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

245 replies

SeraphinaR · 05/06/2019 11:33

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?

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 06/06/2019 14:00

I find it incredible how a £9.99 entertainment subscription per month causes so many posts

But fuel at half the food costs hardly raises an eyebrow

£3000 per year on exhaust fumes

Buy a second hand moped for work commute, in the long run it will literally save you thousands

Keep the 7 seater for transporting 5 dc but don’t use it

LonelyTiredandLow · 06/06/2019 14:04

The cost of entertainment 'concern' is the same as the threads of old where welfare claimants were told they shouldn't even have mobiles/TV's/Car etc. An earning version of benefit bashing. Bear in mind Odeon Cinema tickets, for one show, are £7.50 plus. Entertainment is part of a normal balanced home life and can work out cheaper than 'going without' if then people are forced out of the house with nothing to do.

We have "the working poor" in this country. It is shameful.

Oliversmumsarmy · 06/06/2019 14:15

Youmadorwhat but then there is the chance they will spend more because they are bored staying in.

Oliversmumsarmy · 06/06/2019 14:27

Can I just point out op if you took on an extra days work at the job you are in your childcare costs would go up 50% so would your petrol costs by 50% but so would your salary.

But instead of working for a net hourly rate of £5.15 it would actually go down to £4.14

If you did work a few nights per week. You wouldn’t have the childcare costs so instead of trying to get £700 per month you would only need to find a job that paid about £94 per week and you would be no worse off.

Any more and you would be in the money.

Oliversmumsarmy · 06/06/2019 14:29

Buy a second hand moped for work commute, in the long run it will literally save you thousands

Can you even put a toddler on a moped?

SeraphinaR · 06/06/2019 20:21

Just done some workings out.

£200 of our £500 food budget is fizzy drinks and snacks.

No, I've never made a sauce from scratch and rely on jars. Eat lots of frozen foods and ready meals.

Basically I'm a bit fucking shit. At most things. It's me that has a shit job and earns fuck all. It's me that budgets and does all the food shopping. Me that orders the ready meals and aunt bessies roast Potatoes. It's me that's overweight and has a snacking problem and fizzy drink habit.

Got to try and not be so shit going forward

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 06/06/2019 20:26

On the bright side OP, having worked out about that £200 you can easily save £100+ a month just by limiting the fizzys & snacks a bit. If it is a weekly shop and you can avoid the temptation to 'top up' just say fizzy only on Saturdays, and halve the snacks, and when they're gone, they're gone.

Thursday4567852 · 06/06/2019 20:30

@SeraphinaR don’t be so blooming hard on yourself!!!

Thatsnotmybaby · 06/06/2019 20:31

Are you quite young OP? I think it takes lots of us some time to grow up and be sensible about everything; I wouldn't like to think how I would have fared out trying to manage a tight budget for a family in my twenties; I wasn't very grown up until I was almost 30. Sounds like you are quite young so I think you are
Doing really well to try to get a handle on all this now.
And don't blame yourself, your DP has a lot of responsibilities that he needs to fulfill, not relying on you to work out all the finances for him.

Oliversmumsarmy · 06/06/2019 20:32

I make my own fizzy drinks because sometimes plain water doesn’t cut it.

2 litre bottle of fizzy water for 25p and a 99p carton of juice.

Lots of fizzy water in a glass or jug and a bit of juice.

Lasts ages

SeraphinaR · 06/06/2019 20:32

I've recently turned 23

OP posts:
nzeire · 06/06/2019 20:44

You’re not shit, lots of us have been there. Cut back on the fizz (teeth!)and get a night shift or weekend day. I did a job when the kids were wee where I didn’t have to pay for childcare. Even went babysitting in the evenings when the husband came home. These are the tough years for sure. Keep posting, keep considering suggestions.

StellarLunar · 06/06/2019 20:51

Seraphina hey, go easy on yourself. I was really appreciating your jovial tone and good nature but suddenly you got really upset. You are not shit! You're doing your best Flowers

I was coming on to say DH + 4 kids = 5 seater, not 7 seater. Any days you all want to go somewhere together you bring 2 cars. Someone got there ahead of me though!

