Changing date of direct debits - will this help?

hanes

Hi, at present i earn roughly £1300 per month, now we have moved into rented accomadation for the first time im finding that once a month im left with very little after paying bills.

just wondered if i were to juggle about my direct debits would this help at all?

i have these direct debits per month

CLOSE BROTHERS £188.73 - 04/07/2011

SOUTH STAFFS WATER £21 - 01/07/2011

THE FUNDING CORP - £254.25 - 30/06/2011

plus a share on montly rent of £475 @ £237.50

just wondering if i were to change any of those due dates would i be left with more money at the end of each month because at present with my partner being on maternity we are finding it hard.

many thanks

Lokolo

Changing the dates doesn't mean you will save any money, the money just gets taken at a different time.

hanes

i know this, just wondering if i shape them a little differently would it help?

Lokolo

Doubtful.

What I do is have all my regular direct debits going out of one account and have the rest in another account (to which I get paid into). So I get paid, I straight away put the DD money into the DD account. The rest I have to make sure I budget to make it last the month.

If you are worrying about money you should do a SOA

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

If you do this and paste it here we can see where you maybe able to cut down etc.

scott_lithgows

Always tricky when maternity pay is involved,my wife is paid monthly unless she is on maternity pay when she is only paid for complete weeks per month.Works out as 2 low wages then a better than normal one.TBH after both kids I ended up wi a bit of CC debt trying to juggle the figures. (worth it though!)

pmduk

Assuming you are paid monthly the timing of monthly direct debit payments are irrelevant. They're still going to be take once during your pay cycle.

xrjtg

The timing could make a difference. If you're income and expenses are exactly the same then you'll always start and end the month at the same level, but if the money goes out before it comes in then you'd spend some time in negative territory, which would be more expensive that if things were arranged the other way round.

You might like to take a look at the Old Style boards for some tips on how to eat well on a limited budget.

hanes

well the debts are reduced now however we have childcare adding to the strain now
i am paid weekly my OH monthly, we always seem to struggle towards the end of the month, having to juggle payments around a little and pay them late.
im in the process of changing the due dates for the end of the month when OH is paid. which means there is no gap in payments hopefully.

i've just heard that childcare payment benefits are about to take a hit also. not looking like a good year ahead.

Lokolo

As I said earlier:

If you are worrying about money you should do a SOA

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

And post results here.

hanes

Lokolo wrote: »

As I said earlier:

If you are worrying about money you should do a SOA

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

And post results here.

I prefer the money made clear website as its easier to format than this.

its there under budget calculator

Degenerate

xrjtg wrote: »

The timing could make a difference. If you're income and expenses are exactly the same then you'll always start and end the month at the same level, but if the money goes out before it comes in then you'd spend some time in negative territory, which would be more expensive that if things were arranged the other way round.

Yep. It doesn't make any difference to the longer-term financial picture, but depending on when you get paid and how far you can shift the dates it can be possible to get a one-off cash-flow boost by rearranging DDs. For example, I get paid on the 20th of the month. a few years back I decided to rearrange all my DDs, which mostly came out near the start of the month, to come out as soon as possible after payday. I did this purely to get a better picture of my disposable income every month, but of course it had the added effect of delaying that month's payments until after another payday. It was like a one-month payment holiday on everything, which certainly came in handy!