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MyFitnessPal Community

Help with how to live on small budget, please!

Fit_Miss_Ellie

Despite the title it is weight related :-)

In December I've changed my life - for better I hope!

For the last 24 years I worked in the hotel in UK.
My 3 bedroom house belonged to the owner of the hotel, my employer.
Gas, electric, water bills were included in the rent. Rent was cheap.
House was small, only half a mile from hotel, but in the middle of nowhere.
Last 8 months became unbereable at work. Our head chef left and I had to step in his shoes as I was at the time his assistant so could do a bit of his job. The management never looked for his replacement, so for 8 months I was in charge.
I hated it! All the alergens, allergies scared me. People these days have so many intolerances and allergies that I'm actually scared I make a mistake and hurt someone.
The very long hours at work meant that I couldn't spent much time with my children. I worked afternoons/evenings and weekends.
I have three young children and husband. We have lovely motorhome that we used to go on a trips and days out - we've done nothing like that last year because I was always at work.

So in December we've found a house, 6 miles away from hotel. We've moved in and I found a job in high school as a kitchen assistant. I'll be working school hours and term times so I'll be able to spend more time with my family.

What scares me is bills!
My husband has a good job and earns good money but obviously I want to pay my fair share.
We agreed that he'll pay rent which is £550 and I'll pay bills which will be roughly £350/£400 a month.
MY wadge will be around £700 a month.
If I'm struggling for money I can always find small job in care home or kitchen somewhere on the weekends, but I'll try not too. I want to have break from working evenings and weekends, so want to make it work.

My question finally is:
How do you cope on a small budget, please?
Any tips and advice will be highly received :-) We are in UK.

Thank you very much xxx

Replies

jgnatca

With planning you can do a lot of the cooking at home which will save a lot.

Buy meats whatever is on sale, roast them, then use the drippings/ bones as stock for soups and stews.

Plain oatmeal is about as cheap as you can get and it can be dressed up many ways.

Root vegetables and cabbages keep better than leafy greens.

Use your freezer for out of season fruits and vegetables.

TavistockToad

bulk buy on pay day, shop at the end of the day for discounted stuff, meal plan so you're not wasting stuff that goes off.

_aenyeweddien_

1) buy in bulk
2) look at your monthly expenses and get rid of anything that's not absolutely necessary
3) Plan your meals for the week
4) Frozen fruit and veggies
5) Sounds like you don't like your job, maybe you could look for something else?

Personally I literally live on the spreadsheet during the tough months.... Just out of curiosity, where in UK do you live? £550 per month for rent sounds like a dream lol

yirara

I think you need to look at how you divide your outgoings better. if your husband earns good money then he'll save lots for himself while you have barely anything left. This creates a lot of inequality in your household. I guess there are different ways to look at this:

percentage distribution. Say you earn half of what your husband earns. Then you pay half of what your husband pays.
Are you taking care of the kids after school and you basically save money this way? Then you should be paid for this by your husband (basically also paying less)
Try to find a fulltime job. At minimum wage this would still be 1463GBP. You'll build up more of a pension and you're not in such a vulnerable situation to start with. After all, if you're only paid minimum salary then you're working less than 20hrs per week now.
You can also put all money into a pot and everything is paid from it, and everyone gets the same amount of money for own savings.

TavistockToad

yirara wrote: »

I think you need to look at how you divide your outgoings better. if your husband earns good money then he'll save lots for himself while you have barely anything left. This creates a lot of inequality in your household. I guess there are different ways to look at this:

i always find it interesting how couples sort out their money in such different ways.

we do the percentage distribution, to cover all our bills and a little into the savings each month and then whatever we have left is our own. then we first starting living together our earnings were more or less the same, so we each paid the same amount. in last 5 years they have changes significantly so this is a much fairer way to do it.

Rogersfit1

Can I suggest that if you have any spare money even £1 you put it in a back up easy access account.
Not really a budget idea but if you build it up then if something goes wrong with the car or an appliance etc you will have the cash therefore removing the stress.
I’ve found this invaluable over time and it also helps remove the need for one of those extortionate payday loans

Lounmoun

In my household all money goes in a joint account and all bills are paid from that. We don't seperate our finances so much.

I think you have to look at your habits/lifestyle and discuss what is reasonable spending for your family and how much you can handle covering with your respective incomes if you wish to divide it.
Make a budget. Figure out what you have been spending on food, etc. If you feel it is too much look at cutting down a bit.
Meal planning is a good idea if you have a tight budget. Make a grocery shopping list and stick to it.
If you eat out often start preparing food at home more.
If you buy expensive brands maybe try a more generic version.
If you are buying a lot of drinks maybe cut back and drink water more.
If you eat a lot of meat maybe try having more meatless meals or cook with meat differently so it stretches farther (putting it in a soup or something).
I have found I spend less ordering groceries online and picking them up at the store. I can see a list of my past purchases and quickly add to the online cart things that I frequently buy.

stricklee11

First thing I would recommend doing is a budget in excel or Google sheets. Add all your re-occurring bills and go through your bank/credit card statements to calculate what your average monthly spending is per expense categories like groceries, restaurants, entertainment, activities, etc. Put in on your spreadsheet and deduct these expenses from your monthly household income. You can also split those items by who will be paying what to get a clearer picture. If things are looking tight or in the negative, look at which areas you can cut spending. For me, it was restaurants so I started bringing lunch from home everyday to save money. Most of all, give yourself an allowance for un-budgeted items. I call that my "spending money" to use however I see fit during the month. Most importantly, give yourself a realistic budget and do not be afraid to make revisions.

And don't worry too much about "paying your fair share." You two are a team. If your husband makes more money, he can pay bills in proportion to his share of the household income. Ex: If he makes 1400 and you make 700, he makes 66% of the household income and can pay this percentage of the total expenditures for the home. Splitting it 50/50 would create an imbalance and place a greater financial burden on you.

Annie_01

I assume you are talking about a tight food budget???

Many people have raved about this site.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/

gentlygently

I also found myself wondering why you are putting yourself under pressure here, not sharing the burden.

We put our income into a joint account - and monthly transfer enough from it into another joint ‘bills account’ to cover all bills, and then equal amounts to both our own personal ‘fun’ accounts to spend as we like. (It doesnt need to be much!) Anything left in the joint account we both pay into becomes holiday/savings money

At times I have earned more, nowadys it is him, and I do way more ‘free’ childcare. But our finances are always shared. And we dont stress each other about it.

Cost saving food ideas? Less meat or cheaper cuts (eg liver, stewing beef), cheaper fish (eg or other white fish not cod), more vegetarian meals and adding lentils/beans to stretch a stew/mince dish can help, more cooking from scratch, less branded products (use supermarket own brands), ready meals only as a treat, more frozen or canned rather than fresh veg/fruit - and less booze/*kitten*/coffee shop food drinks and sandwiches ofcourse.

Good luck. Enjoy the increased family time.

strebor337

Two things. Number one, pay yourself first. Put aside a certain amount every time you get paid, whether it's 5-10 percent or a fixed amount. Put it in an interest bearing account and don't touch it. Second, know where every penny you earn is going. Track your finances for at least two months, and be completely honest about where you're spending money and what you can cut back on. Believe in yourself and you'll rise to the occasion.