SoF - any advice

Mumoffourkids

The one thing that leaps out at me is the amount you spend on good related items, so groceries, drinks for home, nappies, pet food, eating out, meals st school and coffees, snacks etc. I think this totals about £700 per month. How many of you are in your household? There are seven in my house, two of which are still in nappies and although I don’t have any pets, I spend £100 per week on food related items. This includes packed lunches for four kids.

seldom_use

Thanks for these great replies. Will take some time later to reply properly.

There are 5 of us at home btw.

We are all in contract with our mobile phones, they aren’t up until next year. We are also not even half way through our sky contract, would I be able to ask to leave this due to not being able to afford?

We have never budgeted before, for shopping or anything so I agree that we can radically change this. I’m sending my sons off to school this morning with packed lunches. I’m also meeting a friend to study later, so won’t buy the usual snacks and coffees.

Re Christmas, that’s an average of how much we usually spend, and again you’re right, it’s far too much. We have a large extended family but have agreed that for our families we will ask to do secret Santa for next year.

seldom_use

Also, our gas and electric are on meters, we are paying off debt on them which means we can’t switch unfortunately. (Hence the high payments.) It’s a 3 bedroom house.

Mnd

You need to allow for car maintenance, service mot new tyres brakes etc adds up

alan_d

seldom_use wrote: »

We are all in contract with our mobile phones, they aren’t up until next year. We are also not even half way through our sky contract, would I be able to ask to leave this due to not being able to afford?

Worth a go. FYI I have 3x sim-only '30-day' rolling contracts with GiffGaff (all with data included) for £25/month in total. Certainly if you can't get out of your contract then as soon as it's up cancel and move to sim-only with the existing phones. You can move your existing number (for free) also.

FBaby

seldom, I'm sure it's not what you want to hear but you are living the lifestyle of a family earning a very high income. DH and I have FT managerial jobs and we don't spend what you spend on food, entertainment, mobile phones (including those for the teenagers), and certainly not shopping for fun.

You're a student and he's on PT hours, you need to match your spending with your situation. There might be a time when he can increase his hours and you can get a well paid job, but as it is, you are on a low income (remember that the student loan is that, a loan, not income) and can't afford your expenditure.

The good news is that there is indeed a lot that you can cut to make a difference.

madteapot

Agree with some of the previous points. A lot of your spending is wants and not needs. You need to seriously consider your spending to handle the situation. Below are some comments from your SoA;

Mobile phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.00
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Home phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55.00

The above expenses are too much. You are spending £220 per month on phone, internet and tv. You need to bring this down to under £100. If you are in contracts phone up the providers and ask nicely if there are any downgrade options available in your contract. It costs nothing to ask and the worst that could happen is they say no. For any contracts that are coming to an end shop around seriously for cheapest possible deals. change some of the contracts to sim only or even payg with giffgaff.

Food and household shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400.00
Drinks for home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Baby Milk & Nappies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70.00
Pet food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.00
School meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00
Family days out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
Eating out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.33

Over £750 for food and groceries per month is again way too high. I understand it is difficult to cut back suddenly but you need to cut all of the above by atleast £250-300. Head over to old style board for money saving cooking ideas. plan your meals and shop from aldi/lidl stop school lunches and take sandwiches from home. Find free or cheap things to do for family days out. its not how much money you spend with family but how quality time you spend that is important. Find discount vouchers and coupons for eating out.

You have chargeable bank account which is costing you £150 a year. Do you really need this? What benefits are you getting for this and are they really worth it? If not switch accounts and don't forget to find a good switching bonus if you can.

Other bits and bobs would be whenever your gas/electricity is up for renewal switch to cheaper provider and don't forget to hunt for cashback. Extend your haircuts by a week or so that's 1-2 less haircut a year. As said by earlier posts, both birthdays and Christmas spend could be halved if you are willing to. Again its not how much money you spend but how much you though you put into it that matters in gifting. Since your partner is in part-time is there a chance of you taking up part-time job too? even a single shift in a weekend of 6-8 hours will help a lot in your situation. May be do some online surveys? it won't be a lot of money but its something. You need to set aside some money for emergencies and car maintenance which you don't have currently. Even £20-30 from now on should be fine and then you can topup whenever you have some spare left at the end of the month.

I can see about £400-500 cut back on your expenses per month so that should bring your expenses below your income and then leave you with something. It will be difficult at the beginning but people on this board have tackled larger debts than 15k so you should be able to too. good luck:)

ReadingTim

The issue isn't what's going out, but that not enough is coming in.

Sure, you can cut out a largish chunk of non-essential spending, but jacking in your job to become a full time student seems to be a luxury you can't afford right now. You need, at minimum, a p/t job. Your OH needs a f/t job. You need an extra £600 per month to simply live.

Furthermore, you also need to redo your SOA to include details of the c.£15k of debt you say you have - I can only see £50 per month in debt repayment - surely that can't be right? If it's not right, then unfortunately you're likely to be in a worse situation than you think from your earlier 'budget', one which you probably can't get out of by ditching a few mobile phone contracts or weekly takeaway.... I'm afraid that being a student just isn't viable at this time.

Lottebear

Can you get free school meals, with a low income? That would save £80 per month.

Also apply for NHS exemption card if you Maternity one has run out.

Are the there any Grants or Bursaries you can apply for either based on your study choice or where you live previous occupations, these could be used to cover study costs, travel to and from place of study, and childcare.

[Deleted User]

Your partner is working almost 1/4 of the year (2.75 months to be exact), just to pay for your Mobile phones, Internet, Home phone and Pay TV. :eek:

You need to cut this back A LOT.

Also, the TV Licence is £12-25 per month, not £8-33.