Converting salary from monthly to weekly

middleclassbutpoor

I think you need to be prepared to make some tough choices and if you can't then you will need to go down the debt solution road.

You need to stop telling yourself what you can't do and focus on what you can do.

You only need to cut £300 a month or £69 a week from your spending so you can clear this persistent debt over next 3 months. If you can't cut this then you need to get your other half to increase their income by this amount per month.

Once you have this - you are 3 months from relying on the payday loan and you are then on the road to using this to reduce the other debt and becoming debt free.


You need to get your bank statements out and properly write down what you spend where.
You need to then prepare a proper budget and stick to this.

There is no magic formula here. Its self-discipline and either approaching with an approach of cutting cost or increasing income.

chkir

He only earns £1000 basic because he pays for 2 cars from his salary which total around £700 and mobile phones on salary sacrifice. We also pay about £250 from my wage so it would be higher too.
We also get £140 child benefit per month I forgot about this.
Vehicles are included as above, no other insurances and gifts, clothes and entertainment come out of the budget I have left.
I used to order loads of stuff on payday, I’m definitely a bit of a shopping addict but after Christmas I didn’t buy anything apart from birthday presents (it was a big achievement for me to resist the Jan sales!)
You’re absolutely right that discipline is my issue.
After a very scary year health wise last year, I’m determined to get my finances sorted this year so really appreciate all the motivation!

[Deleted User]

It seems like there is a lot missing from your SOA. Start again with this template to get a clearer picture of where you are financially.

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

How old are your children? Why can't they make their own pack lunches? If your eldest is going to the gym he's old enough to make his own packed lunches and if the youngest is fussy then getting him involved might help him expand his menu, if it doesn't then he'll just need to eat the same thing every day.

MasterG83

chkir wrote: »

Thanks for the replies everyone:

Here is my income and expenditure for next month:
My salary £2580
Hubby’s salary £1000

Outgoings: mortgage 200
Credit cards: 118 10.50
Capital one x 4 £60 total
Debt management companies £150 (previous credit card defaults)
Mobile phones O2 £200
Credit union savings £51 (never stays in for long)
Sky £46 (will be changing this to Virgin and broadband as soon as it’s live in area)
Broadband £30
House insurance (due for renewal April) £24
TV License 13
Water (meter) £54 (this has recently reduced from £72)
Postcode lottery £10
Kids clubs £75
EDF £180 (this includes some arrears but I do plan to look for a better deal when these are cleared)
Loan £175
Kids lunches £80
Boiler payment £300 (last payment from new boiler install in Dec 19)
Lending stream loan £365
Safety net credit loan £900 (this is what I’m reborrowing every month)

This leaves me with £656.50 we spend a lot on petrol (couldn’t put an exact figure on it) and I’m making sure I meal plan every day and do a couple of big shops as at one point I could have spent money every day. I take lunch into work and have the occasional lunch out.
It’s just not enough for us to live on so I end up borrowing again.
Every month we spend nearly all our wages in the first week and I don’t know how to get out of it. I’ve always been terrible with money and it’s not getting any better. With our income we should be living very comfortably but we aren’t. We also need to start paying an extra £600 towards shared equity on the house.
Any help appreciated, I can’t see where I can make any cuts apart from those I’ve highlighted

And herein is your biggest issue, you cant even account for how much fuel you are spending so how would you be able to control your own budget ? Start writing down everything you spend on everything, your budget needs to account for every single £pound you spend. Until you do this a write down a written budget at the start of every month you will never get out of this cycle. Post an SOA

monetxchange

A full SOA using the link above would help us advise properly.

Time to give your 15/16 year old a lesson on financial management - if he wants the luxury of a gym membership and rugby costs and any extra special foods, he pays for it himself. Even if he worked a few hours in a weekend job he could cover this.

EssexHebridean

A few comments in red - although the "proper" SOA format would make it a lot easier to view what is really happening.

chkir wrote: »

Thanks for the replies everyone:

Here is my income and expenditure for next month:
My salary £2580
Hubby’s salary £1000

