I think i have just had a LB moment!!

BigDunc

It sounds like you need a spending diary to work out exactly where all the money is going. Others have also suggested taking a fixed amount out of a cashpoint each week and paying cash for everything so you can always see how much you have left.

Girl_least_likely_to

Hi Newmummuy

Can I add one thing to the equation? Your mortgage payment is really low. Is your mortgage just interest only? If it is then obviously you are going to have to make some savings to pay for the capital sooner or later. If it's a repayment then good on yer

Good luck on sorting things out and your new baby

tyllwyd

First of all, good luck with the birth - I hope everything goes well for you and baby.

When the baby comes you will be entitled to a bit extra in terms of child benefit and child tax credit (make sure you register for the tax credit asap). And I guess that petrol will come down if some of it is for travel to your work - other costs will probably also come down because you won't be buying lunches at work etc. But you will have to budget for the cost of nappies (ouch) and baby milk if you go down that route.

It looks as if you can't afford the luxury of a long maternity leave since you earn so much more than your partner. Have you looked into the cost of childcare? You need to book something asap and start budgeting - remember you will probably have to pay childcare a month in advance.

Cazzdevil

You could easily cut your food budget in half for 2 adults and 2 cats - check the Grocery Challenges in the "Money Saving - Old Style" board and join in next month to see how much you can cut down by.

david_hellier

Hi and welcome. Not too bad; I've seen a lot worse. You are fortunate in having a fairly low mortgage. According to my calculations you have £143.71 per week to spend on any thing including food, clothes, going out, etc, etc. I suggest you write this amount in a little book on a Monday and keep a note of everything you spend/withdraw by subtracting. If you have any over at the end of the week, carry it forward to the next week and try and build up some savings. Ignore your bank balance, your overdrafts will go down.

Your biggest overhead are the cars. If you could sell one, your weekly amount would rise and so would your standard of living.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 1174.00
partner 874.00
ic supp
tax cred
housing ben




total 0.00 2048.00
472.62 divided by 4.33

472.62 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 196.44
council tax 104.00
elec 23.00
gas 14.00
water
secured loans
TV licence 11.37
fines
tv/phone 72.00
home ins 23.45
car ins 97.16
petrol 120.00
car loan 276.26
home loan 222.48
partner's loan 134.35
hp tv 16.41
hp sofa 32.34
cata 54.00
cap one 8.00
od payoff 20.00










total 0.00 1425.26
328.91 divided by 4.33

£328.91 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £143.71 per week