I have totally run out of money and I have uniform and shoes to buy for the kids.

[ImFab]

DH gives me all the money he can, and I get child benefit, but I am clearly rubbish at keeping an eye on what I have left.

worn and stained IME cupofcoffee (ooo what a fabulous idea

I tell you what - there are some proper weirdos on this thread .....OADBC....really you are offensive.

When my boys were primary school aged I used to turn the cuffs of their jumpers under and stitch it - half the cuff length but a smarter appearance imo.

Which bits offensive nickchicks?

The OP drip fed her story and avoided questions asked whilst indulging in self pitying

I think you deserve a big glass of and a chocolate after this lot! Try Ebay for bits of uniform. I love to cook too, and often freeze batches of stuff but when 'unexpecteds' mean there's a bit too much month at the end of the money, I make sure we've eaten up evertyhing in the freezer/cupboars before going food shopping. It's amazing how much that can save Good luck, and give puss a cuddle from me.

Errr no she didnt she said she needed to buy stuff and she didnt have enough money left,when people suggested she was living beyond her means she then enlightened us with the cat details - the cat is irrelevant the OP was asking for advice and support in how to manage not having to explain why she was finding it difficult - its none of our business why shes finding this months budgeting tough it could be the cat/alcohol/gearden turf/cartax etc etc ..

And knowing the op better than you do she doesnt do self pity and is quite harsh on herself.

I havent read whole thread but my dd has school polos that look like they have road maps on the back ( ok not that bad) as some little sods think its ok to draw with marker pen on eachother when they have nice new clothes on! So dd has been wearing this one ( as well as her others) all term!, i csnt afford £7 every week for a new one so dont beat urself up over it x

Odd. thread.

You need to work out how much you should have put aside for irregular spends ie. uniform and surprise spends ie. ill cat, and put that into a separate savings account first. Leaving it til the end of the month to see what's left does not work.

When you food shop do you use cash?

cupofcoffee - Really not a big deal, but OP hadn't told us the cat was old when I said about rehoming.

Timewasting ....ideally that is what you should do but sometimes there simply isnt enough money to even budget for everything.

nickschick, if there isn't enough money in the budget, I would advise sending kids to school in knackered uniform or rehousing the cat.

Well I see that, but I think sometimnes we really do try and have it all and you know as well as I do that some months your money just seems to disappear and t'would appear that Fabs having one of those months ........

If you're having a month where there isn't enough money left then you go without a new school uniform surely.

I don't see why the OP is getting so cross with people pointing out the obvious solution - who cares if a school uniform has a stain on it ?

Its not worth stressing about or getting into debt for - just wait until you can afford a new one.

nickschick, she asked for budgeting tips!

Not initially she didnt .....!

Yeah, but I read the whole thread before I posted.