheet!

I do need to work out my meter and track it though. From the 28th of October through to today, I have topped up the meter with £55. I have £8 left on it now so we’ve got through £47 in 12 days.