Can you see where we can reduce our outgoings?

[RedSquash]

Our outgoings are £1480pm incl bills, shopping, fuel etc. Our income is £1676pm which doesn't give us much wriggle room. I'll breakdown our outgoings below.

If anyone can see where we can shave costs or remove them completely please say and offer help. We're finding it really hard to live.

Car expenses (tax, ins): 80
Tv/broadband/phone: 45
TV licence: 13
Gas/elec: 100
Council tax: 111
Mortgage: 437 (soon to be 480)
Water (metered): 70
CSA (variable): 171
Breakdown: 8Mobile: 22
House insurance: 18
Shopping (incl topups): 300
Petrol: 75
DH work subs: 30

I think that should add up, I do try to be as frugal as possible but it doesn't seem to come down any.

Any advice will be really welcomed

Our IFA usually gets commission from the banks/insurance companies, but occasionally he doesn't and charges a small fee in those circumstances. Your mortgage deal sounds good.

Buy ds weights or something if he needs the climbing for health reasons, or even your own God forbid you get help from NHS????

I do feel your pain, but some of your outgoings are fairly easily reduced.

Good luck

Why does your 7yo need help with upper body strength and co ordination?

If he has a medical problem the gp should be helping and referring him to NHS physio.

If not then swimming and soft plays are enough.

I had a water leak in a flat I used to live in the bills were through the roof and I just thought I must be using alot, it was so simple to discover there was actually a leak the water company recommended i do the test.
www.anglianwater.co.uk/household/your-account/checking-for-leaks.aspx
I got a £200 rebate and my bills fell significantly.

insurance is not optional. Shop around at each renewal but you would be INSANE not to have buildings and contents insurance.

I don't see allowance for car repairs and maintenance. Again, shop around at each insurance renewal.

water: showers should be five mins max. Share bath water. Dishwasher (if you have one) is more economical than hand washing up. Don't run water to wash every odd item, let the washing up pile up and do it once a day.

petrol; look at your driving style - if you brake/accelerate/brake the whole time like so many stupid buggers you are wasting gallons. No car journey shorter than two miles if no-one is disabled. Combine errands. Don't carry clutter about. If you have easy access to fuel stations, operate on a half tank as petrol costs petrol to carry about.

and Tesco £1 delivery is a great petrol-saver!

I have unlimited broadband with BT (you pay for 10GB and use the FON) for £30 a month inc the line rental. I have unlimited calls, you may not want that. No smartphone needed.

have you looked at switching your fuel supplier for gas/electric?

HTH.

It's not insane not to have contents insurance and I resent an insulting comment like that.

Lots of people don't have can't afford contents ins.

I calculated how much the premiums would cost over 40 years. They were much more than the average claim. Even if we had a total fire where everything was destroyed it would cost less to replace than the cost of the premiums. And the chances of that actually happening are very low.

The other risk is burglary, which is less common now than in previous decades. If someone broke in here there is nothing much worth stealing. Neither of the tvs works properly. My phone is always on me anyway and wouldn't be covered.

It's a very British thing to have so much insurance- other cultures don't obsess over it so much.

your call, weatherall. If you can afford to replace everything, that's fine.

but I've recently done my insurance renewals and even for a 3-bed house which is furnished from those famous designer emporia - ebay, second-hand shops, B and M etc etc - (and quite happy with that, thank you), I would still be looking at £45k if the whole place was hit. Also quite keen to have cover for the electronics in case of burglary; and I don't have much of that. So it seems well worth my total insurance premium of £200-odd.

When I lived in a small one bed rental it still seemed worth a few quid a month for contents insurance, to cover the risk of losing £5k-odd of stuff.

I quite like having things to sit on, light fittings, things to cook with, clothing etc etc etc so I insure it.

ps if you don't have buildings insurance and the place burns down, that doesn't invalidate the mortgage.

Special- c

Contents insurance is very different from buildings.

No one should be naive enought to think that having insurance will mean your £45k of stuff will be magically replaced the next day.

My experience of insurance claims is that they begrudge you every penny. Will make you wait for years. And will never replace everything.

I check my fire alarm regularly.

Water seems expensive. We are a family of 4 and we are not on a meter. We pay £42 a month. Kids have a bath most days and washing machine is on daily!
Your Sky is cheaper than ours by a bit, we pay £52.

There was a thread earlier this week about water bills, and apparently is varies widely from area to area.

I pay £70pm for water.

ATM we're not paying building or contents insurance, but I feel the need to life insurance. Together DH and I could cope with losing our house/possesions, (hey, we will camp in the garden if the house burns down ) but individually, if one of us died, we need to guarantee we have a secure place to live.

And I don't think you can cut down on the basics such as council tax, water tv licence.

Maybe electricity/gas....but I have being cold, and would rather go with out entertainment/treets than be cold.

have = hate

I would look at reducing the electric, gas & water usage.

I claim all the free water saving stuff off the water board, it all adds up over the year.

We don't heat rooms we aren't in, so in the winter I will heat the lounge during the day, the kitchen when dh comes in and the bedroom half an hour before bed. I keep all the door shut and only heat bathrooms while someone is having a bath etc.

The biggest saving was upping the loft insulation to 270mm & not putting anything in the loft. If you squash lagging down it loses efficacy.

If you have a hot water tank turn the thermostat to 55, lots are set at 70 which is expensive.

There's offers on at the minute to get free lagging or cavity wall insulation, usually it involves you having an un insulated loft.

lynette you can cope with losing the house???? You are happy to continue paying a mortgage on a ruin? You are happy to risk losing what must be at least £100k if you own the place outright?

wow.

what is this FON re broadband. my lap top kept converting to that but it is not secure.?

I changed my council tax to over 12 months, instead of 10 which it was initially.

I can't afford insurance either. you are not alone.

I would not expect insurance to replace everything the next day. But if my house burns down I would like it rebuilt at some stage, and to have something inside it.

luckily only one claim so far, a burglary. And no, insurance does not replace everything.

on the different subject of BT FON; no more or less secure than any other wi-fi.

Its not just your house buildings ins can cover its damage to the adjoining property (if there's one). Surely that's more important than broadband/mobile phones. Even though money's a bit tight. Our mortgage would be called in if we didn't have insurance.