Help with making ends meet

EmmyRoo

Hi all,

I've posted on the Tax Credits board about my money worries now that tax credits have been cut so much. Unfortunately I received a lot of unpleasant comments from people who think we earn enough not to need benefits & must be squandering our fortune on an extravagant lifestyle for which we expect government help. Thankfully some people also replied saying I'd get non-judgemental help on this board so here goes.

I am aware that we earn a decent salary between us so I don't understand why we struggle so much to get from one pay day to the next. I take advantage of discounts and offers when I buy things, I buy smart price products at ASDA and use the price guarantee to get money-off coupons. I also have an employee benefits scheme through my work which means I can get money off vouchers or cash back for shopping. I think I'm fairly savvy when it comes to trying to live frugally, but somehow we're always worryingly close to not being able to cover all our expenses.

Hope you can help.

Thanks,
E.

This is my SOA, I think I've included everything:

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2(this is unavoidable as my husband works 25 miles from home, I work 10 miles from home in the other direction and both travel for work occasionally and need to be able to drop everything to collect the kids when they're ill. We live in a rural village in Scotland where public transport links just aren't good enough. Our cars are an 8yr old hatchback & 6.5yr old people carrier.)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 649.38
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2011.9
Benefits................................ 245 (this is an estimate of tax credits using HMRC calculator, not sure what they're actually falling to, plus CB)
Other income............................ 250(my in laws pay this directly to nursery to help with costs. We have no family living close enough to help with childcare)
Total monthly income.................... 3156.28

I should also add, in case it helps, that I'm in my mid-thirties and hubby is 40. We both work in the public sector so his pay is frozen and mine will increase by only £125 p.a. I work 18 hours per week, our children go to childcare nursery then.

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 647.9
Council tax............................. 151
Electricity............................. 65.5
Gas..................................... 65.5 (gas & electricity from same provider, have requested direct debit drops from £131 to £80 per month as we're £750 in credit at the moment.)
Telephone (land line)................... 24.08
Mobile phones (cheap & basic)............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 (I don't think this is much to ask when we don't go out to the pub or for meals etc)
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 433
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 303 (see work travel distances above)
Road tax................................ 29.71
Car Insurance........................... 74.21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 37.92
Car parking............................. 5
Childcare/nursery....................... 831.77 (this is for 2 kids, 2.5 days a week. Works out at approx £4 an hour, the cheapest childcare there is here. Can go for a full day or half day, can't collect them earlier to lessen costs or anything.)
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (dentist etc).... 1.67
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6.67
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 33.8
Life assurance ......................... 116.62
Other insurance......................... 18.55
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes lottery & postcode lottery - have to think positively!)
Holiday................................. 0 (haven't had a holiday, home or abroad, for 3 years.)
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Bank account fee/overdraft costs........ 55
Total monthly expenses.................. 3134.27


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 155000...(647.9)....6.5%?
Total secured & HP debts...... 155000....-.........-
(mortgage is made up of 130000 on a tracker 0.5% above base rate, which we ported from previous house, and 25000 at 6.5% I think. Doubt we'd get anything better at the moment.)
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................4500......90........5.9 for the life of balance
Credit Card....................1100......11........0 till Jan 2012
Credit Card....................750.......10........0 till Aug 2012
Total unsecured debts..........6350......111.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,156.28
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,134.27
Available for debt repayments........... 22.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 111
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.99

Created using the SOA calculator at make sense of cards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.[/font]

iamana1ias

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2(this is unavoidable as my husband works 25 miles from home, I work 10 miles from home in the other direction and both travel for work occasionally and need to be able to drop everything to collect the kids when they're ill. We live in a rural village in Scotland where public transport links just aren't good enough. Our cars are an 8yr old hatchback & 6.5yr old people carrier.)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 649.38
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2011.9
Benefits................................ 245 (this is an estimate of tax credits using HMRC calculator, not sure what they're actually falling to, plus CB)
Other income............................ 250(my in laws pay this directly to nursery to help with costs. We have no family living close enough to help with childcare)
Total monthly income.................... 3156.28

