Husband lost job need to get organised.

Sunflower1401

I need a bit of help. I am well paid, in theory I earn what most couples do, my husband earnt less than me but he has now lost his job, so we are down one wage. With two wages coming in we never manage to save anything, it just disappeared, although we did have three holidays last year and etc etc. But now i need to get organised. On paper it all works, i can pay everything and I will have about 1500 left to live on for the month. I know.... that is what a lot of people have as a wage I have that for food, petrol, saving, going out etc etc. How can I make it work.... it worries me.. I am not an extravagant person, I dont go out and buy loads of clothes and eat out regularly but money just seems to disappear on food and nothing really. I have no debt so to speak thank goodness... and when I try to work to a budget I am still left with too much month left and the money has gone... what do other people do.. I am quite ashamed that I cant make things work....

MPH80

Short answer - write down your spending, track it for a month or two, use that as a budget, work out where to trim - continue to track it.

You can track it however you like - buy a money management program (YNAB, Moneydance etc), Excel/Google Docs, a notepad and pen!

But actually getting the real figures is the first thing.

Lozi41

I used to be the same. We are both on decent wages but our money was just disappearing!
Firstly I went through the bank and grouped bill DD'S (not optional) and optional spending. I was shocked at how much was frittered away in restaurants and pubs, random bits of top up shopping on top on the £500 we spent in Asda for two adults!!
I took hold of it and created a spreadsheet of bank balance at the start of the month, all the DD'S and weekly budget, all auto calculating the remaining bank balance on each line and how if we continued like that the end of the month would look like.
It's really helped to still have money left at the end of the month and not just spend whatever we felt like

lisa110rry

That's the way Lozi! When my husband retired he carried on spending as if he still had the same income. With a spreadsheet and six months of bank statements, I "cost coded" all his expenditure and sat down with him and explained where all the money was going. He looked at me and said "You could get a job doing this". I replied "I have a job doing this on construciton projects".

For my own account I regularly download the .csv files from the internet banking site and check where my "extra" money is going.

Regards, Lisa

CLAPTON

Sunflower1401 wrote: »

I need a bit of help. I am well paid, in theory I earn what most couples do, my husband earnt less than me but he has now lost his job, so we are down one wage. With two wages coming in we never manage to save anything, it just disappeared, although we did have three holidays last year and etc etc. But now i need to get organised. On paper it all works, i can pay everything and I will have about 1500 left to live on for the month. I know.... that is what a lot of people have as a wage I have that for food, petrol, saving, going out etc etc. How can I make it work.... it worries me.. I am not an extravagant person, I dont go out and buy loads of clothes and eat out regularly but money just seems to disappear on food and nothing really. I have no debt so to speak thank goodness... and when I try to work to a budget I am still left with too much month left and the money has gone... what do other people do.. I am quite ashamed that I cant make things work....

make a proper budget that looks 12 months ahead i.e. includes holidays, birthdays, xmas, annual bills (car tax, MOT, club memberships or whatever) ...look back over the last 12 months to remind yourself
be realistic about everyday spends-lunches, coffees, after work drinks, magazines, haircuts or whatever
allow for the 'unexpected' -car or household repairs
For all these annual/irregular costs, work out a yearly total and put aside 1/12 th each month in a saving account so you actually have the money separately when you need it.
Make sure you work a team with OH

Also both keep a spending diary for a few months: promise to write down absolutely everything that is spent on daily basis

compare the diary with the budget and see what the reasons for the variances are.

and start to build up some savings however modest

PeacefulWaters

and start to build up some savings however modest

This is an absolute must, even on a reduced income.

You need to have a cushion to buy you time if your job goes. Get some savings ring fenced for a genuine crisis and keep adding to them.

Additionally, make sure your other half's CV is in good nick and being seen!