Hello stephaniex and welcome to the trust deeds forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you're finding sticking to the budget tough. When it was set did it seem realistic? When you look at it now does it still appear to be realistic, in theory at least?

I'm sure that many of our members will be able to share thoughts and ideas with you that have been helpful for them...

Hi TDA, thank you. In theory I should be able to stick to it, what buggers it up for want of a better word is car repairs, a birthday, road tax, every month there appears to be something that we didn't budget for. Also the kids constantly need clothes, I don't buy them anything like I used to, but my little boys shoes for example are too tight, he needs a new pair of shoes, I can't buy him them until I get paid. I'm trying to shop in less expensive shops, I just can't seem to make the money stretch. I think food shopping is the worst and I've completely changed the way I shop. I'm just really freaked out if anything was to go wrong how would we cope. I'm worried sick about Christmas! My hubby and I haven't exchanged presents for the last 6 years so we don't spend on ourselves, only the kids but I reckon I need £1,000 for Christmas by the time I do my kids, all the family and the dinner etc, I just don't know how I'm going to do it when I can't get through a month ! Where am I going wrong !

Budgeting can be really difficult at the start. Unfortunately we need to work under set figures where we are given min/max amounts per category for singles, couples with add ons for children which creditors will accept to get the Trust Deed protected.

Mark

Hi Steph
Just out of curiosity where do you do your food shopping? I made changes to my food shopping habits to keep within budget. I used to think Tesco were once the one with the modest prices - but have changed to Aldi where I can honestly say the quality is fantastic and I save at least 40% on the Tesco pricing. One of the great things they do is every week they have 6 items of fresh fruit and veg priced at 69p each. I can't believe how much I now save with food shopping.

Domino

Hi Donimo99, I usually shop in Morrisons. I try to buy in bulk at payday and then try not to spend more than £100 thereafter. We have an Aldi local to us but it's always mobbed. I know I should shop around but the reality of working full time with 2 small children is that I want to spend as little time as possible at the supermarket, I don't have the time to shop around.

I will try that tho Domino, thank you.

Thanks Mark, I know there will be a period of adjustment but I just didn't think it would be this hard, I really thought I'd have something put away for Christmas by now, I just don't know how to do it !

Hi stephaniex.

Do you have expenditure allowances for car repairs, emergencies, road tax, clothing etc? I'm referring to the types of things that you will almost certainly have to pay out for each year but not necessarily every month.

Assuming that you do have these allowances it might be useful to set this money aside when you are paid into a second bank account. That way, all being well, when the money is required for these purposes there will be funds available in this second bank account.

Without setting such allowances aside you'll always be playing catch up which is bound to put financial pressure on you.

Hi TDA, every month I have tried to save something and put it in a separate account, only to find that 3 weeks into the month I have no money left so I've had to draw it down. I had expected to have a wee bit put away but things just keep cropping up.

I'm just going to have to eat beans and drink water and see if I can do it that way, honestly, I don't know what else to do anymore x

stephaniex we understand how tough it gets during a TD. I also have two children and it was very difficult at birthday and Christmas though I have to say spending way too much on them partly got me into a financial mess that and buying STUFF I really didn't need.

A few things which may help you budget that we did-

Set food budget per week and stick to it
Buy as much as you can from the sale end at supermarkets & freeze
BOGOF offers
Write down your meals for the week and stick to that only, buy own label brands if you really don't like them move up to the next priced
Bought shoes clothes for the children at sale times July/January
Asda Tesco are good for clothes as is Primark
Eco Dominio Aldi/Lidl do have good offers on fruit & veg drop in if passing
Days out for the family picnics in the park museums are free
Ate lots of home made soups make big pots and freeze, ours loved jellies, custard & tinned fruit
Treat toys from the pound shop
Cut down on spending at birthday/Christmas time, there so little they won't really notice start buying none fresh food now for Christmas one item a week in your weekly shop really does help
Once bills TD and food are accounted for try and not touch that I know things crop up hopefully not every month

We never had a takeaway or ate out in the first year used to do it every weekend. Did buy a bottle of wine and four beers once a month and really enjoyed out treat. We did loose some weight, plus point,:-) as we didn't have extra for curries Chinese etc
I wish you all the best, just focus on one week at a time, then the next then..... your TD which I assure you will be over sooner than you think so this scrimping will be well worth it, just think of all the debt you had it will all be gone and you'll have a fresh start to get on with the rest of your life debt free.

Thank you so much Twizzle... your reply has been so helpful and encouraging x I just feel so helpless & out of control should the unexpected happen. It's tough lessons that I have to learn ...... its bloody hard going though 🙁

I think the points above are of great assistance. The best advice you can get for your particular query is that if other TD clients going through or have went through the same. I always advise my clients that the TD is very much designed to be right for 3 years. Technically it is designed that you contribute all of your net free income but this just is not realistic. That is why contingencies for car repairs, doctor, dentist, clothes ect are built in. I would suggest contacting your trustee if you feel the contribution is not affordable. A quick review may identify a reduction in income and/or an increase in expenditure. This may result in the reduction of your contribution if something is not right. Alternatively a small payment break of a month or so should allow you to get back on track. If you have complied with the Trustee to date this may be agreeable if the payments can be made up at the end by extendin the term. It doesn't cost anything to ask. Other than that I can only advise you write your expenditure down. Sometimes it helps to do that. See if there is anything you can reduce by calling up (for example sky TV!) or cancel any uneccessary things like tv insurance if its covered on an exhisting policy. I done a review and spent an hour one lunch time making some calls and saved £30 a month!

Hang in there, steph. Hopefully it will get easier as you get more practised at it. I have kids too and often wonder how people manage on some of the paltry amounts that creditors will allow.

Hi, a good budgeting tool is on the money saving expert website, it covers almost all possible expenditure and you can alter all the figures till you can get a balance.
We found by writing down our menu for the week and drawing cash out each week to cover food shopping. It was much easier to struggle through a day or so knowing your next " allowance " was only a day or so away.
Don't want o be patronizing or unsympathetic but £1000 for Xmas ... Really?
Good luck and it does get easier

Hi, I do my shopping online and get it delivered, can do this for £ 2.99 depending on when you get it delivered which I think is a fair price to pay, that way I stick to a budget and if I'm going over we have to do without. Don't have an Aldi near me but I've heard lots of people raving about them. If I had one near, I'd try them no matter how busy they were and I was just to see, why not try them once and see how you get on. Good Luck.

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all your comments. I feel alot better today. As of next pay day I will take it a week at a time instead of a month at a time, twizzle your comment a week at a time really helped and withdrawing a week's cash will hopefully enable me to budget. I'm having to retrain myself I guess !

My husband reminded me last night too that in the last 4 months we've had 2 weddings, both children's birthdays together with a service & MOT for one car, all of which would have been paid for out of any extra cash that we might have hoped to save for emergencies.

We're not in this mess due to being extravagant, we got in this mess due to a massive drop in income & bonuses, loss of tax credits and still continuing to pay in excess of £1k per month in childcare. I'm not excusing us, but as I said earlier we haven't exchanged christmas gifts to each other in over 6 years, we've only had one holiday in 18 years and that was 8 years ago, so we haven't splashed the cash for want of a better word, the recession got the better of us.

Onwards and upwards and thank you everyone x