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 647.9
Council tax............................. 151
Electricity............................. 65.5
Gas..................................... 65.5 (gas & electricity from same provider, have requested direct debit drops from £131 to £80 per month as we're £750 in credit at the moment.)
Telephone (land line)................... 24.08
Mobile phones (cheap & basic)............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 (I don't think this is much to ask when we don't go out to the pub or for meals etc)
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 433 double what it could be - £200 should be plenty
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 303 (see work travel distances above)
Road tax................................ 29.71
Car Insurance........................... 74.21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 37.92
Car parking............................. 5
Childcare/nursery....................... 831.77 (this is for 2 kids, 2.5 days a week. Works out at approx £4 an hour, the cheapest childcare there is here. Can go for a full day or half day, can't collect them earlier to lessen costs or anything.)
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (dentist etc).... 1.67
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6.67
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 33.8
Life assurance ......................... 116.62 why is this so high? was it sold with your mortgage? can you shop around for something cheaper?
Other insurance......................... 18.55 what is this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 cut this down to £25
Haircuts................................ 25 every month?
Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes lottery & postcode lottery - have to think positively!) please tell me you're kidding
Holiday................................. 0 (haven't had a holiday, home or abroad, for 3 years.)
Emergency fund.......................... 25 where is this money?
Bank account fee/overdraft costs........ 55 what do you need to do to avoid these fees? can you switch to a free account? you don't list an overdraft, so what are you paying for?
Total monthly expenses.................. 3134.27


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 155000...(647.9)....6.5%?
Total secured & HP debts...... 155000....-.........-
(mortgage is made up of 130000 on a tracker 0.5% above base rate, which we ported from previous house, and 25000 at 6.5% I think. Doubt we'd get anything better at the moment.)
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Credit Card....................4500......90........5.9 for the life of balance
Credit Card....................1100......11........0 till Jan 2012
Credit Card....................750.......10........0 till Aug 2012
Total unsecured debts..........6350......111.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,156.28
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,134.27
Available for debt repayments........... 22.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 111
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.99

Created using the SOA calculator at make sense of cards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.[/font]

dancingfairy

I hate people that have nothing better than be benefit bashers and give people a hard time. Grr.
Right more positive suggestions.
Is it worth getting the 750 owed from the gas and electric back and putting it into a savings account to form an emergency savings account whilst you adjust to the new budget?
Also your childcare is very high - perhaps understandably - now a couple of suggestions
1) sadly it's not really paying for you to be at work and paying out more than you earn in childcare - I can understand not wanting to be at home all day on your own with the children though but maybe it's worth considering the job taking a back seat for a while?
2) how long do you anticiapte having to pay for this level of childcare? hopefully as they start school things will start to ease anyway but you may have to accept the net few years may be a bit tough.
3) if you spent more time at home you could cut down on the food spends? this is also an area that you may want to try and cut back a bit - try home cooking from scratch, cooking double and freezing some etc. Check out the oldstyle boards on here for hints and tips on how to make your money go further in this area. There is also a website set up by someone on here on how to feed a family of 4 healthilty for 100 pounds a month somewhere- hopefully someone kind will post a link although you might not agree with all the suggestions.

If you can cut the food budget back a bit, get the gas and electric set at what they should be you should be able to balance as well as other suggestion the previous poster has made - it really depends on how far the benefits are going to be cut.
df

Mikazaru

EmmyRoo wrote: »

Hi all,

This is my SOA, I think I've included everything:

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2(this is unavoidable as my husband works 25 miles from home, I work 10 miles from home in the other direction and both travel for work occasionally and need to be able to drop everything to collect the kids when they're ill. We live in a rural village in Scotland where public transport links just aren't good enough. Our cars are an 8yr old hatchback & 6.5yr old people carrier.)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 649.38
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2011.9
Benefits................................ 245 (this is an estimate of tax credits using HMRC calculator, not sure what they're actually falling to, plus CB)
Other income............................ 250(my in laws pay this directly to nursery to help with costs. We have no family living close enough to help with childcare)
Total monthly income.................... 3156.28

I should also add, in case it helps, that I'm in my mid-thirties and hubby is 40. We both work in the public sector so his pay is frozen and mine will increase by only £125 p.a. I work 18 hours per week, our children go to childcare nursery then.

