Little bit of help please with budgeting etc

shouldbeshot

I need to work out my budget from September so I can work out what I have to pay towards my debt of roughly 10k. I'm not at my house over the summer (I have just moved in and paid July and Augusts rent) as I am having a baby at mums and I've paid the virgin media bill in advance, set up the account with british gas who know I am not there and everything is turned off so really my bills start from September the 1st. But I have never lived alone before, let alone with a baby :O
I'm at mums for the summer so she can teach me how to be a mum! I'm not with the father he has decided he wants nothing to do with me or the baby and has more than disappeared. I do have a boyfriend and have done for 5 months but we probably wouldn't live together for at least another year. I've got two years left at university and I need a year to myself without having to look after two babies (he can't even load a washing machine)

So my income from September would look like this. I took the total amount of student finance for the year and child tax credits and divided it by 12. I know you can get income support for the holidays but if I can survive on this as I will be getting housing benefit then I would rather not claim income support.

Child Tax Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258.33
Student Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780.33
Child Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87.97
LHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495.00

Total
£1,621.63

Outgoings

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 Essential, unlimited texts 250 minutes and internet for my iphone.
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.46 plan to pay this all at once when my student loan comes in but I have put it down monthly
Internet, phone and television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.99 virgin media fibre optics, television which is free (soooo many channels way better than sky!) weekend and evening calls (although I might pay the extra £4 for all day) and then I get 250 minutes to 0845s and 0871
Electricity and gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55.50 Switching to EON and that was their quote but I do have a 2bed + study, house so anticipate more?
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 this was what it was for 2001/2011 I don't know the exact amount for the year I am living in the house
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00 Seems a lot but where I live there is a shortage of houses suitable for a child, I either paid £500 for a back to back where the bedrooms were on seperate floors and had narrow staircases or paid £600 for a house I can happily live in whilst at university
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140.00 Is this feasible for a month for me? I also have to feed my boyfriend twice a week but he does contribute but it depends on what I am cooking.

Transport home 15.00 this is me saving petrol money so the boyfriend can drive me to my parents
University Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.20 I don't anticipate spending this amount of buses per month but this is if I was to get a day rider everyday of the week. So its more of a contigency travel and at the end of the month if I haven't spent it then good!


Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00 I am guessing this is essential as a single mum to save for emergencies?

Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00 I plan to breastfeed but if it doesn't work out then I will need formula. I also have reusable nappies and am determined to make that work.
Laundry and Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 Increased laundry because of babies nappies but I really have NO idea
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74.75 monthly amount to pay on top of childcare grant


Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00 everything from buying a dvd to going out with my boyfriend to the zoo or anything like that. I can't see myself going out and I have enough channels to watch on tv to keep me amused. I just don't want to feel like I have to stay inside if there is a possibility of going out for a picnic then that comes out of this.


Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 don't get my hair cut that much in fact last year it was only 3 times but when I do its about £30.

Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.99 I haven't started going yet but after university when baby is still at nursery I am going to try to go 3 times a week as I am so unfit. I won't do it for too long as its not a contract, if anything I would do it for 4 months and then just stick to walking to and from university.
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 I do have clothes up till 6 months packed away, I don't know if I will get any more off freegle so I think I might want to save just in case and I can always look on ebay for people selling them in bulk!
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 I have no clothes left apart from my maternity clothes (size 18) and then a few when I was size 12. So I will wear my maternity clothes untill I look ridiculous so I think I Probably need to save for a couple of months. Or however long I can last.

Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 I have 2 siblings, 2 parents a boyfriend and a child to buy for. I never spend much BUT I am wary of the fact that I might go overboard for my childs 1st so want to have a buffer just in case. Although, I am fond of charity shops for baby toys!
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 Same really!

Total £1418.89

what have I missed? that leaves me with £202.74 per month to pay towards debts. If I can cut down any of the above that would be good but I don't want to get into another position where I feel really really restricted because thats when I make silly decisions with money. I know how I am going to pay my debts off and what order I just have no idea if I have come up with a realistic budget. Because thats the first step towards sorting out my debt. I've been paying off bits of the past couple of months to the people who appear to want me to pay off the debt. I have a welcome finance loan and they just don't seem to want my money because they don't reply to my letters!

elsiepac

Hi there, I didn't want to read and run - not sure how much help I will be...

