Budgeting for a normal healthy life..

coinxoperated

Hi all!

Just wanted to pop on and ask some advice from those more experienced in budgeting for the what ifs!

This is our SOA

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\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet\
\
Household Information\
Number of adults in household........... 2\
Number of children in household......... 0\
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 1141\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1141\
Benefits................................ 0\
Other income............................ 0\
Total monthly income.................... 2282\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 595\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 170\
Electricity............................. 62.5\
Gas..................................... 62.5\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 32\
Telephone (land line)................... 15\
Mobile phone............................ 80\
TV Licence.............................. 13\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0\
Internet Services....................... 15\
Groceries etc. ......................... 300\
Clothing................................ 0\
Petrol/diesel........................... 100\
Road tax................................ 11\
Car Insurance........................... 80\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 56\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 0\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0\
Haircuts................................ 0\
Entertainment........................... 0\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\
Total monthly expenses.................. 1607\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 750\
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 750\
\
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts\
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 2,282\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,607\
Available for debt repayments........... 675\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0\
Amount left after debt repayments....... 675\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 750\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0\
Net Assets.............................. 750\
\
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com. \
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.}

We also smoke and spend around £15 a week, we also have a take away once a week at about £15 also.

But we never seem to have money as it just gets flittered away.

We're now in a position where one of us needs to visit the dentist, but the £50 charge for a filling is somehow breaking the bank. I never have cash for new glasses and we rarely go out, but we never have any money to roll over from one month to the next.

How do you budget for life's surprises? To what extent should I be budgeting for the 'what ifs'? And with a couple on 16k a year each, how much savings SHOULD we have put aside?

I've never had issue with paying bills, it's just the never having anything left at the end of the month which worries me!

Cotta

I haven't had time to go through it in great detail but £63 p/m on electricity seems very high, our owns bills would be half this and I personally feel that electricity is being wasted with us.

Also give up the smoking - obviously.

Why are you paying council tax and rent, your LL should have offered a better package that this.

Gillyx

Well first off I don't see any provisions for presents, either birthday or Christmas, are those just an as and when type of purchase? Clothing too, if you ever buy anything you need, new socks/pants/shoes etc. Entertainment, never buy a takeaway coffee, pop to corner shop for a choccy bar, go to the cinema, buy a magazine, that sort of thing?

I know the above is where all our 'spare' cash goes, it's very annoying because I know at the end of the month, we have nothing to show for it :eek:

Tixy

I think I would try to budget for all the things that you know you are likely to need to pay out in a year.

So for example you haven't budgeted for car maintenance. Its likely that your car will need a service and new tyres at least so you can budget for them, and perhaps a small amount extra for potential repairs.

I'd also try to budget a bit each month for things like glasses/opticians/ dentist etc.

Do you put aside any money each month for things that you know you need to buy but that are not paid for monthly? so 'budgeting' savings rather than actual 'surplus income' savings.

I find that easier than just having a surplus each month for all the extra things. I suppose thats because if several things need paying for in the same month it could be more than the £675 surplus you are showing (less the £130 a month on smoking and takeways).

As you are not struggling to pay for things then I guess you have just been able to spread those missing costs/extras fairly equally over the year in the past, so that they don't come to more than the £500odd spare you have each month.

lika_86

On the basis of your SOA you should have money left over (although I would suggest that there are expenses on there that you don't have but should i.e. contents insurance). Why don't you try having a month where you write down everything you spend your money on? This will help you see where it goes. Although it may be better to do this in February (ie. not December with Christmas or January which is much longer than a normal month).

For me, I find it easiest to put away two amounts of money at the start of the month, one amount of basic savings which don't get touched, one amount which could be spent if needed but if it isn't then it goes into savings. Waiting to the end of the month to see what's left never works.

Some people find that having a weekly budget for essentials and taking that out in cash helps avoid racking up small debit card purchases without thinking about it.

The debt-free wannabe board might be the best place to put this thread.

lika_86

Cotta wrote: »

Why are you paying council tax and rent, your LL should have offered a better package that this.

Umm, because most people do this. Why would a landlord offer a 'better package'?

heartbreak_star

Your mobile phones are crazy high, and you could probably get a better deal on your utilities.

Why aren't your smoking and takeaways included in groceries? It's £120ish a month.

