# Where are we going wrong?



## Dessie (20 Aug 2009)

Between my wife and I we take home €4650 per month with additional €200 childrens allowance for our one child.  
Our expenses are as follows
Mortgage           1100
Life Ins              90         age and one a smoker.
House Ins          40
2 x Car Ins        60
Car Loan           325
House Bills        800       approx, includes child food, food and cleaning stuff.
ESB                 75         approx 
Phone               60         house phone
Mobiles             30
Cigs                  200       one of us smokes, don’t say give them up.
Car Fuel x 2      350       driving to work and here and there.
Savings             400
Childminder       500       part time
Charity              50         2 third world charities over the years
Car Tax             50         I put this aside every month, large engine
Work Food x 2   150       basically a sandwich each every day       
Lotto                 32         dreaming, maybe I should accept reality!!
TV                    25         basic sky 
One offs            100       approx eg birthdays, large family, odd bits
Socialising        150       that is the 2 of us getting out for 1-2 nights a month!
Child things       50
CC                    40         just a few hundred on it.
That leaves about 150, but after that we have things like TV licence, bin charges, heating, car servicing, saving for Xmas etc so that is easily consumed and it eats into almost half of our monthly savings.
Overall Savings figure is very small and that is a battle.
I do get a bonus but that cannot be relied upon and my health cover is paid for.
What pees me off is that ive worked very hard to get where I am, its an above average salary I have but yet I can only afford 1-2 quite nights out a month max and neither of us have bought clothes for over 6 months.  That is unheard of for a woman especially but she has to.  
No holiday either this year.
Ive always been cost conscious but my wife is not as much but she is making an effort.  Since I got married and had a child, I feel I have no management of money whatsoever.
What is even a bigger worry is mortgages going up, we will def then not save any money.  
Where are we going wrong?


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## Cat101 (20 Aug 2009)

Have you looked at what you can cut back on?
Do you need a house landline when you have a mobile?
€32 seems a lot for the lottery is that a one line quick pick?
Very admirable to support two charities, but charity begins at home so if your feeling a strain I'd consider maybe cutting back and supporting just one charity, that way you won't have to feel guilty as you're still supporting a charity.
Cleaning products are what always made my shopping bill scream.. look out for special offers, I paid €12 in a supermarket for a 12pk toilet roll untill I saw a 9 pack in a pound shop for €2...bleach for €2..washing up liquid €2..etc. It is such a saving I have really noticed a differance in my shopping bill.


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## sparkle82 (20 Aug 2009)

Why don't you make your own sandwiches at home and bring them in. You won't believe how much you can save doing that. Also why not switch to a smaller car? If it gets you from a to b who cares what it looks like (not a banger obviously)


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## Mpsox (20 Aug 2009)

Scrap the charity donations and volunteer your time instead
Bring your lunch to work and stop buying sandwiches
Stop smoking, sorry, has to be said if you want to save money
Downsize your car, cheaper tax, insurance, etc 

Your spending €4000 a year on sandwiches and fags. Think what kind of a holiday that would buy you


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## Guest116 (20 Aug 2009)

Mpsox said:


> Your spending €4000 a year on sandwiches and fags


 
Which is about €8000 of a salary...


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## monascribe18 (20 Aug 2009)

i wish i was getting that, charity begins at home drop that for a start


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## Guest116 (20 Aug 2009)

Look at the new ClearSim plan from O2 - you can get unlimited calls to O2 mobiles and Irish landlines for 20 euro per month. No need to use landline after that really.


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## Guest116 (20 Aug 2009)

Change ESB to Bord Gais for 10-14% savings.


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## Guest116 (20 Aug 2009)

Do more shopping in Aldi\Lidl.


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## Paulone (20 Aug 2009)

I think you need to factor other things into that €800pm house bills and food budget, like the such as the TV licence, bin charges and (maybe with a small top up) the heating. These are things you have to pay for so you might as well factor them in as compulsory spends.

This will probably curb your food expenditure, but when we did our budgeting, we found a huge amount of fritterage-style expenditure on food that can be tackled by setting maximum spend per month limits, refusing to let edibles go off unused and planning the shopping a bit better by doing weekly menus.

