Managing on a weekly income

catkin1508

Hello,
I'm not sure where to start so I'm sorry if I jump around a bit!! Basically my husband is self employed I have done our budget and we should be managing financially and yet we are always struggling around for money .
I find most of the budgeting gets left for me to do but find trying to budget weekly a nightmare.
I am currently SAHM and do believe I find myself just 'popping to the shops' just go get out and about.
I feel like I'm failing in managing our money but find trying to balance the month when my OH's wage comes in every week a bit difficult.
I'm hoping for some advice on where to start just feeling a bit loss but with my 2yr old son I want to start being a bit savvy with our money.
We are currently £5400 in debt :eek:
Thanks for any wisdom on where to start......

LaughingLorna

Well done for being strong for your family and managing to do this post. on my phone so can't put in the links but check out 'the big guide to debt' on the front page of this forum. it has a step by step guide about what info in what order to put on here so people can help you. My post should bump your thread.

Post an SOA and start a spending diary - they were the two things i found most helpful right at the beginning - good luck :-)

Heffi1

Jon_Spiels wrote: »

Just got out of a tough situation with regards to my finances. Try doing adjustments to your weekly income management, do a little bit of re-assessment or if you want, you can also start a home based job that pays well so that you can add your pay to your weekly budget...

That is very confusing for someone looking for simple tips to help budget their money. What does doing adjustments to your weekly income management actually mean?

I would suggest a spending diary so that you record all of your spending right down to the sweets at the shop, the coffee when you go out to any magazines, this will identify where you are spending and you can see at a glance where to make changes. Try meal planning and only buy what you are going to use that week so you are not buying more than is necessary. Also look on the old style moneysaving board as there are lots of great ideas there to make your money stretch further.

Mojisola

Heffi1 wrote: »

I would suggest a spending diary so that you record all of your spending right down to the sweets at the shop, the coffee when you go out to any magazines, this will identify where you are spending and you can see at a glance where to make changes.

This is an excellent place to start, especially if you are using "go to the local shop" as a means of getting out of the house. It can be very enlightening to see how all those little add up.

What free/cheap things can you find to do with little ones? The library may have a story time. Have you got a Sure Start centre near you? Can you get a group going with other local SAHM - lunch or midmorning coffee once a week at each other's houses, everyone brings food to share.

Cyril

I think you should start using the envelope system.

Every week you divide your money into 'pots' for ie food, petrol, birthdays, sundries and 'treats' or whatever is relevant to you and once its gone its gone.

This should hopefully stop you chasing your tail when an expenditure comes up and you will feel more in control of where your money goes.

Mojisola

Can you do a spreadsheet with your regular expenditure on it so that you have an idea of how much to put aside for each bill - Cyril's envelope suggestion.

As your husband is self-employed, it's vital that you get some money saved. If he had an accident or a couple of weeks off with an illness, you would be in trouble without savings to call on.

quintwins

I'm a sahm and we also get all our money weekly, i love it, theres no big wait for payday and always money coming in.

One whole pay used to go on rent so i just made sure we didn't spend any of that money that week.

Our elec and phone bill are quarterly and also use a whole weeks pay, but as i havent been paying it the 2 weeks before i have surplus anyway.

I try deal in cash for my shopping once it's gone it's gone, you'll be surprised how many meals you can make with what you have in when the money runs out, we pay for our fuel on our creditcard to help up our creditratinga nd pay it in full each month.

Can you try get out of the house for other things? mother and toddler group[s are usually free or charge £1 now to be fair i hated these, but once my older 2 started school i started taking my youngest to the park/swimming/the libary and we sometimes meet friends with kids the same age at the soft play area so i acually get some adult conversation.


I would def recommend posting a SOA aswell.