Budgeting Help - Ending Living Paycheck to Paycheck

cmc_entertainment

I live by a spreadsheet, other wise I wouldnt have a clue where the dosh will go.

Its quite simple.

Date in at the top row,
leave a line/clourer it in [Excel and colours everyone ]
Ins in each sepearte row
leave a line/colour it in
Do totals
Leave a line/colour it in.
The all bills have there own row
Leave a line/colour it in.
Do totals
Leave a line/colour it in.
A Spare row which is Ins Total minus Outs Total
Leave a line/colour it in.
Total Spare Column for the month - Sum of all Spare rows - this is then either saved or spent on essentials etc

Simple really.

And you could go to an extreme and plan for however long you wish

luckofthe_irish

Thank you so much all for your responses - here is my SOA as you all requested! Think I may have missed off a few things here and there but this is the general picture.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1660
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1660

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 133
Rent.................................... 435
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 64
Electricity............................. 31
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 16
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 5.99
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14.71
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 95
Haircuts................................ 32.5
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Savings................................. 130
Gym..................................... 14.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 1729.19


Assets
Cash.................................... 3403.45
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9600
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 13003.45


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 7465.....(133)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 7465......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................563.......64........0
Total unsecured debts..........563.......64........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,660
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,729.19
Available for debt repayments........... -69.19
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 64
Amount short for making debt repayments. -133.19

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 13,003.45
Total HP & Secured debt................. -7,465
Total Unsecured debt.................... -563
Net Assets.............................. 4,975.45

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I have started to use YNAB free trial today - a lot to get my head around! I will try and keep up to date with it. I am moving house in a few weeks to a place with higher rent (have used higher rent in SOA to just see) so really need to get a handle on this.

I love the idea of separating bills and spending account - do you just apply for another current account with your provider? I am with FD at the moment and have one other TSB current account which holds my house deposit savings as I can't transfer the lump sum into my H2B ISA all at once, but obviously can't use that one for spending as it has a large sum of money in. Would I just apply for a third current account somewhere purely for spending?

I do have a free overdraft but obviously don't want to be in this every month as I am now. I had to cut into the CC pretty hard as well last month, another thing I want to avoid as much as possible.

luckofthe_irish

cmc_entertainment wrote: »

I live by a spreadsheet, other wise I wouldnt have a clue where the dosh will go.

Its quite simple.

Date in at the top row,
leave a line/clourer it in [Excel and colours everyone ]
Ins in each sepearte row
leave a line/colour it in
Do totals
Leave a line/colour it in.
The all bills have there own row
Leave a line/colour it in.
Do totals
Leave a line/colour it in.
A Spare row which is Ins Total minus Outs Total
Leave a line/colour it in.
Total Spare Column for the month - Sum of all Spare rows - this is then either saved or spent on essentials etc

Simple really.

And you could go to an extreme and plan for however long you wish

Oh thank you for this - I was trying to do a spreadsheet this morning but with absolutely no success. I will try and create one similar to yours this weekend. I have been tracking my spending using OnTrees... but just looking at it all flowing out of my bank account does not seem to be going well!

luckofthe_irish

foxgloves wrote: »

