Any pointers on our spend - despite a relatively healthy income?

ambitiouscat

Tks so much for the feedback so far. It's great to read your opinions! So many questions to answer! Here goes:

No.1 priority is to pay off the MG. We then want to save up (e.g. £50k), buy some land and build a modest house. For the last 5 yrs we've been overpaying the max on our MG. At the current rate, we will be done in 5.5 yrs. :j Even so, we'd like this done sooner as DH needs more time with me and DD (once we're mortgage-free, we'll be able to afford for him to have a lower-paid job, with no commute and less city stress). We have 3.5 yrs remaining on a 3.99% fixed MG. Outstanding balance is £135k. Only real asset is the house, worth about £230k.

We know we are lucky and have a good income, but we both work very long hours and money seems to trickle through our fingers. My income is variable as I'm self-employed, so some months we have been overspending. This is our 'new budget' (you should have seen the last one!!) and what we plan to spend from now on. I've already cut back on stuff but still feel that we are probably overspending. I posted because I wanted an idea of whether other people think we are spending excessively in particular areas and what is 'normal' for various categories. We find we never have quite enough left over for a good holiday or to save. We are prepared to go pretty far but don't want to go the whole hog and cut dog insurance altogether or never eat out.

The loan is for £10k from my in-laws, so if we pay it off at £500 p/m we'll be done in 20 months. Obviously then we'll be much better off. We borrowed so we could re-mortgage (needed a better deposit for the best deals). They don't want any interest. No other debts or liabilities. We have about £20k in savings in case my DH loses his job, etc.

We receive child benefit but save everything into a fund for our daughter. Not entitled to any other benefits.

The dog: she is a large breed and has gastric problems, so needs Purina HA, which costs about £55 for a 13kg bag. I give her cheap fish fillets as a treat and a rawhide bone (£2 each) every week, so I reckoned £60 a month (probably a bit of an overestimate).

myothercarisaferrari: Which HA food do you use?

She is with Pet Plan because they cover for pre-existing conditions for the life of the pet: she needs vet treatment quite a lot for flare-ups (usually caused by eating something on a walk or when she goes into season). The premium goes up every year, and she's only 3!

Anyone know of other vet insurers who cover for pre-existing for the life of the pet (not just for a year)?

Food: I agree I need to cut this back. Before, I'm ashamed to say I was spending £550 a month. :eek: What do you think is 'normal' to spend a week on food (including nappies and cleaning products) for a family of three? I know it varies a lot, and we don't want to cut out all meat or eat baked beans every night but a guide would be good... I do all our cooking (no ready-meals or takeaways).

Cleaning Products/Cleaner: Yes, I pay £20 a week for a cleaner (for 3 hrs) and £15 every other month for a window cleaner.

Garden Maintenance: £20 a month for plants, fertiliser, feed for the birds, general bits and bobs! I do the gardening.

Household Maintenance: £40 a month is what I've budgeted for repairs (damn combi-boiler), decorating, buying DIY stuff, and saving up for wardrobes for the spare bedroom.

Electricity and Gas: LOL! Have already shopped around and on the cheapest rate (no arrears) but we just seem to guzzle the stuff! We're in a four-bed, detached house, but it's a well-insulated new-build so yes, it really should be far lower. What 'should' we be using?

Water: we are on a meter. Again, we must use far too much, and I hadn't realised this. Anyone know where you can find out what the average person uses?

Bank account fee: yes, should probably cut this. It's Natwest Private Advantage (discounted as DH is an employee).

Payment protection: with the post office. Thinking of ditching as God knows if they'd ever actually pay out ...

Pension: £150 is just for me (I'm self-employed). DH gets it paid for by his employee (and life insurance, critical illness, childcare vouchers, etc.), so that's covered already, tks.

Car maintenance and petrol: this also includes a motorbike, which my husband rides to the station and back. I use the car. We get the car serviced at the (admittedly expensive) VW dealership, as we got badly fleeced on our last car and are wary of sole traders.

