Where to start for a lazy budgeter?

dancingfairy

Oh and if you want to be mortgage -free there is probably more ideas on the mortgage free board about how small amounts have a drip-drip effect and how much it saves in interest over the term - even over-paying by a small amount
df

Million_Percent

You definitely seem to need the stick more than the carrot! I know from personal experience that when you are not struggling month to month it becomes very easy to just amble along frittering money away left, right and centre.

As for discipline in savings, why not automatically transfer a set amount each month into a savings account which is not readily accessible? If you leave the cash sitting in your current account then it will just get spent. Take it out of the equation and put it out of reach.

Unlike a lot of people on here, your incentive isn't to be debt free but maybe more to maxmise the utility in your money. You said you want to start a family so set some targets for doing that. Set a date by which you want to have saved enough money to allow you to take a full year off. Set a date when you are going to start trying for a baby. Set up a baby fund savings account to pay for all the necessities and set yourself a target amount to be saved in there by a certain date. Try to think of short term, medium term and long term targets. You need to be constantly aiming for the next milestone.

We had our first child 10 months ago and it is the best thing we ever did. I hope it happens for you. Don't put it off a moment longer. Get yourself sorted out ASAP.

How about this for an incentive: Every pound you waste is just further delaying you having your first child. Every year you delay it is one less year you get to spend with that child before you die. A bit morbid I know, but makes you think.

cloudcuckooland_3

Hi there,
Thanks for your post - a different take on DFW but welcome all the same.
You say you would like to start a family soon - is this reality or a future idea which is quite distant? If reality and you found out you were expecting a baby quite soon which would be the first financial issues you would address? My first thought would be to get down the overdraft, depending on how much it's costing you.
As you say it's easy to drift along on a comfortable lifestyle as there isn't much incentive to change things ( but if you are serious about starting a family have a look on the National Childbirth Trust website to see the true cost of having a baby - this may provide the 'kick up the backside' you require!)
As other posters have said - keep a spending diary to see where it's all going and then aim to decrease the expenditure in that particular category next month ie if spending £350.00 on food for a month,try and decrease by 50.00 the following month and so on.
This is all easier said than done - I have got a fair amount of income at the moment and am struggling to be disciplined with it - also in a couple of year's time it's due to go down substantially and I'm still not dealing with it as well as I should. I'm addicted to the champagne lifestyle but really don't have the income to sustain it! (not quite beer income but if I carry on like this I will be!)

Good Luck
it ain't easy but it's worth it in the end.......

rictus123

The best place to start is SOA, spending diary and a few of the challenges on here. Then post a hopefully improved SOA a few months down the line showing a much larger surplus, a spending diary with only esstentials and a few wants in it and a few challenges completed. Good luck.

Cyril

I haven't read other replies but from my experience I know exactly what you are saying.

The problem is when you earn a lot of money it means you have access to a lot of money, this in turn means you don't see the real need to save / budget.

I have cursorily tried to set budgets for things but as soon as I run out or the budget isn't going to last ( i take cash out ) I just go to the cashpoint again and get more.

The only way I have managed to save is by syphoning off money as soon as I'M paid. Like you I also work in a bank and can see my money.

SJ1

Hi

You sound just like me! I too am an accountant, husband also has a well paid professional job. I know about money and count myself as reasonably savvy. My mortgage is also about the same as yours, weird. Eight years ago we too were planning a family, had very little savings and yet we earned a lot of money. We too couldn't quite see where it all was going and yet at the same time it didn't really matter at all as we were able to meet all the bills, pay for everything and there were no real problems. We should have saved and we could have done but we didn't unless we had to.

Trust me when I say that children really change things. You tend to end up getting paid less, I now work only 4 days rather than 5 - and that makes a big difference as your costs are the same. Childcare is also v v expensive - I pay about £550 for 1 child for only 3 days of cover. If you are thinking of a nanny then you are looking at paying someone else about £25k out of after taxed income. It took me two children and a recession before I started really thinking about it and it's only recently that I have really taken to budgeting.

I think it does take something to scare you - what scared me was losing my job and the lack of security that no savings provides. I got a new job within 2 months and I did get paid a year worth of salary in redundancy but it still scared me big time and it changed me. I think until something like that happens, god forbid, that you may well not end up changing. Please do think more than just that year after the baby though, do think about whether you want to go back full time. If you don't then it's unlikely that you will get ahead as quickly as you would have done otherwise - no one will say so but it is the case. So that means less money and less opportunity as if your other half is the main breadwinner then you will inevitably end up doing the pick ups and filling in where there is a problem.

