Help with budgeting

fkelanne

Thank you all. I started last night sat down and looked at my bank account to see I was spending about £100 per week on take always and eating out(and I wonder y I'm 11st) I've tried opening another account with a diff bank but 2 have said no. I don't want to try anymore. So looks like I'm going to be sat today looking at the prepaid ment cards. If I set up say £155 to go into that account every week for dinner money, gas lecky and shopping. The rest will stay in my currant account building up I am going to give my sister my card for my currant account. I'm going to forget about it. If I can do it for a month I won't want to spend the money. I got park vouchers for Xmas so that's sorted. I'm going to stick to it. And if I feel the need to spend anymoney my sister will be asking me what for. Lol

Dobbibill

fkelanne wrote: »

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\f0\fs22 \cf0 \cb2 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec3 Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet\
\

Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 220\
Rent.................................... 308\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 80\
Electricity............................. 50\
Gas..................................... 70\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 0\
Telephone (land line)................... 0\
Mobile phone............................ 50\this is high, can you change your tariff or go PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 11\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0\
Internet Services....................... 35\
Groceries etc. ......................... 280\
Clothing................................ 0\ never? not even for the kiddies?
Petrol/diesel........................... 80\
Road tax................................ 0\
Car Insurance........................... 79\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 0\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 7\
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0\ you have park vouchers - how do you pay for them?
Haircuts................................ 0\
Entertainment........................... 0\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\
School dinners.......................... 25\
Total monthly expenses.................. 1295\
\

Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 2,305\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,295\
Available for debt repayments........... 1,010\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 172\
Amount left after debt repayments....... 838\ [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]keep a spending diary
[/COLOR]\

You also say you have applied with other banks for a secondary account....is there any reason you haven't applied with the bank that you are currently with? This would make moving money to/from bills account very straightforward on payday. Even if you are not able to get another current account you could consider a basic account or even a savings account with a cash card and then withdraw from ATM for weekly/monthly spends and do this in cash. Dealing in cash will also allow you to see the money leaving your hand and account for every penny.

Good luck

DB

getmore4less

fkelanne wrote: »

Thank you all. I started last night sat down and looked at my bank account to see I was spending...

I would recommend a previous 12month review and do a SOA based on that.

I think using 12month totals gives a better sense of what is spent and where you get value

Then do the SOA you would like to have, along with a spending diary you will get there.

The trick is to understand where you get value and what your trade off is, Takeaways and eating out might be the choice or you could spend less on tat and have a holiday.

Nada666

fkelanne wrote: »

got sofa washer from bright house

Does this also work on carpets and curtains or does it only clean couches?

fkelanne

I need to be able to not see how much money I have... So it's best if I have diff account. With Barclays they put all accounts on ur online so I can c my amount and its to easy to tranfer from one to the other.
I have already paid for the vouchers. I was paying so much a much.

Archi_Bald

Don't fall for the myth that your bank account will tell you have much money you have!

You need to keep records yourself about what you have spent (e.g. on cards), and what is about to come out of your account (e.g. with SOs or DDs).

Get yourself some software such as YNAB to get your finances sorted.

fkelanne

I use my iPad a lot is there an app that I can do this with. Or should I stick to good old pen and paper. Lol I get paid every 4 weeks and my pay will cover all my dds. I have no standing orders. I was planning on getting them all to go out the same day I get paid. So I no everything is paid. Money left over can help to pay my car off.

Archi_Bald

Whatever works for you - pen and paper, iPad, specialist software like YNAB or similar. Although I would suggest that something like YNAB has got functionality that will help a lot with getting on top of your affairs.

Paying DDs the day you get paid is highly risky. What will happen if for some reason your pay gets delayed? As presently you do not have any emergency fund, you'd be snookered.

fkelanne

just googled YNAB and the first site that came up said it was $60.. Have you got a link for the site please.

Also you have a point, 2 months in a row I have been working for this company I didn't get paid till after 2pm.
I will have a think and maybe get my dds spread out over the week.

ViolaLass

If you write a proper budget, you'll know how much you're allowed to spend e.g. you might have £500 in the bank, but the budget tells you that £400 of that is allocated to bills so you know that you're only allowed to spend a max of £100.

That way it doesn't matter when your bills get paid, you know where you stand.