How much do you spend on bills?

motherofstudents

Saving £10 on your phone or whatever pales into insignificance when you are spending £700 a month and you don't know what on. As stated earlier, get a savings account and set up a standing order to pay whatever you think is reasonable (£500 ?). Do you have internet banking ? You can keep the remaining £200 under control and also see your savings increase. At the end of a year, you will have £6000 towards your deposit. Remember a lot of people don't have anything left at the end of the month, or very little, so you are in an extremely good position in being able to save a large amount every month. Good luck with it.

Catty89

Hey, so for the past few days i have been really thinking, where does my money go? so i took some advice and for the past few days iv been writing down everything iv spent and im horrified!!!

I also need to add me and my boyfriend split the 700 and we dont have any control over the others money so for a month i have 350 this is for savings,leisure,birthdays,nights out, but mainly this is meant to be for savings!!

Anyway i will tell you a little about my spending week and looking back it is pretty bad!!
I started a new job on Monday, but decided i better buy shoes etc to look smart on my first day, i bought 2 shirts, 2 trousers and a pair of shoes for £40 which i thought was pretty good and really this was quite essential as my last job had a uniform so i really didnt have anything i could wear.

Anyway on my first day they asked if id like to go for lunch with them, i thought i better to make work friends, the cheapest thing on the menu was £10!! so i spent £12 just for my lunch- ouch.

A friend who iv been meaning to see for ages asked if id like to go to the cinema on the wed, it was 2 for 1 so this was about £4.

I took packed lunches the rest of the week which came out of my food spending money.

My mum was away for mothers day and when she came back i didnt have her anything so quickly looked online and seen dirty dancing tickets were on sale for £24, but me being stupid i forget i actually have to buy myself a ticket too so this is £50! ouch, i would only normally spend about 15.

One of my really good friends had her birthday meal last night, we split the bill and it was £18 each. i also bought her a bottle of drink and card which was £15. i had ran out of tights so went into a shop an didnt check the price and found out the were £5 at checkout

Today i was knackered at work so bought 2 red bulls, they were £2 each!

So it is only saturday and i have spent £148.

I also have to add my social life is not normally as busy as this and i would never normally spend that much on mothers day but i felt bad as id 'forgot'

I realise that i do have a good social life, a bit too good and i need to majorly cut down on this. the main problem is im 22, none of my friends have moved out yet and they spend so much more than me. I constantly feel like the poor one.

Right im away to decide how i can sort myself out now....

Catty89

19lottie82 wrote: »

I doubt you get your money's worth from your bank account fees. You can get phone insurance for £6 PCM. Have you ever used the RAC cover? Is your car old and likely to break down? Also the travel insurance? Are you going to use that in the forseeable future? I thought you were saving for a deposit? If so I would have though holidays were out of the window for the moment? £60 PCM is a LOT! Ditch it.

Sorry i may have wrote this wrong the bank charges are £15 each so in total it is £30. WE also get £5 cashback so technically it is £10 each, however i just class it as £15 as it comes out my account.

rictus123

Time to forget about friends an put yourself first. Many will be in debt but not look it. Trust me on this. 60 hours a week minimum in a hard labour job, another 5 or 6 hours paperwork and quotes/estimates on top. On the face of it i dont have time to spend some of these "megabucks/popstar wages" i must be on but in reality i know something noone else does....iv been paying off about £14k of debt...down below £10k now since turn of the year but i will get there and when i do i will keep going with the fugal ways. You can actually earn money from a night out with friends, be the driver and take everyones change home with you...it soon totals up!

Might sound boring/stingy but soon you will be reaping the rewards with an impressive bank balance to show for it.

Catty89

rictus123 wrote: »

Time to forget about friends an put yourself first. Many will be in debt but not look it. Trust me on this. 60 hours a week minimum in a hard labour job, another 5 or 6 hours paperwork and quotes/estimates on top. On the face of it i dont have time to spend some of these "megabucks/popstar wages" i must be on but in reality i know something noone else does....iv been paying off about £14k of debt...down below £10k now since turn of the year but i will get there and when i do i will keep going with the fugal ways. You can actually earn money from a night out with friends, be the driver and take everyones change home with you...it soon totals up!

Might sound boring/stingy but soon you will be reaping the rewards with an impressive bank balance to show for it.

Well done on clearing the 4k!! i know what you mean i think some of my friends do live a lifestyle they cannot afford but i do feel bad blowing people off time after time.
Or people feeling like they need to look at the price of places for my sake. Its not even that i want to go out often, once a month meal and drinks would be fine for me, but it is hard to say no so often!

I will carry on with my spending diary, hopefully it will get better.

mummyroysof3

we are a family of 5 and we have income of £1830 and have fixed DD of about 800 and food, cleaning,nappies is about 400-450..i try to save 200 and the rest goes on clothes, bits and bobs like paying for stuff at school and birthday/xmas gifts. home ins and car tax/insurance are the hardest to find money for

crazycatlady1984

Hey Catty,

My bills etc:

Mortgage - £798
Mortage overpeyment approx £100
Mortgage Protection - £20
Buildings & contents insurance - £20
Gas and elec - £100
Council tax - £192 (ouch)
Sky - £20
Charities - £12
Monthly train ticket to work - £140
Pet Insurance - £10

I do not include car insurance etc in the above as I tend to pay this yearly, although I should really work out the monthly figure and put it in the budget.

Liek you, a lot of my cash goes on wee trips to the shops and I am also a sucker for candles and air fresheners etc! No easy way to cut down unfortuantely, just have to bite the bullet and stop! When I was saving up for a deposit for my place, I just kept thinking about that whenever I wanted to buy something and it usually worked!

J_i_m

Instead of going out for meals.. You could arrange one evening a week where you have friends round for drinks and snacks.. Or better still a different host each week... Why should socialising automatically mean cinema, restaurants and nightclubs?

caeler

Don't pay your bank account fee blindly. I appreciate it offers all the extras but make sure you've checked out how much those things would cost you seperately. For example I pay £18 for Europe Travel Insurance and AA cover can cost next to nothing with quidco cashback, etc.

bmar71n

when choosing a property to move into the EPC can be a good indicator of what the bill may be like. Its not 100% accurate by any means but does allow for comparison between properties to make a more informed decision.