stay at home mum how do you pay for bills with full time working dad?

[user1480111163]

We have a 15month old son we decided it was best for my fiancée to stay at home and raise the child rather than having a childminder raise him.

I work full time basic salary £27000 my take home pay works out usually between 1750-2000 per month depending on overtime

We only claim Child benefit as that's all we're entitled to, but we're finding money a struggle heres a break down of our monthly out goings:
mortage 493.82
Life and mortage protection insurance 75.55
tv license 12.12
sky 28.91
unite 14.06
vodafone 16.2
gas 25
elec 37
season ticket 43.62
UNITE 14.06
Vodafone 26
anglia water 28.9
council tax 121
e/s water 22.63

the the once a years bills
CAR INSUR 700
CAR TAX 185
HOME INSUR 200
which equates to roughly 90.50 pm

we spend around 100 each months on petrol which leaves us around £600 for days out and shopping for clothes and food. How does everyone else manage and does my bills seem high we live in a 3 bed semi.

For a salary of 27k you'd be entitled to tax credits as well as CB.

I think your petrol seems high. I am a SAHM of 3 DC. There aged 3 and under and I'm out and about a lot sit them. I also have very uneconomical high performance car (thanks, DH ). I don't spend a £100 a month on petrol though. Understand why you might need to fit the commute but why is your DH?

You seem to be paying unite union fees twice too. Plus are the mobile phone contracts the fussiest you can get if your deals have finished? Mine is £8 a month SIM only and that invitees 3 mg of data.

Car insurance also seems very high.

Your life and mortgage insurance seems high to me as does your car insurance. I only pay £5 a month for my phone. I'd ditch Sky too and get a free view box.

Car insurance 700?! I pay £30 a month probably less than £360 a year if paid in full. Get on to the price comparison sites and get a better deal. Negotiate on the phone too.

You are still entitled to tax credits the child element, so that's another £200 you could probably get a month.

Having £600 after all bills have been paid doesn't seem too bad.

Not sure where you do your food shopping but I buy most of our food at Aldi and feed four of us (two adults and 19 year old and 16 year old sons) for around £55 per week. Do you need to buy clothes every month. Days out don't need to cost much, especially with a toddler. They're happy going to a park, even if it's just to kick a football around or to feed the ducks.
Is the season ticket essential? When I became a SAHM going to a match was something that I had to cut back on, plus weekends were precious family time anyway.

my car insurance is high due to my partner passing her driving test earlier this year, I only pay unite once that is my mistake both of our contract are up for renewal within the next 6 months, ive never seen a 3gb contract for less than £15 would love to know where yours Is from. we can only claim universal credit and have been denied and ive checked on entiltedto.co.uk and this too comes back as no tax credits

I nothing useful to add except I work out of the home and still pretty sure my childminder isn't raising my kids, might want to reconsider that phrasing

Get rid of sky and the season ticket. Get cheaper phone contracts.

Tesco do cheap phone contracts.

If money is tight maybe one of you could look for evening or weekend job to help top things up? I just have freeview works fine for me ditto season ticket. You would save £900 only a year just on those

OK so I added all that up and came out that you should have aroumd £700 left over on a £1750 take home month... But that would be £950 on a good overtime month? Seems more than enough

Another one thinking you should shop around for your life insurance, that seems very high, unless you're insuring yourself for a vast sum!

Ditch the Sky - Freeview channels are pretty good actually. And definitely ditch the season ticket, that's crazy money. I always feel sorry for people married to footie addicts - my FIL and BIL were both football mad and it drove their wives insane, so many weekends written off due to matches/ weekends away planned around where the team was playing...

sky includes line rental, broadband and tv so isn't bad. I will be looking for cheaper mobile contracts as soon as I can. and I will check that i'm not over paying on my mortgage protection insurance I'm not sure if I should have it but if I do injure my self at work or anywhere for that matter then atleast I know it'll pay out a decent amount until my mortage is paid off, I especially want it while my partner is not at work.

Yes you need mortgage protection. You don't have to stay with the one recommended by your mortgage lender, you can shop around. Same for insurance. We are always looking for better deals with everything we pay out on. Gas, elec, phones.
Have you been with Sky long? Ring them and say you don't want it any more, they will bend over backwards to keep your custom and will offer you a better deal.
As for petrol it all depends on your mileage, your car insurance will come down when your wife gets some years under her driving belt.
Prioritise your spending. Top of the list is mortgage/rent, then council tax, then utilities.

PS. We have Sky T.V but have Talk Talk for Internet, can't recall who the line rental is with though. I think it's Talk Talk.

I think you need to check how much you're spending on clothes, food and days out as well. The only way to truly review your finances is by looking at all your outgoings.

I think £600 after everything is actually ok considering what you're earning and that you're supporting a family.

threshold for tax credits with one child and no childcare is 25k.

MY SIM only deal is from BT. It's £13 a month but as we have BT broadband, there is a £5 a month reduction = £8.

Might be worth swapping to BT broadband for that.

Your finances are very similar to ours. We shop at Aldi for £40 a week, gas and electric is another £40. I get one or two new items of clothing a month and we go out once or twice a month and just keep it under the amount we have left. £600 should really be plenty, but if it's a change in circumstances then it'll be a bit of an adjustment.

My apologies, I hadn't taken into account that you only had one child when I made the tax credits comment.

some good advice here I've just been comparing insurance quotes I can save £42 per month on life and income protection insurance for similar cover with Aviva instead of friendslife that's a massive saving, I see virgin are doing 2gb data phone contracts for 9pm I will bear this in mind come april and june when ours are due that will save us £24pm, I'm confidebt our gas and leccy is the best we can get atm I allways shop around for them. when we get married in march ill get my wifes tax allowance which will be worth £220 each year doing this will mean we'll have an extra £1012 each year to spend! extra savings should be made on car insurance.

I wonder if its worth while going on a water meter. But then as our family gets larger we'll use more water and I'm likely to use more than we pay now.

I've found a free mortage advisor and ive worked out that if I buy out of my fix I can do a 2 year fix which works out 100 each month cheaper! or reduce my term by 7 years! for the exact same monthly amount.

You have £137 a week for food shopping and fun. I don't really understand why you are asking for advice? Are you struggling?

Also pretty sure i raise my child, not my childcare provider! How offensive!!!

Eveything looks quite reasonable to me. Our bills are a lot higher. I think the area you live in affects prices slightly. 600 a month left is a lot!

We have £500 a month and that's for food and petrol. It's easily done. But I shop aldi or lidls. Just changed to Sainsbury's energy from British gas. That's going to be an extra £70 a month. Can't believe I paid that for so long. Also to keep me and little one busy before she started school my Xmas present from df was national trust membership. So many picnics and adventures have been had thanks to that.

Vodafone (£26 and £16) seem excessive. If you are not bound into a contract it is worth going on a much cheaper monthly scheme (e.g. I pay £7.50 on giffgaff).

can you sacrifice the season ticket?

part time job for your partner? Just because you use a childminder or nursery it doesn't mean they 'raise' your DC. As a working mum I find that rather offensive. I still raised my DC and earning money to provide for them is just part of the responsibility as a parent .