Average monthly outgoings family of 5...

HappyMJ

ronaldadio wrote: »

Sky - £120 (Looking into this)
TalkTalk ( house phone/ internet) - £50
Vodaphone - £100 (3 mobile phones - looking into this)

For all 3 above you pay £270.

I'm with TalkTalk.

I have 3 mobile phones (one costs £5.50/month and has 1,000 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB internet, the other two are free and have 100 minutes, 200 texts and 200MB internet), All plans are capped so they can not go over (by much), they have unlimited calls and texts between them and the landline, there is unlimited calls from landline to mobiles and other landlines, it's got calling features such as calling number display, anonymous caller reject, premium number and international call barring, I have unlimited internet at around 16Mbps. I watch latest release movies over the broadband on demand whenever I want on the TV (latest one I watched was The Martian in DVD quality HD) and on two TV's...there's no downloading on a computer required. I just browse for a movie on the TV and press play and within about 10 seconds I'm watching it.

For all that above I pay £5.50 per month just for the one mobile plan (after £67.50 of cash back is taken into account it's actually only £1.75 per month). I did pay a years line rental in advance so get no ongoing bills for the landline. Line rental monthly would now be £17.70/month if I were paying it. With cashback the first bill was around £100 for a years line rental.

So...in total landline, 3 mobile phones, broadband and internet is costing me around £10 per month. I'm sure you can knock quite a bit off your £270 per month.

getmore4less

I think you have just fallen into the we can afford it trap so just pay out and don't review often enough, so good you are doing it now.

Try the SOA format it makes it easier for people to see.
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

After the food/groceries/household at 900pm the next obvious is the inhouse entertainment and communications

TV license - £12
Sky - £120 (Looking into this)
TalkTalk ( house phone/ internet) - £50
Vodaphone - £100 (3 mobile phones - looking into this)

review everything not just sky, start from scratch with the lowest you could get away with then add the wants based on what you really use.

Consider something like NowTV boxes for the entertainment/films, can pick them up for almost free I got 6month ent with a new box for £20 more TV than we can watch along side freeview and the free VM TV option(no longer available) a freeview/sat box would give a one off cost and probably enough TV.

Mobiles are really depend on you use patterns but even for 3 phones on sim only contract or PAYG should be able to get that down to under 50 even lower if you don't need unlimited data, I find I can get wifi access enough to get by on "3" 123 PAYG tariff.


Sometimes it is not about saving money but about getting better value, cut back the in house entertainment and go out more or just go on another holiday

you make your choices where to spend your money not us, just make sensible choices rather than fall into the inertia trap of adding regular payments but never taking off the ones you don't use anymore.

I think you could get close to £500pm savings now without noticing too much difference in what you get for your money and £6k goes a long way to spend on other things as the kids leave you will creep up towards £1kpm.

Challenge everything regulary and look for options that are not commiting to regular payments, I like NowTV passes because we can pick and choose when we have access to extra TV/Movies on a month by month basis or when a voucher is cheap just get them for future use.

ronaldadio

Thanks again.
The only issue I have moving Companies is that things might fail.
Few years back we changed from BT to Sky for internet/ home phone and their support was terrible. We kept losing internet. For two people that are self employed and work from home, reliant on internet, that is not good.
What about these Android boxes for TV? Are they legal? They seem cheap enough

jimjames

You might want to review food costs again. You've got £900 but you're then paying another £90 for food for your son so effectively it's £1000 or you're double counting.

Food & groceries is definitely on high side, we're family of 4 and ours are about £400 per month. Mobiles £11 pm for unlimited but we're on SIM only.

ronaldadio

jimjames wrote: »

You might want to review food costs again. You've got £900 but you're then paying another £90 for food for your son so effectively it's £1000 or your double counting.
Not really. It is for food supplements and food that we have to pay for at the moment while he is moving from academy to full time contract.


Food & groceries is definitely on high side, we're family of 4 and ours are about £400 per month. Mobiles £11 pm for unlimited but we're on SIM only.

At some point you must have also bought a mobile phone? So the £11 pm for unlimited is not exactly the full picture? My wife and I both need decent phones because of the jobs we do - we need to get online regular and need a screen we can work on.
However, I am checking the fees we pay. Problem I have is that the 3 phones are staggered - one up for renewal now, other Nov, other May 2017

jimjames

ronaldadio wrote: »

At some point you must have also bought a mobile phone? So the £11 pm for unlimited is not exactly the full picture? My wife and I both need decent phones because of the jobs we do - we need to get online regular and need a screen we can work on.
However, I am checking the fees we pay. Problem I have is that the 3 phones are staggered - one up for renewal now, other Nov, other May 2017

My phone is a recent 4G smartphone with 5" screen running the latest Android version and does everything I need and although it isn't an iPhone I'd say it would be suitable for anyone needing a decent phone. I paid £170 for it, bought outright. I've now had 2 years of SIM only so although the £11 isn't the total it's still a much lower amount overall.

Can you explain the discrepancy with the missing £2000 per month?

jimjames

ronaldadio wrote: »

At some point you must have also bought a mobile phone? So the £11 pm for unlimited is not exactly the full picture? My wife and I both need decent phones because of the jobs we do - we need to get online regular and need a screen we can work on.
However, I am checking the fees we pay. Problem I have is that the 3 phones are staggered - one up for renewal now, other Nov, other May 2017

My phone is a recent 4G smartphone with 5" screen running the latest Android version and does everything I need and although it isn't an iPhone I'd say it would be suitable for anyone needing a decent phone. I paid £170 for it, bought outright. I've now had 2 years of SIM only so although the £11 isn't the total it's still a much lower amount overall.

HappyMJ

ronaldadio wrote: »

Thanks again.
The only issue I have moving Companies is that things might fail.
Few years back we changed from BT to Sky for internet/ home phone and their support was terrible. We kept losing internet. For two people that are self employed and work from home, reliant on internet, that is not good.
What about these Android boxes for TV? Are they legal? They seem cheap enough

Yes they are legal I use an Amazon Fire Stick.

ronaldadio

HappyMJ wrote: »

Yes they are legal I use an Amazon Fire Stick.

What about the ones that get sports and that kind of stuff?

ourcornercottage

Family of 2 adults 1 child plus 2 dogs and spend £200 per month on food/cleaning/toiletries/alcohol.

Rent would be very reasonable where I live.

Would agree that all the things you state as looking into are high.

Your son had as much pocket money per month as I do!!!

Your internet is expensive. I just paid a total of about £400 per year for phone and broadband and as I live rurally I only have a couple of choices. Can get for as little as about £200 per year with sky.

They said if you have no debt and are happy spending this amount do be it, I see the opportunity for substantial savings there though.