Why do I yo-yo diet (financially)?

sammey90

Hi peeps

Are there any other yo-yo financial dieters out there?

I seem to always be either COMPLETELY skint (couldn't even find £3 for a school trip this week), or I've just been paid so I have some money.

I've done a SOA, and know what money is spent where, and i'm under no illusion that I spend too much (mostly useful stuff though). I am up to date with my repayments, and in no real trouble, but I never seem to have spare money past around the 10th of the month.

What can i do to get on an even keel?

imamoneysaver

i find myself in the same position!!

However what I try to do and find helps is to only pay cash for everything.

At the beginning on the month I pay a set amount into my 'bills' account so I know they are all paid and then withdraw a set amount each week.

Seems to help me!!

good luck xx

Jo_R_2

I suppose the obvious question is what is it that you need money for that isn't budgeted for in your SOA?

If you are finding you are needing money for things then you need to account for that in your SOA so you know it's there.

If it is something unplanned then providing you have a surplus after everything is accounted for, you either need to take it out of there if there is enough or ask yourself how much you *need* this money, can it wait until next month when you have the spare available again?

Personally I find things *do* unexpectedly come up that you need to deal with. Some things you can have a reasonable expectation of; for example, if you have a car, it is reasonable to expect that at some point it will need something replacing/repairing/etc, something like that you would budget for on a monthly basis, not necessarily using it each month but building up a buffer which is there should you need it.

Sometimes things crop up out of the blue that you might not have planned for. DD1's school somehow have a habit of letting us know about trips or costs after the start of the month when I've already planned my SOA. If I have enough I will take it out of my surplus; otherwise I'll juggle money around to 'make' the money available from another 'pot', for example the presents and Christmas budget.

Otherwise... if I don't have it I don't spend it.