£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Suffolk_lass · 2 September 2017 at 2:30PM

Welcome back! August, September and October are always my nightmare months as the summer spends have to be paid for. For us, half our holiday spending was after the August statement date so won't come out of the bank account until October :eek:

I am just taking a quick break from "spring cleaning" the fireplace in the sitting room - all washed down and tidied up (and logs stacked) so that any house viewings are with it looking good - I even wiped down the woodturner and then wiped it again with oil on a cloth and I hear husband vacuuming as I type (I don't do vacuuming because of asthma). I need to go and get on or it is all him (!)

Treadingonplaymobil · 2 September 2017 at 2:42PM

Right, now that we've got the good bit out of the way and seen that the debt did go down last week, let's look at the more depressing numbers. We didn't go wild on holiday, but a combination of £100 or so extra on diesel, £50 extra on food and booze, £50 extra on entertainment has all added up. Biggest other 'over' spend was on children's clothes, but it wasn't negotiable - new school shoes for one DC, new trainers for two, new walking boots for one, plus various sports kit etc. All suff I've been putting off and couldn't any longer, added up to £248. :eek:

side note: although we are short for this month, I was really pleased to note that our total spend for August was £3433, a whopping £500 less than our usual monthly spend, and that's with all the above spending. Just shows what I can do when I don't constantly prop up the budget with my self employed income. Need to cling onto that lesson for the future so I can use self employed income to overpay debt or boost savings rather than just frittering it away. I think we actually spent less while on the camping trips than we would on a normal weekend at home.

So the outgoings still to (theoretically) come out this month are listed below. I've ignored any DD/food spends that have already come out.

Ideal budget
income
bank balance £678.50
my income c.£300
child benefit £192.30
total £1,170.80

outgoings (I have tried to list from most fixed down to most negotiable)
MBNA CC £30
Barclaycard CC £315
Partnership CC £50ish this is the one I spent on last month, haven't had a statement yet so don't know exact amount
building/contents insurance £27.07
mobile phones £92
netflix £5.99
audible sub £7.99
food £375 scope for reducing this I, as we've brought a lot back from hols
diesel £80ish the first month DH will buy a monthly season ticket, so not sure exactly how much it will be
DH's train fare £160
DC1 school lunches £37.80 He is vehemently opposed to packed lunches, but I could force the issue. Would be a last resort.
DC3 preschool fees £160ish didn't get approval for 30hrs funding as more info needed thanks to being self employed, but letter came while we were away. Deadline for funding for this term was 31st Aug. Will look into appeals.
family entertainment kitty £150 negotiable, but no point pretending it can drop lots, as we are notoriously bad at sticking to it anyway.
cubs/beavers subs £30
music lessons £35
football club £10
holiday savings £40
haircuts £20
childrens clothes £60
christmas £60
birthdays £40
car MOT/service £30
dentist savings £3.50
national trust £9.60
YNAB sub £3
extensions savings £140 this should have been covered by DH's payrise, so can be cut out.
emergency fund £30
house stuff/maintenance £15
school donations/trips etc £10
DC pocket money £5
my kitty £15
DH kitty £15
partnership card full balance payment £260.77 I had ambitions to pay off the full balance this month and put it behind me, but I don't think that's possible.
total £2,322.72

shortfall £1,151.92

Well that's quite a serious shortfall. Since there is no realistic way of making that, I've redone the budget with the obvious cuts made (full partnership CC balance etc). This is a more realistic budget...

Realistic budget
income
bank balance £678.50
my income c.£300
child benefit £192.30
total £1,170.80

outgoings (I have tried to list from most fixed down to most negotiable)
MBNA CC £30
Barclaycard CC £315
Partnership CC £50
building/contents insurance £27.07
mobile phones £92
netflix £5.99
audible sub £7.99
food £300 cut from £375
diesel £80
DH's train fare £160
DC1 school lunches £37.80
DC3 preschool fees £160ish
family entertainment kitty £120 cut from £150
cubs/beavers subs £30
music lessons £35
football club £10
holiday savings £20 cut from £40
haircuts £20
childrens clothes £50 cut from £60 but I am aware at least one DC needs new school jumpers and one needs wellies.
christmas £60 really can't cut this given it's four months away and savings are pitiful
birthdays £40 It's DC1's birthday this month, this is going to be overspent anyway, so not going to pretend it's worth cutting.
car MOT/service £30 MOT on Monday :eek:
dentist savings £3.50
national trust £9.60
YNAB sub £3
extensions savings £0 cut from £140
emergency fund £30
house stuff/maintenance £15
school donations/trips etc £10
DC pocket money £5
my kitty £15
DH kitty £15
partnership card full balance payment £0 cut from £260.77
total £1786.95

shortfall £616.15
Argh. Still a fairly huge grim shortfall. The challenge is going to be to simultaneously minimise that shortfall and increase my income so that we don't end up whacking another £600+ on the credit card.

