Spend too much on things

wistles

Hi all,

Longtime lurker ocassional poster. I am after some advice. I have a high salary but my monthly overheads are enormous. The problem is that mine and my wife's lifestyle and work habits gravitate towards the need to spend large amount of money. We have a small amount of debt which I am aiming to clear in the next six months but I only see my overheads rising as my kids start school.

edinburgher

Sounds like it's time to start re-assessing your priorities.

We can't offer any specific advice/tips without some general figures, but I think you know that you need to spend less or you wouldn't be posting here?

You might like to create a SOA using the calculator stickied at the top of the board and take it from there

wistles

I know I need to spend less but the only way to do so would mean working less meaning I have less to spend. Catch 22.

I won't post my SOA as people who earn lots on here tend to be flamed and branded as idiots.

Tixy

Hi

Sounds like you need to do yourselves a really honest income & expenditure account, and then work through each item of expense and work out whether it can be got cheaper (ie a better deal), reduced in terms of the amount you use/amount of times you do something, or stopped altogether.

I think its fairly typical to spend up to your income level, but it sounds like you have identified this as a potential issue and starting to make some sensible cutbacks now should mean your debts reduce rather than increase.

Better to cut back a little now than to end up in a lot more debt and be forced to cut everything to the bare essentials, as that is a much harder adjustment to make.

If you are struggling you could always post your statement of affairs on here for people to commebnt, now whilst they might suggest really brutal cutbacks that you don't need to make all of, it would give you some ideas of how little it is possible to live on.

Good luck.

edinburgher

I know I need to spend less but the only way to do so would mean working less meaning I have less to spend. Catch 22.

Any chance of a career change to something less tied in to high expenses and perceived status?

I won't post my SOA as people who earn lots on here tend to be flamed and branded as idiots.

Some of the other boards are a bit tetchy, but DFW is almost exclusively supportive. People typically offer friendly, well-meant advice and to be honest, you need to give some more information if you want any practical suggestions.

I wouldn't be worried about finding judgemental folk on this particular board.

climbgirl

wistles wrote: »

I know I need to spend less but the only way to do so would mean working less meaning I have less to spend.

I don't really understand this comment - you can't spend less without working less. Why is your spending tied to your working? Is most of your money going on commuting costs or work related costs?!

Fair enough if you don't want to post your SOA, but I think you should do one for yourself. Sit down and work through it honestly. Ask yourself if you really need to spend on certain things - need, not want.

Do you set a budget each month and work out exactly what you need to spend? If not, start doing that.

Also, keep a spending diary - write down every penny you spend for a few weeks or a month. That will give you a very clear picture on where it's going and where you can cut back.

wistles

The most important thing for me is my children and I want them to have a good education. To me that means public schooling which is expensive. That is the main reason why we work hard.

wistles

climbgirl wrote: »

I don't really understand this comment - you can't spend less without working less. Why is your spending tied to your working? Is most of your money going on commuting costs or work related costs?!

Fair enough if you don't want to post your SOA, but I think you should do one for yourself. Sit down and work through it honestly. Ask yourself if you really need to spend on certain things - need, not want.

Do you set a budget each month and work out exactly what you need to spend? If not, start doing that.

Also, keep a spending diary - write down every penny you spend for a few weeks or a month. That will give you a very clear picture on where it's going and where you can cut back.

Thanks. A large portion of my money goes on childcare and education and this is only going to increase for which I save. I have semi large debts but in relation to my salary they are not that big and I hope to have them gone by the end of the Summer.

I commute to the City. A similar sort of role closer to home would probably be at least 80% of a reduction.

Tixy

I think its just a case of working out how much you need to cut back by a month and then prioritising whats most important to you (not to posters on here but to you). So if the kids education is what you want to spend your money on could you cut back on holidays for example? or drive a slightly older car, or not change your car so frequently? or cut down on a hobby? obviously without knowing where your money is going these are just ideas.

Sometimes people with high incomes (and obviously I can't know if you fall into this category) don't tend to pay quite a much attention to getting the cheapest deals for things, so have you checked your suppliers for gas & elec recently? are you paying over the odds for life insurance? car insurance? do you pay for phone, satellite tv and internet seperately, could you combine these to save money. Whilst none of these individual items will save a fortune over a year they can add up to hundreds and over the years your kids will be in education they could up to thousands of potential savings and lets face it there's no point paying more for something when you can get the same service identical for a lower price.

wistles

Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage....................................... 1000
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 500
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax...................................... 110
Electricity........................................ 80
Gas................................................ 80
Oil................................................. 0
Water rates.................................... 25
Telephone (land line)........................ 0
Mobile phone.................................. 30
TV Licence.................................... 10
Satellite/Cable TV........................... 85
Internet Services........................... 20
Groceries etc. .............................. 600
Clothing....................................... 100
Petrol/diesel................................. 140
Road tax...................................... 40
Car Insurance............................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)...... 50
Car parking.................................. 100
Other travel................................. 529.6
Childcare/nursery.......................... 1850
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills..................... 410
Buildings insurance......................... 30
Contents insurance........................ 55
Life assurance .............................. 35
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc).... 50
Haircuts....................................... 100
Entertainment............................... 500
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Cleaner........................................100

bravobeastie

wistles wrote: »

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 1000
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 500
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 80 -this is quite high try comparison websites
Gas..................................... 80 - this is high - comparison websites
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 85 - could you cut this down for a while?
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 - this could be reduced, have a look on the oldstyle board
Clothing................................ 100 - this could be reduced
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 100
Other travel............................ 529.6
Childcare/nursery....................... 1850
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 110 - is this insurance or vet bills?
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 55 - could this be reduced?
Life assurance ......................... 35
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 100 - this could be reduced
Entertainment........................... 500 - this could be reduced
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

Have made a few suggestions. Perhaps clothes, haircut and entertainment could be looked at and see where you could go without for a while