Looking for some budgeting advice please

monkeysallsayboo

Hi everyone

We have debt and we are trying to sort ourselves out. We have 3 children under 10, 2 of which are at school

We currently spend on credit cards as we have no money left in or account. We are addressing this and making a strict budget and plan

Could people advise how much a realistic figure would be for clothes and shoes for 2a and 3c? Because we have been spending on credit cards I don't know how much a fair figure would be

The same again for food. We try and be as careful as we can, but what's a realistic food budget for us?

I don't want to budget these things are too low and then end up having to use the credit card to make up the difference!

Thanks

thriftylass

Hello,

It all depends on various factors. How much do you earn, how much are your bills etc., a budget sometimes also depends on this. How much did you use to spend over the last few months/years. I can't suggest you budget 50 a month on clothes and 500 on food if your income is only 1200 and you have 600 in rent to pay, IYKWIM. How much are your debt payments. Best also post a SOA (statement of affairs with realistic true figures by going through your bank statements).

Do you regularly need new work clothes, have you got enough clothes to last just now for the adults? Can you buy the kids clothes second hand. Through how many uniforms do they roughly go a term/year = price it up in Tesco/Asda for a budget figure. etc.

If after bills, debt etc you only have £200 left then this is your food budget and you'll have to make do with that unless you save money somewhere else or find a way to earn more. I think a SOA would be really helpful.

Good luck

ReadingTim

What's realistic for one family isn't necessarily realistic for another, so a number is irrelevant. Suggest you keep a spending diary to see what you're actually spending on food and clothes and take it from there. Also, look through those old credit card statements too.

One thing though - the credit card doesn't "make up the difference", the credit card gets you deeper in debt because you're spending more than you earn. It's basic maths. Therefore, while I appreciate you want a budget that is realistic, if more goes out than comes in, you have a problem. If you can't get the food and clothes down (and growing kids and needing to eat can hamper this) then something else will have to be cut down or cut out instead.

monkeysallsayboo

Thank you for your help so far. I'll sit down and work it all out properly. I was also thinking of maybe a DMP and am going to call stepchange over the next few days. Again another reason for wanting a realistic and fair idea for food and clothes. I don't want creditors rejecting our offer because we haven't cut back enough. And equally I don't want jam sandwiches three times a day for the next few years!!

Anna9733

Anything you can borrow or get gifted or buy second hand will help... We buy good quality new shoes once or twice a year and cheap ones for the summer. All clothes either birthday/Christmas gifts, second hand or (if we really have to) from a cheap shop like Primark or Asda. so maybe £75 each on shoes per year for adults and big kids and buy cheap (except for school) for littlies. £375 for the year for 5 of you over 12 months = £31.25 pm, so if you round it to £40 per month that gives you some if someone is in desperate need of clothes one month.... if you don't need it or find a bargain you can save up for a nice piece: plan ahead and have fun with bargain hunting! x

DanH84_2

Stepchange will happily talk you through the figures on the statement and if anything looks out of whack they will give you advice on reducing expenditure and maximising income. Don't try and tailor it before the call give a realistic idea of what you think you spend and be open to the advisers suggestions. They know what will seem excessive to creditors but even if it might then there may be an explanation that can be included.

tealady

Hi
You might also want to draw up lists of needs and wants. Needs are budgeted for 1st, wants (such as subscription TV, smoking, holidays) must go if the money wont stretch that far. I used to know a debt advisor who used to despair at the number of people who were in debt for rent or mortgage but still bought cigs and stuff like Sky sports subscriptions.
When I was in debt I stopped smoking and ditched cable tv. Dont miss either tbh.
Hope you can get this sorted.

FBaby

Work out school uniforms, including shoes and how often then need replacing in year, what could possibly be handed down. Rest of clothes for kids can be bought on sale very cheaply. Same with adults, work out what is a must for work, rest can wait unless there is a significant shift of weight. Add something for socks and underwear.

Food, again depends on whether you include lunches for all in that budget. Don't forget to either include in this budget, or set a separate budget for that you buy in your weekly shop that isn't food but still essential.

EssexHebridean

First step before you do anything else is, as was mentioned above, putting together a full SOA. You'll find the link in the "sticky" post at the top of this board. Get it filled in (accurately, and to reflect how things are now - there's no point in doing it if it shows the figures you think "should" be there) and post it in here and we'll take a look. To do it you're going to need 12 months bank & CC statements.

You need to stop using the card, is the bottom line. And to do that, it's essential to get a working budget where things will balance. It may be that when you start looking at things you'll discover that there are a lot of odd savings you can make where money gets frittered. (A spending diary will also be of help on this front - any old notebook and a pen will do you, it doesn't need to be anything fancy) It may be that you'll discover that your current income makes your lifestyle unsustainable and that you need to look at increasing income. Either way you won't know until you get it all down on paper.

Kids clothes - eBay is brilliant particularly for smaller children's stuff. Buy stuff that will pass down from older to younger ones where you can as well - there's plenty out there that can pass from boys to girls even as it's quite "generic" - avoid frills and pink, or obviously "gender orientated" designs. For iniforms you may be able to get the basic jumpers, trousers, skirts from eBay and save the budget for brand new for things where it matters like shirts and shoes. Supermarkets are your friend for those as mentioned above.

Food - first up inventory everything you have in the cupboards, fridge & freezer. Challenge yourself to make your next week's meals using those ingredients with as little added as you can get away with. Aldi & Lidl can be great but don't assume they will be cheapest, check first. Value rice is perfectly good, similarly the "odd shaped" cheap veg the supermarkets are doing now is brilliant and a fraction of the price of the standard stuff. Look at what the supermarkets are doing as their headline deals (Aldi S6, Lidl Pick of the week, Tesco's "front of stores" fruit and veg deals) and plan your meals using those items - you can save a lot that way. Meal plan and shop from a list - don't stray off that list.