First Steps to Solvency

RelievedSheff

alt80 said:

@RelievedSheff I’m dreading it mate too knackered ha probably going to get back and fall to sleep through the match lol.

The fresh air will wake you up. Looks set to be a nice day in Saturday. Crisp and bright.

Onebrokelady

Not being able to drive can be a pain but I'm too old now and I would be dangerous behind the wheel of a car. I had to steer my exes car while he and a mate were pushing it and I drove it into a hedge 😂🙀😂

alt80

Need a bit of a sense check on this one. Wife and I been going through needs/ wants for the rest of the year (assuming lockdown not carrying on indefinitely) - some of this cannot be changed eg school uniform which I’ll be honest I haven’t accounted for before now. Yeah I know. Really tried to cut back with this but be somewhat realistic. If this is what we spend which is very likely if lockdown does ease, we are £200/m short each month. Do the figures and I genuinely don’t know how anyone survives on £3/4k/m or whatever with a family but anyway here goes - 

Son - 
Uniform: £400
Occasions: £1k
Clothing misc.: £600
Misc. (Trips/ clubs/ hair etc): £500
Total: £2.5k

Wife -
Tennis: £340
Hair: £500
Beauty: £500
Clothing misc.: £1k
Occasions: £500
Total: £2840

Me - 
Hair: £150
Clothing misc.: £1k
Occasions: £500
Total: £1650

Family days: £1k

Holiday (visit parents - cheap haha): £1k

Weekends x2 (one already paid for and rescheduled due to lockdown so can do for this): £1k

Total: £9990, say £10k so £835/m

Rest of budget (/m):
House: £1810
RR: £1390 
BMW: £590
Food: £650
Fuel: £300
School etc: £1100
Entertainment: £300
Emergency fund (going towards paying debts right now): £170
Credit cards: £1105

Total = £8.25k/m

alt80

@RelievedSheff ha hope so lol. Been freezing today though and looks to be a cold one. 

@Onebrokelady haha FML probably best you stay off the roads lol. 

theoretica

You have categories for Occasions and Family Days in your annual per-person spend, but also £300 a month Entertainment.  Are these double counting or separate categories?

alt80

@theoretica Nothing counted twice unfortunately.
Family days = odd days out as a family, zoo, pumpkins or something. Idk wife reckons £1k.
Entertainment = random stuff x1 meal out a month (apart from birthday meals), Starbucks etc. 
Occasions = birthdays/ christmas etc. My budget before 100 unrealistic, been through this with wife and she reckons we just won’t stick to it so this a bit more realistic.

Would love to cut this a bit but just trying to actually be realistic about it as others on here have said needs to be realistic or won’t work. Wife is right this is already going to be really hard to stick to after pandemic restrictions stop.

ladyholly

People manage on less money because they cut down on the stuff that isnt necessary, fewer days out/ picnic in the park instead of a trip to the Zoo. Out for a meal every other month instead of every month perhaps missing out Birthday monthe when you go for a meal out. Most women who are serious about saving money will cut down the hair, beauty and make up. I heard on the radio today the cosmnetic sales are way down . You just have to decide what you really want and what is important or not so important.

alt80

@ladyholly This is cutting it down massively - literally no new makeup for rest of the year, cutting beauty massively and hair cutting a little bit. Cutting clothes, restaurants/ nights out (nights out cutting completely), 1 crap (by most people’s standards) holiday etc. Tbf the nail income was paying for a little of this stuff but spoke to her about that and if she intends to have the girls back post lockdown she said she’s not sure about going back to it so going to work on not. Honestly I don’t mean this in a rude way but hardly having that much of a lifestyle, don’t have a massive mortgage etc and still struggling so yeah idk how people do it kudos to them 100% though.

Don’t think £1k for rest of year is going to be a family day out every weekend still having a fair few walks round the park on that budget I reckon? Idk tbf something wife used to do and I’ve found out her dad paid for most of it ha.

getmore4less

£3k on clothes is something to look at.
You have already said you don't need any more.
Some for son as he is growing.

You either find savings in your personal spending or priorities come back to cars.

theoretica

alt80 said:

 Do the figures and I genuinely don’t know how anyone survives on £3/4k/m or whatever with a family

If you did not have credit card repayments, cars or school fees you have a £4065 a month budget right there - and would only need to squeeze a bit (eg in clothing and food) to get a couple of very basic cars of get from A to B and not fun at all type.

I think there are two archetypes of balanced budgets different people have.  Some people go for fairly equal spending - a quite nice house, quite nice holidays, reliable car, some hobbies.  Other people cut down most of the categories except one that is more personally important and spend more than their peers on that - whether it is a horse, house, holidays or in your case cars.  But when you choose that option you will find people earning similar amounts who spend a bit more in all their other categories, because they don't have the one disproportionately large one or have have higher spending but only in their chosen priority category.