So fed up of having no money

Flyonthewall

miss_sammy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Our outgoings are the following: we each have our own car and both are on finance (we couldn't go down to one car due to working locations), car insurance (paid monthly) petrol, rent, council tax, house insurance, sky (due to our isolated location we don't get Freeview so it's sky or nothing), food which we always buy fresh ie we never get take aways or ready meals, we make every meal from scratch, phone/internet, tv licence and mobile bills. Im struggling more than my other half, I'm on 15k and I'm left with around £100 that's if I literally spend nothing on myself. That isn't a great deal when your trying to save for a house where you need a big deposit. I'm trying to look for jobs on more money but there is nothing out there at the minute.

As others have suggested, there is freesat instead of sky. You could also use Netflix, NowTV or something similar. If you're using them I believe you'd also then be able to stop paying the TV licence due to them being online services.

You could look for better mobile and Internet deals too.

Car insurance is cheaper if you can manage to pay it in one go. Might be worth trying to save up for that.

You could also consider other options for your cars as finance isn't always the best/cheapest option long term.

When insurance is due shop around for the best deal.

For all purchases, especially insurance and if you change mobile/phone/internet providers, use TopCashBack or Quidco if you're not already as you can get money back each time you shop online.

Flyonthewall

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Mobile phone costs can eat up money big-time:eek:. Unless an all-singing-all-dancing smartphone is absolutely essential you could sell it, buy something simpler and maybe PAYG. That's what I do, use it for emergencies only(such as when I'm out driving alone) and not for chatting to people:p.

I agree, although you can get cheap smartphones (less than £70. I've seen deals for ones around £30) if a smartphone is needed/really wanted and a pay monthly sim might be a better option if you don't just want to use it for emergency. With PAYG if you do end up using it more then it could cost far more.

anotheruser

I hear ya.
I'm sort of in the same situation.

The only real way to solve it is to get a job with a higher salary.

However we're a bit more lucky as we pay annually for car insurance, have and run two cars, have no debt (apart from ~£500 credit card paid off completely monthly).

As others have said, look around at what you have, which a lot of people think are a necessity these days but should still be looked at as luxury, like Sky TV, movie subscriptions.

Go through your Direct Debits list too and see if that brings on any thing you can get rid of.

retireby50

You can convert cashback from Topcashback into tesco clubcard points and then use the points to get vouchers for a meal out.

fragmented

make sure you go through the list @
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help

lessonlearned

Hi there, don't panic. That's a good salary, it just sounds like you need to do sme tweaking.

1. Start a spending diary today, write down every single penny you spend. Within 2 weeks you will be able to see your spending patterns emerge and your diary will show you where to make cutbacks.

2. Post a SOA and let the good people on here get their collective heads round it. They will save you a packet.

Off the top my head, just to recap, you are renting Out In the sticks. and both commuting distances to work hence the two cars.

That's Just unnecessary. Move to nearer one of your workplaces so that one of you can ditch the car.You will save a small fortune.

Whilst you are at it, consider something that is cheaper maybe, and certainly something that is nearer to amenities, shops, bars, cinemas, theatres etc. you are far too young to be sat at home dojng nothing but watch TV night after night

There are loads of entertainments which are either free or cheap, you just have to search them out.

Living in the country makes everything more expensive, fuel and travelling expenses, entertainment, shopping, commuting etc,

You need to take a Step back at take a good look at current lifestyle And ask yourself isthis what you want. Where do you want to be in 5 years time.

Set goals and then work steadily towards them.

There are loads of threads on these boArds have a good mooch around, look at the OS board, the debt free challenges, the frugal living challenge.

Holidays can be as cheap as chips. I can througHLY RECOMMEND the holiday vouchers in the SUn newSpaper. When ,my kids were small and we were skint, we took our holidays courtesy of those vouchers. We had two or three holidays a year. Brilliant.

For inspiration on how yo set goals, how to downsize and save, and how to plan for a better financial futures I suggest you read Mr Moneymoustache,s blog about how he and his partner became financially independent. It's an American one, but the basic principles still apply.

Good luck, don't get downheartd. your situation can be fixed quite easily. You have plenty of coming in,you just need to make it work harder for you.

Sorry for all the typos. Done on my iPad.

culpepper

It doesn't need to cost very much at all to get married. Why not have a small ceremony and have a bigger celebration later in life?
How far are you both from work ?Could one of you car pool to work with colleagues?
Have you got actual sums in mind for each of your dreams?

[Deleted User]

This thread scares me : (

With the work colleagues can you not just make stuff up, sometimes, as hard as it is

Though as long as you wash properly - it should be none of their bees wax

How do you know they are not also in debt?

iris

£160 Food/toiletries per month (shop in Aldi)
£100 gas/electric
£ 8 contents ins
£25 Telephone & broadband (which includes weekend calls)
£10 (£5 x 2) Mobile phone PAYG
£10 (hair cut)
£50 car insurance
£50 road tax
£50 car service/repairs/mot
£200 petrol
£25 water (metered)
£12.12 TV License (free sat)
£30 clothes
£30 presents
£50 Contingency sum for white goods replacement etc
£75 Entertainment & holiday fund
£500 rent (?)
TOTAL £1382.12 x 12 = £16585.44


Not sure what your take home pay is, but it should be about £27000 (perhaps more) between the two of you.

Yes, I know some of the figures may not be quite what you pay, but it does give you an idea of what you can live on and still have money left over. I know you are still paying for both of your cars, but even allowing for £5,000 pa payments, this still leaves approx £5000 to save.


As others have said let us know your outgoings and we may be able to help.


Ooops - sorry forget council tax, so take off approx. £1250 pa.

asajj

Deleted%20User wrote: »

This thread scares me : (

With the work colleagues can you not just make stuff up, sometimes, as hard as it is

Though as long as you wash properly - it should be none of their bees wax

How do you know they are not also in debt?

Not sure what this post means ?