why are we always skint?!

mountainofdebt

Can I suggest you are totally honest with youself and keep a spending diary ....you will be amazed at where the money goes.

Also if you post your budget on debt free wanabee I bet you a £1 that people will be able to slash £££'s without you noticing.

Bennifred

I know it is depressing when you feel that you are young and should be "out having fun", but chin up! You have each other, a roof over your heads, clothes on your backs and food in your bellies - it could be worse! We've all been there (well - lots and lots of us have) and it is possible to improve things - try mountainsofdebt's suggestion, there are lots of people willing to help! Course, some of did improve things, then had children........... :rolleyes:

YorkshireBoy

nightsong wrote:

Used to be very broke too, so I feel your pain.

Some thoughts about where the money goes -

cigarettes
alchohol
convenience food
magazines
tea/coffee out
clothes (Tesco, George and Primark are really good!!)
satellite tv
cosmetics

All of these are luxuries (well, the clothes aren't! But shopping in non-cheap clothes shops is). If you are clean in all these areas then well done you.

You've stolen my thunder a little with your post nightsong!

When I saw this post I immediately compared the OP's position with that of my own 20 years ago, when my wife stopped work to start the family and I took a fairly hefty paycut (downwards and sideways move to climb a different ladder but that's another story!) at the same time. The difference between then and now...

* Sky TV
* Mobile phones
* Designer clothes
* Far more easily obtainable credit
* Carcraft & Yes Car Credit making it "easier" to own a new car (just a bit better than the neighbours' - you know, Mr & Mrs Jones next door)
* Paying for this year's holiday next year and so on
* Purchasing "stuff" with plastic
* Etc, etc.

Looking back, the only things we missed out on were foreign holidays (and some British ones as well), new cars, and a few nights out. All these were luxuries, which we are starting to enjoy again now that the kids are older.

Before any of the younger ones start saying "oh yes, but look at house prices now", we were paying 16% interest on our mortgages plus the endowment premium - and for me, as I recall, that was nearly 1/2 my take home pay alone. We spent the rest on food & bills - not Sky, mobiles, designer clothes, holidays, cars we couldn't afford, etc.

So, for all those who want it now, be patient and wait for it later - you'll enjoy it all the more when you've earned it.

OK, I'm sounding older than my (44) years now so I'll stop!

nearlyrich

As a contemporary of YorkshireBoy (but on the right side of the Pennines) I have to say there is a lot of truth in what he is saying. My ex & I started out in a house with no new furniture, just what we were given from family and friends. DH & I have replaced stuff gradually over the years as we have done each room up in turn.
Any home improvements we have done we paid for as we went along, I had my kitchen refitted to my own taste only last year. (I'm 44 too)

My 18 year old has a nicer car than I had at 28 although it's old and it didn't cost much. She also has a taste in designer gear that fortunately I have never felt the need to develop.

Do a budget, keep a spending diary and make a plan for your financial future as Yorkshireboy said it will be more enjoyable when you have earned it.

Anya

I feel the same alot of the time, especially when most of my friends and neighbours are currently je-setting off abroad. I just think to myself that our time will come and a few years down the line there'll be someone looking at my little family and being jealous of what we are doing etc.
My husband and I were married at 20 and 19 and had our first baby shortly after. 6 years on I look back now and think about how little we had. Everything was borrowed or donated to us, we never had holidays, the house was rented etc etc. Now we live in a small new house (shared ownership but better than renting), we go on camping holidays, we have 2 small children, and we just about manage. But managing is better than going under each month. We scrimp and save for things we need/want, but when we do get them it feels more valuable. Hopefully in another 6 years will be up another step (camping abroad!!!!). Your time will come and for now, try and count your blessings, and your pennies and just try to think that it's not going to be like that forever!

YorkshireBoy

nearlyrich wrote:

...but on the right side of the Pennines.

I laughed out loud at this, but then remembered that that the map shows us on the "right" side of the Pennines (unless you have yours upside down!).

nearlyrich

YorkshireBoy wrote:

I laughed out loud at this, but then remembered that that the map shows us on the "right" side of the Pennines (unless you have yours upside down!).

I am a woman so I have to have the map pointing the way I am going LOL, my comment was meant in a light hearted way, I have the dubious pleasure of being married to a Yorkshireman who tells people he is here doing missionary work.

YorkshireBoy

emma_b wrote:

just wandering if ither people out there find themselves always skint no matter what they try im just about breakning point now...

OK, my first post was just a generalisation. However, I've stumbled across a couple of your other recent posts tonight (and because of this I've searched for a few more - I hope you don't mind) in which...

1. you're asking about car parking at Manchester Airport because you're going away for 2 weeks in September.

2. you want to give back/sell/re-finance a 4 year old car that's had/got 4 years £6K finance on it.

3. you state you're paying £60 per month for an NTL package.

4. you have 2 contract mobiles between you.

5. you're stating that you're considering getting broadband because "you don't want to tie the landline up"

These are the kind of spends that are resulting in your current situation Emma. You'll really need to address these things when you're trying to manage on one wage and your bursary.

If you don't mind, I'll compare myself with you on the above points...

1. I was 28 before I flew (on a jet) for the first time, and (at 44) this week we're going on our first ever half-board foreign holiday - only ever self-catered before.

2. Other than my first ever brand new car 2 years ago (which was 0% financed), I've only once had a £6K loan for a car. I did this over 3 years and I was 37 years old at the time.

3. We pay £31 per month for BT together with free off-peak internet access.

4. We don't have contract mobiles. I have a company mobile which I'm "supposed" to pay for private calls on, and Mrs YB has a PAYG which uses £10-15 per month.