I also used to be hopeless at managing money, but since reforming & getting all our debt paid off, I now can't imagine trying to live without a budget.
The point I wanted to make is that you seem to equate liking healthy food with expense. This is a myth fed to us by the food industry & lazy popular jounalism. My partner & I both love to cook. We also like to eat healthily & I woyld describe us both as 'foodies' in terms of ingredients. But we can feed ourselves very well plus cat plus buy all our household/cleaning supplies, as well as basic toiletries for £200 a month. Needing to buy a big sack of cat biscuits every 2 or 3 months usually puts that up to around £220, but not always.
Many of the healthiest ingredients are very cheap. We can get 2 or 3 big 'bags 4 life' size bags of fruit & veg from our local market for £10 to £12. Even pricier things like avocadoes are 3 or 4 for £1 instead of up to £1.20 each in the supermarkets. Pulses are really cheap - esp. from the 'World Food' aisle in Sainsbury's. Aldi has a good range of dried fruit/ nuts healthy snacks. We like their unsalted pistachios. Half the price of other packs I've seen. Animal proteins & fish can be pricy. It's generally hugely false economy to buy packs containing a couple of chicken breasts. I would much rather buy a free range chicken & use all of it for a range of meals over the week. Frozen fish is no less healrhy than fresh, & could actually be fresher than that on the fish counter as it has to be fast frozen so quickly after it's been caught. Iceland currently sell 3 any 3 big bags of frozen fish fillets for £10. Quite a lot of choice. That"s a lot of healrhy meals for 1 person, esp. in comparison with buying a couple of small fresh fillets which can easily cost £6. Oily fish are incredibly healrhy - all those omega fats - but they are the cheapest to buy. Last time I bought some fresh sardines to grill to go on top of a salad, they cost around £1.20.
You know what your monthly.income is, so your food budget needs to be set at a sensible level within this. There's no need at all for a cut in food spending to compromise healthy eating. My partner made a lovely low fat quorn curry this week, which we ate atop a baked sweet potato with a large green salad - cheap, filling & healrhy.
But yes, learning to budget & learning to stick to that budget will change your life.
Good luck,
F x

This is a fabulous help thank you. I do seem to spend so much money on food yet half the time I don't even know where it ends up! I usually shop in Aldi and Sainsbobs so will look for some of the things you mentioned. I think I just get too preoccupied with creating new amazing recipes and forget about what I already have. I have a very very full storecupboard and freezer right now so will try and focus on that, especially as I am moving house and only buy essentials like fresh fruit, veg and milks for as long as possible. I usually do one big Musclefood order for meat every two months (usually around £50) and that keeps me going for a while and I have found there portions to be very good - I can only eat half a chicken breast or burger at a time. Thank you for all your wonderful advice - really appreciate hearing from someone who is controlling their budget while eating so well.

ProcrastinatingPenny

Would I just apply for a third current account somewhere purely for spending?

Yes, but without an overdraft! I kept my FD account as my spending account and opened up a Halifax reward account with no overdraft (not sure if there is a min payment in though) that way I avoid halifax's horrendous overdraft fees and get £5 a month as I'm always in credit.
YNAB can be tricky when you first start to try and get your head around but stick with it, I have gone from living in my overdraft to being able to put a small amount away for emergencies every month.

luckofthe_irish

ProcrastinatingPenny wrote: »

Yes, but without an overdraft! I kept my FD account as my spending account and opened up a Halifax reward account with no overdraft (not sure if there is a min payment in though) that way I avoid halifax's horrendous overdraft fees and get £5 a month as I'm always in credit.
.

OK, I might try opening a new current account then as my purely spending one as it would be hassle to change where my salary and all my bills are paid out of. I don't think I can qualify for any rewards as I won't be depositing very much money (less than £500 a month) and will all come out of my FD account... So I guess I just pick any bank and go with it!

greensalad

Here's how we manage money in my household:

Household bills and rent
1. Joint "utilities" account (Santander 123). Everything set up on direct debits from that account.
2. All bill amounts kept on a spreadsheet which totals the amount needed per month. (In cases where the bill comes out, say, quarterly then I just pay in a quarter of the bill amount each month so by the time it comes up, it's been building up for 4 months)
3. Buffer of £40 also goes in to help cover nasty surprises. Buffer currently at £280.
4. Every payday, I pay in the amount the spreadsheet says is needed.

So I essentially pay all my utility bills & rent in one go, on payday. I transfer over the full amount needed to cover all my bills once a month, and it cares for itself. I will also go through it throughout the month and tick off payments that have gone out, but really I could just leave it. It's been like this for 2 years now with only one hiccup.

Groceries, fuel, misc
1. Transfer over x amount on payday to a "joint spend" account, partner does too
2. Buy groceries and fuel just from that card.

Again, I'm essentially paying out my fuel & groceries budget as soon as I get paid.