+1 for the charities - or at least cut the amount. I'd also cut the lotto amount in half by doing it just once a week.

You'll find the cash in your pocket lasts a lot longer if you did manage to bring a lunch in with you (bought out of the household food budget) - when I started doing that, I found I began to eat a lot more fruit too which is a great spinoff. Leave your bank/credit cards at home if you don't plan to buy anything - meaning you have nothing more than the coins in your pocket. I've gone days without going into a shop and buying anything. Alternatively, if you need €20 of petrol, bring only €20 so you can't get sweets and a newspaper at the same time (it all mounts up).

If you find your partner is less engaged with the concept of budgeting, it helps to talk about it on a regular basis. There's no need for conversations like 'we have to spend less' or 'why did you buy that?', just a regular look at how the budgets are getting on and constructive chats about 'do you think there's enough money for X' or 'what is it that we could get if we saved X amount' - that sort of thing.


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## dishwasher (20 Aug 2009)

"Pay yourself first" i.e. prioritise saving for your rainy day / holiday etc and make this the first "bill" you pay each month

I found the thing that made a big difference to both food bills and healthy eating was to plan dinners in advance , convert this into a shopping list, and buy this stuff sticking to the list and tot up how much you spend on this. The rest of the food bill is discretionary - snacks/convenience foods etc and this is where a lot of the spend actually goes.

Don't want to depress you but a certain amount of the way you are feeling (i.e. lost control of the cash) just goes hand in hand with having kids.


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## chlipps (20 Aug 2009)

All the suggestions above and...Remove the sky card and see do you get free to view channels  and then cancel sky package altogether

Clear the CC bill as you are paying high interest on it... get a good reg saver account so that you get some interest on savings


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## onq (21 Aug 2009)

Dessie said:


> Between my wife and I we take home €4650 per month with additional €200 childrens allowance for our one child.
> Our expenses are as follows
> Mortgage           1100
> Life Ins              90         age and one a smoker.
> ...



Nothing's going wrong.

All that money you thought you'd have when you get older and have a "big job and a big car" - you get it, but then the law kicks in that says expenditure always rises to exceed income.

Welcome the club.

My wife and I are in a similar position.

I recommend a VISA click card for their lowest APR, if you use a card.

Also you should consider a splurge on a football - for a bit of exercise €6.00 in the seconds bin in the sports shop up in Carrickmines - and a bicycle for around €200 - good exercise and it means you can leave the car in the driveway and cycle down to the shops for odds and ends during the week.

You need a holiday.

On holidays book them a year in advance or do a list-minute booking/deal - either saves a fortune.
Check to see if it pays you to take an extra day there for what you might save on a "quiet day" return flight.
Try a keycamp if you have kids and book a year in advance for the discounts.

Kids cost a lot to run. Enjoy them as much as you can. Spend every free moment with your kids because they grow up sooo fast. Our little man is nearly ten and almost in men's size shoes. I was lucky enough to be around most of the time for all of those ten years AND the 9 months he spent in his Mum's tummy! These times will never come again - do not lose sight of that over money troubles. 

Oh and buy the one who smokes loads of cheap cigs on holidays. They are half the price in, say Italy, that they are here. The non-smoker should hide and ration them, but do the math and it'll save you a fortune through the year. You just have to make the decision to buy them.

Finally, shop in Dunne's for clothes. No, they won't last twenty years, but men go through shirts, especially white shirts, very easily. Let your spouse look at yer maun Gok to get a clue about high street fashion on a budget.

As for the 2 nights a month - you've beaten me there.
When I go out its usually to meet clients at their homes!
Once ever ythree to six months if we're lucky...

FWIW

ONQ.


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## dub_nerd (29 Aug 2009)

I respectfully disagree with the other posters. Don't give up the charitable donations. The people you are supporting would love to have the budget problems you have. You will be blessed for your efforts.


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## MandaC (5 Sep 2009)

Have to say I agree about supporting the charities.  I would rather cut back on say, sandwiches for lunch, newspapers, etc than give up on the charity donations.


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