SOA Help Please

nanell

Hi,

I also wonder if the £400 odd is actually spare each month. You say you had a wild guess at entertainment, I would highly recommend a spending diary. I did this myself a few months ago and was shocked at where i wasted money. If you just look back at the month, you find yourself thinking, "I hardly bought anything this month?" and really miss those few odd pounds every few days...alternatively, I'd suggest saving up all your recepits for a whole month and seeing where you spent most money. Then maybe you could work on avoiding those places.

Haircuts...I know people say overpriced, but I can really understand you in this area. Do you have you hair done religiously every 8 weeks? If you, maybe consider pushing it to 10 weeks, I found this helped a little bit, without much detriment to my hair!!

Prescriptions you have put £15, is this actually precription items every month? If you have more than 13 items per year, or more than 3 items in 3 months, consider a prescription pre-payment card.... http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1127.aspx .... if you have more than 2 items a month this saves you £80 a year.

Other than that... bills look good and you are on good cheap plans for mobile and internet. My only other tip would be to pay your debts on pay day, so if you really think you have £424 spare a month, pay this the pay you get paid then you can't spend it on anything else!

Shovel_Lad

Just to point out that if you do have £424.55 spare a month you'll be debt free in less than 6 months :money:

19lottie82

marmitesocks wrote: »

Thanks Lottie. Yes, my gifts are high but that is broken down into £25pm for xmas (find this covers it in full) and £40 for all other presents. The £40 is high, but this is projected based on the average I have had to pay the last three months.

Have long hair so does take a bit to keep it in good condition - find a £60 cut + colour every other month does it. Hence £30 per month.

Didnt have a clue with Entertainment so that is a wild estimate. Based on the assumption it would include everything from buying DVDs to getting takeaways, is that right?

And yes, I have a holiday booked so the £50 has to remain as it will cover remaining costs and spending money by the time it comes around.

You don't "have" to spend loads on presents, just budget an amount per head and stick to it. Look for items in the sale, months in advance if possible.

I have long hair too, which I have highlighted, so I fell your pain, but if you want to cutback, perhaps give your local hairdressers college a try, for a cut and colour it will cost between £10 and £20 and will be done by an almost qualified student, who will be fully supervised.

Yes, you're right about the entertainment. Not tracking this and just making an estimate is prob linked to where the rest of your money is going I'm afraid! Create a monthly budget for entertainment, withdraw it at the start of the month and don't spend anymore.
Try Dominos 2 for Tuesdays, Orange Wednesdays, free streaming service trials, that sort of thing!

marmitesocks

redpete wrote: »

More accurate to say that this is what you have decided to pay in the last three months.

Even without cutting down on the high discretionary spend items (presents, entertainment, TV, holiday) this says you could clear all your unsecured debt in about 6 months and then start overpaying the mortgage. Quite a healthy position to be in.

True, but I have had a lot of birthdays and weddings recently which people have asked for cash. Whilst I do shop around for bargains its one area I'm not too tight on. I may be in debt but I dont see why those around me should have to suffer too because of it

marmitesocks

nanell wrote: »

Hi,

I also wonder if the £400 odd is actually spare each month. You say you had a wild guess at entertainment, I would highly recommend a spending diary. I did this myself a few months ago and was shocked at where i wasted money. If you just look back at the month, you find yourself thinking, "I hardly bought anything this month?" and really miss those few odd pounds every few days...alternatively, I'd suggest saving up all your recepits for a whole month and seeing where you spent most money. Then maybe you could work on avoiding those places.

Haircuts...I know people say overpriced, but I can really understand you in this area. Do you have you hair done religiously every 8 weeks? If you, maybe consider pushing it to 10 weeks, I found this helped a little bit, without much detriment to my hair!!

Prescriptions you have put £15, is this actually precription items every month? If you have more than 13 items per year, or more than 3 items in 3 months, consider a prescription pre-payment card.... .... if you have more than 2 items a month this saves you £80 a year.

Other than that... bills look good and you are on good cheap plans for mobile and internet. My only other tip would be to pay your debts on pay day, so if you really think you have £424 spare a month, pay this the pay you get paid then you can't spend it on anything else!

Hi Nanell, thanks fro you detailed reply!

Spending Diary - good idea, and although I give myself 'pocket money' each week, I never track where it goes. Could reveal some patterns...

Haircuts - Good idea. Just been marking as every eight weeks as easy to budget. Its probably closer to every 12 weeks by time I get round to booking it! Hoping this will reflect soon in amount that is left in that piggy bank.

Perscriptions - This is high as have been ill laterly. Thanks for link but hoping will not need to be on anything long term.

I do pay some every month and then put some aside as a buffer for whatever comes up during the month. Example, last month laptop broke and due to work needed a new one immediatly so that was £250 each. Month before that phone broke and had to buy another straight away as, for safety reasons, dont like cycling without it.

Thanks again

marmitesocks

tornado55 wrote: »

Can I ask if you use excel to calculate your budget?

Yes, have a spreadsheet which has evolved over the years...

redpete

marmitesocks wrote: »

I may be in debt but I dont see why those around me should have to suffer too because of it

If people don't get a present or get a cheaper present they are not 'suffering'. In order to fund the presents you are borrowing the money from somewhere else - so you're giving them someone else's money.