Don't know how we'll eat this month

Queen.Bess

Hi worriedsick, just echoing what others have said on here and all this info can seem daunting at first, but then once you start looking at your shopping bills, mobile phone options etc, things will become clearer.

DH and I had to look at what we used to spend and when it comes to shopping, there are certain value ranges that provided excellent food at lower costs. In particular Sainsbury's basics - the fruit/vegetable range is great because they are just odd shapes and sizes! Take the downshift challenge with Martin and swap over to supermarket own brands and then possibly down to the value range.

I wish you and your family well. Keep us posted as to how you get on! QBx

jpwhittle

You said you needed a mobile for nursery and stuff, i'd scrap the contract phone and go payg, at the moment 3 are offering a fantastic deal, for £10 you get free texts, free internet, skype and something else i cant remember, but unlike a contract the £10 lasts for 90days, i've just bought it for my husband for christmas so we can talk alot when hes away, (knowing hes got a 4month stint somewhere coming up) its alot cheaper than waht your paying now and is only £40 a year rather than £56 a month.
thats already a huge saving and is a good few shops already cleared for you

Worriedsick_2

I've looked CAP up and will call them later today - I have my parents visiting at the moment and don't want to concern them with it.
Thanks very much for the advice.

jpwhittle

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1205
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2049
Benefits................................ 91
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3345
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 873 are you in a position to look at another mortgage deal? just a thought? if your out of an agreement period you may be able to get a lower rate
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 683
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 120 ring them and check your readings, we were getting charged loads and getting behind untill we sorted out our readings
Gas..................................... 73
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 52 see about payg like the 3 offer
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 look at old style board and cut down a brand level, supermarkets own arent to bad
Clothing................................ 30 for the time being only buy essentials, ask people to buy you stuff for birthdays and christmas, with christmas coming up its a great chance to get stuff especially for your baby, she wont need toys so get everyone to stock up her wardrobe
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 56
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 140
Childcare/nursery....................... 95 can you cut this down maybe get grandparents to help? i know not everyone can we couldnt.
Other child related expenses............ 66 morrisons and asda nappies are just as good as pampers i love them
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 18
Other insurance......................... 14
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 60 like others said go to local college or some salons have half price days
Entertainment........................... 30 unfortunatly you may have to stay in with a dvd and bottle of wine for a while or even book things like candle parties, no cost to you, and you can get something for free when others buy
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 40 your in an emergancy can you pay anything of with this fund? how much do you have saved in it?
Total monthly expenses.................. 3194

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 252000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 235000...(873)......3.04
Secured Debt.................. 21666....(683)......9.66
Total secured & HP debts...... 256666....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Halifax mastercard.............2250......41........22.95
Barclaycard....................4600......110...... .24.9
Barclaycard....................1000......25....... .27.9
Bank OD........................700.......20........NaN
Bank OD........................2500......30........NaN
Next...........................510.......45....... .26.49
Virgin CC......................3500......25........0
Virgin CC......................3500......25........0
Halifax mastercard.............7700......65........0
Total unsecured debts..........26260.....386.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,345
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,194
Available for debt repayments........... 151
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 386
Amount short for making debt repayments. -235
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 252,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -256,666
Total Unsecured debt.................... -26,260
Net Assets.............................. -30,926

Last edited by Worriedsick; Today at 9:32 AM..

hope this helps a little

LilacPixie

Hi Worried sick.

I'm rubbish at SOA's seriously you should see the state of mine but we are 2 adukts 2 kids both in nappies and we are between 280 and 300 a month on groceries including nappies. I stockpile nappies and wipes, Tesco recently had 6 pack of pampers wipes for 3.66 and asda were doing boxes of the pampers active fits for £8. Pop over to the old style board, they can literally feed a family of 4 on a few quid a day so you should get loads of help.

Would it be possible to work an extra day at home. Possibly a weekend day so you DH could take the baby and lose another days childcare??

MileySmiley_2

Most things have been covered with the replies already but How about having a go at selling on ebay...great way to supplement yr income.

Triggles

Just an afterthought as I hadn't noticed you had a separate amount for child expenses - I imagine this includes nappies, wipes, but what else is included in this?

Marcheline

Hi, you say you have a toddler: have you started toilet training yet? If your little one is old enough (2ish), give it a try cos if they take to it, you'll need fewer nappies.

GeorgeUK

Mortgage................................ 873
Interest only or repayment?

Council tax............................. 149
If paying over 10 months, can you ask to pay it over 12?

Electricity............................. 120
Gas..................................... 73
Contact them with the meter readings and see if this helps with any of the arrears. Then shop around for the best deals (uswitch, moneysupermarket)


Mobile phone............................ 52
PAYG or reduce the tariff?

Groceries etc. ......................... 400
As mentioned, this can be cut. Look at the old style board for mealplan ideas and cooking in bulk. Have you moved down a brand?

Car Insurance........................... 56
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 18
Other insurance......................... 14
Have a look at the comparison sites and see if you are getting the best deal. Use one of the cashback sites such as quidco to increase any savings.

Haircuts................................ 60
Every month?

A spending diary would really help as has been mentioned. Does hubby take packed lunches in to work and a flask of coffee to stop spending on latte's?

Worriedsick_2

Mortgage - Part repayment, part IO

Council Tax - will amend to 12 months - didn't know this was possible.

Utilities - I read the meters monthly and get accurate bills - the arrears payments should be completed by end Dec and then both gas & electric will go down to £60 and £70 respectively.

Mobile phone - I just called 3 who we are with. They say I would have to pay up to the end of my contract to change anything - so I can't go pay as you go for another 6 months. Any advice on what can be done here?

Groceries - I already cook most meals from scratch every week - there is no processed food or ready meals in the house. I'll check out the recommended boards to see if I can find cheaper cuts of meat etc as my husband is a carnivore and it's always £30 a week just on his meat. All my products are Tesco's own. I keep all my receipts each month to total up how much food, etc is costing me - even if I just pop out to get a pint of milk I add it in and I'm never under £400.

Insurance - I was not aware of Quidco - I have always used comparison sites to get the cheapest deal on insurances. Our car is LPG converted (to save money!!) so it's more difficult to get cheaper insurances - this was the absolutely cheapest I could get 2 months ago when it was up for renewal from the comparison sites.
Buildings and contents insurance - again having just checked there is a fee to pay if we cancel before March 2010 - it'll have to wait until then unless there are any ways of getting around this?

I'm embarrassed about the haircuts thing - we go every 8 weeks, my husband spends £20, my daughter £20 and me £80. I'll stop this now - we had an appointment tomorrow which I've already cancelled.

My daughter is 23 months so will deffo try the potty training - was going to wait until she was 2.5 but will buy a potty at the weekend.

the £66 for child expenses is for the various clubs my daughter goes to - I've already cancelled one this morning, so this is now down to £30 already.

Will have a dig in the garage and loft for things to sell on Ebay to make some extra cash to pay in to the cards.

£30 clothing was a rough guess - my daughter is growing fast and it's literally clothes and shoes for her - my husband and I have not had new clothes for a long time.

£40 emergency fund is always spent every month on the car or something in the house that needs repairing - there is nothing saved there.

Getting there - but any advice on what we could say to the mobile phone and insurance providers would be really helpful - they say we're in a contract so there's nothing that can be done.