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Overspending every month! Help me!

92 replies

friggssake · 27/01/2016 12:38

We are spending between £100-£500 a month more than we earn...Below is what we have spent roughly this month. Please can you tell me where I am going wrong...? We bring in about £4300 monthly.

Item Cost
Housing 1337.00
Food 670.00
Family pocket money 310.00
Pensions 275.00
Council Tax 183.00
House Insurance 13.50
Gas & Electricity 67.00
Water 57.00
Cars maintenance, tax etc 115.00
Petrol 120.00
Mobile phone 55.00
Cleaning & window cleaning 115.00
Holidays / weekends away 250.00
Children's clubs, swimming etc.. 142.00
Childcare 120.00
Broadband & House Phone 90.00
Exercise classes / gym 90.00
BUPA 65.00
Haircuts 57.00
Adult pocket money 100.00
Christmas Fund 75.00
TV Licence 12.50
Life Assurance 41.50
Clothes (mostly kids) 30.00
Babysitting 30.00
Work lunches 25.00
Gifts 75.00
Car Parking 7.00
Contingency / unexpected extras 75.00
4602.50

OP posts:
P1nkP0ppy · 27/01/2016 19:00

£4300/ month income and overspending by upto £500?
Since when have adults needed pocket money?
Good grief 😳

lorelei9 · 27/01/2016 19:08

Yes to the poster saying to use a spreadsheet btw
Probably easier as well as most likely something you already have

CrotchetQuaverMinim · 27/01/2016 19:25

my services are more than £100 by the time you add the stuff that needs doing, and that's on a 10year ford fiesta. Seems reasonable to save some each month for it.

hasn't the OP already explained what she meant by 'pocket money'? Other people might use different terms for it, but the sort of thing that people choose to spend on themselves/children, not absolutely essentials, but nice things to have - I know that I spend some amount each month on things like books, maybe a concert ticket, maybe some nicer toiletry item than the supermarket brand, coffees out with a friend, bar of chocolate at the station, newspapers, drink, new pen, stamps, bus ticket, screen protector for my phone, etc, to give examples of things just from this past couple of weeks. And I imagine most people in a family would want some money of their own for similar things, that you don't always want to count in one of the categories - and for children, too, loads of things that you might buy for them on a day-to-day basis that don't fit neatly into some other heading. Maybe pockey money isn't the best term, if it makes people think of only frivolous things, but it seems sensible to me to allocate an amount in a budget for it, because people do buy that sort of thing, often for cash, and you might as well plan for it than wonder at the end of the week where the money has gone.

However, that doesn't mean it's not a category that is worth cutting down on, maybe drastically, if needed!

lorelei9 · 27/01/2016 19:35

Crochet, my iPad gives me a sort of preview of posts....it showed me yours with the first sentence ending at "doing". Sorry but it made me lol Grin

CrotchetQuaverMinim · 27/01/2016 19:37

:)

Yes I re-read that afterwards and realised that I was responding to someone who was clearly talking about cars, but I hadn't actually mentioned that in my reply...

Though perhaps the OP could supplement the shortfall in finances by adding some extra 'services'?

TweedAddict · 27/01/2016 19:51

How on earth do you start ynab app account, it doesn't give me an opportunity to sign up just to add in an existing account?

RavioliOnToast · 27/01/2016 20:13

you need to sign up online for YNAB

N3wYear2016 · 27/01/2016 21:28

£100 to £500 EXTRA a month is alot to spend & not sustainable !

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I would suggest pay off all debts first including credit card, over draft

Check comparison sites to decrease bills, pay all bills

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Extras that are non essential

Cut cleaners (get fit and clean at same time)

Gym seems alot

Family pocket money - cut all, what is this spent on ?

Presents - can this be decreased

Holidays & days out can these be decreased

Clothes are these really needed

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Sell "stuff" on Ebay or have a clothes or toy swap shop

Laska5772 · 27/01/2016 21:35

YNAB is good,(its transformed my spending habits) but also come and join us onthe Frugaleers thread. Lots of us there supporting each other to make the best of our money and save where we can. We are nice and friendly also !

friggssake · 27/01/2016 21:39

Crochet-could this be the answer to my problems?! Grin

'Pocket money' caused quite a bit of a stir ...! I was trying to summarise..!