Entertainment budget
Now I have entertainment budget. This covers clothes, drinks out, dinners out, cinema etc. I leave this in my current account and transfer a weekly amount to my prepaid mastercard so I don't overspend it. (Some weeks it's all gone two days after it's transferred, other days it keeps its balance all week!)

Debts
Remaining amount goes to service debts

Savings
Despite the fact that I am in debt, there are still inevitable savings.
I pay in a certain amount budgeted to cover car servicing, MOT, £200 towards basic repairs, tax and insurance.
I'm also planning a summer holiday to the coast so I put away £13.50 a week towards that so by the time it comes around I'll have all my money saved for it.
I haven't yet started a Christmas budget because I'll hopefully be debt-free in October and able to save in November/December.

I run a tight financial ship but I like shiny things so I'm a terrible spender

MallyGirl

luckofthe_irish wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1660
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1660

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 133
Rent.................................... 435
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 64
Electricity............................. 31
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 16
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 5.99
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 too high! could drop by £100 and still eat well.
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14.71
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 95 time to stop being so generous - over £1000 a year on presents, on your salary, is too much.
Haircuts................................ 32.5 ?every month
Entertainment........................... 150 need to cut down a bit
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Savings................................. 130
Gym..................................... 14.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 1729.19


Assets
Cash.................................... 3403.45
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9600
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 13003.45


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 7465.....(133)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 7465......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................563.......64........0
Total unsecured debts..........563.......64........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,660
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,729.19
Available for debt repayments........... -69.19
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 64
Amount short for making debt repayments. -133.19

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 13,003.45
Total HP & Secured debt................. -7,465
Total Unsecured debt.................... -563
Net Assets.............................. 4,975.45

your lifestyle expectations slightly outstrip your salary so you will need to rein it in a bit - or get a 2nd job.

greensalad

luckofthe_irish wrote: »

Council tax............................. 64 - is this over 12 months? If not, get it switched. Helps with budgeting
Mobile phone............................ 16 - could seek to reduce though it's not too bad
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - too expensive. Plan meals, make freezer meals etc. See Old Style board for help
Clothing................................ 50 - too much really
Road tax................................ 0 - you have a car but no road tax?
Car Insurance........................... 0 - no insurance or is it paid annually?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 - quite low, this just covers the test. What if it breaks?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14.71 - what's this for, can you reduce? Can you get pre-paid prescription card?
Contents insurance...................... 0 - Personally I think this is needed even if you are in debt. Can you afford to start your life again?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 95 - nearly £100 a month on gifts. Nope. Cut down.
Haircuts................................ 32.5 - a month? Too much. Push to every 8 weeks and get a mobile hairdresser. Mine costs £20 so £10 a month.
Entertainment........................... 150 - a bit too high
Holiday................................. 50 - you can't afford a holiday
Emergency fund.......................... 50 - you need to cut this down. if an emergency hits use your house savings
Savings................................. 130 - I'm guessing this is your house savings
Gym..................................... 14.99 - you can run round the park for free

Plenty of areas to save and you're not that far off being in the black

AnotherJoe

Stop all these

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 95
Haircuts................................ 32.5
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 50



Thats £300 a month right there you can immediately get back. Thats like a £400 pay rise !

You can't afford to give people presents when you are borrowing the money to pay for them !
Pay your loan off instead. Tell people "sorry but I am in serious debt I need to pay loans off".
No one would think the worse of you doing that, (or if they did you shouldn't be buying them a present anyway).

You can't afford entertainment (going out?Cinema?cafes?) until you've got some savings and have paid off that loan. Pay that down as fast as you can
Don't go on holiday this year. Do days out. Did I mention paying that loan down?
Cut back (see what I did there) on haircuts. Go on student evening or similar.

p.s. Groceries and Clothes you could easily halve. Indeed I bet you could go a year without buying any clothes. Its not necessary to spend a lot to eat healthily. Why on earth do people equate eating healthily with paying a lot? Plan your meals, make several the same at one time so as to avoid ingredient wastage and freeze some.

So, without trying you could get back £500 a month.

Do it for a year, that will get you out of your shopping habits so that even if you regress it wont be to the same level as now.