Stick away £100 a month when you get paid, and DO NOT touch it. This amount is for when MOTs and other large expenses.

Stick away £50 a month for birthday and Christmas presents.

Do you cook from scratch?

HBS x

coinxoperated

In the area I live, and in fact all the areas I've lived, it's not usual for landlords to include council tax as part of the rent. I've gone for the best I can get in regards to renting and there isn't really a cheaper option where we can also have our dog with us.

We pay direct debit £125 a month for gas and elec, but last months bill was only £80 (we've only been in the house a month so wanted to over budget just incase!). I'll reduce my direct debit in Feb if it keeps being so much lower.

Our phones are in 2 year contracts so nothing we can really do about them.

No contents insurance, which we should really have I suppose! I just never feel I have anything valuable enough to bother ensuring!

I've been trying to have a bill and savings only account and a single spends account for everything else, but we always end up so brassic we have to dip into the savings (like for instance the dentist this month).

We didn't budget for Xmas and we just buy what we can afford at the time. We don't go on holiday. On our present giving days like anniversary / bdays / valentines we just look at how much money we have in the spends account and take some out and halve it depending on how much we have left for food etc. Nothing extravagant.

I have to say I don't ever budget for smoking, as I secretly HATE that we do smoke... So my view is if theirs no money for fags we will do without... Although we never do without lol.

I do sort of fly by my pants in regards to car maintenance. It's a very old battered car that once it does pack up I won't be replacing for a good while. Maintenance is extremely cheap and I don't bother with expensive services or anything. A friend does the MOT and sort out anything small for me in the process.

I will be budgeting for dentist / opticians now. How much do other people budget monthly for this?

Gillyx - we rarely have anything new other than at bday a and xmas's. I can't remember the last time I brought new pants!!

We do spend a £10 here and there at the shops and I can only gather that it's these little bits that are eating away at it.

I should definitely budget a certain amount of cash per week for this... Would help us I think!

maman

Admittedly, we don't have any pets but DH and I spend about £50 a week on eating very well indeed so I think that's an area you could cut back a bit on. I'd suggest a meal plan and a shopping list and only go shopping once a week max. When you say you spend the odd £10, that's easily done if you pop into a shop just for a few bits. What some people do is take out cash for the grocery spending and put it in a separate purse. It seems that handing over actual cash makes you more careful.


For our £50, we have a good breakfast and a snacky lunch(sandwich/soup) and then a HM dinner every day. There are heaps of ideas on the OS threads about cheap, healthy meals. Hopefully you have adequate cooking facilities and freezer space.


I'd suggest you start writing down every penny you spend, keep all receipts then look at it to see where you've 'wasted' money.


You obviously have a potential surplus every month. You need to be absolutely strict with yourself saving that (plus anything you can save from food and other budgets) so that it accumulates into your rainy day fund.

Gillyx

Definitely. When we lived next door to a Tesco Express, we never had any money left at the end of the month :eek: I'd say my grocery spend was £300 but in reality I was probably spending an extra £20-25 a week on odds and ends. Now I meal plan, and buy everything I'll need for the whole week in the one shop, and it really has cut our spending a lot.

Even stupid things like us going out on a Saturday morning, we'l pop out for a bit, pop to Costa, drink each is around the £5 mark, and then if we have a cake on top nearer £8/9, we may pop into WH Smith and buy a magazine each, or a book, or we may decide to get a cheap DVD to watch that evening. Forgetting to take packed lunch to work and having to pay for lunch there. For me, it's all of those things that add up to big amounts.

Christmas presents etc we put £60 away pcm. That gives us £720 come Christmas and it pays for Christmas dinner, presents, work nights out (I'm a SAHM mum but OH always has one) and helps tide us over between early Christmas wage and the long wait until the January one.

lika_86

coinxoperated wrote: »

No contents insurance, which we should really have I suppose! I just never feel I have anything valuable enough to bother ensuring!

The thing with contents insurance is that it's not just there in case you get burgled, it's also there in case there's some sort of incident which requires you to replace all your stuff, so, say the place next door burnt down and it either spread to yours or everything you had ended up smoke damaged beyond use, how much would it cost you to replace what you have? It would be clothes, books, bedding, furniture etc etc. If you don't have savings how would you pay for all of that? If you don't have anything particularly expensive that needs cover then it should only be a very small amount each month but it's something you should think about.