I'm going to set a daily budget

nearlytherenow

I have paid off over half of my 7000 debt in the last year and that is largely thanks to the advice I have read on these pages, so firstly a massive thank you to everybody! I think there are probably a lot of people like me who read through the pages without registering so the benefits of this forum go much wider than that which is obvious from the posts.

It probably sounds really silly but one of the first things I had to come to terms with was the fact that unless I stopped using credit I would never get debt free. It seems like such an obvious statement but I used to think that 'I will pay off the debt one day' whilst still going out and putting items on credit cards. Trying to make additional payments on cards but then using them again half way through the month.

That has now almost stopped but I still find it difficult sometimes, but I feel that the end is in sight and really want to get to that payday where all of the money is mine, and I'm not paying off old debts for balances I can't even remember what they were for anymore.

So, fast forward a year and I now spend a lot less, although there is still a lot of room to make further savings and get the balance of debt paid off even quicker. I have a spreadsheet that has all my regular outgoings and creditor payments on it and I'm more in control now than I have ever been.

For one reason and another, next month is going to be tighter than usual and I don't want to fall back into the credit trap for the sake of one month's spending. So, I've decided to set myself a daily budget rather than thinking of it as a monthly or weekly spend. One of the challenges I've found in the past is that the monthly budget gets spent in the first week or two and then I fall back on credit until payday again.

I will have £300 for the month once the usual bills/creditors have been paid. This is for myself and my 15 year old son (and a dog and four chickens!) and will need to cover food, transport, socialising, couple of presents for birthday/wedding and anything else that arises. In order to stick to it I have decided to withdraw cash from the bank and have £10 per day to spend. Anything I don't spend will be carried forward to the next day. If there is something I want to spend more money on then I will only do this by saving it from a previous day. I think this will really help with my attitude towards money so that rather than spending £50 on the first day on food and then running out, I will have to save it for a few days and then spend more! I know from all the reading I've done on these forums that this budget is easily achievable and people live on a lot less.

If I can stick to this for one month it is going to make a massive difference to me in the way that I approach my spending for the month. I'm also thinking if I can do it then I could carry it on to the next month and make those extra £s go towards reducing the debt even quicker.

Does anyone else have a daily budget and has it worked? Biggest problem for me will probably be having to shop more regularly for food, but I'm really hopeful of doing it and feeling positive about getting even more in control of my money!

Asiacat

I've done it for the past year.

I live in Thailand and I set a daily budget of 1000 baht a day.

I have an A5 diary and write down everything I spend.

At the end of each day I total my spending and draw a little smiley if it is under 1000 and a frown if it is over 1000. Every thing apart from my rent needs to come from this daily allowance.

It works as you will discover yourself.

If you can start it and keep it up for 30 days it will then become such an integral part of your thinking that you will not be able to stop doing it.

Just remember it takes 30 days to make or break a habit.

nearlytherenow

Thanks AsiaCat!

Well, it's payday today and I'm still feeling positive about my daily spending budget. Have been off work this week on hols so spent a lot of time reading through the forums. Have joined a couple of challenges, including This is Sparta which involves trying to have 20 NSDs which is going to be tricky but I'm going to try!

Counted up the change in my purse this morning and I have £4.60 so starting with a budget of £14.60 today, I feel rich already! Going to buy birthday card I need for tomorrow as I'm hoping tomorrow can be a NSD as it is the first day of the challenge.

Daily budget of £10 +20 NSDs is going to be a big shock to the system for me but fast forward to the end of the month and if I have stuck to it I will be so happy!

HeadAboveWater

Oooooh I like your plan! Gonna subscribe and follow your progress!!

I would have a weekly budget, but I'm not as strict with myself as I should be. And often, like you, spend it all in one go with nothing left for the rest of the week

Good luck and keep us posted

busybumblebee

Good luck, this sounds like a good plan. I look forward to watching your progress. I've had a monthly budget and so far managed to keep to it (i'm still in credit, wahoo!) and a couple of weeks I've had the weekly spend challenge, which did keep me focused. Enjoy the freedom of your first NSD tomorrow :-)

FireWyrm

Actually, that sounds like an excellent idea. I have a monthly budget which has ringfenced pots but a weekly or daily one would also be a good idea for us. These next months are particularly tight for various reasons and I'm having to squeeze three months out of one months pay, so this sounds like an excellent option for making that money work harder. I have a £5 in my purse at the moment and I'll try to make that last the rest of next week and see where we are from there.

Bublin1

Yes I have a daily budget. I have worked out that I can 'blow' £15 a day but obviously that would be wasting money so I set myself £5 a day spending money (everything else is budgeted for). 4 out of 7 days I don't spend much because I take my own lunch into work and have weened myself off from popping to the shops during my break!!

I don't carry the balance over though - mentally I only have £5 to spend a day. Although I do carry the balance over during Fri/Sat/Sun especially if I take dd out for the day.

It REALLY works and I've been doing it for a month. Without even trying my bank a/c is over £200 healthier this month. I will have more to overpay on my loan and add to ER fund.

HeadAboveWater

Bublin1 - thank you!!

Think I'll do that. Split my weekly allowance into £5 a day, and the 'rest' for the weekend. Although I would inc fuel and groceries in my allowance too. Hmmmm will def have a think about that though...

FreebyFifty_2

Nearlytherenow - I am going to subscribe as really interested to see how you get on with the daily cash.

I am starting this month with a weekly cash budget that I withdraw and like Bublin I won't be carrying over the underspend but putting towards creating a buffer in my current account. I am glad to see Bublin it is working for you

Bublin1

HeadaboveWater and FreebyFifty
Yes, I would definitely recommend this method of budgeting. It easily allows you to control your spending. My office is located on a busy high street and I was throwing money away every day. I have done a 360 and some days I don't spend a penny because I want that fiver in my purse!

Although I have a seperate budget for my groceries, if I spend money on say, milk and bread during the week, I'll just include that in my £5 spend - which means my weekly shopping budget isn't reduced and I'm within my daily spend too.

Not sure about other banks but Natwest now allow you to withdraw a £5 note from the ATM - a huge help!

nearlytherenow

Such interesting and motivating thoughts thanks everyone! I did consider banking anything out of my £10 per day budget that I didn't spend but thought that would be going too far for me as its such a big change to my spending habits, so carrying it over for now anyway!

Have had a great start so far, ended up spending £11.14/£14.64 on Friday and £3.01 of that was YS in Tesco including 7 x chicken tikka for 22p each which went into the freezer. Yesterday was a NSD :j which is 1/20 for the this is Sparta challenge.

Going into today I have £23.50 and feel positively rich! I will be spending today as stocking up on fruit and snacks for lunches at work but I will be on budget and aiming for NSD tomorrow. Have wedding to go to on Saturday so will need to stay on track this week as need bigger budget for that.

The best thing I've found so far is how in control of my money I feel. Rather than spending a fortune in the first week after payday I'm balancing it out. it's saving for things rather than getting them on credit on a daily basis and I'm loving it!