Budget help sought!

debtdesperado

Hello everyone... I have been lurking whilst I have started to get to grips with my debt (around £25K:eek: ).

I have been working on completing an SOA and reducing my bills, and having done so realised that I have circa £1500 a month left after the absolute essential outgoings to cover things like food, entertainment... and debt overpayments.

I have to say at this point that having read lots of posts I am ashamed to be in the position of having this much debt and not having been careful with my cash in the first place.

My query is, what have people found to be realistic amounts for things like food each month for setting a budget going forwards?

Previously I have always ended up setting myself a really extreme budget which then gets shot when I can't avoid a friend's birthday meal, for example. What happens then is that I have made a big debt repayment just after I get paid :T ....but then find I can't stick to my budget as it wasn't realistic, and then end up using credit cards to fill the gap as I have no money left that month, which is depressing:( , so then I tend to think s*d it, and go back to spending normally (on my credit card... ) until pay day, then I'm really cross with myself:mad: , resolve to do better, trim the fat from the budget and start the stupid cycle again.:wall:

But this doesn't work and is only increasing my debt:idea: , and as I'm looking at an 18 month/2 year period to repay my debt, I don't want to have zero social life for the whole time as I simply won't stick to it.

So what have other people found to be sensible limits for things like food, eating out, bits and pieces, clothes?

I live in london, don't drink and have no car, so occassional taxis are a necessity.

sorry for long post...!

TotallyBrassic

My budget is for 6 of us..lol so slightly different me thinks.

I am sure someone with relevant experience will be along in a jiffy to sort you out Maybe you could try the payment a day/week method with your debts as a means of seeing what you can afford to pay all month. If you can use internet banking then you spread the wealth so to speak. Buy in your essentials, obv pay essential debts, then pay small amounts all month to your unsecured debts, they are still getting your money, but you have a better idea of what you can realistically afford to pay. After all there is no point paying lump sums after payday only to find you can't live on what you have left!
Hope this helps..it may not as I am quite new myself and still getting to grips with the lingo..rofl
have a great day
xx

Horace

Hi and welcome

A sensible grocery budget for one person for a month will be about £50. What most people do is write a list of what they want and not go around the supermarket willy nilly picking up bits that they dont need. Look on the Moneysaving Oldstyle board for tips on meal planning as well as the grocery challenge to help keep your grocery bill down.

If you live in London and have an Oyster card, look at the tfl website for details of offers e.g 2 for 1 etc - this may cut down the entertainment budget. Also look on the freebies board for any free stuff such as cinema tickets. There's lots of free stuff to do in London or if not free still cheap e.g. half price theatre tickets from the ticket booth in Leicester Square (the one actually on the square by the grass). Various museums, Namco Station down on the South Bank (some cheap activities in there) uhm.. become a member of a TV audience, sroaudiences.com are one of the best ones as they have tickets for all sorts of shows.

Most of us take part in mystery shops and do surveys to boost our income.

Keeping a spending diary helps so that you can see where you are frittering away money - the odd newspaper and lunch at work soon add up.

Cut up your credit cards - if they are not burning a hole in your pocket you can't spend on them.

Post your SOA and we can see where you are overspending and can cut back a bit.

Jacks_xxx

:hello: Hey sweetie,

Why don't you post up your partial SOA and we'll make suggestions?

To be honest the money you have available after bills and debt repayments will more or less dictate how much you have available for food and entertainment etc.

It will be a case of if you are having a lot of nights out this month you will be eating a lot of toast - OR if you go crazy in the supermarket you'll be staying in a lot and getting very familiar with the TV Guide!

The key is to see whatever amount of money you have available as a finite resource and make choices between things not go "Oh sod it!" and screw yourself over again.

For the past two years I have chosen to have expensive hair cuts and colour treatments but not to buy any clothes at all.

But recently I have found someone who will cut my hair for £7 so I could afford to bu some blimmin' clothes.

Sometimes it helps to have the actual cash in jars so that you can see that if you take an extra £20 out of the Food jar cos you've run out of money in the Social jar you can see that your food budget is physically shrinking.

Love Jacks xxx