So fed up of having no money

Mistral001

Apart from rich farmers or escape-to-the-country well off city types most country people live very modestly. If they have two cars, they are usually old cars bought for cash and repaired by themselves or cheap local garages. In fact HP of any kind is probably out totally. HP is a very expensive way of buying anything. Paying for your insurance monthly is a form of HP and you usually pay about 10% more than if you paid it annually.

asajj

To be fair it is very difficult to get more idea if poster doesn't reply back ! So we assume most of the things.

System

£33000 is a HUGE amount

Can you list your expenses in a list? Somethings not right unless you're paying £2k in mortgage payment per month

prosaver

Sky is £45 a month,
Internet and phone is about £25....is 70
We also pay £45 a month on our sofa... 115
mobile £10 a month................................125
We pay about £320 combined for our cars. 345
Council tax is £130 a month. ................... 475
Rent is £700 that includes water and electricity....1175 total
wages income......33000 into 12 months = 2750 wages
money left to spend a month is £1575.....?
what's the problem?

Londonfirsttimer

I earn £33k on a single income. I am watching the pennies as I have just bought my first home.

My only debt before I got a mortgage was my student loan, which was paid off a couple of years ago. My Dad said never to buy anything on HP so I never have. I don't own a TV. I don't really have time to watch it but when I do I watch IPlayer and ITV Player on my Chromebook (£179 new but I paid for half of it with compensation vouchers Gatwick airport gave me after the floods last year) I have the knackered sofa that came with my flat but I am going to donate that to charity soon and buy a £395 sofa bed from Ikea so my Mum can come and stay.

£700 seems an awful lot to pay for a place in the country. It seems normal (or a little low) for London, where I live, but outside London it should be less I would think.

When I had a car it was secondhand from an auction. It kept going until I moved to London and didn't need a car.

If I were you I think I would move close to your partner's work and get rid of one car. He can walk or take public transport to work. Alternatively/ you could get work closer to his work and share transport in.

Ask for a pay rise at work, or figure out how you can get promoted, or get a better job. What skills are you missing? But I'm serious about the pay rise. Don't ask, don't get. Through a combination of asking, going from working two half-time jobs to one full-time, and getting promoted, my income has gone up by about £10k since the end of 2013.

Base your future plans on expected extra income but don't base your spending and debt levels on this. Every time you get an increase in income (eg, you finish paying the sofa off) set up a direct debit to put the money in savings.

Also I have just installed the Toshl Finance app on my phone and I'm keeping track of all of my spending. I spend way too much money on food (eating out and posh groceries). No plans to cut that yet but it just means delaying my kitchen reno a bit, and I know where I can cut back if I need to (unless I do it on interest-free finance, but Dad's ghost would not be happy).

retireby50

prosaver wrote: »

Sky is £45 a month,
Internet and phone is about £25....is 70
We also pay £45 a month on our sofa... 115
mobile £10 a month................................125
We pay about £320 combined for our cars. 345
Council tax is £130 a month. ................... 475
Rent is £700 that includes water and electricity....1175 total
wages income......33000 into 12 months = 2750 wages
money left to spend a month is £1575.....?
what's the problem?

£33000 was gross salary. Take home will be around £2370 and that assumes no student loan deductions and no employee pension contributions. £2370-£1175 = £1195 max, to come out of that: grocery shopping; clothes etc; OH's mobile; monthly share of annual costs (e.g. car tax x2; car servicing x2?; TV licence).

The OP (and OH) really needs to understand all their outgoings and the fact they quoted gross salary suggests not being totally on top of the numbers.

I reckon up to £700 per month not explained/understood BETWEEN the both of them (-£100 spare and OH's spare?).

