Please critique my budget - freaking out

[financialworrier]

I'm a single parent about to move house and I'm really worrying that I'm going to be over stretching myself with the new mortgage, and I'm considering pulling out and staying put.

Can you critique my budget please?

Mortgage payment will be £900. But I have no savings really, the house will need me to spend money on it - new curtains, new furniture.

Income from salary of circa £3750 pcm.

Other expenses:

DS bus pass £70 a month
DS club fees £25 a month
DS lunches £50 a month
DS pocket money £70 a month
Dog walker £140 a month
Cleaner/childcare £312 a month
Mobile phones £40 a month
Life insurance £23 a month
Fuel £400-500 a month
Groceries £400 a month
Council tax, gas, electric, water £350 a month (estimated)
Internet - £20 a month
TV Licence - £15 a month
House insurance £15 a month
Misc subs - £30 a month

Total bills = £3575 a month!

Leaving less than £200 a month for Christmas, savings, holidays, new clothes, shoes etc.

This isn't sensible is it?

Sorry, but £400-500 a month on fuel? And how old is your DS to get £70 pocket money a month?

£70 pocket money seems a lot. How old is DS? Can he walk the dogs to earn his pocket money?

Fuel is also a lot.

I do 100 miles a day hence fuel is high.

Dog needs walking at lunchtime while we're out so not possible for DS to do it.

£70 a month - 12 YO DS who is supposed to pay for all frills from this. I don't just hand out money each time he wants something or wants to do something so this is probably about even with what others spend. He has to use this for VBUCKS, cinema tickets, new items that he doesn't need but just wants, etc.

How old is your son that he gets nearly £20 per week pocket money but also needs childcare? Also your fuel bill is a bit crazy, we commute around 1.5 hrs per day and spend max £120 per month including trips away at weekends - perhaps a more economical car would help or travel to work using public transport and save the car for the weekend?

Groceries could definitely be scaled back if there is just the two of you as two adults we only spend max £70 per week and we eat very well you could definitely achieve that since there is also a separate lunch bill for your DS. We shop at tesco too so we're not talking changing to a really budget shop and having your groceries chucked at you on a weekly basis.

RE your mortgage, I cant comment as I live in a tiny house in a shit town but for your curtains and furniture I would advise just gathering over time with lovely, well made second hand items and consider making your own curtains its very easy to do following youtube vids.

Dog walker is another big cost but I guess its not really negotiable as you have the dog, it needs exercised and I imagine you will be very busy. Likewise cleaner and childcare, if i was on your salary and a single parent I'd certainly want assistance in those areas too, you cant put a price on sanity!

ditch the cleaner - why does a 12yo need childcare?

fuel.. could you do this any cheaper ie swap your car for something more economical? or get the train? (appreciate that's not a straight forward suggestion but might help in the long term!)

£400 is a lot for groceries for 2 people per month.. you could v easily half that.

Much as I love my cleaner, you can't afford one I'm afraid. Is there a reason you need childcare for a 12yo? I think if you could drop cleaning and childcare and take £100 off your shopping (which should be doable) then you'd be £400 up which suddenly feels more manageable.

Agree your fuel costs look crazy but I'm guessing to reduce that might mean changing car or something like that, which would of course incur a cost.

Used hybrid car? Auris does 10 miles to a £1 of fuel (unless I’m just rather lucky!)

I’d focus on reducing grocery shop by at least one third and ditching the cleaner/childcare.
That would save about 450 per month.

bionic I have a hybrid yaris and I barely fill it up its fab

Your mobile seems high? £10 a month here (on owned handset) (Giffgaff)

joan my friend has a Yaris...it’s HUGE inside!

@YorkshireGoldFanClub what car are you running to spend less than £30 a week on fuel for 1.5 hours driving a day? My car is not anything fancy, just a 1.6 litre diesel but is not particularly fuel efficient for some reason.

The groceries bill also includes all toiletries and £40 a month dog food so not wildly high. I do try to eat lots of protein and fruit at home though. DS doesn't eat well on school lunches so I try to provide the nutrition at home. He also eats a LOT. I think this is a teenage boy thing. We could look at ways of scaling this back though.

The cleaner/childcare is a housekeeper for six hours a week. This has a dual purpose - partly for my sanity and partly to act as company for DS (hence "childcare") so he's not always alone in the house while I'm at work.

