Can I for once stick to a monthly budget ?? Help Please you lovely people

Cyril

Every month at the beginning I work out a strict budget for my monthly costs and every month to date I have not kept to it. I have tried everything, even leaving my purse / cards at home but I feel vulnerable without any funds on me.

I am not extravagant but there always seems to be something
unaccounted for. I have monitored my spends last month and a large part of it seems to be the little spends at the supermarket adding up and I'm a magazine freak which doesn't help. I am going to knock these on the head but any other ideas greatfully accepted.

How do you guys do it

timnicebutdim_2

Hi, i think the more detailed your budget is the less you'll deviate from it, although it requires constant monitoring. Birthdays are a good example, something i would not normally budget for but then come as a surprise when they occur and causes the budget to go out the window! So now I use a spreadsheet and put aside a set amount for them and also have a contingency (or savings) fund for when the one offs happen. I also try and keep all the fixed payments (water, council tax, insurance etc) at the beginning of the month and then have a set amount for food and spending each week which we take out in cash at the beginning of the week. That way if we have to use the card we know it's going over budget. Some months have 5 weeks though so it can take some tweaking.

I know what you mean about the odd food shops though; they are our major problem! One thing about magazines; could you use the tesco deals to get these? (an annual subscription to National Geographic for example cost us £7!) or maybe get a normal annual subscription to reduce the cost? :beer:

catherine_h_2

Hi
Is it possible your budget is too strict?!?!?! Like not giving yourself a big enough allowance for the magazines you love???

Not being able to meet your own budget is sooooo demotivating, I had to tweak mine sooo much til I got it right and thats when I concentrated on reducing it month by month:D

ExNicotineQueen

I was finding I had the same problems also when I first started with a budget. My problem was also the ‘top-up’ shops on top of the weekly shop. I now use a cash system in that when I get paid, I withdraw in cash however much I set aside for grocery shopping for the month, divide that by the number of weeks until next pay day and go shopping on a set day, the same day every week without fail. I also write a week’s worth of meal plans, write the shopping list and tweak everything to make sure everything is within the budget. I have had to make sacrifices but you learn to be more efficient and how to make meals stretch. Visit the old style board for ideas on meals etc.

In my first few attempts of budgeting I drastically cut my entertainment budget and then was upset at the end of the month when I went over-budget. Nowadays when I go out, I try and do it in a very DFW way (eg vouchers/coupons, 2 for 1 deals etc). Realise your weaknesses and address them. If you are a mag junkie, as someone has suggested, try annual subscriptions or borrowing from your workmates/friends after they’ve read theirs. I think when you start a budget it takes a couple of months to really adjust to it and then probably a further few months of your own tweaking to get it ‘right’. Don’t be too hard on yourself, it is possible and I am the most unorganised person ever lol.

ragstoricheswannabe

oh my god, this is just like reading about myself so your not alone.
I started shopping at aldi but then got fed up of having no "food" in the house...................going to start back there though as need to cut my shopping bill right down. Thinking i may need to do alot of baking.

I would (and need to take my own advice here) do a spending diary for a month to see exactly what you spend so your budget is realistic, no point budgeting £10 petrol if you use £20 for example...........

good luck
love rags
xxxxxxxxx

TurnaroundSue

Do you freeze your bread and milk. I have been doing this for around 10 years now and would really recommend doing this. I am also trying to boycot Tesco as much as possible, whereby I now get my fruit and veg and meat all delivered by local businesses (delivery free of charge of course). It really is helping me bring down my monthly spend and helping out the little local guys in the process.

Toni_Broke

Hi
Totally agree with the posts that say you're being too strict with yourself! If a budgets unrealistic you wont stick to it and its so demotivating.

I follow the SOA budget and find that transfering amounts into e saving accounts that i have set up really works. I have a pot for pressies, a pot for car maintenance etc.

Tonixx

elles_belles

What about using tesco clubcard vouchers for a magazine subscription? Or perhaps reading them online? I used to easily spend £25-30 on mags a month and no spend nothing as use clubcard deals

Cornishpixie_2

Rome wasn't built in a day. You maybe better shopping for staples online. Plan rough menu like 2x pasta, 2 x meat, 1veg, then maybe chicken or fish. Maybe you need a new hobby to stay away from the shops. I either go running when kids at school or take DS3 to beach/park with a packed lunch when he's not at nursery. Then again maybe I'm just very tight.:o

Cyril

Thank you its nice to know I'm not alone, there are some good tips there but I guess it boils down to me being more disciplined, and also not being unrealistic is a fair point.I'm off to budget for March.

masterkay

Spending diary. I'm a big fan of diaries. They say that people who write down everything they eat (when trying to lose weight) lose twice as much as people who don't as the act of having to write it down makes you think twice. I think the same applies to spending.

Write down everything you spend when you spend it. Actually I write mine down just before the purchase and sometimes that is enough to make me think twice to see my total spend go up and I say no and scribble it out.

Try and sort out a magazine swap with friends, that may help you cut back. I find I get my magazine fix when I'm out and about, in waiting rooms etc. Also in my opinion magazines are a luxury and could go easily.