Lots of great advice here, thank you everyone.

OP posts:
annandale · 27/01/2016 21:44

Gym - exercise may be reducing your stress but going into debt is increasing it! Cut the gym and join sports clubs instead - e.g. tennis, running, cricket, rowing...?

Pocket money/discretionary spending amounts for adults seem reasonable but I think you are allowing a lot for children. How old are yours? I think perhaps you are thinking of big days out/trips to live events as essentials. They can be a lot of fun but you need to rein back on them in this situation and get more creative about what you do. Going to the theatre twice a year makes it a lot more special; going to one day of one local festival (or whatever) rather than Glastonbury. If you start doing/volunteering at events with your sports club as above (e.g. runs, tournaments) you won't need as many big days out.

I would keep the cleaning at this stage but cut it if you find that you haven't managed to pay off debt and start saving. Your time is worth a lot and you work at home so need a clear workspace.

I would even out the amount you allocate for holidays and the amount you allocate for contingency. Right now you are in debt so if you have to pay for a new washing machine you will be paying a fortune in interest for that. Save £100 a month for holidays and £250 for contingency; save the latter into an ISA account and try to keep it as untouched as possible. When you've got six months' of outgoings saved you can go back to better holidays.

How on earth are you managing to pay that little for house insurance?? a) who insures you because I want to get a quote from them b) are you sure you have enough insurance?

annandale · 27/01/2016 21:46

Oh sorry - food seems incredibly high. We budget £400 a month for food for 3 of us and I think that's generous - we get milk delivered as I like supporting the local roundsman.

peggyundercrackers · 27/01/2016 23:14

Special it's cheaper the way I do it rather than opt for cheap servicing for the cover I get - I have already done my research thanks.

bakeoffcake · 27/01/2016 23:32

Is YNAB only American? I can't find a British version.

snowymountaintops · 28/01/2016 07:28

Thing is £16 on an ironing board means that the ironing board will only last about a year and then you will need to replace it - false economy to buy really cheap stuff. I have a Brantania one that I inherited from my mum 17 years ago so god knows how old it is really, it's such good quality and I suspect will last a lifetime.

Decent dog food is a good £30 for a 12kg bag.

gingerdad · 28/01/2016 07:54

Good luck. Your housing is massive. We have a similar income to you and our budgets are as follows. 2 adults and 2 kids

Broadband 25.00 use free view and catch up services.

Food - £300-350 per month this includes using local butchers, milkman and green grocer and a big shop in Aldi.

Mobiles including kids - for 4 mobiles - £24.00

Energy £60.00 per month

Holidays we use our children's allowance for that.

We don't do gyms / cleaners etc.

We are saving around 700 per month for kids, emergencys etc.

You need to have a look on money saving expert.com, keep a spending diary. We switch broadband, insurance, mobiles, energy and banks often to make the most of deals. I use quidco for extra cash back.

You're in a good position to sort this.

laplumeofmyaunt · 28/01/2016 08:23

Frigg, it might be worth checking the car servicing thing. Our car was bought new with 7 year warranty, told we had to take it to dealership for servicing to maintain warranty which is crap. We have reduced service charges by contacting car manufacturers directly and checking with them re. servicing - they will accept none named parts under warranty, as long as they are good quality and the parts are noted on the service sheet, and also had dealer 'price match' (or very close to it) with our local garage. This reduced service from £260 to £140. You just have to be prepared to haggle.

The other sections which strike as being excessive are:

Phone/broadband - you can pay line rental annually which cuts cost. We paid £113 for annual line rental, then £19 per month for phone and unlimited B/B

Food - it sounds boring, but meal planning is definitely the way to go. We do this and it cuts waste as well as reducing grocery bills.

Your spend on entertainment/days out/presents etc totals £810 per month. Tbh if you're serious about cutting down your expenditure, this would be a really easy place to start. You and your DH could have, say £75 per month for incidentals so that you do have a bit of spending money, and I'd start checking out all the family stuff you can do for free - we found taking picnics on outings really cuts the cost. Even now our dcs are too old for family outings Sad Grin, DH and I still take a flask etc as we found we were spending ridiculous amounts on coffees/lunches and calling into the pub on the way home from a walk.

