Motivation time! How has keeping a budget helped you?

Queenie2012

Hi,

Budgeting has helped me pay off my debt at a faster rate and be in control of my money. Before I had my LBM I was paying an extra £50-£80 off my debt each month because that is what I thought I could afford.

When I had my LBM and started budgeting and looking at my expenditure my extra payments when up to £600-£700 per month, I could not believe it. What I was spending the extra £600 a month on I do not know. I will now be debt free in December 2012 and its due to budgeting.

It really works, in fact I gave myself a payrise of £10k a year :j just by budgeting. I'm know longer afraid to check my bank account because I know exactly what is going on, no more late payment fees, I am in control of my hard earned money

Mort

Not budgeting properly got us into debt. Budgeting properly enabled us to clear our debts.:j

budgetbunny

Thanks for all your replies everybody! Very awesome to read everyone's positive stories!

ANy more out there?

bruciebounus

Keep it coming! About to start budgeting properly, trying to convince my fella last night that we should be able to save £300ish a month on food bills alone if we do this

MuffinTops

Oddly enough, before I was budgeting I had less money to spend. I'd be paid on the 1st and be overdrawn by 8th. If I wasn't overdrawn until after 10th I'd feel chuffed with myself!!!!

Then after depriving myself of anything, and struggling to pay for shopping and necessities throughout the rest of the month (including not opening bills I knew I'd run out of money for) by the time payday on 1st finally arrived I'd be desperate and miserable. So when I got paid I'd go on a big spree and the cycle would start again until the card was declined around the 5th of the month. Some nights I genuinely couldn't sleep, wondering how I was going to survive when my salary just couldn't get me through the month and I even went out looking for evening work. I was far too scared to look more deeply into it and often wouldn't even open letters and bills.

Since I've started looking at and organising my income and expenditures and making a list of what needs to go where I've now got a lot more spare funds than I ever realised. Bank charges and late payment charges were taking up most of my surplus (each refused dd was £25, then a £10 or £15 late payment charge from the company that had their dd refused, then there's the back payment of last month's missed payment on top of this month's one).

Now I feel more in control of my finances I feel a deeper ownership of my debts and want to get them paid off. So after hiding from my debts for so long, now I feel that reducing them and seeing the numbers shoot down is something I want to spend my money on!

All the splurged treats were just to make me feel a little better about my horrendous financial situation. Once I found that my financial situation wasn't as bad as I thought I stopped craving the treats.

fairycakequeen83

i have lived on the same budget since i was at uni, every time my wages went up i saved the difference. i never felt deprived, because i never 'got used' to the extra money.
i now have a large home and a flat i rent out and for the past 5 years by sticking to my budget i have saves at least 20% of my income each year.

i have by no means had or have a particularly well paid job, but i dont have fancy phones every 2 years with expensive contracts, i dont have fake nails, tan or wardrobes full of new clothes. i only go to the cinema when is orange wednesday and i eat out at places i have vouchers for.

budgeting is not hard, but if you convince yourself that luxuries are necessities, as many people do, you will always be poor!

I am hoping to put away enough money to pay my bills for at least 2 years before I start a family. i dont expect my partner to support me, although he would be more than happy to. its just the way i am and i dont believe anyone should expect handouts from their partner or the state.

well done to those who have made mistakes and have managed to use budgeting to get themselves back to a point where they are living within their means - empowering isnt it!

Hermia

I am definitely not yet excellent at budgeting! But, I find budgeting means I get closer to my financial goals. It also means that if I do really want something (e.g. a weekend away) I can plan for it and enjoy it knowing that I can afford it.

This might sound daft, but I find that making a sort of inspiration board really helps. I actually write my budget down in a notebook as I am allergic to excel. I have covered the cover with images that represent my goals and what financial freedom means to me. It's not very artistic, but I do find it can inspire me to stick to my budget.

dawn1980

Budgeting got me out of debt. I now live below my means which means I never have to cry about needing new glasses or dental work. I have budgeted for all the year's expected costs so there are never any surprises. Birthdays, christmas and back to school etc are all ready in my bank.

We were able to buy a very nice second hand car with cash this week and I can afford to pay my car insurance without the extorionte interest when paying monthly.

I'm not swimming in money but I've always got what I need now.

Learning2Budget

Since we started budgeting our lives have become more organised. We are clearing our debt, we have an emergency fund (which takes the place of credit card) and we actually have money in the bank at the end if the month. We have cut down our food bill, we eat better and have all lost weight.x

andy1886

WOW these are really inspirational . One question , what sort of spreadsheet do you use ? Excel , income column and expenditure column , anything else ? Is there any available to use or do I do my own . I am 2 years into my dmp with 4 to go and am hitting a bit of a sticky point and could really do with budgeting tools and spreadsheets to focus my mind on the task in hand . Thanks , Andy