Budgeting advice for my new job on £18,000 per annum

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  • mollycat
    mollycat Posts: 1,475 Forumite
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    kteara wrote: »
    Do you think I should work on saturdays for £50 per day or is it not worth my while?

    I wouldn't, but you have to work out how much the £50 squares against other stuff you would like to do.

    I don't think people that don't know you can help you with this bit ;)
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
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    You're earning £18k because you're a new graduate. The trick to earning well in IT, is to take all the training and experience you can get, then move on - especially if you've not been promoted.
  • Sharon87
    Sharon87 Posts: 4,011 Forumite
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    You still need to declare the £50/day Saturday job to HMRC or you could get in trouble.

    18k is a decent starting salary. Degrees are not the be all and end all for getting a job. I know some people who thinks it entitles them to start higher up than they're qualified for. Don't be one of those people, I wish I had that starting salary after uni.

    As for budgetting, you have very little expenses. Do your parents want you to pay rent? I'm sure they will once you have a full time job. My advice is save a percentage of your wages - how much is up to you. Then use the rest on paying your parents something for rent, travel to work, gym, food, going out.etc

    Get a budget app for your phone if that makes it easier to budget. Count yourself lucky you've managed to secure a job straight out of uni, not many people do.

    Good luck on the new job.
  • kteara
    kteara Posts: 232 Forumite
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    mollycat wrote: »
    I wouldn't, but you have to work out how much the £50 squares against other stuff you would like to do.

    I don't think people that don't know you can help you with this bit ;)

    Can you explain why? I know its different for everyone and to be honest with you it is only five minutes from my house, relatively fun to work here as I get along with everyone and the work is not too hard but I am only doing it for the money, which (£50) is not great... My biggest concern is do you think it will affect my new job? I want to give this new job 110% as to improve and become promoted, do you think this saturday job will affect it even slightly or am I just overthinking?
  • mollycat
    mollycat Posts: 1,475 Forumite
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    Well, the reason I wouldn't is that I've got better things to do on my days off.

    But each to his/her own.

    Overthinking it? Possibly :).

    Why not try it and give up the £50 Saturday if it's not working out?
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
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    You were after budget advice.

    Start by getting MSMoney(still the best personal finance option) and recording everything you do with your money.

    You can then use that to look at options and budgeting.

    You need to allocate all income to category be it a spend or a save

    The real trick is having goals.
    Start with an easy one like an emergency fund of 6 then 12 months expenses.

    Will you ever want to move out of home then a house deposit fund might be handy

    holidays fancy one put it in the budget

    Just keep populating till all the money is allocated

    Have a "savings because I can't think of anything else" category to catch any surplus.


    if you can't think of things focus on getting a special friend and spend it on them.

    The Saturday Job just do it till you find something better to do,

    I also believe that 7day working is not sustainable long term so stick to one day but offer to cover the other as and when.

    Don't forget you probably need to inform your main employer you are doing other work, as there is no conflict other than potentially the hours they should not have a problem, just make it clear that if you are needed for your main job you have the flexibility to not work that job.
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,042 Forumite
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    As above, if you may wish to get on the housing ladder at some point then worth bearing that in mind, consider opening a Help to Buy ISA to get access to the 25% government bonus.

    Also worth thinking about pension provision - provided you get the balance right between accessible savings and longer term investment then it's never too early to start building up your pension fund, as you'll benefit not just from tax advantages but also maximum compounding and growth on what goes in at the beginning....

    But don't forget to live a bit too! :)
  • kteara
    kteara Posts: 232 Forumite
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    eskbanker wrote: »
    As above, if you may wish to get on the housing ladder at some point then worth bearing that in mind, consider opening a Help to Buy ISA to get access to the 25% government bonus.

    Also worth thinking about pension provision - provided you get the balance right between accessible savings and longer term investment then it's never too early to start building up your pension fund, as you'll benefit not just from tax advantages but also maximum compounding and growth on what goes in at the beginning....

    But don't forget to live a bit too! :)

    Would you be able to educate me a little on the pension scheme? Especially the tax advantages part? On my contract it says they will give me 3% of my salary after 12 months in employment but I really do not understand it very well.
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,042 Forumite
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    There's a whole MSE section at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/pensions/, including a decent beginner's guide at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions which is a good place to start, it covers the tax benefit among other key points....
  • Dird
    Dird Posts: 2,702 Forumite
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    edited 14 October 2016 at 2:38PM
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    I think some of the people posting here are long in the tooth and think of £18k when £18k was worth more.

    The reason you are only offered £18k is because your role is not an actual graduate job. A "prestigious company" would be offering £22k+ for a graduate role.

    You should have had a IT job lined up 12 months ago so even if it's less than you expected it's a no-brainer to accept so you have something to put on your CV. Depending on the role I'd be searching for a new one still (if you don't really want to do it) e.g. my friend did a non-graduate SEO role for similar pay and years later he was still stuck on similar pay. He's only now just managed to get a development role so he's wasted years on lower money with little transferable skills. And keep the car job if you don't mind sacrificing your social life, tax free boost

    In terms of money saving your gym membership is a horrible :f Pure Gym here is £16/month
    Mortgage (Nov 15): £79,950 | Cashback sites: £900 | Current accounts: 11
    Mortgage (May 19): £71,754 | £30k in 2016: £30,300 (101%)
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