Earn over 50k never seem to have any money

Mkchalloner · 1 November 2018 at 9:57PM

My partner and I have been together 14 years and have 3 son's together I don't work as my partner works away Monday to Friday and earns a good wage so I have to be a single mom through the week looking after the boy's and playing taxi we have a council house and are wanting to buy our own home but my partner is self employed and we are struggling to get a mortgage and we just never seem to have any money we literally live day to day wage to wage were just really struggling with getting on track with the financial side of things and trying to save we just don't know what to do for the best or where to start my partner works away so we can have a better life but it doesn't seem to be working HELP PLEASE

onomatopoeia99 · 1 November 2018 at 10:06PM

You need to look at what you are spending money on. Go through bank statements and credit card statements and figure out where it all goes. There's a link to a "statement of affairs" site on the debt free wanabe board which will help

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Mkchalloner · 1 November 2018 at 10:48PM

We just never seem to have enough were paying £500 a month for 2 years for a holiday to Florida which is a big one but is a holiday of a lifetime for us then as well as rent £400 a month and council tax gas electricity etc we have the car to pay for and all the after school activities that the kids do plus phone bills and food it's nothing else really and the only debt we have is £4000 which is a credit card we can just never seem to get on top of things and we've tried budgeting and sticking to a plan but we never know when something's due to come out or not were shocking when it comes to all the financial stuff

blues · 2 November 2018 at 1:34AM

Well what's your priority? A holiday to Florida or buying a house? £500 a month for two years is 12k. That could have been a house deposit! No sympathy here I'm afraid.

Mkchalloner · 2 November 2018 at 7:43AM

We need more like 17k the 12k is just for the holiday we need spending money too and I'm not asking for sympathy just ideas from people in a similar situation that could help us get our finances together or any usefull tips my partner is working away from us Monday to Friday for 2 years so we can have this holiday of a lifetime aswell

martinthebandit · 2 November 2018 at 7:53AM

17k for 5 of you for a holiday!

Just putting it out there but just perhaps, possibly you may have your priorities slightly askew?

Think I'm with blues on this one

BrassicWoman · 2 November 2018 at 8:26AM

Invest a few quid in an app called you need a budget. Free trial month.

Swap Florida for a camping weekend near Euro Disney.

comeandgo · 2 November 2018 at 8:35AM

You are blowing your house deposit on a holiday. It will take you years to save that amount again

elsien · 2 November 2018 at 8:40AM

Mkchalloner wrote: »

We just never seem to have enough were paying £500 a month for 2 years for a holiday to Florida which is a big one but is a holiday of a lifetime for us then as well as rent £400 a month and council tax gas electricity etc we have the car to pay for and all the after school activities that the kids do plus phone bills and food it's nothing else really and the only debt we have is £4000 which is a credit card we can just never seem to get on top of things and we've tried budgeting and sticking to a plan but we never know when something's due to come out or not were shocking when it comes to all the financial stuff

Then you're not budgetting effectively.
A good budget will include all the foreseeable expenses and plan for them plus extra for an emergency fund for the unexpected.
You need to complete the calculator as above, then all the family track every penny that you spend.
That will help you to see where it's all going and decide priorities. For example a massive holiday and lots of out of school clubs versus a house deposit. You don't have to cut everything out, but there may be things having seen the full picture that you decide to cut down on.

warby68 · 2 November 2018 at 8:48AM

On a money saving site, you might struggle for people in a 'similar' situation. £17k on a holiday when you seemingly don't have enough money for other things and want a house will seem unusual to say the least.

Look at it this way. Your £17k is after tax so it will be taking something like 25% of your overall income. That actually leaves a family of 5 living on £37k or so which is ok but not spectacular.

If this is genuine (apologies but its one of the more unusual situations), then you need a spending diary to track your spends and then draw up a budget starting with priority items (rent, council tax, utilities) at the top.

Get together 12m statements and see where it went.

The most obvious ways to save are usually to review your main bills to get the best providers and see what luxuries you can do without or cut back on (such as Sky TV, fancy phones, eating out).

The most common mistake is to ignore or forget irregular items in the budget and to allow for some emergencies - that's why you need to look at a full 12m.

The truth will probably be quite simple - that you can't actually afford the holiday.

HampshireH · 2 November 2018 at 8:52AM

You dont live day to day or wage to wage if you are saving £500 a month with an aim of £17k for a holiday.

Reassess your priorities and use that money for the things you currently say you cannot afford.

You dont appear to be living beyond your means, you are just prioritising an extortionate and unnecessary luxury ahead of the day to day needs of your family, if indeed you dont have money left to do what most people would consider necessary like food, clothes, bills etc.

I think if you did a SOA it would make interesting reading to you. It will clearly show you where your spending and could be saving.

Earn over 50k never seem to have any money

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