Financial help & advice needed please :-)

fallen_angel09

Hi All,

Firstly, many thanks for taking the time to read this thread.

My point of being here is that i need help in sorting my finances out, by that I mean, I am wasting so much money at the moment.

I will give you my figures, and see what anyone can suggest??

I get child benefit and working tax credits, so anything that is not covered by my wages, is covered through this, I use every last penny of these incomes on bills....

I earn £746 PM out of that I need to pay:

£20 Mobile Phone Bill
£30 Virgin Media Bill
£30 Water
£15 TV License
£25 Gym Membership
£120 food - me and a 5 year old boy.
£50 Petrol

Total: £290

Dispossable Income: £456

I have a £250 loan left to pay off, this is through credit union, so very low interest.

I am finding it hard to give myself a budget for things like going out, clothes etc & also the food budget.

I am saving for a deposit towards a house so need as much as I possibly can to save at the moment.

I have a savings account with credit union where I have £700 in there, should I add my deposit savings to this or should I open a seperate bank account? Also, am I right in thinking that £700 should be my 'rainy day' money?

As you can see, there is a fair lump (around £200) of money that is going unaccount for each month, I know that this is through wasting it, the odd coffee with a friend, clothes I do not need, alcohol on nights out - which I dont NEED.

The only other thing I have not put on my outgoings is the £250 loan I owe, I am paying £150 off per month towards that too...

Happytogetdebtfree

how much is left on the loan ?? welcome to the boards .... i would use the 700 as a base for savings towards a home xx

fallen_angel09

I have £250 left on the loan, I borrowed £1500 in april and have just paid of every bit of money I can.

I am hoping to have it paid off by July.

How much is a realistic ammount to give myself as 'pocket money' for nights out, clothes/treats? thats the bit I am struggling with...

Then i can concentrate on saving my wages so that I can try and back a lump sum of my student loan to limit the debt once I have graduated.... x

nowpanicking

Hi fallen angel

I joined this site a couple of weeks ago and have found everyone really friendly and helpful.

One thing I seem to manage ok is my food budget. I have myself, OH and one 4 year old and manage on £140 every 4 weeks. The trick for me is to keep a meal planner (some good tips on the old style money saving forum). I batch cook-freezing meals over the 4 weeks... with the meal planner I also work out what I need to buy every week with rough costs. It seems to work and we're never hungry