Why don't you do a spreadsheet on what the reality might be after baby, perhaps that will help. My situation has improved and I am now able to put money aside most months. I do use cash, interesting Tixy said to go for cards - doesn't work for me. I use the card for petrol and weekly shop online. I then go to cash but put it into separate little envelopes = food, other, coffee, lunch and papers. I worked out exactly how much to put in each of these - so if I have a paper every day and then the weekend ones that costs around £10 so £10 goes in that envelope. I am generous with myself but at the same time I am spending a lot less than I was. I actually then find when I go to that envelope what is left as I can automatically see what's left. This really helped me curb my spending in relation to food for example and it helped with tracking down where my cash was going.

Hope it helps.

SJ

chrissie52

I think it's more difficult to be savvy with the small things in life that save money if you have a good income because it just doesn't seem necessary to save.
My comment would be put extra money into your mortgage if you can over pay, there's nothing like the feeling of having paid off a mortgage before it's time ( I've just done it and it's a wonderful feeling not to be beholden to the BS!) it gives you security.
Also why not do a DD into a seperate bank account for your future children? That may motivate you, it could be for the child itself or to help with education. Whatever it's for, it would help offset the future costs ( latest figures for raising a child to the age of 21, an eyewatering £210,000!:eek:)
Hope you can find motivation via the good folks on this board.

getagrip83

Yet another accountant here! What is it with us! Probably that throwing millions around daily we forget that there aren't '000 after our salaries!:rotfl:

This thread has been great as none of us would be on this forum if we did not have money worries.

Its lovely that no one has been scathing, there is an easy misconception,if you are on the breadline, that more money solves everything.

Although not the original poster can I say thanks to everyone who has posted lovely replies.

I'm also struggling with the its ok now scenario but it won't be soon (retirement) but it could be any life changing event. With the current economic climate we are all vulnerable.

As for solutions Hmm! If i'd got that resolved I would not be here!

So good luck everyone

Also children get more and more expensive as they get older, so the bigger nest egg you have the better! Trouble is that's true for everyone.:eek:

gag

bouncydog1

As you say spreadsheet heaven! I have a full year's worth of sheets set up for budgeting linked into a bank sheet. I don't want to see 50 entries for shopping on the bank sheet, so those sit on the sheet behind and I have two entries on the bank sheet for cleared and uncleared entries.

Everything that gets paid out through the year is shown on the bank sheet - quarterly payments for water, oil, etc. Annual payments like car insurance are all forward budgeted.

We live very well - shop in M & S for meat and fruit because the quality is good - but I only ever buy 3 for 2's etc. I rarely buy anything not on special offer. Have two freezers so am able to take advantage of the specials. Use a cc to pay and get cashback. DH has a greenhouse so don't buy a lot of veg and he sells the excess.

Cleaning stuff is from the co-op and again only buy specials. Have points card for fuel (we run 3 vehicles so fuel costs are c£250 per month) and buy from cheapest garage with that brand.

And no I am not a saddo - I am a professional (not accountant) working full time as does OH - DD off to Uni which we will be funding - just like to get the benefit of what we work hard for in the best way that I can.

Kei

Hiya,

Although I probably don't earn nearly as much as you, our mortgage payment is much less and fortunately the OH and I are in a 'comfortable' position, both with good incomes and no kids to drain finances yet! We too had car finance and a small OD but were able to comfortably pay it off in time - this year however we decided that we wanted all debt gone so that our income, after regular monthly bills, was all ours!

We also like to buy organic meat and eggs from the farm shop, and there are some things we would not compromise on, which is fine as long as you can still afford them! So, we did a few changes which have not made any difference to our standard of living but are really helping us cut back;

- Meal plan and shop just once from a shopping list. Even if it is very rough, like knowing how many nights you are going to eat in / go out for food, so that you don't but stuff and end up chucking it. Also avoid the 'top-up' shops wherever possible.

- Keep seperate accounts for bills and personal spending. If you already do this great, I recently started this and it has really helped.

- Take lunches to work. I think of it in terms of what I could but with the money I would otherwise be spending in the canteen (£5 a day = £25 a week, or £100 a month, I would so much rather spend that on clothes!)

- Reveiw all finances to see where you can make easy savings, eg gas/electric bills and car insurance.

- Sell stuff! Having a good clearout can get you spare cash and you will feel so much better having a de-clutter! For me ebay is ok, but a bit of a faff, so I usually do a car boot and anything left over donate to charity on the way home.