Where is all my money going?

Silver_Queen

I am not religious at all but I understand having faith and wanting to continue to do something that you believe in.

I think that if you want to keep paying the tithes then it is your choice.

However, I think that you do need to look towards saving quite a lot towards a house fairly soon. If you want to continue paying the tithes, you will need to cut back a lot on other aspects.

The key things that stick out to me is groceries and haircuts. Can you get a haircut every 2-3 months instead of monthly? You can definitely get the grocery bill down with some care. You'll be able to save about £120ish per month this way.

I think it's very admirable that you want to give back, by the way.

Wookey

Your probably paying about £40 a week in interest alone on the unsecured debts so i would be looking to get those cleared asap, i would agree on scaling back those church payments substantially until at least you clear the debts and the sooner it's started the sooner it's cleared and you can return to making payments you are happy with.

EssexHebridean

I'd also suggest that if your church would happily see you in financial hardship in order to continue to receive this monthly amount fro you, then perhaps you need to question if it's a good path to follow, not only for you, but also for your child, going forwards, should they choose to follow a religion?

If the church's advice to you would be to set your own finances in order first, then that's what you should do IMO.

System

Problem areas:

Mobile phone............................ 44 - no need. Must be a really nice phone or loads of data?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 51.6 - again not essential
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - You could cut down this?
Clothing................................ 150 - Really I month??? This is my yearly spend.
Haircuts................................ 50 - as above - I spend this a year? £50 of haircuts a month !! Blimey
Entertainment........................... 100 -
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
CIMA.................................... 100
Scottish & Friendly..................... 71 - what's this?
Money to Parents Abroad ................ 200 - why are you doing this?
Tithes.................................. 260 - okay, you've said why but don't agree personally (the church have plenty of their own reserves believe me)

You could easily claw back £400 I think.

AndyPix

Surely the Church could scrape by on 10% of your DISPOSABLE income ?


I wouldnt have thought your "god" would want you to give away money to the extent that it damages you financially ?!

sweetpea26

Why are Christians attacked for their beliefs. There is nothing wrong in suggesting that she does not pay this but to continue knocking her down for what she believes in is not acceptable. If this family were not Christian and were making donations to their 'faith' would there be as much said.

This family need constructive comments such as the amount spent on clothing per year etc. That should be actually cut down to zero for a while and so could costly entertainment.

Reduce food spends, downgrade all that can be downgraded, sky tv, mobile phones, wait 6 weeks for a haircut ... etc. spend nowt on Amazon !!! husband needs to wise up and stop wasting money. We all have done it. A pound here, £5 pound there. Until that actually hits home there will be no change in their attitude to money and no progress in reducing this debt.

I agree that you must please see if you can find a balance transfer to pay off these needless purchases that you are paying an extortionate rate for. Apply your faith to buy essentials only and when you have the money to do so.





Just leave their faith out of it. With respec they have been silly with what God has provided them with and hopefully this will sink in eventually.

Arleen

sweetpea26 wrote: »

Why are Christians attacked for their beliefs. There is nothing wrong in suggesting that she does not pay this but to continue knocking her down for what she believes in is not acceptable. If this family were not Christian and were making donations to their 'faith' would there be as much said.

This family need constructive comments such as the amount spent on clothing per year etc. That should be actually cut down to zero for a while and so could costly entertainment.

Reduce food spends, downgrade all that can be downgraded, sky tv, mobile phones, wait 6 weeks for a haircut ... etc. spend nowt on Amazon !!! husband needs to wise up and stop wasting money. We all have done it. A pound here, £5 pound there. Until that actually hits home there will be no change in their attitude to money and no progress in reducing this debt.

I agree that you must please see if you can find a balance transfer to pay off these needless purchases that you are paying an extortionate rate for. Apply your faith to buy essentials only and when you have the money to do so.





Just leave their faith out of it. With respec they have been silly with what God has provided them with and hopefully this will sink in eventually.

If it said "260.... Charity XYZ" the answer would be exactly the same - stop doing that until you get financially back on your feet, with same amount of badgering to convince the person to do it, as this isn't a matter of them being catholic, but them giving away money they can't afford to give away.

-taff

sweetpea26 wrote: »

Just leave their faith out of it. With respec they have been silly with what God has provided them with and hopefully this will sink in eventually.

Your argument taken to a logical conclusion would mean that god is providing themselves 200 a month...god doesn't need this money to get themselves out financial difficulty - as far as i know , god hasn't got a bank account - but they do.

And as far as attacking someone for what they think, what goes around has merely come around.

iolanthe07

Just to say that, unlike some others here, I really admire you for taking tithing seriously. Not many do. I belong to a church, but I'm afraid I do not tithe a tenth of my gross income, or anything like it, tbh. Could you not reduce your tithe to a tenth, or perhaps 5%, of your disposable income? Are you or your spouse a minister of religion? I only ask because they're the only people I know whose employers pay their council tax and water rates, and are among the very few these days required to live in a tied house, usually rent free.

Please understand that those outside a faith community will never understand tithing, or the reason for it.

Arleen

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Just to say that, unlike some others here, I really admire you for taking tithing seriously. Not many do. I belong to a church, but I'm afraid I do not tithe a tenth of my gross income, or anything like it, tbh. Could you not reduce your tithe to a tenth, or perhaps 5%, of your disposable income? Are you or your spouse a minister of religion? I only ask because they're the only people I know whose employers pay their council tax and water rates, and are among the very few these days required to live in a tied house, usually rent free.

Please understand that those outside a faith community will never understand tithing, or the reason for it.

I am glad for your particular high horse, but tithing is no different than charity donations, and I am quite sure that many peopel do it. But doing either when in debt is not advisable.