Gazelda · 06/06/2019 20:52

You're not shit. You're addressing this, follow some of the suggestions on this thread and you'll get it under control.
One step at a time. But first, please check out tax free childcare. And any benefits that you might be eligible for.

Make a plan. Diarise when your DH's phone contract is up for renewal.
Ditto the utilities, phone, broadband etc.

Use cash back sites when doing this As well As insurance etc.
You'll get there. No one was born knowing how to budget. You're young and have large commitments. Don't be hard on yourself.

CottonSock · 06/06/2019 21:05

I was a student at your age. Didn't know how to cook much at all. Spent most of my money on beer. I learnt to cook mostly in my 30s. Don't be hard on yourself. You are looking to change things. Do you want to learn to cook, does it interest you?

SeraphinaR · 06/06/2019 21:09

Sorry, you're right. I just, I try hard every day and sometimes it's utterly consuming and overwhelming. I've had some great ideas here.

Things I'm going to get sorted or look into ASAP are, Tax Free Child Care. I'll double check benefits entitlement but it wasn't that long ago I checked so I'm pretty sure I'm not entitled to anything other than the Tax Free Child Care and Child Benefit.

I'll start by getting DH to use my car three days a week to save a bit on fuel. Can't quite talk him into ditching his car yet so we'll start with this.

Food Shopping, I know I can make great savings here so I'll reread the comments here and see how best we can work on this.

Cut down or cut out completely fizzy drinks and snacks. Tough one for me I'm pretty shit at self care and looking after myself and my diet is a huge part of that so I really need to work on this.

Find out the date DH's phone contract ends and shop around for a good sim only deal. No upgrade. Get a better sim only contract for my phone this month.

Downgrade Netflix to the cheaper package.

Look into my utilities and see if we can make any savings there.

Keep looking for jobs I can do in the evenings.

Food will definitely be my biggest challenge of the lot.

OP posts:
SeraphinaR · 06/06/2019 21:13

@CottonSock Ha! I bloody hate cooking. Love eating, hate cooking. I've been running our household for four years and I don't think I've improved much. I find it all really difficult in all honesty. I can't seem to do everything I'm supposed to. I can't hold down a job, let a lone a second job, I can't look after the baby three days a week by myself, cook, clean and look after myself. I struggle to do half of it well!

OP posts:
QforCucumber · 06/06/2019 21:15

What does a normal week of meals look like for your family? If you post it here I'll bet we can help you out with little changes which will make a big difference to your budget :) (oh and we only buy frozen veg because otherwise we find we throw loads away. I'm also lazy and buy frozen chopped onion too)

Graphista · 06/06/2019 21:23

You're not shit! That's why I ASKED if you'd had anyone teach you to cook properly. Most of it is easy but if nobody has shown you or allowed you to learn and develop your confidence in this that's not your fault. Changing family dynamics and cookery lessons at school being completely fucked for last 20-30 years has meant lots of people have fallen through the cracks on acquiring this skill.

I was lucky I grew up with a mum and 2 granny's who were fabulous cooks (one it was her job) who showed us (me and siblings/cousins) and let us make our mistakes without making a big deal of it - cook granny was a true whiz at rescuing curdled and lumpy mixes or excesses of ingredients.

I also had decent cookery lessons at school where we actually made 2 and 3 course meals from scratch and learnt the chemistry and physics involved and nutritional education.

Fizzy drinks - sparkling water is much healthier and cheaper and can be flavoured with a splash of squash or cordial or even fresh juices or fruits. I mainly drink this as I try to be caffeine free and also avoid certain artificial sweeteners. Sometimes I have it "plain" or I'll squirt a little lemon juice or lime juice in. Or you could get a soda stream, they're enjoying something of a revival at the moment and I bet the teens would have a blast with it!

Snacks - reduce consumption anyway. I'm a bugger for crisps but am also overweight and disabled so I try (I don't always succeed( to have carrot batons, celery sticks or sliced sweet peppers instead, for the savoury hit sprinkle with salt or even better garlic and herb salt grinder from B&M yum! You get your crunch and salty hit for much less calories and cheaper and more nutrients. Ok the salt not so healthy but...lesser of 2 evils. Chocolate - quality over quantity but you can still go own brand here, own brand dark choc is usually lush, or even better fruit, yes it's still sugary but still better than haribo etc

I think there's a food/recipe board on here you could post there for beginners recipes. I find BBC good food great for "basics" I use it when I've forgotten a recipes proportions or I know I've forgotten an ingredient and gone blank but also sometimes new recipes they're dead easy to follow and don't often include ingredients that are hard to get hold of.

