Does this sound like a good savings idea

Bella79

Hi all

Ive decided i really need to start saving were just spending everymonth and not seeing anything for it so heres what im thinking
Hubby is self employed so his wage varys monhly but he always earns enough to pay bills on house. So once a month when he gets paid im gonna pay the bills ie morg ,elec,gas,insurances etc and whats ever left be it £100 or £500 im gonna bang into my isa for this year
This will leave me £210 a week of my momey to live on for food , petrol ,everything really that we need during week does that seem like enough ?
Also there will be the once monthly £70 child benifit i will prob use this on daughter as im gonna stop buying her clothes weekly in my shopping bill !!!
Do u think i will be able to cover birthdays etc on that 210 a week there will be no other bills to pay as that will be coverd monthly by hubby

Thankyou guys x

Broke_Student

Hi.

My initial advice is that you should pay yourself first i.e. decide how much a month you are willing to save and put that money into a savings account at the start of the month.
If you wait around to 'see what's left' at the end of the month you will not save as much as you could have/wanted. It's too easy to spend money when it's at hand - especially when you are going from saving nothing to saving more than you're spending!

As for your budget, it will be a process of adjustment and trial & error. You're the only person that can decide if your new level pf spending is sufficient for you.

Bella79

i mean when hubby gets paid i will pay monthly bills then the rest of his wage will go straight into savings it carnt be a set amount cos hes self employed so varys from month to month
We will not be touching any of hubbys wage exceept for the monthly bills that i mentioned

nzseries1

I think the plan in general sounds quite good, but if you decide to start pulling out your savings during the month like I used to do to buy "little extras", then you need to rethink your savings amount.

Broke_Student

Sorry I should have read closer. I don't think you can do alot better than save ALL of you leftover disposable income from your hubby.

If the remaining £210+£70 is spent on things you NEED (as you say) then that's fine. If you need to dip into savings for things you NEED then that's also fine.

I'm sure you are already planning on cutting down WANTS so the key for you to save more may be to reduce the cost of the things you NEED. Take all the tips on the forum on cutting bills, improve your driving technique, cook cheaper meals etc until the things you need cost under the £290 you budget.

I'm emphasising WANT and NEED as in my own experience the boundaries were very blurred when I first started saving and it was only when I started using the 3 questions that I was actually in a position where I constantly had surplus cash!

I started off asking myself (questions taken from Martins article)

Do I need it?
Can I afford it?
Have I checked if it’s cheaper anywhere else?

I Now ask myself

Will I use it?
Is it worth it?
Have I checked if it’s cheaper anywhere else?

Bella79

Thanks guys for your help x i appricate it its always nice to get someones elses opinion on things , Hopefully soon if it goes though !! fingers crossed we should be morgage free too
were down sizing to a smaller home so we can have more cash for living life !