Budget advice please?

Turningacorner_2

Hi everyone

I'm looking for some advice about how to manage my 'surplus' money after I've paid everything out. I do have a budget, which includes money for gifts, car, petrol etc. I have a set amount that is the minimum I pay towards debts each month, which is more than minimum payments, but would like to pay more. I have roughly £200 each month, which will be for days out, haircuts (I have short pixie cut, so haircut needed most months) clothes etc. At the minute, I have no way of managing this spending and I'm looking for advice on what to do.

I'd like to spend less than the £200, so I can pay more towards the debt or savings, but it always gets spent and I'm not really sure what on.

I've tried just using card, but that normally results in overspend if anything, but I'm not really sure how to manage cash, as it seems so easy to spend......sorry sounding completely clueless, but really want to make this work and this is a massive jigsaw piece that I'm missing.

Any advice, very much appreciated

Dobbibill

Why is this available as cash?

I allocate every penny to a pot/fund each month and this used for the purpose it is set for eg - treats, emergency fund, spending money etc

It needs self discipline too though

A complete budget for me is when I start with a figure and end with £0 then every penny has a purpose. It's easy to overspend if money is surplus

HTH

mum2one

the best thing to suggest is carry a little notebook and jot down everything, its the little things like magazine or the extra coffee that doesnt get acounted for.

When you do a budget account for the monthly spends (gas, elec, hair cut etc), but things such as food, petrol, split them into weekly payments, and use cash that way your be better in control xx

Turningacorner_2

Thanks for the advice, it sounds like I need to re-think the budget again. I'm realising where my issue might lie!!

When I said about 'cash' I was referring to some posts I've read where people only use cash.

It's the unconscious spending I need to get a grip on. I don't plan on spending money, I just find myself in somewhere and there I am with my debit card in my hand. I think this is going to be my biggest struggle. Thanks for listening and advising x

andyfromotley

Hi Dobbi has it bang on. You budget every penny at the beginning of the month so there is zero left unaccounted for.

There are loads of zero based budgeting programs around, i use nab like many others on here and highly recommend it but there are others.

Good luck

beanielou

You need a wee spending diary to write it all down.
Can be quite scary when you aee it in black & white.

concrete_kid

I've used a Google Docs spreadsheet for the last few years and it really has saved me a fortune. I just googled budget template.

I think the important thing to realise is that your budget will NEVER be right, and you need to see it as something flexible that needs regular tweaking. Mine only started to work when I put in a Misc catogary of £150, this covered things I couldn't budget for (or had forgot to), or spontaneous things I decided to do.

In terms of flexibility, I use and update mine a couple of times a week, so if my night out cost me an extra £50 I 'steal' money from food, clothing etc to make it balance. This flexibility is the only way it will work, otherwise you get to the end of the month and feel like you've failed.

tallyhoh

I'm on a massive economy drive ATM, more than usual. I'm recording every last penny I spend on an excel spreadsheet.

The other thing I'm doing is not spending until I've considered all other options.

theoretica

For a start, I suggest you pull your haircut money out of the general spending category as you know that happens most months and what it will cost. Any month you don't have a trim it can go to debts.

YORKSHIRELASS

I think this is quite a hard one to nail down. I allow £30 a week for general spending. This might cover things like car parking, stamps, a birthday card, small things for the kids etc. I do have a notebook where I write down what I have spent and this works for me.

Turningacorner_2

Thanks everyone, your advice has been amazing and made me completely re-look at everything. I've never thought of doing it this way, literally to the penny. Now I realise where I've gone wrong!!

I've re-done my budget today and only have £1.19 not accounted for. It's a first attempt and will definitely be a working progress, I'm going to combine this with writing it down and also doing a spreadsheet of all spends (where, how much, what and planned/unplanned) - I can then psychoanalysis myself on the results.

Thank you, thank you so much. I can't believe how much this makes sense, but how utterly naive I've been all this time not even considering accounting for everything. I'll be updating my diary with my progress ��