New job, sorting out budget and planning for future.

beadgirl87

Hello,

I am not sure if I should post this here or in budgeting, however I find that here people have a very good idea on expenses and acceptable amounts.
I have just started a new job, should be permenant and have hopefully figured out my monthly income.
I would like to start with making a proper budget to allow for all expenses and to find out what are reasonable amounts to set aside.
Any advice on if I need to put more towards one thing or another is appreciated.
My aim is to allows for all expenses while paying back debt, so that I don't need to borrow in the future.
Couple of points - 3 debts are owed to parents so interest free, no minmum payments, but I want to get paid off very soon.
Overdraft is interest free.
Also want to start to put stuff away to budget for car repairs, holidays, presents etc.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1134.81 - estimate
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1134.81

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100 - contribution as parents own house. (I do all maintenance and sort out tenants.
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25 - contract is £20 but have gone over a bit, so allow £25 in case.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 -approx, actually alot lower last few months, but havn't really eaten very well. Want to start a better diet.
Clothing................................ 10 - estimate
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 -estimate, job is 42 mile round trip.
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 65 - I pay annually, so will set this aside every month.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 - should this be higher? Car is 9 years old.
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 15 - set aside for train to visit family and friends.
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5 - glasses, up to £120 every 2 years approx.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - this is £240 a year, enough to cover Christmas and birthdays, hopefully.
Haircuts................................ 5 - £15 every 3 months approx
Entertainment........................... 40 - I tend to spend most money doing things with bf, so have allowed myself enough for this.
Holiday................................. 10 - to save towards holiday
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 669


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................6099......0.........0 - to parents
Car insurance..................660.......0.........0 - to parents
Car............................1200......0.........0 - to parents
Overdraft......................400.......0.........0 - lloyds, interest free
Total unsecured debts..........8359......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,134.81
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 669
Available for debt repayments........... 465.81
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 465.81

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,359
Net Assets.............................. -7,159

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

As this is a future budget, I have estimated how much I think would be a good amount to aim towards.
The clothes, car stuff, travel, medical, presents and holiday will be put into separete savings acounts on payday and then used when required for each item.
Enterntaiment - will take out cash at beginning on month and use.

Does this sound like the right way to start things off?
Expecting to move out in 6 months or so where rent etc will be higher, so trying to get myself ready so it won't be as difficult.
with the debts, I do £200 a month to parents and all rest on overdraft, then once overdraft is clear all towards parents. Im doing a sort of mini snowball so when I send them £200, I allocate it to each balance so £150 to insurnace cost, and £50 to barclays. So soon I will clear the 2 smaller ones and focus on the barclays one.

I have been lucky and had alot of help from my parents as they have been in a position to and am very grateful for it. I apprecited their help and plan to get as much paid back to them very soon while my personal expenses are low. Once i move I know my expenses will go up so want to make as much of a dent in in as possible, while preparing my life and budget for all problems.
thanks in advance.

FireWyrm

I'd say that all looks very sensible to me. Challenge one is to keep to it month on month...not as easy as it sounds, believe me. However, you seem to be on the right path. However if you take one piece of advice forward with you, it's this :

Never borrow money. Seriously...don't. We're all here because we did.

beadgirl87

Firewyrm, thanks for that.
Thats good, I've never earnt this much money before so I am keen to sort it out, before I get a bit overwhelmed lol, however don't think I'll do that again.
If I get used to budgeting on this income, then I hope I'll just do it automatically over the years.
Yes, I plan to not borrow again and going to get me some savings. I already don't like having a monthly CC balance even though I pay it off in full. Might have to create a CC pot and then it is clearer where the money is to pay it, rather than just remember it from my current account balance.

