Why can we not make it through the month?

Iateallthepies · 12 October 2008 at 7:17AM

Where are we going wrong?
My wife and I both work and between us we bring in around £30,000 a year. We have three children at school ages 15,12 and 5. We dont eat out, smoke, drink excessively and our mortgage including endowments is around 600 a month. How is it that we are always in debt to the bank (around £3500) we always struggle to pay car insurance, tax etc and dread the thought of any unexpected bills for car/house etc as we have no "cushion" tucked away. I am 46 and have no pension and I really need to get my (financial) life in order. I also work part time doing food delivery.

Sorry to be a bit rambly but I am sure I will get good advice from you guys.

~Yorkshire_Belle~ · 12 October 2008 at 7:29AM

Hello iateallthepies ( great name!)

Welcome to the board. I'm not an expert but there are great people on here who can help. They will advise posting your SOA ( Statement of Affairs) - see sticky at the top of the page - the link you need is to 'making sense of cards ' but my morning brain can't find it.. Folks will then suggest ways to cut back.
All the best
Edited: here's the link but you have to follow instructions to copy and paste on here. Get a cup of coffee before you start!
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

hypno06 · 12 October 2008 at 7:37AM

Hi there, and welcome - the key is to focus on budgets first of all. So my advice would be to grab a pad of paper, pens and a coffee and brainstorm EVERYTHING you spend money on, whether on a daily basis, weekly or monthly, and the annual payments like MOT etc that you forget about until they are due then can't afford to pay them.

Then, put together your statement of affairs (SOA) using the link at the top of this board and post it on this thread and people will be able to look and give ideas as to where you might be able to cut back etc.

As far as the budgets go - Martin has a nifty little budgetting tool to the right of the screen that really does help you to think of all those "forgotten" items - give it a go and see where you are adrift.

Keep a spending diary from NOW - every day write down every single penny, whether mortgage payment or pack of chewing gum, that you spend. At the end of the week/month you can look back and see those things that are unnecessary and can therefore be cut out quite painlessly.

Keep posting - get ideas from here on making more money, cutting back, getting freebies etc and that will make it much easier for you all round!

Good luck!

thepinkladez_2 · 12 October 2008 at 8:15AM

welcome to the board, you are making the first steps to getting your financial life in order! You will get loas of great advice, support and help here.Like the op's have said get your soa together and we can really have a look at it and see if/ and where you can change things.

Jellybean1 · 12 October 2008 at 8:27AM

Hello everyone! Iateallthepies I know how you feel, there's just not enough money to make ends meet. I've been lurking on this site for a while now and today have finally decided to take a deep breath, dive in and start to deal with this mess. It's not going to disappear no matter how much I bury my head in the sand so I need to take control now before it gets any worse. I don't want to take over your thread, should I start a new one of my own? (Not sure what I'm doing with this as never joined a forum before!) I've just completed a very rough SOA so now feel thoroughly depressed seeing it all there in black and white!

Happytogetdebtfree · 12 October 2008 at 8:29AM

Jelly bean create your own thread its liberating in the past months since i stepped on here ive made some real changes and feel much wiser and less down about it

look forward to helping you along your way

xx hi iateallthe pies look forward to seeing your soa toooo

xx

Jellybean1 · 12 October 2008 at 8:52AM

Ok I will, if I can work out how to do it!:rotfl:

Happytogetdebtfree · 12 October 2008 at 8:58AM

haha i look forward to it

:T

madmalteaser · 12 October 2008 at 9:27AM

Are your outgoings more than your earnings each month? Regardless of whether you drink, smoke, eat out every night or take luxury holidays every couple of months, if your bills are higher than what you're earning then you're always going to owe someone something.

If, on the other hand, your outgoings aren't more than your earnings, then you must be spending without realising. So an SOA is a good idea, they're a good bunch on here and will work out where it is you're going wrong and point you in the right direction.

And well done for the making the first step. Welcome to MSE!

doodledo_2 · 12 October 2008 at 9:33AM

Hi and welcome to the forum you have definately come to the right place.

I definately recommend going through your outgoings with a fine tooth comb and seeing exactly where all your money is going.

A SOA is a must as its a really good start to your plan seeing where your money goes.

Good luck.

MrsPorridge · 12 October 2008 at 9:38AM

Just want to say welcome. I am new on here too. There is such great advice. As the others have said post your SOA and write down every single penny you spend. Its amazing where that money goes. With me it was the odd £5 on there, another £10 on that and £1.80 on a coffee etc., etc. I was always at the cash point taking out £10 or £20. Would get home and think "I have no money and I haven't bought anything" But then would sit down and work it out and WOW I had spent it!! Its amazing how much money I would fritter away, but not any more. I was a real spenaholic, if it was in my purse I would have to spend it. Now I hate spending (never thought I would see the day).