BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET
It is essential to budget properly. Look at what you must have to live healthily.
a roof over your head
clean water and sewage
food
clothes and shoes
equipment for school/work
transport and travel
extras and treats
I have found from bitter experience, my own, my daughter's, and my son's, that paying for your housing is the first essential. It is a fixed cost and will probably be the biggest cost you have. If you don't keep up with your rent/mortgage/local taxes you will never catch up. It will just become a bottomless pit which will become the source of endless anxiety. you may even have the bailiffs call or worse find yourself homeless.
Heating and lighting come next. You cannot survive for long with candles and a gaz burner so make this the next priority. Likewise the water charges. A well insulated home costs less to heat and you can usually get help with the costs; sometimes there is no cost. Close the curtains at night. It helps keep the heat in. Shut the living room door. Have a draught excluder. Wear more clothes! Simple, but it's surprising how many people wear a t-shirt and no sweater in the middle of winter. Vests may be old fashioned but they keep you warm. Wear a vest, t-shirt, sweater and cardigan when it's really cold and you won't need so much heating. Wear pop-socks plus socks under trousers and your feet will keep warm. Simple but effective. If you are sitting still in the evening put a rug over your knees... cosy and warm.
If you are having problems with any of these costs TALK TO SOMEONE. You may be entitled to benefits so ask. We pay our taxes when we are in work so we can get help when we need it. Go to the various Citizen's Advice services
citizensinformationboard.
This site gives you a helpline number to call as well as email contact information.
citizensadvicebureau
They have offices in every town in the UK, staffed by trained volunteers who have years of experience.
AVOID
any of the many, many companies offering short-term loans. Their charges don't look much till you start to think about it. If you need 'just a bit to tide you over' by the time you have paid it off you will need another loan 'just to tide you over', and on and on and on. It's a slippery slope, though I'm not saying it's easy to manage without loans. It just adds to your problems in the end. If you must have one then go to your bank and do it properly. But remember banks are not your friends. They exist to make money for their shareholders so they may not even let you have a loan.
Credit cards..... very high interest and if you don't pay it off fairly quickly you will land up with enormous charges that just get bigger.
It really is worth it to go without something until you can afford it. It's particularly hard when you have children and it's Christmas but if you get into debt so they can have all the things their more affluent friends have you will find you are in a hole which just gets bigger. In these times of job cuts and redundancies you are not the only ones in this position. Talk to your family and try to get agreement on what to spend any extra money on. You will be surprised how co-operative they can be. And stick to your guns.
MONEY CONTROL
Look at when your money come in and inform your planning accordingly.
Put aside the housing and fuel costs and NEVER borrow from it. If possible set up monthly standing orders with the bank. That way you don't forget payments and you can spread the payments over the year so you don't get nasty shock bills during cold weather.
Then look at what you have left and plan the rest of your spending.
AT THE SHOPS
Prioritise what you buy. Food first then hygiene and cleaning items. Clothes, shoes, treats come last. If your money comes in monthly, bulk buy dried and canned food for the month (remembering your menu planning). Stock up on soap, wash powder etc. Make sure you leave enough money for fresh food for the rest of the weeks in the month.
FOOD
Always make out a menu for the week. Look at what you are planning and see where you might have left-overs which you can use to make another dish. Draw up your shopping list and when you go to the supermarket or market try to stick to it. Avoid taking the children with you and try not to shop in a hurry or when you feel really hungry. All these things help to increase what you buy.
Keep an eye on 'bargains'. They are often not a bargain at all.
Try basic brands. Many are very good indeed and if you hate the smell, flavour, whatever you haven't lost much but if you do like them you can save huge amounts of money. If the children complain about the labels on the stuff in their packed lunch box talk to them and don't give in. If you can't afford it they can't have it. Pack fresh carrot sticks, sliced apple, satsuma segments, celery, radish etc in little plastic boxes. It's much cheaper than paying 50p or £1 for a tiny, ready prepared, fresh snack. Bake your own cookies and flapjacks. Recipes follow.
Avoid ready cooked food. It is usually much cheaper to cook at home from basic ingredients and usually more nutritious. This includes pizzas; they are very easy to make. Recipes to follow.
Find ways to use left over food so you waste as little as possible. Suggestions follow.
CLOTHES
Don't be too proud to visit charity shops. Many of the clothes donated are hardly worn and some are brand new. You can pick up good quality clothes for almost nothing. Often they don't need alterations though a change of buttons can work wonders.
Children's jeans look much the same. Get them from the charity shop. Likewise baby clothes. Most are hardly worn because babies grow so fast. If you regularly visit your local shop the staff will get to know you and look out for things you need/want/like. Many charity shops have a board where they keep a note of customer requests, often for household items or prams/pushchairs. Use it. Staff will contact you if items you ask about come into the shop.
You may even find items suitable for presents. And you will definitely find many books on many subjects and suitable for all ages, as well as CDs and DVDs.
TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL
Transport costs are a tricky one. If you want to borrow books from the library, so you don't need to spend money on new books, you need to get there. If it's too far to walk for you or your children then it's the bus, unless you can cadge a lift with someone in their car. (Worth asking around for this.) There are many other reasons for needing to travel...paying bills, hospital visits etc etc.
If possible organise things so you spend a morning or afternoon doing all the journeys on a one day travel pass. You will save time as well as money.
NEVER GO OVERDRAWN
If you work on a cash basis then you know when you have run out of money. It can be more difficult to be disciplined to save for bills but you do not get bank charges.
If your money is paid into a bank then you must be really, really careful. The bank is NOT there for you. It exists solely to make money for the shareholders and you are not one of them. If you go into the red, even by 1p, you will incur huge and disproportionate charges...£30 or so for going into the red, £30 or so for telling you that you have gone into the red, plus interest on the debt, which now includes those charges the bank has just added to your in-the-redness. You cannot win this one. If you ask for a bank loan to sort it out, unless it's a huge amount you owe, they will make you take a credit card to pay off your debt and then you are stuck with credit card charges, which are much higher than the rate for a bank loan. So, keep out of the red. The system is weighted heavily against those of us on low incomes.
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