Working full time but still skint!

[BellaBoo0512]

I've just been working out my money budget and have realised that I have a grand total of £52 a month left after bills.

Me and my husband both work full time and try to be careful with money so I really don't understand how we are so skint!

I really am shocked that we have so little left each month. We had more than this left over a month when I was working part time.. how is that even possible?

Is anyone else working and struggling?

It's just not fair

 

[babycrazy1706]

I hate hearing things like this. It is very unfair. Are you paying off debts that will one day be clear then you will have that left over? Xx

 

[Nibblenic]

I would look to see if there is anything you can change or cut back on, sky bills, debt cheaper insurance polices.

A spare £52 a month is no where near enough money spare

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I have cut back as much as I can. We do have a loan which we pay off at £95 a month, this will be paid off next summer and we have another 2.5 years left of car finance which costs us 100 a month.

That will free up 200 pounds a month. Still not much though

 

[suzib76]

Your other outgoings just be huge? That's really not a lot left over from 2 wages :/

 

[cjb]

Do you spend a lot of childcare?
We have just manage to half r home insurance by going on a price compare site. Which last year when we looked at changing it was no difference in price.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

My childcare is 160 a week and we get 80 a week child tax credits to help towards it. They were paying 115 a week up until last month so we're like 35 a week down

 

[Pearls18]

The tax credit system is pretty flawed with how it doesn't always pay to be full time vs part time, you still get quite a good amount towards childcare though- are your accommodation costs high?x

 

[missk1989]

Up until this year (literally last month) we were like this. Childcare cost us £800 a month and with our wages coming in at £43k before tax we weren't entitled to any help. After other bills on top of childcare we had about £100-150 a month left. Unless there was a birthday or something, then we had nothing left. This month DS got his 15 free hours and DH got a pay rise. We now have closer to £500 a month left. It is so hard to feel like you are ding everything right and somehow have less than those doing nothing (I am not slating people who need benefits to get by, just those who choose to do nothing and live off them. We live in an area where this is a popular way of life).

 

[Abz1982]

this is why i don't work. I need at least 26k to cover childcare and travel expenses and not leave us worse off, and that's not going to happen up here now

 

[BellaBoo0512]

It's ridiculous.. The price of everything keeps rising but wages aren't rising fast enough

 

[x__amour]

Wow! That's crazy. I'm so sorry to hear that. With the cost of childcare and your benefits, would it be more beneficial to consider working part time or being a SAHM? I'm not quite sure exactly how they work but that's just crazy how little you have left to live on.

 

[catty]

I work 5-8pm and pick up any overtime at the weekend that I can get. Just working 15-23 hours per week actually works out better for me than working full time. Crazy how it works!

If I was you I would go onto the money saving expert forum and write everything you are paying. Literally everything. There really good at showing you what you can cut, bills you can change and what you don't really need.

I'd also advise keeping a spending diary for a month. Every single time you buy anything. Juice, packet of crisps, anything write it down and you might be surprised. I was spending so much money on snacks for the weekend etc and now I just buy them in my food shop and don't allow myself to go to any shops during the week.

 

[lau86]

This is why we're considering going to Australia.y brother is there and says the lifestyle is just so much better you can't compare. This government is running the place into the ground

 

[LoraLoo]

Your little one will get their free hours when s/he's 3- will that help out any?

 

[Tanikins]

Weridly enough on paper we are very poor. Like 200 after bills. In reality we have about 500 after bills. Its all about how were paid etc

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I was working 4-8 Monday to Friday but that was meaning that LO was getting unsettled because he wouldn't go to bed for his dad so he was only going to bed at 9pm. I work 9-5 now so get to put him to bed myself at a reasonable time.

I think I'm going to look at reducing my hours to part time when he starts school next year so I won't have childcare to pay for. Hopefully that will help

It just sucks.. especially when my neighbours don't work and they have just booked a holiday abroad!

 

[Pearls18]

It's hard when your disposable income doesn't reflect how much you feel you should have working full time, the way I see it is that once both of mine are at school we will feel like millionaires lol (I know in reality our expectations will just change and there'll never be enough!) but having had to pay out such a lot in childcare all my adult working life (as I fell pregnant very soon after coming out of uni) we really will see a difference. Just need to get through the next 12 months, that's when our 15 hours kick in.

Anyone seen the trial areas for the new 30 hour scheme? Typically the area we used to live in and the area we were hoping to move to are in it but not where we live now! Hopefully that'll come in for everyone September next year, that'll make a big difference to us, it'll nearly halve the bill.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

My area is one of the areas trialling the 30 free hours but it's only for 450 families so don't know if DS1 will get it. I think with tax credits they will just go down when DS starts getting free hours so I dont think it will make much difference money wise. I could be wrong though.

Phoned virgin media yesterday to try and get them to lower my bill. The same package for a new customer is 20 pounds less for 6 months then 10 a month less. They said the best they could do was knock a fiver off a month for 6 months so I cancelled it. I don't know how they get away with charging so much!

 

[Pearls18]

We've just cancelled sky in my name and reopened it in my husband's, 50% off for a year x