Please, look at my budget. What, if anything, can I do?

[SeraphinaR]

NC.

Been going through my monthly budget and things aren't looking great.

Mortgage, Ins, Maintenance, etc. £1071

Electric, Gas, Water, Council Tax £278

Cars £96

TV, Broadband and Phones £100

Total is £1545

Then there's

Food £500
Fuel £250
Nursery Fees are either £292 or £363

All together that's £2658 using the highest Nursery fees figure, without any savings for Birthdays, Christmases, Clothing, Emegencies, etc.

Our joint income is £2600. Occasionally DH might earn slightly more if he gets a small efficiency related bonus but it can't be relied upon but some months it would seem we may be -58 short if DH makes no bonus and we have the higher month of Nursery fees.

I'm going to look into a second job. It isn't a route I wanted to go down but things just aren't comfortable as it is.

Any suggestions?

familyofaliens can I ask how you get into doing that?!

Ditch Netflix, cut food costs down to £300, get a part time job for the days you're not working, or g back full time.
This website is fab for very cheap, but very good meals.
cookingonabootstrap.com
Make a weekly menu and stick to it.
The person who does the most miles should have the cheapest car to save on petrol.
Include a savings item in your budget! Even if it's just £10 a week in a jar. That can be used for treats every few weeks.

What about getting an evening job in a local pub or restaurant (to save on travel expenses) that would mean a few extra hundred a month....? It's not ideal, I know and you needn't think of it as a long term plan but maybe just until your little one is at school and your childcare costs will reduce. That's what I did for about 18months when we were struggling to keep our heads above water.

If you enjoy your job and they value you, I wouldn't think about leaving. Childcare costs will reduce after a year or two, unless you have another dc of course.

In your case use the phone app for cheapest petrol in the area...
Also as suggested work out miles per litre on the cars and see how much you could save, by swapping cars

Can your dh use your car on the days you don't work? Look into selling his and get a more fuel efficient one. Are you getting childcare vouchers through work? Don't know how these work but if you cannot claim them perhaps DH can. Would a childminder be cheaper than nursery?
I think a second evening job is probably the way to go.

We have DH's kids every other weekend Fri-Sun currently and half the holidays.

He does pay maintenance. I included it under the Mortage section of my costs breakdown. It's £400 a month. We also pay for half of any school trips and try to do £100 minimum extra around August to help with school uniform.

I think we will ditch the online asda shopping and try to do a big monthly shop at aldi, b and m, etc then top up shops at aldi too. And I know I need to be more mindful about what I'm buying too. We eat a lot of meat. I might also be partial to snacking too

DH hates his job and fixing jobs but I doubt he'd be adverse to buying cars, fixing them and selling them on to get some extra money coming in though obviously we would need a little bit of cash to start with so he could buy something.

Nursery fees are £47 a day and £26 for half a day. As I said before, we should be paying for two full days but a family member is kindly paying half a day so we only have to pay 1.5.

I'll get DH onto a sim only when his contract ends.

Will also get DH to use my car on the days I'm not using it to save some there.

Have checked entitlements, etc. We arent entitled to anything

I don't think having Netflix is the problem. Everyone needs some leisure activity and Netflix is pretty cheap, as hobbies go.

Couldn't your DH take the smaller car when you're not taking DD to nursery though?

Pity about his phone - mine is £7.50 per month, DS's something like £3.99.

How come the food waste? Confused about how anyone wastes yoghurt, it keeps for a good couple of weeks. If nobody's eating it, stop buying it.

Re-usable nappies? I gave a whole set away on freecycle so you might be able to get at least a few for nothing.

I can totally see why you wouldn't want to economise on food or Netflix, as pleasures go they are relatively cheap. Something is going to have to give though.

I agree the food bill seems very high. We spend £20-50 a week, which is for 2 adults and a 19 month old, and includes nappies etc.
Have you got a local Costco? We get a few bits from there - nappies, wipes - basically anything in bulk!

At the beginning of the week I will do a 'big' food shop (Tesco). I will meal plan for the next 7 days, look what I have in the freezer, fridge and cupboards, and meal plan accordingly. More because I hate waste! Then I buy the bits that I need to add to make meals.

I also cook more than I need and then freeze the leftovers for another night. So things like chilli, curry, risotto, lasagne, cottage pie etc. Also saves time as I just get it out of the freezer to defrost in the morning, and reheat when I want to eat it later that night.

Also, have you ever had a credit card/loan etc and looked into PPI? The deadline to claim is August this year, and we got back £3k. My Mum got back £6k. My friends have got back thousands, and that's from banks who told them they didn't have PPI!
I used a company to do it for me, I just didn't have the time or expertise (they go back 30 years), so if you did want the details PM me. I won't put the company on here as I don't want people thinking I'm trying to drum up business!

I genuinely dont think we can do anything about DHs car. It's a 7 seater and has to be to get all the kids in it. It's not worth anymore than £2000 which wouldn't be much in terms of finding something the same size that's newer and more economical. Also, DH maintains that the rear two seats in newer seven seaters are small with minimal legroom compared to his older one and with 3 out of 4 of his kids at secondary school in terms of size, they'd struggle in the rear two seats.