But to kick you off:

Basic tomato pasta sauce: fry off onions and garlic then add either tinned chopped tomatoes or passata, basil, oregano and parsley simmer and serve - even better on the second day actually and in my experience stores fine in fridge for 2-3 days

Basic stir fry sauce - fry off garlic, ginger, chillis if you like, add dark soy sauce, splash of vinegar and again tinned toms or passata but not too wet or instead of tomatoes sweet chilli sauce. Add to stir fry and serve.

Cheats cheesey pasta sauce - fry off garlic and onions, reduce heat, add garlic & herb cream cheese, creme fraiche, grated cheddar stir until cheddar melted. Also lovely on jacket potatoes.

"I've recently turned 23" definitely forgive yourself - you are still very much learning.

How old is dh? I'm guessing at least 10 years older in which case he should know better than to be clinging on to a money guzzling car! Instead of putting pressure on you.

Graphista · 06/06/2019 21:27

Check benefits eligibility regularly say quarterly - they change constantly especially at the moment.

Frozen chopped onion is a bloody brilliant invention! I suffer really badly with the tear inducing thing so can't see a damn thing if using raw but I'm fine with frozen and a bag lasts AGES.

That reminds me - Iceland and farm goods for frozen foods

GreenTulips · 06/06/2019 21:31

Mincemeat,30p passetta sauce, onion and carrots (grated) makes a cheap spag bol
Jacket potatoes and tuna - quick and easy (microwave and finish in the oven)
Tinned hotdogs and rolls
Pasta salad - cold pasta mayo and cucumber plus other veg - we like bean sprouts -
Pizza - but a mix 40p add tomato purée and use up what’s left on the fridge - ham cheese bacon etc for tasty pizza
Beans on toast or fish fingers are easy midweek

Snack draw - I agree when it’s gone it’s gone
I refuse to buy fizzy drinks - kids drink squash or milk

Do you have a slow cooker? Beef and mixed bag of veg thrown in 4/6 hours and teas cooked
Curry - slow cooked chopped onions and spices (curry powder paprika, turmeric, garlic powder) stir in - then add half a pint of chicken stock and a spoon of brown sugar

This is the basis of a decent curry add meat and veg as you chose - finish with cornflour to thicken - great with easy cook rice

You can learn to cook

ArnoldBee · 06/06/2019 21:35

Get down to Aldi and buy your fizzy drinks. £10 - at Aldi lasts us over a month in fizz.

WhatIfIHadnt · 06/06/2019 21:45

Add on to your to do list - contact HMRC and get them to add Marriage Tax Allowance to your DH’s tax code - as you earn so little some of your tax free allowance will be transferred to him, and you may even get a refund for last year!

DonnaDarko · 06/06/2019 21:47

Haven't read the whole thread but I have a tip about your food budget, particularly after reading that you waste a lot of fresh stuff.

Buy frozen! I don't buy any fresh veg now and we rarely have any waste. It also works out cheaper.

I also budget my meals and bulk buy things like pasta or rice when I see them in a deal. Because of this, I always have some staples in the house which means on some weeks I don't need to buy. For 3 adults and 1 constantly-eating toddler, I spend 60-80 a week on average. On a really good week, I'll spend 40.

ivykaty44 · 07/06/2019 06:49

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9644/nofuss-shepherds-pie
Basic simple cooking, youtube is useful & will help in the art of cooking

Making meals is cheaper and you can freeze half for next week

Chicken is easy to cook and again half can be frozen for the next week

This means you have three dinners in the freezer, not as much shopping needed....

feastandfarm.com/baked-macaroni-cheese/

Easy and filling, yellow mustard powder added to the sauce will bring the flavour of the cheese out. If you buy a big bag of pasta and enough cheese you can make this twice over two weeks.

You could try making one dish each week until you feel comfortable, then introduce more home cooked meals

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