Why don't you have a budget ??

For us as a family of 8 to be able to have the holidays and all the luxury treats we have we need to budget. If you are a large one income family like ours a budget is what you need to see you through the yearly expenses.

Excuses: Don't make excuses for not having a budget if you are in any kind of debt, if you have credit card debt then you don't need to be going out to dinner or spending unnecessary cash that could (should) be budgeted to clear debts, or saved for those yearly events such as Christmas, birthdays, school uniforms etc.

Switch to cash only that way you can see what your spending immediately rather than relying on your bank card. 

Meal plan for the week that way you only need to buy the items you know you will be able to make meals with rather than spending out on food that either gets thrown out or sits in the freezer for months waiting to be cooked = less waste and more money in your pocket. 

Make a budget.. List what income you have coming in monthly/weekly. What outgoings do you have each week/month and how often are they. I have 3 lists one is the weekly income/outgoings, one for 2 weekly bills (Lee gets paid fortnightly) and another for monthly bills.

Here's a little look at what mine looks like 

Weekly Outgoings               Fortnightly                          Monthly
Council Tax                         Loan Payment                     Sky Cable/phone/broadband
Grocery Shopping               Rent                                     Pet Insurance
Water Bill                            Credit Card (his)                 Car Insurance (paid 6monthly but saved for)
TV License                                                                       Christmas Budget
Credit Card (mine)                                                           Holiday Fund
Hire Purchase                                                                  Gym membership (his)


Anything left over after these are either paid or for saved for is ours for the wk/mth.

Doing this has helped our family out of some sticky situations we have cleared over £8000 of debt this way.

Give it try I'm sure you'll be glad you did and will wonder how you managed without it ..