How to go from a single person household to a 2 person household on less money?

Faith177

Hi All

Look for a bit of advice here.

Me & OH have been living apart now since August 2012 as he got a placement in a different area.

He has now accepted another job that will bring him back home but as it is a drop in responsiblity he has to take a paycut which equals about £150 a month.

Also as part of the job he will be travelling more but his mileage will only be 70p per mile but his insurance is going to go up plus general wear & tear on the car will increase. At the moment he only uses it 1 day a week really to come home and the odd run to Tesco.

Not only is he taking a paycut but it is going to cost me more in household bills having him home. At the moment he is home 1 night a week. Now he'll be home every night and 2 days a week. This means more electric, gas and food.

I need some advice on how to feed two people again as I'm really out of practice. I go days where I just have soup for dinner as I don't really want to cook just for me so my food bill is practically nothing at the moment. However OH will expect a proper meal each evening.

Also as I mentioned how do I keep gas and electric down. I'm on a pre pay meter as I don't trust energy companies with DD's after a massive error caused by British Gas.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Lilyplonk

Where does your OH stay when he's 'not at yours' - surely he'll be making some kind of saving on HIS living expenses?

You don't say if you're in rented accomm or own your own place.

What about Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit - have you ever claimed the single person reduction? If so, that will be coming to an end when he returns - but if your income is REALLY low, it might just be worth your while checking out the benefit situation.

What about double-checking your spending / shopping / eating / socialising habits - perhaps there's somewhere that you can BOTH cut back a bit.

Have you ever done a 'down-shift challenge'?

Have you checked that you're on the cheapest tariff available, or with the best supplier, for your area?

Good Luck - I'm sure there's lots of folks on here with suggestions, but it IS going to mean that you BOTH need to sit down - communicate very honestly about money - and re-assess your JOINT financial situation.

Uniscots97

Hi, is your OH going to be contributing to the bills? A shopping list is a good place to start for food. Meal plan, using a slow cooker (a stew which your OH could have with bread, potatoes and veg and you could just have the stew if you don't want a lot). As for the heating being on, make sure you both wear lots of layers so you don't want to turn the heating up etc.

Faith177

He had accomodation attached to work which only cost £20 a month meals included.

Never claimed the reduction in council tax so that's one less thing to worry about

I am already working 2 jobs to support us atm as OH has a lot of debt some of which I paid off for him just for him to rack it back up again. We already dont go out often and I don't drive. I was learning but I am going to quit that now as that's £40 a month.

I can cut down by not having lunch at work and taking it in. At the moment I eat at work 2 times a week and that's about £10.

We don't use heating already just one calor gas fire in the front room and we have been doing that for a few years now.

I own my home and have done for a few years.

OH already contributes to the bills as they are now but I don't know about when they increase what he'll be able to help.

It doesn't help he pays a couple of things for my MIL and he pays his brothers phone bill every month but I know it's pointless asking him to quit paying them as it's a pointless argument.

I have a slow cooker knocking about somewhere in the house I'm sure of it so I might give that ago thank you for the tip I had forgot about that.

My income isn't low enough and combined it's definately not low enough to get any benefit help or any assistance so we are going to be on our own on this

What is a down shift challenge?

Ladyluck1

Unfortunately it will mean;
Trying to pay those debts off quickly
Not having any or as many luxuries, takeaway, wine, meals out.
Downgrading mobiles,sky, switching electric/has/telephone broadband.
Shopping in Aldi or Lidl and looking for the best deals.
Eating veggie a few times a week.
Selling anything you don't use/want.

This is what we've had to do after an income drop (my choice though as it's children/baby related)
We don't get any help either and unfortunately we rent and it's much more expensive than a mortgage would be!
Our monthly food shop comes in around £130 but so times less if we have no choice!
It can be done, you need to sit down with your incomings and outgoing and work out what can go/be reduced.

Good luck
Xx

Faith177

Ladyluck1 wrote: »

Unfortunately it will mean;
Trying to pay those debts off quickly
Not having any or as many luxuries, takeaway, wine, meals out.
Downgrading mobiles,sky, switching electric/has/telephone broadband.
Shopping in Aldi or Lidl and looking for the best deals.
Eating veggie a few times a week.
Selling anything you don't use/want.

This is what we've had to do after an income drop (my choice though as it's children/baby related)
We don't get any help either and unfortunately we rent and it's much more expensive than a mortgage would be!
Our monthly food shop comes in around £130 but so times less if we have no choice!
It can be done, you need to sit down with your incomings and outgoing and work out what can go/be reduced.

Good luck
Xx

Thank you very much I realise this OH seems oblivious atm he's just glad to be coming home hopefully it will sink in quickly otherwise I won't be held accountable for my actions

patchwork_cat

70p per mile mileage is phenomenal - he will need to declare that to the tax office.

Bean_Counter

patchwork_cat wrote: »

70p per mile mileage is phenomenal - he will need to declare that to the tax office.

Not necessarily as his employer will include it on the P11D in the fullness but you should be ready for an increase in the tax he pays each month in due course.

Faith177

Bean_Counter wrote: »

Not necessarily as his employer will include it on the P11D in the fullness but you should be ready for an increase in the tax he pays each month in due course.

I didn't know that !!!!!!! thanks for telling me he didn't inform me of that stupid idiot! :mad:

He already has to pay a huge whack to his student loan which was a complete waste of money as he has done SFA with his stupid degree :wall:

How do you tell your husband that they have let you down AGAIN without putting your hands around their throat!

RosiePuddingPaws

I think you need to sit down and have a serious discussion with him? He needs to understand that he can't afford to pay his brother's phone bill or stuff for MIL until the pair of you have covered your own living expenses and while he has debts. And you need to have the discussion (unless you already have) about why he built the debt up again after you had cleared it.

Failing that, this being the OS board, part of the answer has to be batch cooking and, as mentioned above, shopping at Lidl/Aldi or shifting down a brand at the other major supermarkets.

RPP

McKneff

He should be paying half of everything towards household bills, then sorting other peoples bills out.


Surely paying back student loan is only a small percentage of his salary,


You both need to sit down and talk about it.