Outgoings: mortgage 200Is this just a low loan amount or is it interest only?
Credit cards: 118 10.50
Capital one x 4 £60 total
Debt management companies £150 (previous credit card defaults)
Mobile phones O2 £200 This is a ludicrous sum - paying as much for mobiles as for your mortgage?! How many phones? when are the contracts up?
Credit union savings £51 (never stays in for long)
Sky £46 (will be changing this to Virgin and broadband as soon as it’s live in area) If this is just phone & TV then you can haggle that down for a start.
Broadband £30
House insurance (due for renewal April) £24 is this buildings and contents? Have you done comparisons to see whether that's the best value for the cover you need?
TV License 13
Water (meter) £54 (this has recently reduced from £72) If this is metered you should be able to reduce further
Postcode lottery £10 You already know where I'm going here don't you - cancel this until you get your finances sorted. Do the free version - PickMyPostcode - instead.
Kids clubs £75 Anything here that can be reduced until you get yourself sorted?
EDF £180 (this includes some arrears but I do plan to look for a better deal when these are cleared)
Loan £175
Kids lunches £80
Boiler payment £300 (last payment from new boiler install in Dec 19) So you have now paid this off have you? If so that £300 needs to be allocated straight to debt payments.
Lending stream loan £365
Safety net credit loan £900 (this is what I’m reborrowing every month)

This leaves me with £656.50 we spend a lot on petrol (couldn’t put an exact figure on it) So get your bank/card statements out and add it up. then have a read of the guide on the main MSE site about driving economically. and I’m making sure I meal plan every day and do a couple of big shops as at one point I could have spent money every day. Good - that's progress - so what is your monthly grocery spend? And for how many people? I take lunch into work and have the occasional lunch out.
It’s just not enough for us to live on so I end up borrowing again. That's over £3500 a month coming in and only £200 going out on mortgage costs - that IS ENOUGH FOR YOU TO LIVE ON. Sorry to shout but I'm afraid this one makes me cross - there are people on here juggling incomes that are a fraction of that and making them stretch - by adjusting their expectations and reducing their expenditures - you just need to learn to do the same, I'm afraid.
Every month we spend nearly all our wages in the first week and I don’t know how to get out of it. I’ve always been terrible with money and it’s not getting any better. With our income we should be living very comfortably but we aren’t. We also need to start paying an extra £600 towards shared equity on the house.
Any help appreciated, I can’t see where I can make any cuts apart from those I’ve highlighted

First step - sit down with a year's bank (and card) statements and do a proper SOA / Budget. From there you can ascertain where you're over spending (because you ARE overspending) and can then make adjustments accordingly. Stop thinking of yourself as "terrible with money" and start framing it instead as "someone who wants to make their money work for them" - a far more positive mindset.

As a point to focus on - your debt repayments are currently around £1500 a month - so think of the difference that will make to the overall picture once you have that cleared and are out of the spiral!

edit to add - stop telling oldest that he'll have to pay for his gym membership "when he gets a job" - change that to "you need to get a job as after this month I'm not paying for your gym membership" - then cancel the membership (or at least tell him you have!) - that should help to focus his mind. I was out at full time work when I was his age and contributing to the household - never mind expecting my costs to be paid by the bank of Mum & Dad! If he's that keen to do all the stuff then he'll find a job and pay for it - and if he's not, then you may as well stop wasting your money on it mightn't you! As an alternative he could make use of any available training at his rugby club - indeed the club might even have gym facilities or at least some free weights and similar there?

AbundantBudget

Don't cancel your son's gym membership he didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't sort out his parents bad money habits.

monetxchange

I don’t think anyone is suggesting the OP cancel her sons gym membership. Just that he starts to take some initiative and pay for it himself. He’s not a little kid. It’s a great time for him to learn that if you want something, you have to earn the money to pay for it - great lesson in how not to have bad financial habits!

EssexHebridean

AbundantBudget wrote: »

Don't cancel your son's gym membership he didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't sort out his parents bad money habits.

At 16/17 though he IS of an age where he needs to start learning that everythig comes with a cost, and that you have to take responsibility for those costs - otherwise fast forward 15 years and he'll be right there in the same place that the OP is now.

AbundantBudget

EssexHebridean wrote: »

At 16/17 though he IS of an age where he needs to start learning that everythig comes with a cost, and that you have to take responsibility for those costs - otherwise fast forward 15 years and he'll be right there in the same place that the OP is now.

I would rather pay for my son to go to the gym and play sport than be on street acquiring bad habits. I started to work at 16 myself but it didn't help me to be wiser with the financial decisions. My LBM happened only after I was drowning with payday loans. Luckily managed to reclaim thousands and thousands of interest paid to them and change my financial habits for good.

Rather to cancel the gym membership I'd visit Debtcamel website and look at the 'Reclaim payday loan interest' section on this Forum and start to reclaim interest from SafetyNet.