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?

Sorry NRTWT

but can you;

do air bnb when the teenagers aren't around?
cycle to nursery with child seat and sell car?
Sell the 7 seater for something more economical?
Do childminding on your days off? or other work from home
Do child care share with someone so you each look after each other's children 2 days a week (or even 1)
Do babysitting in evenings once or twice a week (still a 2nd job but if in evening at least not tiring)
offer dog walking service
do leafelting on days off (can take child and not need childcare ? might be a long shot!
Re-train/study to a better paid job?

I know, I do empathise but ultimately all those "but but buts" are where you're throwing your money. You need to accept that it is an active choice you are making to have all those luxuries instead of ones like holidays, etc.

I set up his nursery fees to come out as a direct debit and then a week later got a letter informing me about tax free childcare which I assumed was too late to do now I'd set up a direct debit with the nursery

no not at all! go on the childcare choices website, check if you're eligible and then if you are, set it up!! and then just cancel the DD - you just pay into the account the bill les 20% - they add the extra 20% and then you go back into it when the payment has cleared and set up a payment to nursery.

you will be missing out on 20% of your bill if you're eligible for this and don't claim it!!

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Sadly, I would say ditch the netflix and do you need the internet or do you have data on your phones? If you want to keep the internet at home, perhaps you could look into reducing your tariff on your phones - some phone companies allow you to drop to a lower tariff once during your contract. Something to consider - i'm assuming both of you are on contract?
During my first trimester I was off meat and I was so surprised how much we managed to save on our weekly food bill! Perhaps you can get frozen meat instead of fresh - not as good but until you get your feet on the ground, it's better than none. Try having a few vegetarian meals a week and make big, bulky meals like Spag Bol or Cottage Pies and use half mince meat and half lentils (believe me, you can't tell the difference as the texture is so similar!).
Could you try making your own bread for sandwiches or buying super cheap bread for the kids sandwiches - lets face it, most of the time they can't tell the difference! You'd be surprised the amount of really lovely meals you can make from cheap food :) Maybe have a look at some recipes online and see some that you like and adapt the ingredients accordingly?
I hope you manage to get yourself sorted, sounds like you've got a lot going on.

@TheBossOfMe he picks them up and drops them home. Also drives 45 miles every Sunday he has them to visit his family.

My income is 8800 per year. Dh is 30k roughly.

I would do an evening or weekend shift at a supermarket - our Sainsbury's pays £10 an hour plus you get a discount on your food shopping - win win.

Your food budget is high, there are loads of great youtubers who show you how to eat well on less money, it's fun and satisfying to do as well.

It will only be short term until you get childcare vouchers, at that point you can up your hours at your main job.

Do you claim Family Allowance ? What age is your child?

Are you claiming child benefit? Have you looked into marriage tax allowance?

Go into local pubs and ask if they're hiring evenings or weekends.

Is there no way he could pick them up/drop them home on pubic transport? And I don't think he can afford the 45mile trip to visit his family every Sunday he has them.

You have a very large family to budget for, on a very small household income. There is always a reason not to make cuts - but you don't have a choice.

Bin:
Netflix
7 seater car

Change:
Utilities
Eating habits

Check:
Benefits
Childcare allowances
2nd job possibilities

That's really all you have to play with.

I know, I do empathise but ultimately all those "but but buts" are where you're throwing your money. You need to accept that it is an active choice you are making to have all those luxuries instead of ones like holidays, etc.

^This^

The big car is a convenience, a very expensive convenience. If your serious about sorting out you budget then you need to address this and find a different way of getting about. The hard fact is that you cannot afford to be running 2 cars where one is a huge gas guzzler. You just can't.

Then as others have said, you need to look at your food budget. £500 is a huge amount. We don't spend that and we eat really well eg smoked salmon, good cuts of meat, exotic fruits etc. You mention that you throw away a lot of food, why is that?

I suspect you can cut £100 off your food if you plan, Ive got mine below £100 a week for 4 adults and dog. Otherwise look at what the marginal rate of you working is - look at the daily childcare cost and the amount you would earn, if you work one extra day would that help?

Not too late for tax free childcare. Might be worth checking if you qualify for UC too

Do you meal plan OP? Find i spend much less on food if I have a list of meals for the week and I do an online shop ordering only the ingredients for those meals.

I agree about the car. It is very convenient but obviously a big expense. I wouldn't be adverse to getting rid and looking for alternative but can't see DH going for it. He isnt going to want rid of it. Nor will he stop visiting family. Hes already saying it isnt a huge cost, and it wouldn't be much difference if he made the journey in my car. The cost is simply because hes doing a lot of miles 1200 a month

I'll look into the tax free childcare. Thanks. I have checked before and we arent entitled to any benefits apart from child benefit which we already claim.

I do meal plan but badly Haha

I am seriously questioning why you can’t find 16 hours of evening work that pays more than £5.15 per hour.

I think people have given good suggestions but you have to get over the excuses of why you can’t.

I wasn’t suggesting you keep more than one job. I was suggesting ditching the day job and do evening work solely.

Not to sound too harsh but you don’t earn enough to have excuses

@Oliversmumsarmy the jobs I was looking at prior to this thread were supermarket shift type evening jobs that I could do in addition to my day job. Found a few shifts at Tesco between 7.5 - 11 hours per week in the evenings.

I hadn't fully considered cutting the day job completely and replacing solely with evening work until the comments on this thread.

I will have a look shortly to see if there's anything that fits the bill.

We end up with quite a lot of fresh food waste, milk, yoghurts, etc.

ALARM BELLS FOR ME!!

You should try meal planning. Plan out each meal and spread things across meals where you can so that every single thing is used, e.g. tin of kidney beans goes half into a chilli con carne, half gets made into refried beans for a burrito. (bad example but you get it)

Stretch things out, do reasonable portions - roast chicken = 2 breasts, 2 legs and the carcass and scraps for a noodle soup. There are lots of ways you can make cheap meals without having to restrict too much, or do a 3 cheap, 4 'normal' meals a week.

We only spend €70 a week on food for 2 adults, 2 kids and that includes alcohol and nice things like posh deli bits, steak, smoked salmon etc.

Why do you say you're not eligible for tax-free childcare if you haven't looked into it? Afaik you only have to both be working 16 hours a week minimum on min wage or above. That could potentially cover your shortfall - you get £2 free for every £8 you put in.

(Not all the shortfall)

Sort the tax free child care asap!

you should be entitled to tax free childcare based on the figures above, you have to be earning more than £131 per week (both you and your partner) but both less than 100k per year.

Apply for tax free childcare now, it'll knock 20% off your nursery bills.

Your food budget is really high - I've never spent more than £75 a week,and that's being frivolous - meal planning, and even snack planning could save you £150 minimum a month.