I Can't Work This Out

zekepes

I know this doesn't help in the short-term but remember that your wife will earn again (I presume?) at somepoint. I know the relatively small amount I earn after childcare and tax etc (about £500/month) actually makes quite a big difference to us and I am still able to spend most of the week with my son (he is now three so most of the childcare is free). These little ones are certainly expensive! If your wife has finished breastfeeding maybe she could get a p/t job a couple of evenings in the week whilst you are at home? I have a couple of friends who have opted for that to makes ends meet whist they have little ones and don't want to use childcare during the day.

setmefree2

Hi DD,

When I started out on the MFW path I started a spending spreadsheet in excel. I'm afraid I record every £1 I spend now and I do it religiously everyday. I analyse my spending by category - food, clothes (me & kids), electric, gas, kids guitar lessons, etc, etc.

At first I was just recording what was actually happening. I wasn't trying to achieve anything. I just entered where the money had gone. But over time I was able to see what was happening. I could see how much I had spent on, say food, in the last 12 months and try to beat it (I'm COMPETITIVE). Now I have figures for the past 4 years and I'm always trying to beat them down. It's not really too time consuming once you've established a routine and you really will be surprised where you spend your money.

Good Luck

GeorgeUK

Here's the link to the SOA
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

You're never going to know how much to budget for as suggested, so you may as well look at an average month. There will be good and bad mixed in, but it should hopefully give you a rough guide as to where you are with your finances.

Nothing i can really add to what's already been said, but wish you luck.
It doesn't seem like you have anything to lose by doing the SOA - even if just for your private use. It may stop you going in circles if you have a new angle of attack.

Edit: And of course, depending on your type of motgage, stoozing (or something similar, using the banks money to go towards your mortgage for a year and reducing the interest you pay) may be a possibility.
Others would need to advise on that though.

IveSeenTheLight

HI,

We recently were in the same boat, not sure where our money was going.
We started running our own spreadsheet recording all of our incomings and outgoings.
Its amazing to look back and see where your money has gone.

To benefit, you have to be really strict and get a receipt for everything, yes I mean everything.
Parking costs, newspapers, coffee's, food shopping etc etc etc etc.

When you do your spreadsheet, categories these into different areas

It's amazing how something you think dont cost much but build up over a month to be pounds, not pence.

It will take a few months to see your average spending, but this does give you visibility and can help you to decide where you can save the pennies.

good luck

esthomizzy

I've found joining in the what have you spent today thread on the dfw forum is very helpful. I want to keep the total low otherwise I'm disappointed with myself. It helps me keep on track.

Good luck.

DaveHemmerman

hostertlady wrote: »

you have got to do the 'three' account thing.. i have done it for years,, account 1 ( bill account): all my direct debits and standing orders ( put enough in this account to cover all of these.
account 2: (save account!!) even if its only £10 a week( thats £520 a year and once you start doing it you wont miss it.. if you can manage £20 a week that's even better)
account three: the rest of the money is here for you to do as you please..

This is exactly what we do and it works everytime. My wifes earns £950 which the bills for all the housey things and car loan come to £850, which leaves £100 then my money £1500 is spent on fuel, food, going out hols and decorating. I transfers £30 p/w to Nationwide to pay extra on the mortgage and also £125 p/w goes into a savings account for things such as car servicing and insurance. There is always £800-£1000 in our day to day spends account so we know even if we both fuel our cars and treat ourselves they will be plenty in the bank.

BlondeHeadOn

I just want to say that I am self-employed too, and have the same nightmare of never knowing from month to month how much is going to be available. At least I have the advantage of having my OH on a fixed salary though - I don't think I could cope if the self-employment money was all we had to rely on.

Sorry, my post is not much help but I just wanted to say that I sympathise big time with your predicament - I know it only takes one payment to be late to [EMAIL="bu@@er"]bu@@er[/EMAIL] all your best cash flow planning....

:eek:

wendyamymichael

to dickdastardly,
just to let you know you are not alone..im in exavtly the same position. had to put my house up for sale (18 months and not sold even though i dropped the price £10,000). car going shortly..
i live like a nun, no nights out, no holidays, hardly any clothes..shoes worn out (poor me!!!)
i think its just a sign of the times coz 8 years ago i could run my house on half what it costs now...
im having to think about getting a second job which is not ideal coz i work full time...but needs must.
keep smiling...it really could be worse xxx

DickDastardly_2

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. I think some of you get where I am at and others dont, but I appreciate the sentiments nonetheless.

I think really we are going to have to re-mortgage with something simpler than the OneAccount and the see what happens.

esthomizzy

One thing I did think !!!!!!. I know what you mean regarding the not wanting to pay a premium to pay monthly so where I either can't pay monthly or it would be more expensive to do I've worked out what the monthly cost is and put that into a separate account monthly and when the big bill goes out I transfer the right amount back into my main account to cover it.

I do this for telly license, buildings and contents insurances and communal electricity (I live in a flat).

Doesn't help with there not being enough money to go round in the first place though I know.