Downgrade the holidays and the present buying.

friggssake · 28/01/2016 10:03

Gingerdad - saving £700 is ... just wow... You are doing so well. I have been keeping a spending diary for a bit which is how I've only just realised how much we are spending and on what... Blush

Meal planning and quidco I already do, believe it or not!

To everyone talking about servicing my car insurance costs are included in this figure, I just save for it each month. But I will try and shop around for the servicing and any repairs that crop up, that would be a good saving, thank you.

I looked at the frugal threads earlier... I may move there next!!

Pet food - yes - just expensive!

Buying things from eBay has totally passed me by...

OP posts:
Wuffleflump · 28/01/2016 10:17

"Gym - exercise may be reducing your stress but going into debt is increasing it! Cut the gym and join sports clubs instead - e.g. tennis, running, cricket, rowing...? "

Lot of people questioning the gym here. It is possible to do exercise more cheaply, but if it kills your motivation for doing so, there's no point.

Doing exercise is an investment too: in your long-term health and earning power. For some people it is also an essential part of mental health. It should not be considered an optional extra.

Some people don't like exercising with others. Some people don't like exercising when it is cold and wet. Some people don't like certain forms of exercise, or have injuries or difficulties doing some exercises. Some people are motivated by classes. You might know people at the gym and you encourage each other to go. You might like the environment of the gym or other perks such as spa. The gym may be next to work whereas the sports club is a detour which makes it less likely you'll go. Gyms are fixed price, where as sports clubs are often pay-per-use: if you go regularly it can actually be more expensive.

If quitting the gym means a person loses motivation to exercise, it's not a good saving. It might be possible for the OP to enjoy exercise more cheaply. But it might not.

snowymountaintops · 28/01/2016 10:34

Agree Wuffle and can't imagine for 2 seconds that a tennis or rowing club would be much cheaper than the gym and anyway who the hell wants to go rowing in January Grin!

specialsubject · 28/01/2016 10:44

ok. i'm also not questioning the gym, it's a good thing and there are many more obvious places to cut.

broadband/phone - 4 times the going rate
water - twice what most spend
tatmas fund - hope that isn't a hamper scheme! And if you already spend huge amounts on other gifts, what is it for?

and yes, don't know what your housing is (could be a shoebox at that price if it is in London) but assuming from food bill it isn't given there must be a few of you. So how do you get insurance that cheap?

you can't afford your holidays, presents and the general wastage. You are one job loss from disaster.

BrieAndChilli · 28/01/2016 10:58

i work out our monthly bills, include petrol and food and add in things we pay monthly for like gym kids activities and subscriptions. I then take that away from our income and then do a plan for each month so I know August is school shoes, April is mot etc. I ten know the leftover figure each month is our spending money. Once it's gone it's gone. Simple. So if we've have an expensive month then we do walks in the woods etc but if I know we have a bit extra to spend we can go to the zoo or something.

lorelei9 · 28/01/2016 11:12

snowy "Thing is £16 on an ironing board means that the ironing board will only last about a year and then you will need to replace it - false economy to buy really cheap stuff"

I think my parents are still on an ironing board they bought for about a fiver ten years ago and they are always bleeping ironing!! It is not a false economy at all. Likewise, I'm still using a £9 ish kettle that I bought about 14 years ago (I only remember this in relation to buying a flat).

It is very often not at all a false economy to buy cheap.

re gym, there isn't really a substitute for a gym if you don't do outdoors sports and even if you do, someone suggested clubs which aren't usually free. I'd concentrate on cutting bills where there is an obvious alternative and the amount that's being spent on food suggests brands etc, also the amount on broadband and phone could be cut easily.

OP, you say you are meal planning - are you prone to very luxury foods? It does sound like it?

snowymountaintops · 28/01/2016 11:54

Actually lorelei9 you are right re kettles and things. I never spend more than a tenner on them and I make a heck of a lot of tea!

I do generally think though that if you buy cheap you buy twice.

friggssake · 28/01/2016 12:24

Someone mentioned we aren't saving enough into a pension or similar savings. Is there a rough percentage people aim for...? I have a feeling the answer is as long as a piece of string... But an idea would be helpful.

Subject - Fortunately we have other (older) savings (that we can't easily get to!)

OP posts: