I have just added up all my direct debits and it comes to nearly 5k a month!

[LaurieFairyCake]

I cannot believe it's so high! No wonder my disposable income is so small. £4667 a month!

I've included all fixed costs that I can't do anything about (but NOT petrol and commuting costs which I also can't do much about, or food which is about £600 a month)

It wasn't as bad as this a few months ago but that bloody HMRC thing where they now make self employed people (who earn more than £1000 a year profit) pay on account - actually in ADVANCE of earnings has totally fucked me! Why the hell am I paying tax on money I've not even earned yet!

I'm looking through them and there's not much I can do anything about unless I want to not have my house insured or dogs insured.

Are you paying a lot on mobile contracts etc.?

OP, speak to your friend about whether it's more beneficial for you to operate through a limited company (assuming you're not already). If you can reduce the amount of tax you're actually having to pay that would help.

Have to say I've not heard of the monthly tax payment thing and I've been in accounts for over 20 years! I'm used to people just paying at the end of January and July, but yes, in advance.

Mortgage here is 1500 for a small 4 bed in the south east. Can't move somewhere cheaper due to school and work. Our direct debits come to £3800 a month. Have gone through relentlessly and can't shave anything else. Life is expensive. You get trapped into paying stuff and then realise you're stuck.

Marsha I pay on account but just pay in Jan and July - I'm assuming the OP means she's putting her tax aside which obviously is the right thing to do?

Sorry what? This is a total first world problem. Just stop overpaying until the loan and tax thing are sorted.

£80 a month on dog food? What are you feeding? (Or do you actually have elephants?)

Dog day care needs to go. Decent walk in the morning, dog walker at lunchtime (or even better, you or DP pop home for a walk), and a quick walk in the evening.

Pet insurances you can't really change due to pre existing condition limitations etc. but you could potentially negotiate down e.g. if you have a 15 year old dog you're insuring for £12k a year but actual, you wouldn't do any major surgery or great heroics in the event of illness or injury, you may be able to reduce your cover amount for a lower monthly premium (you cannot increase cover level without taking out a whole new policy though, so something to carefully consider).

How the hell are you spending £500 (600 minus dog food) for 2 people a month? We are vegetarian, eat well, and spend about £60 a week (including for DS who isn't veggie and I buy meat for from the local not cheap butcher). Shop in Aldi or Lidl. They're open at least 8am-8pm Monday-Saturday plus 10-4 or similar on Sundays so not being able to get there because of work seems a weak excuse. My food (and cleaning etc.) bill was reduced by 2/3 by swapping to Lidl

There is no way in the world £600 on shopping isn't a luxury. If you had to and wanted to, you could easily cut that in half.

You won’t get any sympathy on here. Mumsnet hate people who earn more than them

Lonny I’ve only ever paid for previous years at the end of Jan. I’ve had a year off maternity leave though maybe the accountant will tell me something new for this year

I expect many of the people posting earn similar to Op, it isn't that astonishing an amount. I doubt it is envy from posters, there just seem to be obvious ways to cut costs but Op doesn't seem to actually want to contemplate any of them?

You can clearly cut food /shopping costs.

The dog day care bill is hugely excessive.

You might be able to rework your loan or reduce mortgage overpayments in the short term.

Or you can just wring your hands and pretend the increasing overdraft is unavoidable.

I'm confused now about the tax, is it £800 per month or for half the year

And £600 on food is totally ridiculous, you can surely save at least half of that. The uni students need to be looking after themselves

I have not read all 4 pages of this thread as there just isn't the time to do that for me today.

Being told on a forum to prepare to have your arse kicked (and other similar words) is just trolling and bullying. Absolutely no need for it at all.

As far as the OP thread goes all I will say is that there are always ways and tips to save money on just about every aspect of household expenses with possibly the exceptions mortgage and council tax.

Buying gifts for family for example, spend a lot less and if anyone feels insulted that is their problem alone.
High end label clothes come with a high end price obviously and if someone is not prepared to look around the more affordable options on the high street then complaining about running out of money before the end of the month is not much use when things can be improved easily.

Not for a moment suggesting the OP does this but I have a family member who buys almost all her clothes and bags from charity shops and she looks fabulous wherever she goes. No doubt the snob mob will hold their noses at this one.

If your tax is £800 a month, your salary must be about £55k and your take home pay about £3400. Is that right?

It sounds like your DH works too if he uses car. Can you include his income too?

That would help us decide if your mortgage is too high (sounds like it might be). £600 a month on food is generous(!) of a family of 8. How many dependants do you have?

£600 a month for food etc? I can feed four of us for about £300 a month plus cleaning materials and I’m not particularly being careful. You really need to have a proper read of moneysavingexpert and work out how to lower your outgoings. Insurances, doggy daycare, food are all clear areas you can work on.

Being told on a forum to prepare to have your arse kicked (and other similar words) is just trolling and bullying

It really isn't, MN is a robust place and pointing that out is fine. In what way is that bullying?

@ LaurieFairyCake welcome to the self-employed world :-)

Glad some people have given helpful answers to you.
Ignore those being ...robust!

It’s a money shortage ...yes it’s more money than most people earn but did posters being snippy miss that you have a health problem which will get worse hence the mortgage is over 14 years? I am on benefits (top up) and it’s a struggle but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the difficulties the OP is facing.

OP you’re doing all the right things.

Take a look at your food bill to see if you can get that down would be my first suggestion. Note any top up shops you do.

I bet you could shave £200 off that

How much are your overdraft fees? Quite often they work out at a similar/higher rate than pay day loans. There’s no point over paying on your mortgage when you’ve got higher rate debt.

I’ve only ever paid for previous years at the end of Jan. I’ve had a year off maternity leave though maybe the accountant will tell me something new for this year

You can set it up now as a monthly payment. Called budget plan or something. It's quite new but v helpful.

Here it is:

Marsha I've been paying tax on account almost since I started freelancing and that's 10 years now! It's not really tax in advance though, because of the lag between earning and doing a tax return but it does feel like it!

So on 31 July I paid tax on account for tax year 2018/19 - which I have already earned, but I haven't done a tax return for because I don't have to do a tax return till 31 Jan 2020 for that year. Of course I could do that tax return before 31 July to know exactly what I need to pay, but I don't (because I cba and I'm pretty confident about how much I'll need to pay eventually).

It's not actually tax in advance, but it does feel like that the first time you pay it. Tax ahead of doing your tax return is a better name... Though that's why I keep asking the OP if she's sure, because she keeps saying she hasn't earned the money yet, and that's not actually right.

The most immediate thing you can do is reduce your food/household bill. There are 5 of us plus a cat. We are not veggie. We use Tesco mostly. We spend about £500 per month on food, pet food, household products like laundry, cleaning, toiletries etc.
So if there are two of you and you're veggie you can definitely cut that down.

I think asking your accountant friend for more help would be wise.

Your £600 a month grocery bill could easily come down with a change in supermarket (if you can't get to Lidl/Aldi then Asda or Tesco will still be cheaper than sainsbury or Ocado) properly meal plan so you're not buying unnecessary luxuries, down-grade your brands (basics such as rice, pasta, bleach, kitchen roll - you won't even notice a difference doting basic) cut back on alcohol and try switching dog food brands as that's a big expense. You can reduce your mortgage over payment and definitely look at doggy daycare costs as that seems totally OTT especially if you're around working at home some days.

We're both veggies so yes, seems to cost loads

For most people, being a veggie would mean lower costs.

Op you must live in a big city if a two bed flat costs that much.. in my small city Aldi is open till 10pm, do you really work that late? £600 for two vegetarians is a lot, my biggest expense is definitely free range meat. I am sure you can cut that back, I spend less than that on five greedy meat eaters.

Also the dog care seems a lot, I don't have a dog but others seem to suggest it's not essential or needn't cost as much. Two easy ish ways to save £2-300 a month I would say.