Is this important? "Our outgoings......." and "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." Given difference in salaries OH is left with around £270?

fannyadams

OP PLEASE post a PROPER SOA for us to look at you can get one here and really really go through it with a fine tooth comb.
you can use THIS calculator to see what your take home earnings are.
and this calculator will tell you how much your commute REALLY costs you.
I hear that YNAB phone app is pretty good at keeping track of your finances.
Good Luck - it IS achievable.
HTH
FA
x

shell_belle

miss_sammy wrote: »

We only have our TV with sky, internet and phone are with plusnet. Sky is £45 a month, Internet and phone is about £25. We also pay £45 a month on our sofa because our other one was knackered. I've got my mobile phone bill down from £43 to £10 a month. We pay about £320 combined for our cars. Council tax is £130 a month. Rent is £700 that includes water and electricity. I don't know if going down to one car is an option for us as we live on a farm down a dirt track, down a country road. If we have a child which we do really want one, it won't be easy getting out and about during the day while mr's at work.

I think you need to set a day aside and do a Martin Money makeover. Not sure what Sky package you are on but £45 is a lot! Get a Now TV box or just plug your computer into your telly with a HDMI cable and use streaming. When you buy the Now TV box check all the cash back sites (Topcashback, Quidco etc).

Look into both your car insurances and see if you can save more with one of those two cars in one households offers.

As for the cars, can you not downgrade both of them to save cash? There are some really good 64 plate deals on just now in the run up to the new plates. (sometimes running a newer car on a PCP is cheaper than an older one)

Not sure where you live but your rent is extreme - can you not see about downgrading your property and moving closer to work? Could you not even try to apply for social housing so you can save up?

Also, when buying any shopping try using cashback sites and also check on them for extra money deals (money for opening a bank account etc).

Have you also thought about using App's that you can make money from like Roamler, Field Agent and Clic and Walk?

Also, as Whizzbang said before try mystery shopping to pay for stuff like meals out and clothes. There's a thread on this in this forum.

If you live remotely and this isn't an option for you then why not get surveying (there's lots about it on here) Tuck the money you make for it away for a rainy day and don't spend it!

If you have bought the sofa from the high street shop that you pay it up - return it! They take stuff back all the time and get yourself a second hand one from Freecycle or Gumtree or a charity shop.

Check out the freebies page for perfume testers, toiletries and free movie tickets (seefilmfirst.com). Go to free places at the weekends like museums, parks etc.

There are sites you can sign-up too to try out cosmetics and toiletries (again on the free page) and that will save you money.

Have a bootsale and get rid of the clutter that you have in the house.

If you have a magazine that you buy then look online to see if there are any offers on it just now and freebies for signing up. Also check cash back.

Use loyalty cards when buying stuff and the added up points can be used later to buy things that you need in the likes of Boots or Superdrug or for outtings, meals etc with Tesco Clubcard and Nectar.

And personally, I would say getting married should not cost a fortune at all but thats just me. I just think that splurging a lot of money on one day is a total waste when it could be used for a house deposit.

Look at all of your bills and work out if you are paying them the best way possible i.e. not using payment cards etc but paying by DD. Check that you are getting the best deals on Money Supermarket.

Honestly, there are lots of ways to save money and manage your finances that once you start them will make a lot of sense and savings for you. You will wonder why you never did them to start with. I used to waste money and since I have started to do a lot of the above, I've not only managed to save but get a better lifestyle. It's hard work and takes time but once you get the hang of it, it comes second nature.

166million

miss_sammy wrote: »

We only have our TV with sky, internet and phone are with plusnet. Sky is £45 a month, Internet and phone is about £25. We also pay £45 a month on our sofa because our other one was knackered. I've got my mobile phone bill down from £43 to £10 a month. We pay about £320 combined for our cars. Council tax is £130 a month. Rent is £700 that includes water and electricity. I don't know if going down to one car is an option for us as we live on a farm down a dirt track, down a country road. If we have a child which we do really want one, it won't be easy getting out and about during the day while mr's at work.

I have sky tv, internet and phone and pay £45 you might want to ring them up and see if they can do you a deal.

System

It is probably something you've already thought of, but make some small savings by hunting out coupons to cut back on groceries. There are apps you can use too to save a bit more - Shopitize being one.

Can you put your car insurances on a multi-car deal?

Join various challenges on this forum and you'll find small savings soon add up.