Budgeting with no fixed income - help

Manerlive

Hi All,

This is my first post to the MSE forum - ever...

Just a brief history before I ask for advise...

We have become a single income household but my husband has a small basic salary and then earns commission on top. The monthly income varies greatly. I have in the past tried to do budget planners but they never seem to work as some months our outgoings are greater than the incoming.

We have been spiralling into debt due to A) not having a handle on the budget and being a single income household.

What I would like help with - is how to set a budget...
I have assessed some of our outgoings and gotten rid of Sky as we cant afford it, our mob's are on a sim only contract so the cheapest we could get. I recently renegotiated our Gas & Elec to reduce it, Ive switched B&C insurance to save money and switched Landline and B/Band provider to shave off about £170 / mth... I will be looking if its necessary to have MPPI, and also looking at checking our car insurances. I have been proactive (i think) but we need towork out if we can afford to live day to day...

Any help appreciate..

colsten

Sounds you have already done a lot to reduce your outgoings - well done. The best places on MSE to get some more ideas and suggestions would be the Debtfree Wannabe, and the Old Style Moneysaving boards.

May be also some ideas you can make use of on the Boost Your Income board.

Good luck!

PeacefulWaters

Budget based on the basic wage.

Save 50% of the commission every time it's earned. Build up a reserve to help in the lean months.

Herbalus

Yeah, despite the name this is really more of a banking board as opposed to budgeting. Some of the debt-free boards do a lot better at ideas to reduce expenditure.

A few ideas from me to think about:
1) some people find it easier to budget if you use cash and not cards.
2) is there a possibility of you finding work?
3) food expenditure can be reduced significantly if Aldi is nearby, or you go down to own-brand food.