5. We have dial-up, and I can't say it's overly slow - even when downloading files from work. If Mrs YB's mother wants to talk, she rings Mrs YB's mobile and tells her to "get hubby off the internet"!

This is not meant to be critical of your lifestyle. I'm just trying to give you an idea of where you might make some "adjustments".

Good luck with your studying and the nursing career you have chosen. I'm not too far from Huddersfield so be kind if you ever see me at work!

Best wishes

BWZN93

Rikki wrote:

Thats true.

I now enjoy my evenings in. A bottle of wine, good film and the company of my man. :j

Me too - but without the wine - as im teetotal! I dont miss clubbing and going out boozing it up at all. We have found many ways of having free days out so we dont feel confined to home. Both partner and I only have student loans and interest free overdrafts (still have a year left to go before it goes up!) but things in general just cost so much these days, and those of us who live away from our parents, in the 22-28 age group and have to pay astronomical rent down south - its no wonder we are always skint if we want to avoid credit.

Its unfortunatley the case that we are (usually) not the ones to benefit from the property boom - as prices have risen, so have rents - but wages remain the same and living costs still get higher all the time. As me and the partner have no 'debts' (I dont class the overdraft and student loans), ive recently been calculating our incomes v outgoings, and ironically, we arent going to be substansially any better off than when we were students. I dont have a clothes fetish, and im a good and competant home cook. ive followed loads of tips on here to slim the outgoings even further - but it would appear to mean that we will have serious difficulty saving for a deposit for a property here, and would only get a mortgage loan for less than what a small 1 bed flat costs down here.

Anyway - we all have to try and keep our chins up and hope to god there is a property crash so we can hoover up the shattered remains of someone elses misfortune. What a lovely world huh?!!

Jo xx

An Afterthought....

I dont have a mobile, I couldnt even afford to run my PAYG so I sold it and rely on boyf's phone for incoming calls.

I gave up smoking rollups

Our rent is 'cheap' for our area, but still costs a 1/3rd of our income

Another 1/3 is taken up by council tax, bills, food

The last third is mainly going towards paying off the 0%od so i dont get stung when it goes to a normal od, and putting some away for car tax, insurance etc

My partners car insurance and mobile are paid for by his parents

I havent bought new clothes in 3years, (I bought knickers last week for £2.50 from tesco last week because some of mine had holes in and needed replacing)

I actually cried last xmas because my sister got to spend money on clothes and mine was spent on rent - for the 4th year running.

I had to borrow money to pay for a prescription last week from an equally skint friend - and was weighing up the cost of it, what I could buy from a supermarket with that money instead, and whether I could live without it or not (emergency anti-biotics because of serious infection)

we couldnt even afford the petrol money to go see a freind in Brighton last week on his birthday.

Life sucks!!

emma_b_4

hiya yorkshire boy!
yep i did a lot of posting yesterday cos i have had enough of trying to sort our finances out on my own!

right, some explaining..

we are going away for two weeks coutesy of me selling my car, my beloved mini, earlier this year, along with a mountain of clothes on ebay. so the hol has been paid for with that, and a portion of the spend too. we felt sod it we are having a hol cos we wont get anything for the next three years while in studying! pls dont begrdge me that!!

ntl, we arent on ntl we pay 10.50pm to bt and the call thru talktalks free for a yr eve and weekends.

braodband i was thinking about the 9.99 package thru ukonline or similar so just the same cost but broadband (im not very up with tech so dont know whether i NEED bband which was also th purpose of that post!

we dont have 2 contracts we are on O2 genie sims..were was that post?! must have been a really old 1!! pay as you go is fab my £10 can last me 2mths

the car well what can i say about that yes we do have a y reg focus on finance had it a yr th not 4 yrs . not looking to refinanve it i was looking to give it back, aparently when you have it more than half the term you can give it back. we did get a good deal on it long story but it was other half that had a car on finance and it went bang so he thought hey another finance car no dep..weve all thought it! i was thinking get rid and buy a fiesta or something cheap to insure and run. i will be getting the train or bus to uni anyway so im not fussed what wheels we have!!

hope that explains some of the points!

basically our money goes:

325 mortgage (51k letf over 21yrs)
10 mortgage payment protection
24 life assurance (for both of us single policies which i think is high but do i risk changing it)
22.50 water
40 g and e
150 car (OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
64 car ins
10.50 bt line rental
approx 5 on calls thru talktalk
20 on top ups
19.50 sky (try gettin sky away frm my OH and i will kiss you!well, if you succeed!)
21 home ins
80 council tax
at the mo we are paying 200 a mth off our credit card, we dont HAVE a card its just for BTs most of which we ran up when we first got our house for all those bits that add up..looking back patience would have saved us a fortune but we now owe approx £800

then the luxuries
food! we spend about £40 a week, including alcohol
cigs..dont even get me started on these cos i HATE it i say why doesnt he just roll up fivers and smoke them he might aswell do hes buying 10 a day
petrol £20 a week
savings £100 a week , but these are going on the cards too some towards the hol (gulp) and rest well those rainy days just keep coming..

and i cant think where rest must go thats y i started the post!
i think i will have to try and keep a spend diray but its hard cos im always watching the pennies and OH attitude is well i work so i dint WANT to have to watch my pennies it s the weekend
i think its a vicious circle for us really

as for the going out, it doesnt really bother me that much im a saddo who misses my OH and goes home early for a cuddle and a cuppa tea (well green tea and a reuse the teabags!!)

thankyou to everyone who has posted it made me feel better i think i am one of those people who thinks Every1 has more than us..its nice to know we are 'normal'

it will be hard coping when im at uni but its something i hva always wanted to do
i have already registered with agencies and changed my contract at work to casual so i can work as and when i can

thanks again
if any1 has any tips on money i am all ears! p[ls dont shout at me over the car and sky.............