Need advice on setting up family budget and how to start saving!!

[Deleted User]

i worked in the steel industry for 14 years i never wore clean clothes everyday i went to work dressed changed into football shorts t-shirt and boiler suit.

he must be the freshest cheese maker in Britain.

same with the kids if they are going out to play and get filthy, old play clothes. they do not need to wear clean clothes everytime they go out.

as for babies mine is 18yrs old now but at 10 months of age most of his day was spent in a baby grow and a huggie we had millions of bibs and baby grows.

i think and i do not mean to be rude or anything like that, but YOU seem to be your own worst enemy and your routine is what is not allowing you to save anything.

Archi_Bald

Deleted_User wrote: »

i worked in the steel industry for 14 years i never wore clean clothes everyday i went to work dressed changed into football shorts t-shirt and boiler suit.

he must be the freshest cheese maker in Britain.

Just the idea that a cheese maker might not be turning up in fresh clothes every day has put me right off my cheese now!

ajsexton

flubdub wrote: »

Sky - £27
Broadband - £24.49 (there are only 3 providers for our area, and these are the cheapest. We joined them in October.
Orange - £27
Vodafone - £40 - no excuse for this I'm afraid! I just wanted a nice phone
Gas and elec - £118

These are the ones to focus on.

Ditch the mobile contracts as quick as you can, or instead of getting a new phone at contract renewal time, keep your old one move to a sim only tariff (my 3 One plan tariff is £15 a month and has more allowance than I can possible use and thats a lot more costly than they can be) and save the difference from the sim only to your bundled contract cost into a separate account designed to offset the cost of buying a new phone outright once your existing one eventually falls apart.

Ditch the sky, if you really want (or need with the kids) a lot of choice tv wise, maybe save the sky amount up, buy a media box and get a netflix subscription out. (£6 a month and has a lot on, you can get a wifi bluray players with netflix app on for £70ish).

Broadband wise, you might be a bit stuck, but keep an eye on it, if BT were available as a supplier so are a lot of others (talk talk - horrendous customer service, but relatively cheap, might be an option)

Change the gas/elec for the £15 a month cheaper one immediately, thats a no brainer.


Though I have to comment you have a far higher income than my household does, with me working fulltime in a well paying job.

After tax/ni etc I come home with less than 1900 a month and we dont qualify for any benefits,

[Deleted User]

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Just the idea that a cheese maker might not be turning up in fresh clothes every day has put me right off my cheese now!

My point was does he not have work coveralls? Or does he make the cheese in jeans and jumper. Been a food product i would expect certain dress code has to be adhered too. If you are doing his laundry work uniform you can claim for this.

supersaverg

Create notice period bank account for your savings:

http://www.barclays.co.uk/Savings/60DaySavingsAccount/P1242558331247

You have enough funds to squirrel something away. You need to remove the 'easy access' element of getting to the money. That's how we do it anyway.

By the time we can get at the money, we have gone off the idea of buying the item we originally wanted. Works a treat.

Best of luck. You have light at the end of the tunnel.

A few non essential things on your spend, which I am sure you are aware of.

Aquamania

£24.49 a month for broadband?
Do you have a landline telephone - no mention of one, but presumably you are not so remote as to not be able to have one.

In which case you can get BT landline and broadband for the equivilent of £21.75 a month (connection charges may apply, and you would need to pay 12 months line rental in advance, but you may get an introductory discount on the broadband)
With a landline, you may think again at spending almost £500 a year on that mobile.

Almost £5 a week on a couple of slices of pizza? You can buy a nice big pizza from the supermarket for £1.00 - plenty for two small kids.

Over £300 p.a. spent on Sky? Why? That's more than twice what you spend on the TV licence that gives you over 50 different tv stations to watch.

£300 p.a. on after school activities? That could almost pay for a nice little holiday (that you don't mention about)

Almost £600 a year on car insurance for a diesel? Assuming it isn't a Jaguar or something, and you don't live in Central London, Moss Side (Manchester) or Toxteth (Liverpool) etc, that does seem a lot for a stay at home mum, assuming maximum NCB. Maybe speak to an insurance broker to see where you are going wrong?

Over £500 on food (and that's in addition to the kids school dinners)? Seems high, but only you can address that.

All the same you still seem to have £500 a month left over/unaccounted for - so you need to find out where & more is going that drives you into an overdraft situation every month.

Try the debt free wannabe board and use their standard SoA form (details in the sticky there) that will hopefully show where all your money is going.

Aquamania

Deleted_User wrote: »

My point was does he not have work coveralls? Or does he make the cheese in jeans and jumper. Been a food product i would expect certain dress code has to be adhered too. If you are doing his laundry work uniform you can claim for this.

Whilst I appreciate every penny may count, the partner can only claim tax relief of (I think) £60 for the job

That means a tax saving of just £1 per month for a basic rate tax payer.

innovate

60/12 = £5 a month. But whatever - it would be £60 more into the coffers of the family. Look after the pennies and all that.....