(First post, long) I need budgeting advice, please help!

Pompey_fan

And good choice on the football team

Cheers mate!!

I use a program called Microsoft Money to keep track of my balances. There are some free alternatives if you want something easier to use.

The key to doing this is making sure you log EVERY transaction, as soon as possible. You then get a more realistic picture of what you actually have left in your account.

I even keep a record of every one of my cash transactions using Microsoft Money. This gives me an idea of what I'm spending my money on. I always get a receipt when I'm in shops (even when paying cash) which I shove in my wallet and then enter into the program when I get home.

Being M$ I assume its not a free program? lol. Have you got any links to freeware programs I can download which would help me get on top of this?

TIA,
Mike.

td_007

Pompey_fan wrote: »

I do have that facility with my Barclay's account, but I don't check it so often. Besides, it doesn't it show 'pending' charges. For example the balance might show £500 but the £125 I spent on my card earlier might not show for up to a week later. So I can look at my balance and be like 'Oh, I have £500 to spend' when in actual fact I have £325 because there is £125 which wont actually go out till a later date, but the balance dos not show this.

Normally with a bank account it shows the summary that gives you an idea of an spend not yet applied. For eg. something like:
Balance-£500
Overdraft limit-£150
Available to spend-£550
would mean that £100 has been spend but not yet applied to your account [£500-£100 = £400 plus £150 overdraft = £550]. The total balance is in fact misleading!!

td_007

Another suggestion to balance your income/expenses would be to ensure that you have an account specifically setup for your direct debits and ensure that it is funded to meet the entire outgoings for the month. The second account holds the remainder of your income that you manage for other expenses. This way you will avoid dds bouncing.

RedBern

I divide my money up - I have an electron card (so you can't go overdrawn on it) for my food - put my allocated amount in there each month from the 'main' bank account, and then I know I've got x to spend on food - and stick to it. I've also got another account that all the DD and Standing orders come out of - again work out how much your gas etc is, and pay £x to cover your bills. What you've got left in your 'main' account is your 'spends' and your petrol money....and try and put some savings away each month - you can always draw it out a couple of days before payday - and some months you might even leave it there!

RedBern

td_007 wrote: »

Another suggestion to balance your income/expenses would be to ensure that you have an account specifically setup for your direct debits and ensure that it is funded to meet the entire outgoings for the month. The second account holds the remainder of your income that you manage for other expenses. This way you will avoid dds bouncing.

cross posted TD - great minds and all that;)

CLAPTON

whatever scheme you use, internet bank, special s/w, spreadsheet etc the most important essential is to have some savings so your irregular income never causes you to accidentally miss DDs etc. and to start incurring bank charges.

Pompey_fan

RedBern wrote: »

I divide my money up - I have an electron card (so you can't go overdrawn on it) for my food - put my allocated amount in there each month from the 'main' bank account, and then I know I've got x to spend on food - and stick to it. I've also got another account that all the DD and Standing orders come out of - again work out how much your gas etc is, and pay £x to cover your bills. What you've got left in your 'main' account is your 'spends' and your petrol money....and try and put some savings away each month - you can always draw it out a couple of days before payday - and some months you might even leave it there!

I like the sound of that. I'm going to have a go at working something out based on this.

It would be great if I could post my details of outgoing/incoming finance so as to get help working out a Budget/FP but I realize that's not as sensible thing to do on an internet forum that's visible to anyone. If only there was someone I could trust who might be able to help me through personal email's...

I know banks have financial advisers and such but dont they normally charge for their services? Is there anywhere I can go and sit down with somebody and go over all the bills etc for free?

I know if I can get this sorted out that my family could live quite comfortably. Then I can really concentrate on re-training in electronics to get us the life we want. Otherwise I feel under pressure to take any old job no matter how low the income to try and make ends meet. If I can concentrate on college and work part time we would be ok as we'd still get financial help from the government.

Ultimately I want got out of the benefit trap and re-training is the best way I can see to get in a position to earn enough money that I/we would be better off without it. A key thing in this is to be in a position of total cause over my finances with my current income.

This is the first time in my life that I have been responsible for a House and a family.

RedBern

Pompeyfan - think there's more help for you on this thread.....

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

hope it's the right one- there is one that you can post your outgoings and get advice about how to reduce/whether you're paying too much or unnecessary outgoings. You've done the hard part by recognising you need to get it in hand - good luck.

Pompey_fan

RedBern wrote: »

Pompeyfan - think there's more help for you on this thread.....

hope it's the right one- there is one that you can post your outgoings and get advice about how to reduce/whether you're paying too much or unnecessary outgoings. You've done the hard part by recognising you need to get it in hand - good luck.

That's an amazing link. Thank you.

dc110

I have an electron card (so you can't go overdrawn on it)

not necessarily. it should be the case that ALL electron transactions are checked for sufficient funds at the point of sale, but it doesnt always happen