This is how I’m organising my money - can any experts take a look for me?

[StickyShoess]

I’m quite new in taking control of our finances, we were in a mess we had no idea what we had coming in and going out, direct debits were being missed and charges added on, we were living in our overdraft being charged daily for it and I held my breath at the checkout every single time, it was awful
Then we had an unexpected fourth baby and had to extend our house
So we are in a lot of debt

Finally about a year ago I said this is ridiculous and started trying to sort it out, after a lot of trial and error this is my current system -

DPs wages cover all bills and minimum debt payments - all DDs & SOs go out on the first of every month
Every week we get £118 tax credits, £110 of this gets transferred by SO to a separate bank account and this is our groceries & petrol money for the week
Every 4 weeks we get £247 child benefit, £100 goes by SO to our ‘occasions’ bank account and £100 goes to our ‘spending’ bank account
Then on the day before payday each month I take whatever is leftover in the main bank account and send it to debt and start on payday from scratch

I feel like this is the best system I’ve come up with so far but I just feel like it’s so slow moving and I’m never going to pay off our debt
What do you all think? Anything glaringly obvious that I can change?
TIA

Thankyou for the encouragement and the advice
I’d always assumed I couldn’t work due to babies and childcare but I suppose I definitely could couldn’t I if I did evenings or weekends as PP do, I will definitely have a look into what’s available
I’ve also thought maybe we could do some dog sitting, when we’ve used sitters in the past we’ve paid £25 a day - especially coming in to the summer that could be an option

Feeling much better and much more motivated today so thankyou all for being so kind

Sticky
The main thing is to differentiate between "need" and "want"
nobody "needs" nice nails and multiple coffees out
so they cease until one has no debt and spare cash
and then only return in a strictly budgeted manner

but finances with pre school kids are always tight
learn to budget now and life will be much better in future

You’re right Talkin there are so many things I can think of over the last couple of months that we’ve “needed” that we didn’t actually need at all, it just would’ve been nice to have/do them
It’s so difficult with the kids though (where most of the money goes) because I think ‘but they only get one childhood’ and I don’t want them to miss out because their parents are idiots who can’t do basic maths - I just don’t know where to draw the line when it comes to them really
But we haven’t spent any money on them at all this weekend so that’s a start I suppose 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sticky
The thing kids want from you more than ANYTHING is time

A mum on one of the other debt threads realised that her kids did not miss theme parks and activity days
so long as they were with her
three hours of feeding the ducks and playing pooh sticks costs nothing
but give you all time to enjoy each others' company.

A walk in the woods picking up leaves and pine needles is messy and free
add in a summer picnic (all taken from home)
and its a whole day for almost nothing

On a rainy day like today, doing colouring together at the table, or making biscuits, or doing jigsaws no screens, look at each other is cheap and fun and makes you all slow down a little

As I read that message Talkin I’m sat in the playroom with just the baby tootling round, the others are all huddled round the Xbox and I’m looking at boxes and cupboards full of toys, craft sets, board games - all barely used, whilst last week I spent £100 taking them all to the aquarium 🤦🏻‍♀️
Right I’m pulling out a load of stuff for us to do and turning the screens off!

This may actually be a brilliant thing for us rather than a sacrifice 🤞🏼

This may actually be a brilliant thing for us rather than a sacrifice

Every cloud has a silver lining

If you could get a pt job in your local supermarket, Aldi pay well - do you also get staff discount? (Know you do in Sainsburys)

Op I can assure you that most children will remember time spent with mum, baking, going to the park or driving to activities. But most wont remember what was in their stocking two years ago...go on ask them 😉

There are a couple of threads, working remotely and what to do as a small business from home. The £10 per day thread has several ideas.

Op I can assure you that most children will remember time spent with mum, baking, going to the park or driving to activities. But most wont remember what was in their stocking two years ago...go on ask them
THIS
with bells on

My kids still remember a happy afternoon making mud and broccoli stem soup in a bucket in the garden
it stank
that was 15 years ago
They cannot remember the nice week in Paris we had later that year ....

Are you on watersure for your water?

inpain
Why would the OP be on a low income tariff?
She is not poor, just profligate
but that will change soon.

She gets tax credits. I'm checking as if that's child tax credits she qualifies for watersure as has three or more children.

Re makeup. I am fortunate to not have as much debt and more disposable income. I think I probably spend £20 on make up over two years. It's an easy way for me to economise but it might be your luxury so definitely look for cheaper ways to indulge. Do you have a college near you? Our local one has a beauty and hair dressing course(s) and so offers fabulous treatments at frugal prices. Might be a way to enjoy cheaper?

Other tips use your library more (I think I've saved thousands since using the library) and join a credit union.

I'm saving for Christmas with our local credit union. Money is locked away until 1st November, earning interest and will get a dividend payment.

The bonus about being with a credit union might be access to cheaper credit.

I can join one based on where I live and work. Please do investigate. They are fab.

Our library has been massively affected by austerity

but yes, Credit Unions are EXCELLENT

And if you could get a job in a local supermarket, you might get staff discount on shopping.
A friend of mine got her son a job at their local Tesco when he was at school - he worked a couple of shifts a week (evenings/weekends) and the amount she saved on her shopping was actually more than he was getting paid

Our local library offer Hello, Goodhousekeeping, Delicious, cycling weekly and loads more emagazines for free - you just use your library card and pin to download the app