Money Left After bills - *New thread*
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I would look at your grocery spend, how much of the £750 is clothes?
We're a family of 3 (2 adults and a 4 year old) and I spend about £240 a month on food in Aldi. That includes all dinners, my husbands packed lunch for work, cleaning stuff and toiletries0 -
TBH, I've never known anyone lump clothes spend in with groceries.chelseablue wrote: »I would look at your grocery spend, how much of the £750 is clothes?
We're a family of 3 (2 adults and a 4 year old) and I spend about £240 a month on food in Aldi. That includes all dinners, my husbands packed lunch for work, cleaning stuff and toiletries0 -
TBH, I've never known anyone lump clothes spend in with groceries.
Because like a lot of people they buy clothes at the same time they do their grocery shopping so never separate it out!!!!
Yours
Calley xHope for everything and expect nothing!!!
Good enough is almost always good enough -Prof Barry Schwartz
If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try -Seth Godin0 -
TBH, I've never known anyone lump clothes spend in with groceries.
If you budget you generally don't depending on what categories you settle on.
I used to split the traditional "groceries" category into food, alcohol, household, personal...
for a while I had a subcategory of food, meat.
food was also a subcategory of all food, which included the groceries, takeaways, meals out,
If you just guess where your money is going without a plan all sorts of grouping can happen.
It is an easy trap to get into because without a plan you tend to use up all your cash one way or another and then run short when something new(because you don't plan) needs some cash.
reading between the lines the past has not been good.Just bought a new house - on paper we will be £200 a month better off...as we cleared unsecured credit cards and the childcare costs will end.
given this was also saidon a slightly higher rate, and less term.
Shortening the term on the mortgage without a proper plan is often not the smartest move neither is consolidating debt.
Love to see what the numbers were that now give £200pm less(on paper!).0 -
getmore4less wrote: »
Shortening the term on the mortgage without a proper plan is often not the smartest move neither is consolidating debt.
Love to see what the numbers were that now give £200pm less(on paper!).
From their other posts they are with a sub prime lender due to crap credit.0 -
These guys are in the £100k+ joint income bracket.
Take home will be around £6k,(depending on pension contributions)After all essential bills and mortgage, school dinners (Not including travel and food ) we are left with approx £2,500 to 2,900 (depending if my husbands does overtime)
That makes mortgage and bills around £3k
Another post said mortgage around £400k looks like a rate over 3.5% so say £2kpm mortgage, leaving £1k for other bills which is loads
There maybe some non essentials in that list of bills.
I suspect they are haemorrhaging money all over the place and could save a load with ease with simple changes they won't even notice on lifestyle.
Perhaps a case for a SOA on the debtfreewanabee to highlight where the choices are for reducing the wasted spending.
(my previous post mentioned the shorter term it may have just been left at the same length rather than extended for the new one)0 -
Then no wonder the OP hasn't got a handle on her family finances.Because like a lot of people they buy clothes at the same time they do their grocery shopping so never separate it out!!!!
She could be spending £500 per month on clothes and only £250 on food. :eek:
I agree 100% with this.getmore4less wrote: »I suspect they are haemorrhaging money all over the place and could save a load with ease with simple changes they won't even notice on lifestyle.
Perhaps a case for a SOA on the debtfreewanabee to highlight where the choices are for reducing the wasted spending.
I think the SOA (statement of accounts) suggestion is a very good.
I notice the OP has posted the same thing on the Mums board but I doubt if that's the best place to get good advice about where to all this 'wasted' money is going.
Here is the link to the SOA:
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
If nothing else, it should give the OP an indication of what categories she should be splitting her expenditure into.
And once completed, it should show just how much money is left over at the end of all the bills.0 -
In the main, comparing money "after bills" automatically makes any comparison a nonsense... because bills are so variable and might be the issue.
Places that measure poverty look at the figure "after housing costs", where housing costs are limited to mortgage/rent and council tax.
If one had, say, £1000/month "after housing costs" one'd be "rolling in it" - but if one were to spend the OP's £750 on food and left with £250/month it'd look like one had to be a bit careful.... whereas the actual problem is hidden within the bills and would be that extraordinarily high food bill being hidden as the problem.
The word "bills" is too variable as to what's included/not - and how much is spent on each.
Stick to "after housing costs" and it's clear how much money's actually available.0 -
PasturesNew wrote: »In the main, comparing money "after bills" automatically makes any comparison a nonsense... because bills are so variable and might be the issue.
Places that measure poverty look at the figure "after housing costs", where housing costs are limited to mortgage/rent and council tax.
If one had, say, £1000/month "after housing costs" one'd be "rolling in it" - but if one were to spend the OP's £750 on food and left with £250/month it'd look like one had to be a bit careful.... whereas the actual problem is hidden within the bills and would be that extraordinarily high food bill being hidden as the problem.
The word "bills" is too variable as to what's included/not - and how much is spent on each.
Stick to "after housing costs" and it's clear how much money's actually available.
For an individual perhaps, certainly not for a family!0 -
I've always been quite fascinated by people's spending habits and what they consider 'normal'. The disparity between what seems similar household is quite surprising!
Whatever disposable income one is left with, I find it shocking that anyone would spend £750 a month doing the weekly shop for only 4 people, one of which being a toddler.
However, that explains why when I queue at the checkout, I see trolleys with tons of alcohol, expensive meals, and indeed, 5 or more items of clothing.
Nothing wrong with this if you can afford it, but ultimately, it is a choice and you can't expect much sympathy that you might not be able to save much at the end of the month.
My parents used to spend an equivalent amount on the weekly shop. My mum was a spender and fell for every temptation. It used to drive my dad mad. Even now they are retired, he is horrified on how much is spent each week, but bad habits are hard to break.
I would feel massively guilty if I spent that amount, and yet there are definitely improvements that I could make to my current spending. It really comes down to how much you want to reduce your weekly shop for more disposable income compared to the freedom and excitement of buying what one wants.0
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