Cost of Living Crisis - How are you coping?

RL11

RL11 said:

Though energy costs alone are going to add an extra £2k to what we need to spend this year

In fairness to government; I've already had £150 from council, £400 off energy to come plus £500 winter fuel allowance, so real cost to me will be under £1000. If I was on pension credits I'd get another £650 too, so would "only" be an extra £400 to find. Inflation running at 10% for too long is my biggest concern - though it is being reported that pensions will go up 10% next year

[Deleted User]

For those asking...

Mortgage  £1,450.56

Nursery £1,343.33

Shopping £250.00

Savings £300.00

Council Tax £175.00

Debt Payments £150.00

Work Travel £137.80

Petrol £200

Gas and Electric £119.00

Work travel £91.86

Life Insurance £53.48

Children Savings £40.00

Water £41.46

Amazon - (milk and baby wipes) £36.80

Kids Activites  £90.00

Broadband & TV £30.00

Car £18.15

Phone £17.99

Washing Machine £14.50

Dropbox £9.99

I don't pay for Netflix, Prime or Spotify. The above is not fully updated, petrol, gas and electric for example will be going up. Based on our current salary (prior to pay raises), theoretically we should have about £400 each to spend. However, things do come up. From July, there's going to be another £75 a week for speech therapy for our autistic child.

The main thing is probably shopping. Probably have to be a lot more disciplined there as that's where I frequently start using my "own" money as the budgeted amount goes in 3 weeks. 

Pollycat

TBH, if you have debts it doesn't make sense (at least to me) to be putting almost £350 per month into savings.
Unless, of course, you are not paying any interest.

You have 2 lots of work travel plus £200 pm on petrol. Is that right?

You can't account for £800 per month.
That's a lot of missing money.
To work out where money is going, some people keep a spending diary.
You would be surprised how fast a Costa coffee, a couple of magazines, paying the window cleaner etc adds up.

MovingForwards

How I cope on an average of £22k is run to a tight budget.

Switch lights and plugs off when not in use, my heating goes on in 15 minute bursts when really cold as I wrap up in winter.

I've an electric shower and enjoy long hot showers in summer, quick cool ones in winter as the water isn't that warm. Utilities are an average of £65pm.

CT I pay over 10 months as I like having 2 free months.

Insurances, car repairs etc are all paid for as they pop up, I've a dedicated bank account I fund each month.

I shop in Tesco and fill my car up there too. The points I save up and use for solstice feasts. I also use a local butcher and grain shop.

Clothes I tend to get secondhand suits for the office, Matalan is my go to shop for my everyday items. Footwear tends to be eBay, sports direct and Tesco.

I had HP for my current car, but paid it off within 9 months, would have been less than that I paid for a funeral.

Holidays are day trips or visiting people, I've so much to see and do on my own doorstep that everything I craved when going abroad was achieved when I moved.

My mortgage Apr is what most people fear and I treat savings as another bill to pay each month. Anything I need money for has a savings pot.

I'm not currently working, by choice, as I've taken a break to study (self-funded) and stretched my final wages to cover basic outgoings for 3 months. When I start my new job I'll be saving to cover another study break (again self-funded) or I'll be working FT and studying.

Being disabled my car is my lifeline, my OH is a domestic god and cat is the boss. I'm the financial whizz.

[Deleted User]

Pollycat said:

TBH, if you have debts it doesn't make sense (at least to me) to be putting almost £350 per month into savings.
Unless, of course, you are not paying any interest.

You have 2 lots of work travel plus £200 pm on petrol. Is that right?

You can't account for £800 per month.
That's a lot of missing money.
To work out where money is going, some people keep a spending diary.
You would be surprised how fast a Costa coffee, a couple of magazines, paying the window cleaner etc adds up.

Sorry, Savings is a typo as it's actually £100 a month. I think most of the issue is probably spending money on little snacks here and there which I'm cutting out. 

Pollycat

Deleted_User said:

Pollycat said:

TBH, if you have debts it doesn't make sense (at least to me) to be putting almost £350 per month into savings.
Unless, of course, you are not paying any interest.

You have 2 lots of work travel plus £200 pm on petrol. Is that right?

You can't account for £800 per month.
That's a lot of missing money.
To work out where money is going, some people keep a spending diary.
You would be surprised how fast a Costa coffee, a couple of magazines, paying the window cleaner etc adds up.