Your budget looks sensible, and regards the £140 a month for food and household shopping, this is exactly the same as what I allow, and I am just doing it for one (but no baby!). It's £30 a week which is how I look at it, and I think that's plenty - provided you plan it right, hopefuly you will never need to spend more than a fiver a week on cleaning products (basically non-food items) and if you have a big one coming up, what I do is save the five pound from one week, and put it towards the next, so I have ten for that but don't have to scrimp too much on food as still have £25. TBH the only reason I am as high as £25 is because I drink a fair amount of coffee and I'm fussy about which ones I have, so they are £3.50 to replace which is a big chunk. Also, as a rule, at least one bottle of wine gets bought a week from that budget which is £5 or maybe £6 if there isn't a good £5 offer on!!! If I was you I wouldn't cut it down further as you may struggle. IF after 6 months you find you are not using it all (but I think you will be as baby will start needing things) then you could cut back, but it's a decent budget, not excessive.

The only thing I would ask is regards make up. If you don't wear it, not a problem, but where in your budget would this come under and have you got enough there? Same with toiletries - I'm assuming food budget but make sure you've factored stuff like that it - I mean, even deoderant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc and that's before any cleansers/face wipes/mascara etc. Just double check to make sure you have enough to cover all this as you WILL need at least some of it!!!

Your baby budget of £60 is fine as you say, you are breastfeeding, re-usable nappies etc. But don't forget all the baby extras - every single toiletry item has a baby equivalent that is safe to use so these will show in this budget, plus again you have the baby wipes (when you are nappy changing), the moisturisers, the Sudocrem etc for rashes.

One last thing - sorry to ramble on! - is where are your student fees coming from? You've got your student money coming in but no fees going out that I noticed - are they covered?

Good luck and take care, you sound very organised!!!

LC xxx

shouldbeshot

I forgot about toiletries! I don't really wear makeup, I wear mascara and thats it. I have a lot of makeup to go through anyway and only wear a tiny bit of foundation when I do. its a 6 monthly purchase! Maybe I should change haircuts to haircuts and toiletries as I have found a local hairdresser that cuts for £15 so that halves my haircut cost anyway. I;ve got alot of toiletries ie deodrants and toothpaste stored actually, grandad gave me 12 tubes of colgate!!

I haven't included my student fees because they go straight to the university, they are 2k as I started in 2009 (if I had started a year later they would have been 3225) and obviously I don't see this money. I have just realised I haven't budgeted for university stuff ie stationary. I don't need to budget for books I have already bought semester ones anyway. And If I need to buy a secondarry source book I get the money refunded by the disabled students allowance. Also don't need to include printing costs as they are refunded as well.

elsiepac wrote: »

Hi there, I didn't want to read and run - not sure how much help I will be...

Your budget looks sensible, and regards the £140 a month for food and household shopping, this is exactly the same as what I allow, and I am just doing it for one (but no baby!). It's £30 a week which is how I look at it, and I think that's plenty - provided you plan it right, hopefuly you will never need to spend more than a fiver a week on cleaning products (basically non-food items) and if you have a big one coming up, what I do is save the five pound from one week, and put it towards the next, so I have ten for that but don't have to scrimp too much on food as still have £25. TBH the only reason I am as high as £25 is because I drink a fair amount of coffee and I'm fussy about which ones I have, so they are £3.50 to replace which is a big chunk. Also, as a rule, at least one bottle of wine gets bought a week from that budget which is £5 or maybe £6 if there isn't a good £5 offer on!!! If I was you I wouldn't cut it down further as you may struggle. IF after 6 months you find you are not using it all (but I think you will be as baby will start needing things) then you could cut back, but it's a decent budget, not excessive.

The only thing I would ask is regards make up. If you don't wear it, not a problem, but where in your budget would this come under and have you got enough there? Same with toiletries - I'm assuming food budget but make sure you've factored stuff like that it - I mean, even deoderant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc and that's before any cleansers/face wipes/mascara etc. Just double check to make sure you have enough to cover all this as you WILL need at least some of it!!!

Your baby budget of £60 is fine as you say, you are breastfeeding, re-usable nappies etc. But don't forget all the baby extras - every single toiletry item has a baby equivalent that is safe to use so these will show in this budget, plus again you have the baby wipes (when you are nappy changing), the moisturisers, the Sudocrem etc for rashes.

One last thing - sorry to ramble on! - is where are your student fees coming from? You've got your student money coming in but no fees going out that I noticed - are they covered?

Good luck and take care, you sound very organised!!!

LC xxx

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi shouldbeshot,

Congratulations about your baby, I hope all goes well for you

I thought I would just try and help with the E.ON bit, if that's ok

Just a few tips, make sure you always provide your accurate meter readings if you do receive an estimated bill give us your readings and E.ON will re-calculate the bill.

Are you on the best tariff for you?

£55.50 could be a little bit too low, but this will all depend on you use your energy, insulation in the house etc, contact us and we can send our 100 ways to save energy booklet, it's actually quite interesting and may help you.

Just keep your eye on the account, are you going to set this up online? this is the best way to check usage, balances, bills ect.

If you do need any help, just let me know, I am always happy to try and help.

Helena