Weekly or Monthly Cash

Katy83

Morning all,

Wanted to pick your brains for a bit of advice...

Since my LBM nearly two months ago I am currently giving myself a £60/week cash budget for food, petrol and miscellaneous spends (entertainment, household etc.) Me and OH have a loose sort of arrangement where we each pay for the shopping on alternate weeks. I'm a reasonably good cook and have been using the OS board for inspiration and ideas.

Last month we spent somewhere in the region of about £140 on food betweeen us, but the freezer is now starting to look a bit empty. I think there is probably enough in there to last another week.

Out of my £60 about £25-£30 goes on petrol - I have a 15 mile round trip to work everyday and usually visit my parents 20 mile round trip 2-3 times a week as well as a few other trips here and there. I am going to make sure my tyre pressures are up to what they should be today and my dad is going to change my sparkplugs for me to make sure the car is as efficient as possible. So that leaves me with somewhere in the region of £30-35 for food and spending.

What I have been doing is taking out my £60 in cash on payday and then every week following that i.e. this month I got paid on a Wednesday so I'll take it out every Wednesday.

My question is - do you think it would be better to take out a lump sum at the beginning of the month to a) buy a full tank of petrol and b) get in a big shop?

How do you do it? Do you do a big shop every month/few months and save up for it? Or do you just buy a few bits every week?

My biggest worry would be getting to the week before payday and not having any petrol left and not being able to get to work!

Sorry for the big ramble, I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice you have,

Thanks xx

Hughesy84

Personally...

I shop every monday for the week ahead - and put £20 petrol in as and when needed.

Could you not cut back on the trips to parents?! Just go once but for longer or something! Will save you 40 mile or so each week!

josephine82

Why don't you allocate an amount between you for food, and transfer than into a separate account. Then you can buy your food from there, keeping that money separate from the other petrol/entertainement/spends etc?

Then I guess take the cash out on a weekly basis if you are happy with that and buy petrol as and when you need to?

I put £80 into a sep. account with a debit card, do a big shop and then just top up with fresh bits once a week.

Petrol I hardly use my car so not sure what the best way is, but I tend to just fill up and then put £10 aside incase I need any more during the month.

misspoppy

HI

I'm sure its better not to let your car get really low on petrol something to do with the gunk at the bottom of the tank, wouldn't it be better to have a seperate budget for fuel and fill up the car than every week putting some in?

If budgeting has been a problem in the past making a whole months money stretch is a bigger challenge than making a weeks money stretch, if you are managing fine on a weeks money then a months might work for you.

Katy83

Thanks for the replies.

I like the idea of having a seperate account for putting money aside for food - that's quite a good idea. If I budget £80/month for food and OH does the same then we could have a big shop on payday and then top up from that. That would leave all my weekly cash for petrol or spending and it would mean I don't have to worry about running out.

Hmm, might go and have a look at some basic bank accounts for doing just that.

Hughesy84 - don't really think I can cut back on the trips to parents. My Grandma lives with them and she is 94 and expects us for sunday dinner and my mum appreciates the help with caring as well. My parents do a lot for me too so it feels like a fair exchange.

Thanks!

hettiecarro

Hi

When I first started I was trying to do the weekly thing. I found it very frustrating.

I have cut my budget to £30 per week for groceries. I shop monthly for the bulk stuff which allows me to take advantage of 2 for ones etc. I don't shop online because I miss the last minute bargains by doing that - so I find a good time to go is early evening when the new 'shelf filler' staff are going around marking down.
I then bulk cook things like spag bol (boring I know) so that there is always something in the freezer towards the end of the month.
I then top up the fresh (usually only bread & milk & a few veg) as I go along. Aldi do really cheap veg & milk.
I've also got my own little challenge of not spending ALL of the grocery money - and take it out in cash and keep it in a jar where it is visible - nothing controls my spending better than not seeing a 'note' in my jar!
I Know- it's a bit late for the miser to come out in me now! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hugs x

bluekaw

I opt for weekly, then i always know i have money to the end of a month, not panicing weather i have enough petrol till payday to get to work or food in the freezer, you have to be strictish but better that worrying half way through the month

The trick is to split the weekly spend, food, petrol etc and if you can be strict enough, carry any money saved over to the next week to buy more food etc, if you follow me.

mooomin

I'm monthly spends but I don't drive so can't advise on that. We gave the car up when it got too expensive to fix :eek:

I do a big shop when I get paid and then buy as and when required - milk and bread every couple of days and fresh F&V weekly.

Arwen

I buy shopping weekly, as I menu plan round the special offers.:D. I managed to shop in Sainsbury's (of all places) last week and fed 5 (two of my older kids are teenagers) of us for 51 quid.In fact I still have a frozen chicken left.

I managed Baked Potatoes,Chicken Fajitas, Chilli, a beef Casserole,Sausage Egg and Chips, Bacon Tagliatelle and a Stir Fry.Plus 3 pots of soup,Tomato and Basil,Carrot and Coriander and Lentil.

hettiecarro

Hi Arwen

Like your menu - can I come and live with you? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

property.advert

I find having a budget actually quite hard. I haven't ever worried about money for the best part of 20 years but that in itself is not the problem. I buy in bulk where possible and take advantage of special offers, freezing stuff etc. but this totally distorts a budget when looked at weekly.

I tried way too scientific with budgeting out for months ahead and say if I needed a pair of trainers within the next 3 moths then allocate a budget and then accrue it weekly or have it spread out over the useful life etc. It works but there is a great distortion between your cash position and your asset position in the short to medium term.

The weekly / monthly thing usually sorts itself out I find. Some things you have to buy fresh. I'm not used to having things even for days and it is hard to get back into that way of thinking in this country as opposed to going to the market nearly every day. How do you deal with buying laundry liquid ? or bin liners where you buy what you need on an irregular basis.

All I can suggest is not going out with only the £30 or so but also having a split budget for items you know will be used in your time period (say a week) and then having access to additional funds (can be paid in one bill at the same time and reconciled later) to pay for a double box of liquid washing tabs on offer at half price for example.

Doing that, you'd have say £10 a week put away for non weekly items and if you buy them then you reclaim what you've spent on them from that budget. Your weekly food budget would be separate.

Like when we were at university, we all chucked £5 into a pot to pay for necessary items that no-one wanted to buy such as washing liquid, toilet rolls, bleach, tea bags etc. We all bought our own food separately but this contribution to a "communal pot" for periodic essentials meant that they were covered when their purchase might have been too great a strain on the regular weekly shopping budget.