sticking to a budget - advice / tips

uncreative

Definitely YNAB for me. If you have a smartphone then that is the best way to get the most out of it. You can use for a months free trial and get it through steam for half price offer after that.

You NEED to work thorugh the instructions and make use of the FAQs & Forums to get it properly up and running. After that you are away.

It is a transformational way to look at money, through only a very subtle change.

enthusiasticsaver

I use an app on my phone to track every bit of spending - it is called spending tracker. I also have a budget spreadsheet and work on worst possible scenario as my husband does a lot of overtime one month and none the next so I have budgeted for no overtime. Put some money in an emergency fund so when you have a large unexpected expense you have somewhere other than a credit card to go to.


Once you get in the habit of thinking before you spending and going less for impulse buys this helps a lot. When you shop go with a list and stick to it.

Pixie5740

HappyMJ wrote: »

Birthdays don't just come up...they can be planned for. Nights out should also be planned for. If you regularly go out for a night out let's say once every 2 weeks then limit yourself to that and no more. Car repairs can also be budgeted for you need a pot of money which you contribute let's say £100 per month towards and these annual expenses can come out of this pot rather than using a credit card/overdraft.

I agree with HappyMJ. The things you described OP don't just come up. Someone has a birthday and 12 months later they have another one just the same as Christmas is always 25th December. Cars break down, need new tyres, MOT, insurance. Nights out can also be planned for.

If I were a betting Pixie I would put money on your budget only showing your monthly bills like rent/mortgage, council tax, gas, electricity, etc and doesn't take into account other bills that come quarterly or annually. That's why you can't stick to it. I know my car insurance is due in April and I have a fairly good idea of how much it will be so every month I put aside my car insurance/12 so that come April...BOOM...there's the money sitting in my account ready to pay the insurance in one go.

I'm also a YNAB convert. Budgeting is all about finding something that works for you and sticking to it.

edinburghlad

YNAB all the way for me. I'm addicted!!

FireWyrm

edinburghlad wrote: »

YNAB all the way for me. I'm addicted!!

That's excellent to hear. I seem to remember you were a little skeptical at first.

kirstybum

I think as well you need to get into thinking about the ten pounds here and there because they really add up. We cut costs by being organised a lot of the time, making extra tea to take for pack up instead of throwing away the leftovers, taking snacks and drinks with us on days out so we don't have to buy them, etc. We also swapped out weekly shop to aldi and shopped around for energy and insurance.