More out than in - SOA

cocalls

Well doen you've made some steps in the right direction already.
Could your OH do mystery shopping while the kids are at school? Its v easy and you get around a tenner a time.
re the lottery could you not get 1 ticket/wk so 4 quid a month and re the childrens savings if you dont want to cancel can you not reduce it a bit?

sparky03

Hi M.A.M I can feed 5 and a dog on £200 per month its not easy but you'll get there GOOD LUCK

tesuhoha

Sorry I just have to add my bit about the smoking. There are all kinds of scary health statistics about smoking, so maybe you should quote some of them to her. The one that comes to mind straight away is that people who smoke are 4 times as likely to lose their eyesight in old age. This is because smoking damages the macular, the central part of the eye which can lead to macular degeneration as you get older. This can lead to partial vision or total blindness. She might not care now but she would if she reached her fifties and started to have sight problems. Im sorry if I frighten you but even if you dont take the waste of money into account, smoking is not a good thing for the health at all. So maybe you should do some research and let her know what she is doing to herself. ~ Sorry for the lecture

tesuhoha

The chances of winning the lottery are the same as trying to pick out one centimetre of road on the journey from London to Bristol. I think you should stop the lottery, and decrease your kids savings to £10 a month. That way you will still be saving for them while you are paying your debts and this will be paid for partly by your stopping the lottery. As someone said, thats £90 per year youre wasting and for what. I gave up the lottery just a year after it started and I look at the winning numbers every week and not once have my numbers come up, apart from 2 x £10, but youre paying more than that every year anyway. As statistics go, you are more likely to be killed by a donkey or a coconut falling on your head than you are to win the lottery :rolleyes:

immoral_angeluk

INCOMING

Wages - [STRIKE]£1380[/STRIKE] (flat rate) £1415
Child benefit - £113
Tax credit - £45

O/h not working. Overtime is not very regular at the moment, but pays well when I do get it. Tell your o/h to get a job!

Total: £1573

OUTGOINGS

Credit Card - £100
House Ins - [STRIKE]£38[/STRIKE] £16
Phone line rental (BT) - £11
Phone Calls - £3
Life Ins - £19 Do you really need this, and if so can you get cheaper?
Account Fee - £11 Switch accounts to one that doesn't charge a fee!
Council Tax - £110
Water - £33 this seems high..is it a meter?
TV licence - £11
Gas/ Elec - £85 Are you on the cheapest? Shop around.
Loan - £122
Car Ins - [STRIKE]£34[/STRIKE] Paid in full
[STRIKE]Computer finance - £32[/STRIKE]
Broad Band - £26 Have a look round for cheaper deals or cut down the package
Petrol - £50 would using public transport work out cheaper?
Food - £350 Check out the moneysaving old style board for ideas how to cut this down.
Mobile (PAYG) - £20
Kids savings - £30 Cancel this for the time being. You can always start up again when you have a bit more disposable income.
Mortgage - £390
Pet insurance - £12 (1 dog) I'm sure you can get cheaper than this or at least reduce the package.
Works Lottery syndicate - £7.50 cancel this. What are the realistic chances of you winning??

Fags (o/h) - £80 Kind of obvious really. Quit and you'll be £80 a month better off plus your health will benefit, as will the health of your children.

Total - [STRIKE]£1567[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£1535[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£1513[/STRIKE]£1487 Well done on cutting this down already :T


Can't see anything on here for car tax or maintenance, birthdays, christmas, going out etc.

beanielou

Can I just second or third not to cancel your life insurance?
Can your OH not get a wee job/Even a few hours a week would help.

Lara44

Hey Martial Art Man

Could your OH perhaps do some childminding? What about your kids' friends - do they need minding for a few hours after school? Perhaps this would be more flexible for her?

Not meaning to be nosy, but has she had her LBM, or does she leave it to you to sort the finances. Its much easier if you can work together. There were some brilliant challenges last year where couples went head to head to clear their debt fastest... a bit of competition was a crazy motivator, although not exactly for teamwork(!)

MartialArtMan

Thanks for the input everyone!

I appreciate the suggestions for my oh to start earning some kind of income but; we are signed up for mystery shopping and there is very little (i.e nothing) that is feasible, childminding would be very awkward (good suggestion though)....it is just very difficult. I mean we keep our eyes open for a little cleaning job or something but it isn't easy to find something that fits round the kids especially during all the holidays they have. In most cases the wage would be cancelled out by child care costs, we do not have friends or relations that are able to babysit for us. She does have her name down at the school to be a dinner lady which would be okay but would still take some adjusting to. In all honesty as much as I'd like her to be earning I also like having her about, two reasons for that 1. I enjoy her company (most of the time Not so much when shes smoking though) 2. She takes great care of the house and kids.

She could give up, ease up or roll up the fags though but theres still no sign of that ever happening. A sore point that :mad:

Yeah I'll be keeping my life insurance! Thanks. I'll downgrade my bank account tomorrow to a free one. Car is essential yes but I could get a more frugal one I suppose but I only just got this one a few months ago and I do enjoy the luxury that it offers (it isn't extravagant just a top of the range model, 2 litre not worth much though bout 2k). I won't be cancelling or reducing the kids savings but I'm starting to pluck up the courage to finally cancel the works lottery.

Is my water rate high!? £33 does seem high but I wonder what others pay...hmmm a new post I think

MartialArtMan

LaraHoust wrote: »

Not meaning to be nosy, but has she had her LBM, or does she leave it to you to sort the finances.

Shes knows we're not loaded and does watch the pennies. Her only vice is her smoking really I'm as much to blame for overspending in other areas as she is. We don't generally spend much; we don't go out a lot, don't drink, buy bargain clothes on the odd occassion, etc, etc, and are just your general struggling couple trying to save as many pennies as we can...

MartialArtMan

Ok I didn't cancel my Barclays Additions because with the Additions my overdraft interest is 9.9% a standard account is 15.9%. As I live my life (at the mo) in a high overdraft I thought that the cost of the account would probably workout less than the interest. Or does it?

Instead I down graded from Additions Plus to First Additions which is still a saving of £5 a month.