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 647.9
Council tax............................. 151
Electricity............................. 65.5
Gas..................................... 65.5 (gas & electricity from same provider, have requested direct debit drops from £131 to £80 per month as we're £750 in credit at the moment.) The £50 difference will mae up a big chunk of your shortfall. Is it possible to claim back the £750 and pay off the credit card or reduce payments a bit more in the short term
Telephone (land line)................... 24.08 Seems expensive, I'm guessing its additional calls do you use all your inclusive minutes on the mobile?
Mobile phones (cheap & basic)............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 (I don't think this is much to ask when we don't go out to the pub or for meals etc)
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 433 Can be reduced, have a look at the Old style board for tips.
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 303 (see work travel distances above)
Road tax................................ 29.71
Car Insurance........................... 74.21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 37.92
Car parking............................. 5
Childcare/nursery....................... 831.77 (this is for 2 kids, 2.5 days a week. Works out at approx £4 an hour, the cheapest childcare there is here. Can go for a full day or half day, can't collect them earlier to lessen costs or anything.)
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (dentist etc).... 1.67
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6.67
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 33.8
Life assurance ......................... 116.62 Seems very expensive, can you shop around.
Other insurance......................... 18.55
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 Can be reduced.
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes lottery & postcode lottery - have to think positively!) If you don't want to give it up just play one line a week.
Holiday................................. 0 (haven't had a holiday, home or abroad, for 3 years.)
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Bank account fee/overdraft costs........ 55 Change to a free bank account
Total monthly expenses.................. 3134.27


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 155000...(647.9)....6.5%?
Total secured & HP debts...... 155000....-.........-
(mortgage is made up of 130000 on a tracker 0.5% above base rate, which we ported from previous house, and 25000 at 6.5% I think. Doubt we'd get anything better at the moment.)
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................4500......90........5.9 for the life of balance
Credit Card....................1100......11........0 till Jan 2012
Credit Card....................750.......10........0 till Aug 2012
Total unsecured debts..........6350......111.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,156.28
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,134.27
Available for debt repayments........... 22.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 111
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.99

Created using the SOA calculator at make sense of cards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.[/font]

When all insurances are due shop around and go through cashback sites. With a few cutbacks it should be easy to make up your shortfall and have some spare cash to pay off your debts.

GeorgieFTB

EmmyRoo wrote: »

Hi all,

I've posted on the Tax Credits board about my money worries now that tax credits have been cut so much. Unfortunately I received a lot of unpleasant comments from people who think we earn enough not to need benefits & must be squandering our fortune on an extravagant lifestyle for which we expect government help. Thankfully some people also replied saying I'd get non-judgemental help on this board so here goes.

I am aware that we earn a decent salary between us so I don't understand why we struggle so much to get from one pay day to the next. I take advantage of discounts and offers when I buy things, I buy smart price products at ASDA and use the price guarantee to get money-off coupons. I also have an employee benefits scheme through my work which means I can get money off vouchers or cash back for shopping. I think I'm fairly savvy when it comes to trying to live frugally, but somehow we're always worryingly close to not being able to cover all our expenses.

Hope you can help.

Thanks,
E.

This is my SOA, I think I've included everything:

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2(this is unavoidable as my husband works 25 miles from home, I work 10 miles from home in the other direction and both travel for work occasionally and need to be able to drop everything to collect the kids when they're ill. We live in a rural village in Scotland where public transport links just aren't good enough. Our cars are an 8yr old hatchback & 6.5yr old people carrier.) - do you need the people carrier? Could you get a more economical car?

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 649.38
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2011.9
Benefits................................ 245 (this is an estimate of tax credits using HMRC calculator, not sure what they're actually falling to, plus CB)
Other income............................ 250(my in laws pay this directly to nursery to help with costs. We have no family living close enough to help with childcare)
Total monthly income.................... 3156.28

I should also add, in case it helps, that I'm in my mid-thirties and hubby is 40. We both work in the public sector so his pay is frozen and mine will increase by only £125 p.a. I work 18 hours per week, our children go to childcare nursery then.

