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sacha28

Ok so I can see a few things here that could possibly be done to help....

Firstly, you put £20pm into each child's savings? Then give them pocket money? Stop the savings and just give them the pocket money, at least until your situation improves.

Secondly, wth do you clean every month that costs £43?! I find it unbelievable that anyone would spend that much on cleaning products alone!! I spend a maximum of £10pm on cleaning products and some months I don't even need to spend that if I have found a good deal the previous month and have loads left over.

Thirdly, eating out. Now I understand that you have teens and it's nice to take them out for pizza (or whatever) but this needs to be scaled back. You aren't in a position to do this. Get a pizza to cook at home, stick a dvd on (as previously suggested). Tesco are currently doing a pizza meal deal for £6....2 large pizza's and 2 sides for £6. To me that's 2 meals sorted and a nice family evening

You say you don't smoke but have £6pm on 'smoking'? So you do smoke? £6pm is nothing for smoking costs, if you are smoking that little is it really worth it?

Perhaps now is the time to teach your eldest the joys of budgeting? He gets pocket money so why can he not pay for his own hobbies? To me, this is what pocket money is for. I'm not saying totally, if there is a one-off trip that will clear him out then maybe put a little bit towards it.

I have no idea how you feed yourself and 2 teens on £80 a month, I have an 18 month old and my oh and I rarely spend more than £200pm and I thought that was pretty darn good!!!

In short, there are many things that you could tweek to better your position but you have to be prepared to scarifice a little bit.

MrsGSR

Why do you have to give them pocket money? I never received pocket money as a child unless it was for chores. Do they do chores? I also agree with the comment about your sons pocket money going towards fishing trips.
Agree energy bills could come down lower so it's worth shopping around.
Cleaning products again 43.00 a month is crazy. I get all mine from S@vers or £stretcher and including dishwasher tablets and washing powder it's probably about a tenner a month.

DMP03

thanks to all who have commented - a few updates..

I have cleared my credit card so I feel more positive...I spend £80.00 a week on food shopping not a month - I wish! So that's wrong - so is the £6 on smoking - I dont smoke and not sure how that got there. I will seriously cut back on the cleaning buget though and look to buy cheaper brands.

My overspend does worry me though - I dont go out very often, yes we have treats sometimes, but I dont buy new clothes or expensive haircuts etc but the cost of living just seems to get more expensive with each passing month. The reason my credit card bill crept up was because my car failed it's MOT on 9 things lasy month.

D

[Deleted User]

Hi
I just wanted to say, from what I can see, £40 per month of cleaning stuff is excessive (and I am OCD with cleaning according to my hubby)...Also cut back on pocket money and putting money in the kids account aswell. I give them pocket money every week/month and let them make the decision what they do with it (obviously encourage them to save some of it). Encourage everyone to switch tv, games console and lights off when not in use (again, I am a bit OCD with this) With Christmas, we have a budget of £600 including food and treats. Make a list and budget you are prepared to spend on them and stick to it - also start early to grab bargins. We are planning to spending about £120 each or my two kids.


Also it's ok to have a little savings on the side, as this may prevent putting things on credit cards in the future. £80 per week on food is about right for practically 3 adults living under the same roof.

theoretica

DMP03 wrote: »

I have cleared my credit card so I feel more positive...I spend £80.00 a week on food shopping not a month - I wish!

So it is about £346 a month - could be cut down for 3 - perhaps aim for £300 to cover all food, drink, and snacks including school meals, eating out etc?

DMP03 wrote: »

My overspend does worry me though - I dont go out very often, yes The reason my credit card bill crept up was because my car failed it's MOT on 9 things lasy month.

So you need to budget something for car maintenance too.

On paper, your overspend is mostly because of the one-off £1000 to the credit card. In a normal month, without that but with the monthly grocery you will come out near to even, but do need to make lots of the cuts suggested to come out positive and pay the debt off.

Just to check you are paying the single person's rate of council tax?

MrsGSR

DMP03,

Cars are a total pain in the rear aren't they? We had to pay out loads on ours this year and it does make a dent in your budget.
Living costs are rising so much, we find now we have tightened our belts so much that the treats we do have are much more valued and appreciated than they were before.
You've made some great changes and well done, they will help and add up :-)

DMP03

Hi, yes I am paying single persons council tax, I sorted that out straight away.

I wish I could get rid of the car but its not practicle to do so.

Thanks to all who've replied - it's great to get another perspective on the situation.

DMP03

By the way, has anyone any experience with the working from home/making money online that they have links to on here? I tried to start earning a bit extra by completing surveys but to no avail...you either get offered £0.01 or spend 20 minutes completing the survey only to be told right at the end that you don't qualify. Is it possible to earn extra cash online? It almost seems too good to be true....I would appreciate any advice as this could really help me get back on track.

Thanks. D

19lottie82

DMP03 wrote: »

By the way, has anyone any experience with the working from home/making money online that they have links to on here? I tried to start earning a bit extra by completing surveys but to no avail...you either get offered £0.01 or spend 20 minutes completing the survey only to be told right at the end that you don't qualify. Is it possible to earn extra cash online? It almost seems too good to be true....I would appreciate any advice as this could really help me get back on track.

Thanks. D

The truth is, surveys will pay a few pounds a month, but nothing substantial.

Most online work is contracted to people in developing countries, like india, where they will work for a fraction of our NMW, so not really an option.

There are companies that look for people to conduct online work, that pay OK, google "leapforce" and "lionbride". I think you have to be a graduate though, but I'm not 100% certain.

LannieDuck

The 'Up Your Income' board is the place to ask - they'll know which survey sites are worth doing and which just don't give you any value for time spent.

Also, do you get child maintenance from the kids' Dad(s)?