Living off one wage!

Lee_Wilson

Hi there I’m new to this forum so if my question seems daft report me ha ha.

Me and my family (two kids 1 and 4) currently depend on my one wage. After tax I bring home about £2000 a month, which seems OK to me but we still literally have zero money left at the end of each month. All my direct debits go out when I get paid and have £400 a month for shopping. My problem is we don’t have any money left over to do family things or even save. Has anyone got any tips on how to bring down bills, or have any tips to save.

Secondly, and off subject from above, in 2013 when my son was born we were told we were able to claim tax credits as I was only earning half what I earn now. The tax credits said I was entitled to £80 a week. Anyways half way through the year I got a better job and phoned the tax credits and they said I was still entitled to the money. 3 years later the got in touch with me and told me I owed them every penny back and acknowledged it was their fault but regardless of the matter we owed them. Can you take the tax credits to the ombudsman? Even better, just to top it off they have done a similar thing the last 2 years and said I owe them a further £450. Now I tell them I earn a lot more than I actually do. Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

Thanks for ANY help, Lee.

mgdavid

Lee_Wilson wrote: »

...... Now I tell them I earn a lot more than I actually do. ......

Why would you do that?

eskbanker

Lee_Wilson wrote: »

My problem is we don’t have any money left over to do family things or even save. Has anyone got any tips on how to bring down bills, or have any tips to save.

First thing to do is to identify exactly where all the money goes - there's a useful template at http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php which you can fill in and post on this board or the debt-free wannabe one for suggestions about areas to improve, such as specific bills that look excessive.

Or there are many money-saving tips on the old style money saving board, typically 'eat well for less' type threads....

trailingspouse

Now I tell them I earn a lot more than I actually do.

I'm puzzled by this - is this what you intended to say?

Lee_Wilson

Because they continue to pay me £10 a week on my current wage and they won’t let me cancel it. So with me telling them I earn more they stopped the payments.

NineDeuce

All depends on where you live in the country and where the mum is....

NotRichAtAll

i think you need to write down a list of where your spending your money ie food bills mobile skytv babysitters etc then ask the same question again. Is it 1 adult and 2 kids or do you have a silent partner included in the term family? If its you and 2 kids then in my opinion £100 a week for food is rather alot.
Hope things work out for you, and you get some sound advice from here.

Lee_Wilson

Me and the Mam are still together.

Lee_Wilson

Yeah my girlfriend, the kids Mam lives with us as well. Don’t get me wrong I know I’m well off compared to others and I’m not being a spoilt brat here moaning that I want more. I just get confused as to how I can earn a decent wage and still have nothing for myself.

KxMx

I think a spending diary would be a good place to start, after 3-4 weeks you will see where money is actually going, as opposed to where you think it's going.

PeacefulWaters

Coffee.
Paying for lunch at work instead of taking sandwiches.
Renewing mobile phone contracts to get a new phone instead of going SIM only.
Paying excessive amounts for TV package.
Always buying the branded stuff when Lidl is as good.
Takeaways and meals out.
Always carrying cash and cards even when there's no plan to spend.
Basic overconsumption of always buying things whether you need them or not.