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 647.9
Council tax............................. 151
Electricity............................. 65.5
Gas..................................... 65.5 (gas & electricity from same provider, have requested direct debit drops from £131 to £80 per month as we're £750 in credit at the moment.) - check on comparision sites to make sure you are on the cheapest tarriff, get the credit back and pay off part of a CC
Telephone (land line)................... 24.08 - can this be cheaper? I know you are rural but might be worth a look
Mobile phones (cheap & basic)............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 (I don't think this is much to ask when we don't go out to the pub or for meals etc)
Internet Services....................... 16 - see telephone, or can you bundle all up with your TV for £20
Groceries etc. ......................... 433 - go make friends with the Old style board, man they are experts, you should be able to cut this by half, don't try this all at once as it will be a culture shock but it should take too much effort
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 303 (see work travel distances above) - take a look at the economical driving guide on MSE, you might be albe to trim this
Road tax................................ 29.71
Car Insurance........................... 74.21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 37.92
Car parking............................. 5
Childcare/nursery....................... 831.77 (this is for 2 kids, 2.5 days a week. Works out at approx £4 an hour, the cheapest childcare there is here. Can go for a full day or half day, can't collect them earlier to lessen costs or anything.)
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (dentist etc).... 1.67
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6.67
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 33.8 - could probably trim this, comparision sites again
Life assurance ......................... 116.62 - see above
Other insurance......................... 18.55 - whats this for? Can it be gotten cheaper?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - can this be cut? Make presents, agree with family that only kids get presents, make presents, shop all year in sales for presents
Haircuts................................ 25 - college/trainees, go longer between cuts?
Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes lottery & postcode lottery - have to think positively!) - really? £360 a year, whats your profit on that?
Holiday................................. 0 (haven't had a holiday, home or abroad, for 3 years.) - Sun holiday for £10 is quite good but would have to save for it
Emergency fund.......................... 25 - really? How much have you saved? could be used to pay off some of your CC debt
Bank account fee/overdraft costs........ 55 - overdraft or fees? If fees do you used the bundle is it worth it, most of the time its not, if overdraft it needs to be under your debts
Total monthly expenses.................. 3134.27


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 155000...(647.9)....6.5%?
Total secured & HP debts...... 155000....-.........-
(mortgage is made up of 130000 on a tracker 0.5% above base rate, which we ported from previous house, and 25000 at 6.5% I think. Doubt we'd get anything better at the moment.) - no you won't sounds like a good deal
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................4500......90........5.9 for the life of balance
Credit Card....................1100......11........0 till Jan 2012
Credit Card....................750.......10........0 till Aug 2012
Total unsecured debts..........6350......111.......- - these should be relatively easy to pay off, they are low interest and any spare money will quickly pay this off


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,156.28
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,134.27
Available for debt repayments........... 22.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 111
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.99 - this is easily recoupable (is that a word?)

Created using the SOA calculator at make sense of cards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.[/font]

As others have said you are paying to work, about £2500 a year, now I'm a working mother so I do understand, if your sanity is worth it then carry on, looking at your budget you can afford it. Looking long term once the kids go to school it might pay you to work and you wouldn't be in the same position then if you stayed at home. Only you can work out what is right for you and your family.

A spending diary is a good idea, mostly to make sure your numbers are correct, it also helps you to cut down on unnessesary spending.

You're next step should be an afternoon with comparision sites and cashback sites to make sure you have the best deals for everything. Then hop over to the old style forum, a bit like the huggys, DFWs, and what they don't know about thrift would fit on the head of a pin. You're expenses can be cut without too much effort which should leave you not needing the TC money too much.

Good luck
Gx

pennypusher

Hi, luckily now you have done your SOA you have got lots of options available as you have a healthy income. These are just my ideas, remember when you have paid the essentials such as mortgage, etc you can choose what to spend the rest of your money on.

How about selling the 4 x 4 and getting a cheaper car so you can also get a lot more miles for your money. Check your Gas and Electricity bills for the past year and average them out to make sure you are paying the right amount each month. Also check the comparison sites to see if you can get the same thing only cheaper.

