Help, I don't know where it all goes...

lezzle_nz

Hi all, I've been inspired to join this board after reading all your incredibly supportive threads to each other.
My OH and I work part-time, have no children and live in Cornwall. We seem to have convinced ourselves that because we live a reasonably pared down lifestyle that finances were OK. I've just spent a day and a couple of evenings sorting through everything as we're right at the end of our overdraft and crediat card limits. We've been spending, as far as I can see, about £1000 a month over our income for the past 3 months (at least I've only gone back 3mths to get an average). I can't believe this is possible. We're (relatively) intelligent people, how can we have got to this point???

I've started an SOA but in each month we have an enormous cash output with no way of saying where it's gone. How do I square that into the SOA? Also, where do you put interest charges, bank chanrges and credit card payments in it?

Any help greatfully received. It seems to have taken me an age to pull it all together and now I'm floundering trying to work out a budget.

Thanks :(

GeorgeUK

Are you using the SOA calculator?
Interest charges and bank charges are not on the calculator as they should (hopefully) not be appearing each month. The minimum payments are at the bottom.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

If there is a large amount of money that you should have left over, but do not seem to at the end of the month, i suggest keeping a spending diary. Make a note of everything you spend each day and hopefully any trends in spending that you are able to cut back on will be seen.

lonestar1

A Good tip as well is if your leaving the house but not going shopping dont take any cash or cards with you - Thats way even if the urge takes you you havent got the cash on you to spend

RAS

If you ferret through the bank statements and credit cards some of the spending will become clearer.

And then you both need to keep spending diairies to find out where the cash withdrawals go to.

Conrad

A common reason for over spend that creeps in is where we spend on daily things we hardly notice such as lunch, a coffee, mags, cards, and odds and sods like batteries, health and beauty and so on.

All I would suggest is keeping a note of everything you spend at the time you spend it.

I find when I do a budget planner with clients they almost always do not account for this daily drip spend, or they will put food shopping but forget to include razors, clingfill, plant food, over cleaner, shoe laces, car window wash, headache pills and so on - all stuff that has to be paid for but which people have a habit of somehow forgetting!