Your combined income is very low and the best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to find a new job that pays better – it would be a much better use of your time than scrutinising your budget to save a couple of pounds here and there. Think about what you do at work that is ‘above’ your current role and paygrade and how that will help you go for the next job up. Real life examples I’ve seen: if you are a receptionist, do you ever organise meetings for other people, or deal with people they don’t want to talk to on the phone? Then you’ve been doing a big part of the work of an executive or personal assistant. If you work in a call centre for an energy company: do you ever talk people through how to access their account online, or how to view PDF bills? Do you understand when and how to escalate to someone who can offer more high-level support for callers with difficult or unusual problems? You probably qualify for a job in first-line technical support. I bet if you made another post describing your work and what you do day-to-day, people could easily help you tailor your CV for a job upgrade. I started my ‘office’ career as a temp data entry clerk 12 years ago at 12k a year and ‘traded up’ by capitalising on new skills every year or two into a new job and now I’m on about ten times that. I think I’m an extreme case of ambition and luck, but there’s no reason why you can’t bump your salary significantly with a bit of strategy. Staying put in one job and one company for more than a couple of years is pretty much the worst thing you can do for your career, at least until you’re at a salary that you’re comfortable with for the long term.

Sorry, massively cross posted.

I definitely think there are savings to be made on the shopping. My sister spend £50 max on a weekly shop for 2 adults 2 children. She does some great healthy meals, just takes forward planning.
I think your right swapping the cars on the days you don't need it that will make a fair bit of difference, but would still be worth looking into the option of changing his car. Even if it works out more expensive at least you've looked every option rather than just assuming it won't be cheaper.
His phone bill is very high and unnecessary when you don't have the spare cash. He can keep the phone and go sim only when his contact finished and will then pay similar to yours.
The idea of fixing up cars is a great one, my ex did this and he started off with a £400 banger and after a couple of years of dedication was earning anywhere between £10,000-£15,000 a month. He bought a lot of his from auction as you can buy really cheap but usually in pretty good condition with minor repairs needing, and sell for a couple thousand profit.

I think it's the food bill and the big car that are the main drain on finances tbh OP. If he can even use your car for work some days it might help. Other than that, meal plan, buy only what you need and try to cut down on waste.

Sell your car and use the money to buy cars for your DH to do up. You'll need to use taxis or public transport for the two days you work, but if your DH can turn a couple of cars around quickly you can then buy another car for you whilst still having money to buy ones to do up

You're not saying why he couldn't use your car on the 3 days you don't work?

How much is the delivery charge from Asda? Get rid of that. Try shopping at Aldi and strict meal planning. Also shop at yellow sticker times. 6pm at my Morrison's, 3pm on a Sunday. A lot of it is down to pennies and can be frozen.

When you have to cook a big meal for all of you stick to pasta dishes, mince dishes etc. Save the treat food for you and DH

Why do you need so many screens for Netflix? One screen will do. That's £4 saved

Change broadband provider and when you do use a cash back site like TopCashback. Do this every time you shop online.

Have you got loyalty cards with points? Nectar, boots? Use them to stock up on nappies etc.

Take the extra day work have offered you while it's there. You will earn slightly more than the childcare and that will drop when DC is at school.

Sell things on eBay. Give yourself a target of so many items per week.

Also look at offers to switch bank accounts etc. Shop around for cheaper insurance etc

We eat a lot of meat. I might also be partial to snacking too

^^

OK, so you need to eat more veggie meals.

Snacks are what, exactly? Biscuits etc? You'd be better baking your own, if you have time....

Are you doing the tax free childcare thing? That will save you a few quid on childcare. www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

Not sure if you have said if you use it op but tax free childcare would save you around £60 per month.

@Snuffalo Thanks. That's some really helpful advice. This is only the second job I've ever had since leaving school. So I lack experience I think. Didn't even have an interview with the first job. It was a friend of a friend, etc. It was an awful job for an awful company so I applied for a ton of jobs. Got three interviews. Fudged two of them with nerves. etc. Then finally managed to get my current job. That was only September 2017. So I haven't been with the company for a huge amount of time bearing in mind I also had a roughly a years mat leave during that time. I've got no skills. Not a great deal of experience. I lack confidence. I'd love to progress and have some form of meaningful career though. My DH has 17 years experience in his industry and has slowly risen the pay scale, etc. He's earning the maximum I think for the job he does. He's had an offer of job a few days ago doing the same thing with another company but it was less money as he gets marginally more than most doing the job he does as he's so good at it. Don't think many companies would pay what he gets now. He's also tied to 6 month notice period.

Have you looked for a Saturday job? Or even just sundays?

These really mount up a few hours here and there

I work full time but am considering it to help with Uni fees

I think you can dramatically cut your food budget a week, £115 a week you’ve got at the moment so you could deffo bring it down by meal planning, buying in bulk. Plan the meals for the week. Ie mince is cheap if you buy higher fat percentage. Cook the fat off first and drain it... you can get chilli spaghetti Bol etc really cheaply

I don’t think you would need a lot to buy a car to do up.

You could probably go through the house and sell stuff to raise a few hundred pounds then either go to an auction or look on eBay for a bargain.

Friends husband started this way.

It is now his business. It earns enough for them to buy and run their £1 million pound + house.

I sell my old bangers on eBay. Usually get between £75-100. Complete non runners.

The people who buy them strip them down and sell the parts.

I think your best bet would be to find a job or jobs that are evening work so your dh can look after your dc in the evening then you can spend during the day at home with dc and not have the childcare element of your budget

Atm your £700 per month is actually only £407 per month.

That is about £93 per week

So if you just work 4 nights per week you are looking for something where you are earning £23 per night just to be in the same position and I am sure that you could find something that pays more than that

What you are looking at is to earn more than