Go PAYG for your mobiles - that may be cheaper. Go freeview instead of getting satellite t.v.

Check out the comnparison sites for broadband. Go over to the old style board to get ideas for cheaper meals.

Check the comparison sites for Car Insurance, Pet Insurance, Buildings and Contents Insurance, Life Insurance and Other Insurance.

Maybe cut the present budget a little. Can you get cheaper hair cuts etc. If you want to save money get rid of the lottery tickets the chances are you will never win a fortune.

If you have money in your emergency fund you could use it to pay off your debts.

Can you change your bank account so you don't have to pay fees?

Keep a spending diary so you can see where your money goes.

Hope these ideas help. Only you and your other half can decide what's best for you and your family. Good luck.

CH27

Is the £831.77 nursery fees what you actually pay or do you need to knock off your in laws contributions?

foxgloves

You can probably trim your energy costs still cheaper. We set ourselves a challenge to waste less energy & now our monthly payment is £66 for both gas & electricity. Your grocery bill is the obvious one.....Cut back gradually, starting with maybe £350, then back to £300 until you are managing well with it at around £250. It means cooking more from scratch if you don't already & weekly menu planning but you can save lots there. Life assurance seems really high. Had a quick look at what we are paying and it's around £25 each per month. We have just changed from 2 cars to one car to save money. We are able to share a single car so that's fine, but even if we hadn't been in a position to do this, we would have changed my partners's car. It's not a 4x4 but was expensive to run in terms of miles per gallon, tax & insurance plus expenisve tyres. Have a look as well at reducing your spend on presents. If £50 a month is no longer sustainable, then it would be silly to continue it. We've cut back quite a bit on the amount we spend on presents which has made us put more thought into what we buy, & I don't think anyone's noticed. I kind of agree with a previous post about the lottery. I onlly used to do one line of numbers each draw but over the 10 years I did it, that was around £1000 wasted & I couldn't help wishing I'd just shoved a couple of quid in a jar each time & had the money to enjoy at the end of the 10 years......bet I'd have dipped into it constantly though as that was well before my LBM!

snookey

Hi sorry that you have found some really mean posters but thats their problem. Can you look to see if there is a childminder in your area they may work out cheaper. Do you know of any other working mothers who you could share the childminding with. Another idea is to run a childminding service yourself providing there are enough children in your village.
Looking at your wages it seems that at the moment your working for nothing. Add in your travel costs and car upkeep your better off at home at least until the children are grown.

JCS1

dancingfairy wrote: »

I hate people that have nothing better than be benefit bashers and give people a hard time. Grr.
Right more positive suggestions.
Is it worth getting the 750 owed from the gas and electric back and putting it into a savings account to form an emergency savings account whilst you adjust to the new budget?
Also your childcare is very high - perhaps understandably - now a couple of suggestions
1) sadly it's not really paying for you to be at work and paying out more than you earn in childcare - I can understand not wanting to be at home all day on your own with the children though but maybe it's worth considering the job taking a back seat for a while?
2) how long do you anticiapte having to pay for this level of childcare? hopefully as they start school things will start to ease anyway but you may have to accept the net few years may be a bit tough.
3) if you spent more time at home you could cut down on the food spends? this is also an area that you may want to try and cut back a bit - try home cooking from scratch, cooking double and freezing some etc. Check out the oldstyle boards on here for hints and tips on how to make your money go further in this area. There is also a website set up by someone on here on how to feed a family of 4 healthilty for 100 pounds a month somewhere- hopefully someone kind will post a link although you might not agree with all the suggestions.

If you can cut the food budget back a bit, get the gas and electric set at what they should be you should be able to balance as well as other suggestion the previous poster has made - it really depends on how far the benefits are going to be cut.
df

Website is: http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

corbyboy

The £1080 for childcare every month seems way too high to me. If you work 18 hours per week what days and times do your children go? I only have 1 child but myself and my wife both work full time and manage to only spend £270 per month on childcare.

Would it be possible for your inlaws to donate some of their time looking after their grandchildren rather than money?

Why are your bank account charges so high?