Honeysucklelou2 · 2 September 2017 at 2:48PM

So glad you had a good time. The memories of great family times will see you through the nitty gritty financial times.

The_Arrowmaker · 2 September 2017 at 8:39PM

Just dropping by to say I wonder whether you might be able to reconsider the budget for your children's clothes.

At my children's schools I am always amazed (horrified actually) by how much expensive un-named uniform in near-perfect condition goes unclaimed by its owner. I have picked up sweatshirts and polo shirts with the school logo at minimal cost from the second-hand uniform shop at school (if your school doesn't have one, why not suggest it?). I have also been fortunate enough to receive (and glad to offer) good quality uniform on Freecycle.:money:

The young Arrowmakers spend half their lives outside, but I'm not sure that I've ever bought new wellies for them as it just doesn't seem necessary. Admittedly, I grew up with one pair of school shoes a year, a pair of sandals and cheap trainers (if I was lucky:rotfl:) but I honestly believe there is only so much expensive new footwear that one growing child can possibly need.

Perhaps I lack imagination but I genuinely don't understand the need for 'new', especially when the budget really won't stretch that far. If second hand footwear really isn't for you, it is worth noting that used Clarks trainers in good condition sell well on eBay and perhaps you could supplement your children's clothing budget by selling their outgrown shoes to someone who would gladly buy them;).

Treadingonplaymobil · 3 September 2017 at 6:15AM

The_Arrowmaker wrote: »

Just dropping by to say I wonder whether you might be able to reconsider the budget for your children's clothes.

At my children's schools I am always amazed (horrified actually) by how much expensive un-named uniform in near-perfect condition goes unclaimed by its owner. I have picked up sweatshirts and polo shirts with the school logo at minimal cost from the second-hand uniform shop at school (if your school doesn't have one, why not suggest it?). I have also been fortunate enough to receive (and glad to offer) good quality uniform on Freecycle.:money:

The young Arrowmakers spend half their lives outside, but I'm not sure that I've ever bought new wellies for them as it just doesn't seem necessary. Admittedly, I grew up with one pair of school shoes a year, a pair of sandals and cheap trainers (if I was lucky:rotfl:) but I honestly believe there is only so much expensive new footwear that one growing child can possibly need.

Perhaps I lack imagination but I genuinely don't understand the need for 'new', especially when the budget really won't stretch that far. If second hand footwear really isn't for you, it is worth noting that used Clarks trainers in good condition sell well on eBay and perhaps you could supplement your children's clothing budget by selling their outgrown shoes to someone who would gladly buy them;).

I have no objections at all to secondhand clothes, but having been put off secondhand shoes by always having to wear my sister's hand me downs, which had moulded to her feet and were never entirely comfortable on mine, I have a bit of a thing about the DC having their own shoes. I do hand down things like wellies/flipflops/wetsuit shoes if they survive, but I find that not many shoes last the first two DC, never mind the third, so usually a new pair needs to be bought in each size somewhere between eldest and youngest.

enthusiasticsaver · 3 September 2017 at 6:30AM

Whoops that is quite a large shortfall. Has your DH pay changed since the first soa (ignoring pay rise which hasn't happened anyway)? He got paid less than a week ago and now less than £700 left in the bank means £2000 must have gone out in just a few days unless you were overdrawn. I know you juggle money around but just seeing where that £2k has leaked out may explain why the budget is tighter than normal. Presumably mortgage and bills went out but that can't account for £2k unless the soa has changed drastically.

How about seeing if you can survive on no entertainment money as a challenge? You are paying out for music lessons, cubs and football anyway and the kids have just had three or four holidays over the summer so a month of doing only free stuff won't kill them or you. Many people do this all the time and you sound resourceful.