That's it, I think. Thanks again for the feedback. Very appreciated.

ambitiouscat x

angelicmary85

ambitiouscat wrote: »

Food: I agree I need to cut this back. Before, I'm ashamed to say I was spending £550 a month. :eek: What do you think is 'normal' to spend a week on food (including nappies and cleaning products) for a family of three? I know it varies a lot, and we don't want to cut out all meat or eat baked beans every night but a guide would be good... I do all our cooking (no ready-meals or takeaways)

The old style board will be able to help you on ways to cut your spending with the method you're already using i.e cooking from scratch. You don't need to 'eat baked beans' every night to stay within a reasonable budget...you could very easily half what you're spending and then maybe a wee bit more!

How old is your daughter? Babies cost very little to 'run' and store own brand nappies (I highly recommend Tesco - but the purple pack, not the green pack and ASDA little Angels are good too and own brand wipes are just as good as pampers/huggies/Johnson's)

You'll need to make some sacrifices in order to save so eating out and spending less on entertainment for a little while will help you quite significantly.

ambitiouscat

Hi Mary, my DD is 15mths. I have switched to Sainsbury's Little Ones nappies and wipes - half the price and just as good. Just wish I'd tried them 14 mths ago! Will check out the others as well. My brother swears by the Aldi ones...(not for himself, for his two kids!)

Tks for the tip about the board. Will check it out. Would love to think we could halve our food spend!

myothercarisaferrari

Unfortunately I dont know any pet insurance that covers pre-existing. One of my dogs has severe allergies to grass, wheat, meat, dairy and pollen so its incredibly hard sometimes as I am on a very limited budget - I'm living on 14p tinned spag bol and 8p noodles at the moment as I;ve just restocked. My dogs are my world so I'd go without anything for them to be happy:D

These are the two I feed mine:
http://www.ardengrange.com/index.asp

http://www.burnspet.co.uk/

If you email them both they will send you free samples. (My local pet store retail the 15k at £34.99 but he sells them to me for £15 cos he knows I'm skint:D)

myothercarisaferrari

BTW do you live in the North East - I'll be your cleaner!! haa x

ambitiouscat

Tks for the links. I've heard Burns is good, but not tried her on the other one. Great to have samples as she flares up very quickly with the wrong stuff. Dogs are fab, aren't they!

Ha! Sorry, no, though I used to live in the NE. Don't imagine you'd commute to the south midlands!

Is that expensive for a cleaner, then? Heck, I'm burning money!! I have a lot to learn...

myothercarisaferrari

Burns and AG are the best on the market - try them out and let me know how she gets on x

Zazen999

ambitiouscat wrote: »

Food: I agree I need to cut this back. Before, I'm ashamed to say I was spending £550 a month. :eek: What do you think is 'normal' to spend a week on food (including nappies and cleaning products) for a family of three? I know it varies a lot, and we don't want to cut out all meat or eat baked beans every night but a guide would be good... I do all our cooking (no ready-meals or takeaways).

You ARE still spending nearly that on food; you have your 433 plus 50 plus 45....and that doesn't include pet food.

We are spending £45 per week on food; plus £8 for DSD's pack ups and extra milk and bread for when she comes.

We also cook from scratch; my main advice here would be to menu plan a bit.

katsu

ambitiouscat wrote: »

Electricity and Gas: LOL! Have already shopped around and on the cheapest rate (no arrears) but we just seem to guzzle the stuff! We're in a four-bed, detached house, but it's a well-insulated new-build so yes, it really should be far lower. What 'should' we be using?

We are two adults in a 1950s semi, has cavity walll insulation, loft insulation needs some work. Gas CH (boiler about 15+yrs old). Elec cooker. Last yr I spent £50pcm (just under £40 of that on gas).

Water: we are on a meter. Again, we must use far too much, and I hadn't realised this. Anyone know where you can find out what the average person uses?

Try your water co website? We spent £12pcm on our meter - we take showers not baths and run a washing machine on average 2 loads per week.

Bank account fee: yes, should probably cut this. It's Natwest Private Advantage (discounted as DH is an employee).

What benefits is it giving you? Price them up and work out if you really use them.

ambitiouscat x

We are different to you, but it may give you some data to think about?

tallyhoh

Cant see the point in slaving yourself to death at work then wasting so much money on unnecessary stuff. However, I used to do the same before I saw the light.
Take DVD hire for instance, how much time did you spend at work to pay for that? couple of hours, is it worth it? If you really spend £150 a month on clothes, how long did it take to earn that?

Arden Grange dog food is the best & they deliver really quick.