[Deleted User]

beadgirl87 wrote: »

Hello,

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1134.81 - estimate
Total monthly income.................... 1134.81[/B]

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 100 - contribution as parents own house. (I do all maintenance and sort out tenants.
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 0 Do you not need to contribute here?
Gas..................................... 0or here?
Water rates............................. 0or here?
Mobile phone............................ 25 - contract is £20 but have gone over a bit, so allow £25 in case.When out of contract consider SIM only deals - Try giffgaff, I saved a fair bit my switching, and you can keep your number
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 20This seems high, especially if you're in a shared house set up - I get home phone and broadband inclusive for £20-£24 per month with talk talk - shop around
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 -approx, actually alot lower last few months, but havn't really eaten very well. Want to start a better diet.meal plan, batch cook, shop at lidl/aldi, cook from scratch, only buy what you need
Clothing................................ 10 - estimate
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 -estimate, job is 42 mile round trip.
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 65 - I pay annually, so will set this aside every month.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 - should this be higher? Car is 9 years old.Probably should be higher, how much was it last year?
Car parking............................. 0will this be free?
Other travel............................ 15 - set aside for train to visit family and friends.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5 - glasses, up to £120 every 2 years approx.
Contents insurance...................... 0You should probably consider this
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - this is £240 a year, enough to cover Christmas and birthdays, hopefully.Sign up to some of the survey sites to help reduce this, you will never earn lots and it won't be quick, but you can earn cash and vouchers which are useful for covering the cost of Xmas - Toluna, onepoll, YouGov etc - also use cashback sites for shopping
Haircuts................................ 5 - £15 every 3 months approxAlthough not high, see if there's a college near by thst offers free/cheap trainee cuts
Entertainment........................... 40 - I tend to spend most money doing things with bf, so have allowed myself enough for this.
Holiday................................. 10 - to save towards holiday
Emergency fund.......................... 0Probably need to start saving a bit here for a rainy day/when something breaks/house maintenance/any other unplanned expense
Total monthly expenses.................. 669


Assets
Cash.................................... 0start saving non-monthly expenses somewhere here - and check Martins main webpage for the highest rate instant access account to save it in
Car(s).................................. 1200
Total Assets............................ 1200[/B]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................6099......0.........0 - to parents
Car insurance..................660.......0.........0 - to parents
Car............................1200......0.........0 - to parents
Overdraft......................400.......0.........0 - lloyds, interest freeThis is 0% as you stated above, will it always be 0%? Also remember that they can request this back at any time - start putting a little away in your savings every month (even £10 until all of your other debts are paid/or it starts charging interest), once other debts are paid increase what you are saving towards this, when you reach the full £400 repay it and cancel
Total unsecured debts..........8359......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,134.81
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 669
Available for debt repayments........... 465.81
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 465.81Once you have made sure that you have accounted for everything in your SOA then pay this towards your debts. It looks like you owe your parents £7959 and your bank £400 - all interest free?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,359
Net Assets.............................. -7,159

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Does this sound like the right way to start things off?yes, just keep a spending diary the first few months to make suer that nothing is missing and that it is accurate - amend as necessary
Expecting to move out in 6 months or so where rent etc will be higher, so trying to get myself ready so it won't be as difficult.If you can wait until you are debt free, you have a really good deal here and starting out debt free will make life so much easier
with the debts, I do £200 a month to parents and all rest on overdraft, then once overdraft is clear all towards parents. Im doing a sort of mini snowball so when I send them £200, I allocate it to each balance so £150 to insurnace cost, and £50 to barclays. So soon I will clear the 2 smaller ones and focus on the barclays one.That's one way of doing it. Is the barclays to your parents or to barclays directly? Is it 0% and will it be for the duration of the debt?