Train would be cheaper than fuel but would also add 30+ mins a day to commute each way as I'd need to get a bus to and from the train station to work. As a LP I don't want to be out of the house any more than I already am, it's not fair on DS.

If I were you I would

1. Reduce pocket money, or include his 25 club fees in it so he has to budget/know where his money is coming from.
2. Get rid of cleaner
3. Get rid of internet and find a mobile phone provider that has good signal and unlimited internet that you can use to thether up to at home.
4. Try to reduce the fuel bill if possible.
5. Meal plan and reduce food bill.

I’d drop the cleaner/childcare. Your DS is old enough to take on some housekeeping and between the two of you, you can keep a flat clean.
12yo is also old enough to not need childcare. I was babysitting infants at that age.
I think groceries could be reduced a bit as well. We spend the same as you for family of 4 (with two bottomless teens).
Pocketmoney we do £4* their Yr. so my Yr11 15yr old gets £44/mo. It’s actually about average compared to class mates. But it is probably too late to cut that. If anything, id leave it as is but tell him he needs to start saving some of it towards his first car or uni.
Dog walker is a lot. Do you have a retired neighbour who would be walking their dog anyway and can do this for less?

Straight away what sticks out to me is the childcare and cleaner.
I would firstly ditch the cleaner.
Make your 12 year old do chores for their £70 a month pocket money.
What childcare setting are they in? Is it necessary? My 11 almost 12 year old comes home form school every day on his own and has jobs to do, things like hoovering, emptying the dishwasher, emptying the recycling and putting his clean clothes away. He also helps out with dinner prep. His bedroom is entirely his responsibility until it needs a deep clean and then I help.
Can you swap where you shop? £100 a week seems quite a lot if it’s just you and DS. Aldi saves us a fortune. I reckon you could save £20-30 a week by doing that. Do you plan food in advance? This also saves a fortune and reduces waste.
Small things you could do is speak to your broadband provider and say you’re thinking of cancelling, they’ll offer cheaper options.
Fuel does seem like a lot too but we don’t know how far you’re travelling so that might be unavoidable.

i still think your groceries bill is wildly high tbh.

i feed two adults, 1 toddler and 2 cats on about £50 - £60 a week and that's an average week, i don't cut back on anything.

£400 on groceries seems a lot! I spend around £40-50 per week, sometimes less on a full food shop for DH and I at Aldi. I know not everyone loves Aldi. It took us a while to get used to eating non-branded food but now we prefer most of the Aldi versions. That could save you so much money!

Also I would get DS to walk the dog for his pocket money!!!!
Either that or the very unpopular opinion of getting rid of the dog! (Prepares for bashing 🙈😂)

Also can you son walk the dog when he gets home from school? I was hesitant about mine being at home from 3:30 until I get home until 6 but he really enjoys it, feels really grown up and enjoys the peace. If he had a dog he would be in his element so I reckon you could make dog walking a chore to earn his pocket money.

@Youmadorwhat
She can’t get rid of internet because most schools now assign homework over the internet and the kids have to submit it online as well.
If anything, I’d drop TV license and just do streaming. That’s what we do. You can stream anything- Netflix, ITV, channel 4, etc except BBC iplayer without a TV license.

Erm I have £350 left after bills to pay for food and fuel. I’d love to have £200 to spend on non essentials

@AngelasAshes that is why I suggested she could tether it to her phone/ Ds could tether to his phone. That’s what I do 🤷‍♀️ It works and saves money for me. She asked, I’m suggesting.

And then should your roof need fixing...
Does your job require you to drive around (then they would pay fuel) or do you live 50 miles from work? Maybe you should move closer. That still seems excessive as I have a biggish car and get 530 miles a tank and a tank costs just over £60. So even in my car that’s £240-80 a month.
You can cut the grocery bill, get the cleaner only every other week and you shouldn’t need childcare unless overnight.

At 12 your son can walk the dog to earn his pocket money- Ditch the dog walker.
£400 is a lot for you and just one child so cut back on that
£95 on sons pocket money and clubs is v high- can you reduce that?
Cleaner- get a cheaper one that is super expensive!

Edit- get a cheaper one. That one is super expensive