How much money do you have left after bills?

its_maths_not_magic

First of all, YNAB. 'You need a budget' is the BEST budgeting software and I can not recommend it highly enough. Its about £30, but if you go to their site you can (and should) sit through their demo classes for free and you can see for yourself how brilliant this program is. You can trial it for free for 30 days. It is genuinely that good. And I don't work for them, lol, just a fan.

I found that before here I would spend money willy nilly. And I never really thought about it. But now I budget my bills very carefully and try not to spend on entertainment. This is easier than you may think. I go for walks and get out in nature a lot more. I practice my guitar. I draw, read, paint. I also love learning, so I go to websites such as TED. If I had more time I'd love to take advantage of the free online uni courses that are available. All of this not only costs nothing (except paint supplies, which are expensive upfront but last ages and offer hours of entertainment per tube) but it also makes my life so much richer than it was before. I can honestly tell you that if someone gave me £1 000 000 I would still live this life because it is so much better than trying to chase happiness by buying things.

FireWyrm

its_maths_not_magic wrote: »

First of all, YNAB. 'You need a budget' is the BEST budgeting software and I can not recommend it highly enough. Its about £30, but if you go to their site you can (and should) sit through their demo classes for free and you can see for yourself how brilliant this program is. You can trial it for free for 30 days. It is genuinely that good. And I don't work for them, lol, just a fan.

I dont work for them either, but I am a HUGE fan of the software. If you can get it working for you, it is absolute bliss and lifts the weight right off the shoulders. We may not be rich at the end of the month, but I can pretty much guarantee there wont be many surprises I didnt know about.

its_maths_not_magic wrote: »

But now I budget my bills very carefully and try not to spend on entertainment. This is easier than you may think. I go for walks and get out in nature a lot more. I practice my guitar. I draw, read, paint. I also love learning, so I go to websites such as TED. If I had more time I'd love to take advantage of the free online uni courses that are available. All of this not only costs nothing (except paint supplies, which are expensive upfront but last ages and offer hours of entertainment per tube) but it also makes my life so much richer than it was before.

Absolutely. I've been making an advent calendar for the kids on and off for about the last 6 months like this one (not this actual one, mine is nearly finished but not quite...I think mine is nicer) and although I did spend some money on the materials, it has provided many evenings of entertainment precisely because I chose to take my time and hand stitch it all.



This one is mine...not quite finished yet...

its_maths_not_magic wrote: »

I can honestly tell you that if someone gave me £1 000 000 I would still live this life because it is so much better than trying to chase happiness by buying things.

It's interesting you should raise that point. Have a look at this blog post by MMM from a few years ago : http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/02/what-is-stoicism-and-how-can-it-turn-your-life-to-solid-gold/

quantic

FireWyrm wrote: »

I dont work for them either, but I am a HUGE fan of the software. If you can get it working for you, it is absolute bliss and lifts the weight right off the shoulders. We may not be rich at the end of the month, but I can pretty much guarantee there wont be many surprises I didnt know about.




Absolutely. I've been making an advent calendar for the kids on and off for about the last 6 months like this one (not this actual one, mine is nearly finished but not quite...I think mine is nicer) and although I did spend some money on the materials, it has provided many evenings of entertainment precisely because I chose to take my time and hand stitch it all.



This one is mine...not quite finished yet...




It's interesting you should raise that point. Have a look at this blog post by MMM from a few years ago : http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/02/what-is-stoicism-and-how-can-it-turn-your-life-to-solid-gold/

I absolutely love that website. Been living a MMM lifestyle for quite sometime now before I even found the site.

moohound

All our bills, council tax, mortgage, and food (£400 budgeted, usually £350 spent) come to £1900.

School fees are £550 for 10 months a year.

Car loan for OH is £350 - he gets an allowance for this in lieu of a company car of £500 a month and the rest is saved for repairs, MOT and tyres etc, we usually have a decent amount left over and the surplus has bought us 3 caravans over the years

This leaves us £1800 a month for fuel, (I use one tank every 6 weeks, and OH gets nearly all his his paid via expenses) and everything else.

I budget my half using YNAB and save as much as I can, not sure what OH does with his.

its_maths_not_magic

Thanks for that FW : ), great article and very true. Its strangely close to Buddhist philosophy.

Moneyballer

Just joined the forum and first post... I'm due to move to a new house in Jan and we have made a budget covering everything including travel, petrol, our wee girls entertainment at weekends...

Didn't use any software, simply did research on future costs, reviewed existing costs and factored in a 10% uplift on everything. Including us saving a healthy amount per month my wife and I are left with approx £200 each per month. Hopefully all pans out come Jan - although the budget can be flexed as we are comfortably within our affordability range

Golightly72

First post here too, but just wanted to say, Wow, Firewyrm, what a beautiful advent calendar!

FireWyrm

Golightly72 wrote: »

First post here too, but just wanted to say, Wow, Firewyrm, what a beautiful advent calendar!

Thanks, I hope they like it. It is a surprise so I have been working in the evenings in secret. I had planned to put tokens into each pocket for larger 'Hawkins Bazaar' type gifts as well as coins (chocolate and real).

I should point out that I did not invent this design, the owner is https://www.dandeliondesigns.co.uk. I merely bought my own materials and altered the design slightly.

Puddylove

Nice calendar, FW.

To the OP - no idea how much money I have left, as so much varies.
Generally, my bills come to around £1200 a month, excluding debts. I then allow myself £600 a month for petrol, groceries and food for me, and hard feed etc for my horses.

Whatever is left between my salary (which also varies and I'm never sure when my employer is going to pay me for contract stuff) and the bills and allowance goes into debt repayments and savings.

I do a basic but different budget every month.

katejo

joedenise wrote: »

Like Firewyrm I use YNAB. I've only been using it since July and have managed to save more money in the last 3-4 months than the previous couple of years.

It's amazing how it makes you focus on what you are spending.

Denise

I agree as well re. YNAB. Have only been using it since August but already see a difference. No debts other than mortgage but used to be short of money by the end of the month. No longer the case and much easier to see how the money is being spent.