SOA - any advice greatly recieved

enjoyyourshoes

Neither:-

just reconcile your bank account every day:-

Pen and paper ! just reduce your running balance every time you spend from bank account.

Plus the other processes I mentioned earlier (again pen and paper will suffice)

Budget is often a target ! so you may budget for £25 p month on nails and as long as you spend within this you think I ma OK. But the crucial Q is do you NEED it. Often excessive spending is on WANTS not NEEDS, Might be worth working these out as you are in debt. Then live within your financial envelope.

Chazz.Collins

Can you do your nails yourself, rather than spending the £25 a month?

Or even a friend? You could host an evening party with friends to do each other's nails!

Smodlet

Tons of excellent advice on here (one expects nothing less;)) I can only reiterate, reconcile your bank account(s) every single day, more than once a day if that is the only way you can keep track: Maybe before you leave for work and again when you get home in the p.m. Read your gas/electricity meters on the same day each month and submit the readings via your online account. Take the time to work out how much of each you have used and how much it costs. I cannot rest until I know where every, single penny has gone. Obsession can be good:)

Have you considered applying for free solar panels? Used wisely they can provide significant savings on your leccy bill. Are you sure you are on the best tariff? I check MSE's cheap energy club at least once a week to see if I could do better, more often when the market is active. These emails will tell you when to look.

Lastly, you seem to be doing a very good job according to your SOA... others have mentioned there appears to be some discrepancy between that and the fact you are overdrawn every month. The only thing that looks far too high to me is your mobile, as has been mentioned. Good luck, anyway, you are in the best place.

louby40

Thank you everyone! You are all so kind.

I spent 18 months with less money than I have now and somehow struggled through. When I bought this house last June my one treat for myself was to begin having my nails done again. I don't need it, but it's a treat.

I think with me I have to really focus now and stop spending on bits here and there. I've put my credit card in the drawer that I've done the balance transfer from. I just need my new account to start so I can see where I am more clearly.

I also need to say NO to the kids more too.

bellaboo86

Can you claim back the money for the things you buy for school? Or if not, is it vital that you buy it? I've definitely bought stuff for school i thought the children would like or to make some lessons a bit more exciting. They are not essential though and I do need to cut back.

louby40

I've claimed some money back, but it's often stuff I personally want to do, to improve lessons etc

Ordering from eBay is so much quicker than going through official school channels. I'm going to stop though. My own kids deserve it. Not my class.

enjoyyourshoes

You can only spend the £1 once.

Make sure you consiously consider the perspective purchase before you act on it. Often if you wait a while, you realise that you don't actually NEED whatever it was and thus can use that £1 somewhere else that has more value.

Value savings as you can ear 6% on RS nowadays, this will then couple with compound interest as savings build. This has to be better value than being a slave to interest rates through OD, loANS, CC and the like.

webnibbler

One of the most difficult spending to keep track of is everyday cash spending. Those small cash amounts can really add up over the month and it's really difficult to know where that cash has gone.

I find using an app is useful to keep track of this, as soon as I spend cash I get out my phone and record it on Spending Log (or another one is Spending Tracker). Then at the end of the month I can account for all those little cash spends right down to the pences.

mrsbee17

I used to have my nails done at around £30 per time - when I thought about it, that's £360 a year that could go into my house-fund! I had some money for my birthday and bought a gel kit from Boots, whilst it cost me £70, I do my nails myself and have done for a while now and it was big spend at first but it doesn't have a monthly cost; I enjoy doing it too.

enthusiasticsaver

Your soa looks ok but as others have said it cannot be accurate if on paper you should have a £240 surplus and you actually have a £400 overdraft. You should be aiming to reduce that by at least £100 per month - ie £300, then £200 etc etc or move to another bank and pay the overdraft off gradually and keep in credit with the new bank.

A few things could be cut down on. If you use the gym then fine keep it. £18 for union fees sounds steep. What do you get for that and is yours a highly unionised industry? Sometimes you get discounts for belonging to a union - do you use all these?

I would confirm the only way to keep track of spending is to keep a spending diary either electronically on a budget app or pen and paper. Personally I find a spreadsheet works just fine and costs nothing.