Please can anybody help me with my budget

Suziebear_3

Hi everyone,

I've been in tears this morning whilst doing the budget, our money just doesn't seem to be stretching anywhere, all the money that comes out is sucked away by bills and i'm also just about to go onto maternity leave which means our income will drop a little especially in the last 3 months when my income will drop to £0.

Can anyone give me any ideas as of how to make things cheaper or of anything i can do.


Outgoings

Mortgage - £534.02 ( I am unable to switch mortgage providers as im locked into a 5 year deal and i doubt i will be able to get another mortgage for a few years as we got 100% mortgage with Northern Rock).

United Utilities/Water - £18.05
TV Licence - £12.00
Eon/Gas - £61
British Gas Cover - £20 (we are tied in with this until January)
Debenhams Card - £14 (currently owe £200 which i am unable to pay off so must pay monthly)
Council Tax - £103.50
Nursery Fees - £240
BT - £33.50 (they keep charging us 3 months line rental in advance pushing up my monthly price?)
Loan - £122.88 (finishes September 2011)
Home Insurance - £26.21
Scottish Power/Electricity - £31
Very - £17 (again currently owe £300 i am unable to pay off so must pay monthly)
Driving Lessons - £110 (Have already identified these will have to go)
Food Shopping - £200
Wedding Fund - £100
Other bills including broadband/contact lenses and mobile phone £248.28

What we have coming in is just enough to cover what is going out and we are struggling with nothing left over. Im aware that the few elements of debt we have do not help but because i have nothing spare i cant pay them off and to be fair (apart from the debenhams card) i havent got in debt frivoulosly, i got a washing machine from very because ours broke and we couldnt afford a new one and the loan was for a new boiler and radiators that were needed.

Please help me as i know there must be a key to living a cheaper life and the stress is awful especially when we are just about to have another baby (which was planned when we had more money!). The only thing i dont want to compromise on is my home as i cant move and i dont want to give up on my mortgage as i know ill never get another.

Thankyou in advance xxx

Saz8989

I can't offer you much help but I'm kind of in the same situation I never have any money and am going to try and budget and sort something out! Good luck, hope you can work something out xx

somethingcorporate

How many people does that cover?

what is: "Other bills including broadband/contact lenses and mobile phone £248.28" in greater detail?

That seems like you've either mis-calculated or that figure is hiding something large. I pay £25pm BB, £20pm Lenses and £25pm mobile and that would still leave almost £200pm of your bill unexplained!

I am guessing there would be some cutting back in this area as a start.

Check out the old-style boards for bringing your food bill down.

Suziebear_3

Thanks Saz:)

Sorry the other bills are:-

A bus pass for my husband to get to work £70
Broadband with 02 - £7.50
Husbands mobile phone - £40 (note i dont even have one!)
Contact lenses - £30
Life insurance £12.00
Bank Account £30 (he has to pay to have a bank account)

Not sure about the rest as these are my husbands bills, i shall find out though, would be so easy if we could get a joint bank account but they wont let us have one due to his bad credit rating:/

Suziebear_3

Also there is 3 of us, (soon to be 4) and the £200 food bill is the same whether its a 4 or a 5 week month it has to last us, i shop at aldi and iceland and spend about £40 and its so hard getting just the basics we all need on that.

The only way i can think of making it cheaper is if i bought unhealthy food, as you can get a family sized pizza for £1 but i want my son to be able to eat healthily and unfortunately veg and fruit and meat are expensive even in aldi/iceland and even when you get them frozen!

nzseries1

Hi Suzie,

While there are definitely some intelligent moneysavers on this board with great ideas, I think you will get a better response if you head over to the Debt-free Wannabe board here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76.

This board you've posted on here is more dedicated to the advantages / disadvantages of various bank accounts, not so much the debt associated with them.

Post your Statement of Affairs (link available on that board) and you will be absolutely amazed at the ability of the people on that board to save you money.

Lots of luck

Suziebear_3

Thanks, sorry im new here so i wasnt sure where to post, i shall go and post there now x

taka

Hiya! First up have a (((((hug )))))!

A few thoughts (in red)...

Suziebear wrote: »

Outgoings

Mortgage - £534.02 ( I am unable to switch mortgage providers as im locked into a 5 year deal and i doubt i will be able to get another mortgage for a few years as we got 100% mortgage with Northern Rock).

United Utilities/Water - £18.05
TV Licence - £12.00
Eon/Gas - £61 - are you on the cheapest tariff for your usage?
British Gas Cover - £20 (we are tied in with this until January)
Debenhams Card - £14 (currently owe £200 which i am unable to pay off so must pay monthly)
Council Tax - £103.50 - is this for paying by 10 installments? You may be able to spread it over 12 instead to spread the amount out a bit more over the year
Nursery Fees - £240 - will this be continuing while you are on maternity leave?
BT - £33.50 (they keep charging us 3 months line rental in advance pushing up my monthly price?)
Loan - £122.88 (finishes September 2011)
Home Insurance - £26.21
Scottish Power/Electricity - £31 - Also check tariff
Very - £17 (again currently owe £300 i am unable to pay off so must pay monthly)
Driving Lessons - £110 (Have already identified these will have to go) - Looks like it... Sorry.
Food Shopping - £200 - head over to the Old style board to get inspiration for making this money stretch.
Wedding Fund - £100 - When is your wedding? Have you thought about using your wedding fund to pay off your very and debenhams debts (or other debts if you have any)? You would pay less interest that way and thereafter be able to start saving up again (budget allowing)
Other bills including broadband/contact lenses and mobile phone £248.28 - What does this include? Think about trying to reduce these bills too - are they the best deal? Can you think about PAYG mobiles instead of contracts (or making sure any contract is the lowest cost for your usage)

You may want to fill in a statement of affairs (basically a list of income and outgoings which may make you think of other things it may be good to include. See HERE for a link.

Have you checked somewhere like entitled to and worked out what you may receive when you are on maternity leave? (eg extra child benefit etc and any changes to child tax credits etc)

Have a look at Cheap Family Recipes for some cheap, healthy and highly yummy meals to help your grocery budget stretch a bit further.

Have a look on the Debt free board too for lots more advice and lots of people living on very tight budgets. You are lightly to get more suggestions there I think.

nzseries1

Suziebear wrote: »

Thanks, sorry im new here so i wasnt sure where to post, i shall go and post there now x

Not a problem all the best.
For those interested, a link to Suzie's new thread is here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/35314075#Comment_35314075

Fiddlestick

Suziebear wrote: »

Bank Account £30 (he has to pay to have a bank account)

Why?

What does this give him that a free account does not?

ehlo

Fiddlestick wrote: »

Why?

What does this give him that a free account does not?

This what my thought too. I know that sometimes if you have a bad credit rating then it is harder to get an account, however Barclays and Co-op offer free accounts (even to those who are bankrupt)