QUOTE]

I have made some comments above, I hope that they help,

D9

beadgirl87

Domino9 wrote: »

beadgirl87 wrote: »

Hello,

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1134.81 - estimate
Total monthly income.................... 1134.81[/B]

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 100 - contribution as parents own house. (I do all maintenance and sort out tenants.
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 0 Do you not need to contribute here? No,all bills all included
Gas..................................... 0or here?
Water rates............................. 0or here?
Mobile phone............................ 25 - contract is £20 but have gone over a bit, so allow £25 in case.When out of contract consider SIM only deals - Try giffgaff, I saved a fair bit my switching, and you can keep your number, Will do
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 20This seems high, especially if you're in a shared house set up - I get home phone and broadband inclusive for £20-£24 per month with talk talk - shop around, No landline so has to be virgin, been with them a while so I will call them and try to reduce it. I guess it is alot to pay.
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 -approx, actually alot lower last few months, but havn't really eaten very well. Want to start a better diet.meal plan, batch cook, shop at lidl/aldi, cook from scratch, only buy what you need, will do
Clothing................................ 10 - estimate
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 -estimate, job is 42 mile round trip.
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 65 - I pay annually, so will set this aside every month.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 - should this be higher? Car is 9 years old.Probably should be higher, how much was it last year? Just got an older car, so I will up this amount,
Car parking............................. 0will this be free? yes, no parking costs, live close to town so never pay parking.
Other travel............................ 15 - set aside for train to visit family and friends.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5 - glasses, up to £120 every 2 years approx.
Contents insurance...................... 0You should probably consider this, Will look into, it would make me feel more comfortable.
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - this is £240 a year, enough to cover Christmas and birthdays, hopefully.Sign up to some of the survey sites to help reduce this, you will never earn lots and it won't be quick, but you can earn cash and vouchers which are useful for covering the cost of Xmas - Toluna, onepoll, YouGov etc - also use cashback sites for shopping, Will check them out, on topcashback already
Haircuts................................ 5 - £15 every 3 months approxAlthough not high, see if there's a college near by thst offers free/cheap trainee cuts, There is one, but its during working hours, I will see if I can fit it in as been once and it was ok.
Entertainment........................... 40 - I tend to spend most money doing things with bf, so have allowed myself enough for this.
Holiday................................. 10 - to save towards holiday
Emergency fund.......................... 0Probably need to start saving a bit here for a rainy day/when something breaks/house maintenance/any other unplanned expense, yes I would like to do this.
Total monthly expenses.................. 669


Assets
Cash.................................... 0start saving non-monthly expenses somewhere here - and check Martins main webpage for the highest rate instant access account to save it in
Car(s).................................. 1200
Total Assets............................ 1200[/B]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................6099......0.........0 - to parents
Car insurance..................660.......0.........0 - to parents
Car............................1200......0.........0 - to parents
Overdraft......................400.......0.........0 - lloyds, interest freeThis is 0% as you stated above, will it always be 0%? Will start charging in about 2 years I think. Also remember that they can request this back at any time - start putting a little away in your savings every month (even £10 until all of your other debts are paid/or it starts charging interest), once other debts are paid increase what you are saving towards this, when you reach the full £400 repay it and cancel
Total unsecured debts..........8359......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,134.81
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 669
Available for debt repayments........... 465.81
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 465.81Once you have made sure that you have accounted for everything in your SOA then pay this towards your debts. It looks like you owe your parents £7959 and your bank £400 - all interest free?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,359
Net Assets.............................. -7,159

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Does this sound like the right way to start things off?yes, just keep a spending diary the first few months to make suer that nothing is missing and that it is accurate - amend as necessary
Expecting to move out in 6 months or so where rent etc will be higher, so trying to get myself ready so it won't be as difficult.If you can wait until you are debt free, you have a really good deal here and starting out debt free will make life so much easier
with the debts, I do £200 a month to parents and all rest on overdraft, then once overdraft is clear all towards parents. Im doing a sort of mini snowball so when I send them £200, I allocate it to each balance so £150 to insurnace cost, and £50 to barclays. So soon I will clear the 2 smaller ones and focus on the barclays one.That's one way of doing it. Is the barclays to your parents or to barclays directly? Is it 0% and will it be for the duration of the debt?

