It's tough when you're living paycheque to paycheque. £400 a month to feed yourself and your kids and fuel etc is not much either.
Have you checked if there are any benefits you are missing out on, or can you cut down on fuel costs eg cycle/walk more places, get groceries delivered etc (e.g. asda do £1 delivery slots).
Ideally you need to save a buffer of a month's pay so it doesn't matter when your weekly pay arrives as you'll have the cash in your bank account. However it's obviously going to be hard on your income. Maybe start by trying to save to get a week ahead? E.g. Put £25 away each pay into another account
those are both good and true comments, I should add that I dont know or closely know anyone else in my situation of being a single father to 2 kids (shared custody with their mum) so its hard to judge how well I am or should be doing, feel like im doing something wrong because those without kids are better off etc etc, I have done as much as I can but its just not spreading evenly, the separate account like finhouacc suggested is a good idea but I cant work out a way to start it off due to not having enough left over to put away, I barely go anywhere other than necessary places in the car and try to make home as pleasing to be stuck at for the kids but I guess because I know its coming from a place of being skint its making me feel crap... there isnt any benefits I can apply for and annoyingly I have 2 credit cards im paying off, but they are zero interest so best of a bad situation. I started putting 30 quid a week away into a separate account when I got my last pay rise but I always have to keep dipping into it for various things be it repairs or things to try and keep things new and or interesting for the kids, so it never really gets anywhere, I have tried talking to debt management companies but they say im doing all I can and I just dont like not being able to provide what I want to for those I want to, I dont even know what advice im after because short of things like finding a new job with better pay etc I think ive done everything I can. im sure you'd all understand the frustration that comes with just not being able to progress as we want to and feeling stuck.
1. Of course people without kids are doing better financially. You're supporting three times as many people as they are.
2. Have you checked whether you're eligible for Universal Credit? If you have under £16,000 in assets (excluding the house you live in), you might be.
Add all your monthly bills up, times by 12 than divide by 52.
You then take that amount from your weekly pay and put it in separate bank account.
Set Direct Debits etc from that bank account.
You will see how much you have each week to spend.
It may take a while to set up buy you should be fine a few months.
Can you put some of your bills on a credit card? Depending on the statement date and date of the direct debit you could be pushing back your bills by up to a month. Also means you'd be just paying one credit card bill from your current account every month instead of several smaller bills.
As someone else has said. Use a separate account try and get one that rewards you no matter how small, some will give cash back on card purchases, some give £1 for having DD set up etc.
I wouldn't go as far as taking bills and dividing by 52 (and didn't because you end up bogged down in numbers and over thinking)
Put all but £20 into billing. I know you say you have 400 left over but trust me on this one. Everything except £20 into billing, £80 a month that's your non essentials I.e that little sneaky take away tea. Billing is used for fuel and food.
Feel free to message me if you want ot rant, cry, scream or chat about it. I've done this weekly pay/monthly bills malarkey and I'm currently doing the weekly back to monthly after 12 years 🙄
Hi /u/e912, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant:
* https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-for-your-children/
____
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If someone has provided you with helpful advice, you (as the person who made the post) can award them a point by including `!thanks` in a reply to them. Points are shown as the user flair by their username.
It's tough when you're living paycheque to paycheque. £400 a month to feed yourself and your kids and fuel etc is not much either. Have you checked if there are any benefits you are missing out on, or can you cut down on fuel costs eg cycle/walk more places, get groceries delivered etc (e.g. asda do £1 delivery slots). Ideally you need to save a buffer of a month's pay so it doesn't matter when your weekly pay arrives as you'll have the cash in your bank account. However it's obviously going to be hard on your income. Maybe start by trying to save to get a week ahead? E.g. Put £25 away each pay into another account
those are both good and true comments, I should add that I dont know or closely know anyone else in my situation of being a single father to 2 kids (shared custody with their mum) so its hard to judge how well I am or should be doing, feel like im doing something wrong because those without kids are better off etc etc, I have done as much as I can but its just not spreading evenly, the separate account like finhouacc suggested is a good idea but I cant work out a way to start it off due to not having enough left over to put away, I barely go anywhere other than necessary places in the car and try to make home as pleasing to be stuck at for the kids but I guess because I know its coming from a place of being skint its making me feel crap... there isnt any benefits I can apply for and annoyingly I have 2 credit cards im paying off, but they are zero interest so best of a bad situation. I started putting 30 quid a week away into a separate account when I got my last pay rise but I always have to keep dipping into it for various things be it repairs or things to try and keep things new and or interesting for the kids, so it never really gets anywhere, I have tried talking to debt management companies but they say im doing all I can and I just dont like not being able to provide what I want to for those I want to, I dont even know what advice im after because short of things like finding a new job with better pay etc I think ive done everything I can. im sure you'd all understand the frustration that comes with just not being able to progress as we want to and feeling stuck.
1. Of course people without kids are doing better financially. You're supporting three times as many people as they are. 2. Have you checked whether you're eligible for Universal Credit? If you have under £16,000 in assets (excluding the house you live in), you might be.
Add all your monthly bills up, times by 12 than divide by 52. You then take that amount from your weekly pay and put it in separate bank account. Set Direct Debits etc from that bank account. You will see how much you have each week to spend. It may take a while to set up buy you should be fine a few months.
Can you put some of your bills on a credit card? Depending on the statement date and date of the direct debit you could be pushing back your bills by up to a month. Also means you'd be just paying one credit card bill from your current account every month instead of several smaller bills.
As someone else has said. Use a separate account try and get one that rewards you no matter how small, some will give cash back on card purchases, some give £1 for having DD set up etc. I wouldn't go as far as taking bills and dividing by 52 (and didn't because you end up bogged down in numbers and over thinking) Put all but £20 into billing. I know you say you have 400 left over but trust me on this one. Everything except £20 into billing, £80 a month that's your non essentials I.e that little sneaky take away tea. Billing is used for fuel and food. Feel free to message me if you want ot rant, cry, scream or chat about it. I've done this weekly pay/monthly bills malarkey and I'm currently doing the weekly back to monthly after 12 years 🙄
Hi /u/e912, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant: * https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-for-your-children/ ____ ^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.) If someone has provided you with helpful advice, you (as the person who made the post) can award them a point by including `!thanks` in a reply to them. Points are shown as the user flair by their username.