Motivation time! How has keeping a budget helped you?

budgetbunny · 8 May 2012 at 11:50AM

Hi everyone!

To help on my budgeting journey, I thought itd be great to hear from the people who've already been through the hard bits and now are really excellent at budgeting!

I'm hoping to hear how keeping to a budget has helped you? What are some positive outcomes that are helping you stay focused and keep doing a budget?

Hopefully, we'll get a lot of positive stories and comments that will help keep us budgeting newbies motivated!!

Thanks for your help!

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

debtfreewannabe321 · 8 May 2012 at 12:35PM

Hi Budgetbunny

i'm no expert yet, but keeping to a budget has meant i can afford to pay back my debt at a faster rate than i was able to before and also I have been able to save alongside the debt busting! I know exactly how much i've spent on food, clothing, petrol, car expenses etc etc and i'm also now a bit of a spreadsheet wizard

I know where i need to cut back and I know where I have money left to spend in each category. Look forward to seeing how budgeting has helped others!

budgetbunny · 8 May 2012 at 12:58PM

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Hi Budgetbunny

i'm no expert yet, but keeping to a budget has meant i can afford to pay back my debt at a faster rate than i was able to before and also I have been able to save alongside the debt busting! I know exactly how much i've spent on food, clothing, petrol, car expenses etc etc and i'm also now a bit of a spreadsheet wizard I know where i need to cut back and I know where I have money left to spend in each category. Look forward to seeing how budgeting has helped others!

Thanks for sharing debtfreewannabe321! Really great to hear!

Deb4 · 8 May 2012 at 1:27PM

Hi Budgetbunny

I wish I started doing my budget last year as I would be debt free now, I am doing well now and sticking to it and I know were every penny is going and I know were I need to cut back on. I do enjoying doing my budget.

Deb4

TakingControl · 8 May 2012 at 2:17PM

Budgeting has meant that I have shaved off 2 years (potentially more) of my journey of being debt free

Niv · 8 May 2012 at 2:22PM

I have been doing a budget for a few years now. It is fairly basic, I dont have debt (apart from a mortgage) but want to keep it that way! I have found online banking to help alot as I now download my bank statements into excel and draw a graph of all outgoings, incomings and balance. I have been able to work out what my real bills are (rather than guestimating) so know what to set that aside. I then know how much I have to 'play' with each month and aim to save a little every month on top to be a buffer for 'one offs'. If I over spend one month, I can look at the bank statement data and see if I have gone ott or if there is a one off there, so I knwo if I need to ammend my habits for the next month or not etc.

longforthesun · 8 May 2012 at 4:00PM

Hi

Budgeting has helped us a lot. I tend to take my budgeted amount for petrol, food etc out in cash as I find it easier to control that way.

We now have savings becaus of it.

One thing though is i don't beat myself up if I go over my budget one month as long as I can justify it and it doesn't happen too often.

I love sitting with my spreadsheets and playing around seeing if i can shave more savings.

Far better than just using credit cards to pay for daily things convincing myself i can afford it all.

mrsb83_2 · 8 May 2012 at 4:11PM

Budgeting has made my money go further. I now pay off £400 more every month than I did when I started, but I never run out of £. I'm able to buy new clothes, go out for meals, save for one off expenses etc. Before, I had no spare cash, I struggled from week to week and my debt was escalating.

Now it's all pretty much second nature to me now. When I started out I obsessed over it, but now I have to spend very little time whilst still having all the control.

Barbeduk · 8 May 2012 at 5:07PM

Budgeting, blimey I wish I'd had the common sense to do it sooner! I have cut my grocery bills by £250 a month, restrict my petrol use (stupidly thirst car but can't afford to replace it yet), cut right back on things like clothes which now come from eBay, but only what we need. I also have a price in my head for what I will spend on things, even small things like birthday cards. I'd never have paid it back this quickly without budgeting!

Tabatha_Kitten · 8 May 2012 at 5:32PM

It means I can put money aside each month ready for all the things that come along once a year which used to send me overdrawn because Id fogotton about, like road tax, MOT & car servicing, pet vaccinations and the coal delivery etc.
Also I can now pay car & home insurance upfront yearly instead of paying extra to pay by monthly direct debit

caeler · 8 May 2012 at 8:20PM

I've been budgeting for years but now I actually mean it! I get a bit competitive when I see month on month I'm saving a bit on my grocery spend which I can then use to pay a few quid in overpayment on the mortgage. I do like a spreadsheet so I enjoy budgeting. I was in alot of debt, LBM 2007 and got debt free in 2010 (excluding the mortgage) so I find the structure helps to keep me on the straight and narrow as I can't go back to the way I was.

Motivation time! How has keeping a budget helped you?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free