QUOTE]

I have made some comments above, I hope that they help,

D9

Hi thank you, I seem to have missed your reply, very sorry. My replies are in green.
Yes everything is 0%. Overdraft is 0% as it is a graduate account so no charges, however I am keen to pay it off.
Everything else is 0% too. The Barclays loan was to them, but my parents paid it off and now I am paying them back. It was a career devleopment loan for my 4th year of uni. I call it this, just to keep the amounts separate in my head.

Thank you for the advice, definatly some things to think about, my pay is a little lower than I thought, so will get the exact figure at the end of the month. I want to make the most of my situation and get as much paid off/savings for emergencies before my costs go up.

Th1984

are you sure you have allowed enough for petrol? My back of a fag packet calculations show you using roughly 6-7 gallons a week (given an average of 30-35 mpg as you have said your car is 9 yrs old). At todays prices (1.31 a litre) and the lower end of the mpgs (30) just going to work and back will cost £2165 a year in fuel, roughly £180 a month.

Plus trips to see your friends and bf etc? Better to overbudget slightly and have not run out by the end of the month?

dancingfairy

Clothes seem a bit low to me. I seem to spend a lot just on work clothing, shoes for work (I work in retail so seem to get through them), trainers for home use and even a few tshirts//jumpers the odd pair of trousers all seems to add up - even if I am reasonably frugal.
Also do you want to consider an emergency fund or would you rather hammer your debt down and then have to borrow a bit more in an emergency/borrow from parents?
I know this is the dfw forum and everyone is trying to cut their costs but personally I would rather overbudget a bit and make sure I could live fairly comfortably within the budget first before trying to cut everything down. As long as you keep an eye on it and redo it as necessary though.
df

beadgirl87

Thanks everyone
I don't buy clothes as I have alot, and for work it is really informal, so I can seem overdressed as I don't want to wear jeans to work.
Petrol - tough one, its going to cost me a forture, I am looking into car sharing, I can drive half way to someones and get a lift with them, but it is still more than I want to pay. I am considering moving closer to work as I find the time I waste driving hard work and combined with the money spent on petrol.
I really don't want to borrow any money off my parents and I want to pay them back asap, but I am starting to realise I can't do this.
Will look to increase savings so that if anything happens I won't need their help again.
they are very understanding and have not been asking me for it, but I seem to be really worried about it all the time, as my dad has a lower paid job and my sister is starting uni. I want to pay it back fast in case they need it now, but I need to realise that it is going to take me time.
I will have a think and readjust a couple of things.
It makes sense to overbudget slightly, and then if I do spend less I can add it to the repayments. Maybe I'll aim for a lower amount every month and then top it up if possible.

theoretica

Will you be doing the work on your car yourself or getting someone else to do it? Finding the right good independent mechanic (look now, not when you have a crisis) can save a fortune in bills.

Do you have breakdown insurance? Look at the article on the main site about getting that as cheaply as possible. It is probably worth it.

Glasses- have you considered getting them on line? If you have a simple prescription you can save a fortune (again, see main site). I got some for under £10.

19lottie82

your car insurance seems kind of high@£780 pa? Are you young / new driver? I'm presuming you don't have a powerful car as your petrol estimate is kind of low? Have you hunted about for a better deal?

Also, I agree with the other poster about your petrol.....
I drive an 18 mile round trip to work and my petrol bill is about £100 - £110pcm (driving a 1.2 L Corsa), which includes a few trips to friends or the shops but not a lot on top of commuting

beadgirl87

theoretic - I have a garage that is very good and then have very good prices, they are helpful too.
Breakdown cover, I have that, and I got it through a cashback site so was only £5 for the year in the end. Will look around on renewal though.
glasses - will remember when I need new ones
19lottie - yes I am both, young driver and new driver, I was impressed with that as it was £300 less than my first year! Yeah, car is small engine size, I think I will have to monitor the petrol useage rather than guess it.