Treadingonplaymobil · 3 September 2017 at 6:38AM

Week 30: day 1

Morning! Not quite back to the silly o'clock starts, but not a long way off - DH is back to work tomorrow and we have only a couple more days before school starts again. We've had such a lovely summer, I really will be sad to see the end of it. Fingers crossed for a busy and successful autumn ahead, with some nice proper autumn weather to go walking in on the weekends.

Feel all over the place and like everything needs to get back on track at the moment - the finances, my weight (have put on a few lbs over the summer), various work routines that I've got out of the swing of. It will all come back together soon hopefully. First step is to get back into the lists!

I did a nice cheap food shop yesterday - we had loads of leftovers from the holiday, so only needed to spend £50 for the week's food, and I think there will still be some bits leftover for the following week. It was such a random bunch of stuff and I am feeling lazy, so I haven't summarised it. Must have a look at last month's food shopping and discuss, when I get a chance.

Going to some friends for lunch today, and I forgot to buy juices to take with us (none of us are big drinkers), so that cheap food shop is going to be slightly offset by buying something nice on the way there. Going to make something sweet to take too so I don't feel I have to buy three varieties of fancy juice at £3 a pop!

to do today
1. laundry - haven't done a single load since returning from holiday on Friday night. Going to run out of clothes soon.
2. ironing - and there was still some ironing left to do when we went away. Argh.
3. work on a project with DC2 that needs to go back to school with him.
4. make something little and inexpensive to take to friends for lunch today - maybe mini meringues and buttercream.
5. pick a room and tidy and clean it.
6. plan working time for the month.
7. send a birthday card that really should have gone yesterday.
8. plan DC1's birthday presents.
9. invoice for last month's contract work.

to do this week
1. plan DS1's birthday party.
2. get the house tidy and decluttered ready for new term at school.
3. start a list of camping supplies that need replacing/repairing for next year - will be much better to do that in stages over the winter than in one big spend next May.
4. have a look at last month's food spends and see where improvements can be made.
5. make some packed lunch supplies and freeze for DC3, who will now have lunch at preschool 3 days a week.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

Weekly round up (I only did this yesterday, so nothing has changed, but now it's in the right place in the week so I can find it again next week!)
debt total on day 7 of week 29 £55,011.96
This week's debt total £55,011.96
Total paid off since day 7 of week 29 £0
Grand total paid off £3,596.17

Treadingonplaymobil · 3 September 2017 at 6:46AM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Whoops that is quite a large shortfall. Has your DH pay changed since the first soa (ignoring pay rise which hasn't happened anyway)? He got paid less than a week ago and now less than £700 left in the bank means £2000 must have gone out in just a few days unless you were overdrawn. I know you juggle money around but just seeing where that £2k has leaked out may explain why the budget is tighter than normal. Presumably mortgage and bills went out but that can't account for £2k unless the soa has changed drastically.

How about seeing if you can survive on no entertainment money as a challenge? You are paying out for music lessons, cubs and football anyway and the kids have just had three or four holidays over the summer so a month of doing only free stuff won't kill them or you. Many people do this all the time and you sound resourceful.

DH's pay hasn't changed, that £2k has gone on various DDs that come out on the 1st (£377 loan repayment, £698 mortgage, £12 tv license, £112 gas and electricity, £95 water, £19 internet and phone, £16 life insurance, £141 council tax, £16 car tax, £25 car insurance, which all adds up to over £1,500) plus the overspends on entertainment, fuel and childrens' clothes I mentioned yesterday and paying for DCs' music lessons. All of those spends have been since he got paid in August.

I know my limits (and, DH's too) - no entertainment budget just isn't going to happen! We aren't that disciplined. It's DC1's birthday in a couple of weeks, and some of the 'party' (a trip to a trampoline place with two friends) money will probably be shuffled over from entertainment as the birthday pot is short, plus DH has two weekends of childcare while I work when he will need to be out of the house for parts of the day. Keeping it below £120 would be a 50% improvement on most months.

debtfreeoneday · 3 September 2017 at 7:19AM

You may want to look at Nat Trust again? You can get a subscription to the New Zealand NT for about £50 a year which covers NT here and English Heritage. We have it purely from a MSE point of view and have used it lots. I appreciate not everyone agrees with it, but needs must at the mo!

Suffolk_lass · 3 September 2017 at 9:11AM

If you get a chance for a family chill-out walk today the blackberries in hedgerows are plentiful and plump (and free) - you might want to take a plastic bag in case you spot some free food!

£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

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