Sorry, Savings is a typo as it's actually £100 a month. I think most of the issue is probably spending money on little snacks here and there which I'm cutting out. 

It doesn't really matter how much savings you put away every month.
If you have debts, saving doesn't make sense. Unless you are not paying any interest.

It's not just me saying it:

Yes, paying off debts with savings makes sense...

We can almost hear the dismay at this suggestion: "What? All we hear about is Britons don't save enough and, here I am, trying to do it and you say don't! What are you talking about man?". So let me explain the basic reasoning straightaway...

It's that simple. Debts usually cost more than savings earn. Cancel them out and you're better off.

Pay off debts or save? Max your cash - MoneySavingExpert

Are you both on the same page about reducing the money you spend on non-essentials?

Spendless

The thing with not having any savings because you send it all to debt is if an emergency issue comes up eg car repairs, broken boiler, expensive vet bill (I once had to pay £300 and that's with pet insurance, because some items weren't covered like the out of hours fee). You need an emergency fund to cover these type of scenarios.

I don't think your food bill is bad if that's correct £250 for the month for 2 adults plus child/ren. What is crippling you at the minute is the nursery fees. They're almost as high as your mortgage, so it's like having double your mortgage bill. All I can say is the childcare  costs aren't forever. They will reduce once children go to school (unless you intend private education) and gradually fall off altogether.

Pollycat

Spendless said:

The thing with not having any savings because you send it all to debt is if an emergency issue comes up eg car repairs, broken boiler, expensive vet bill (I once had to pay £300 and that's with pet insurance, because some items weren't covered like the out of hours fee). You need an emergency fund to cover these type of scenarios.

I don't think your food bill is bad if that's correct £250 for the month for 2 adults plus child/ren. What is crippling you at the minute is the nursery fees. They're almost as high as your mortgage, so it's like having double your mortgage bill. All I can say is the childcare  costs aren't forever. They will reduce once children go to school (unless you intend private education) and gradually fall off altogether.

If the OP and his wife could sort out where the £800 per month is going they could quadruple their savings to £400 per month and throw £550 per month at their debts.
Then when the debt is paid off, they will have almost £1k per month to put into savings which will build up very quickly.

yvonne13_2

Deleted_User said:

Sorry of this isn't the right place to ask. 

When I moved into my place 7 years ago, my gas and electric bill was £65 and I actually got some of that back each other. We were out of that house for work most of the time so makes sense. Bring on the children and working from home, that nearly doubled to £120 a month. Now, my deal is set to come to an end in August and I've just been quoted £240!

Used to cost £45 to fill my car and now it's over £70. I used to visit my family once a month but now I've stopped due to petrol considerations.

My wife and I recently got pay raises and earn £55k each. We don't drive a fancy car (same one for 9 years, no debt on it) and the only bill that is not a necessity is the £60 a month we pay for the kids activities. Even our house is a very modest two bed we got for £280,000 years ago. With that said, each month we find ourselves dipping into savings or using the credit card to get by.

I just look at our salary and think if we're struggling a little, how the hell is everyone else coping? Especially those with nursery fees and, relatively, lower income. 

How much are you paying per month for your mortgage? Also are you going on expensive holidays and how much are you paying for food and clothes.

Pollycat

yvonne13_2 said:

Deleted_User said:

Sorry of this isn't the right place to ask. 

When I moved into my place 7 years ago, my gas and electric bill was £65 and I actually got some of that back each other. We were out of that house for work most of the time so makes sense. Bring on the children and working from home, that nearly doubled to £120 a month. Now, my deal is set to come to an end in August and I've just been quoted £240!

Used to cost £45 to fill my car and now it's over £70. I used to visit my family once a month but now I've stopped due to petrol considerations.

My wife and I recently got pay raises and earn £55k each. We don't drive a fancy car (same one for 9 years, no debt on it) and the only bill that is not a necessity is the £60 a month we pay for the kids activities. Even our house is a very modest two bed we got for £280,000 years ago. With that said, each month we find ourselves dipping into savings or using the credit card to get by.

I just look at our salary and think if we're struggling a little, how the hell is everyone else coping? Especially those with nursery fees and, relatively, lower income. 

How much are you paying per month for your mortgage? Also are you going on expensive holidays and how much are you paying for food and clothes.

The OP has posted some outgoings further up this page.