Can you help me taking care of my bills?

petergriffin95

Hello all,

I am new here but quite confused & worried at the moment.

Just moved into a new apartment and have to pay quite a lot of bills like water, gas, etc. etc. When I then also look at my netflix & amazon prime membership I realized that I am actually spending quite a lot of money fixed per month before I even do groceries and other stuff like going out.
Now I spoke to some friends who said that I should just cancel netflix and amazon prime for now to cut my costs.
But before doing so I wanted to ask all of you how you do it? I mean, yeah, of course, I can cancel my subscriptions but isn't there a better way somehow to keep on top of my bills and still manage to have a life!? I live currently in Manchester if this helps...

Can you help me please?? Just wanna hear your experience and see what you guys do. If I look on the internet I am always a bit scared to use services which want to access my bank account or some data and stuff, cause I am not sure what happens to my data then. Do you use something like this or do you also have data concerns? Perhaps it would make my life easier, don't know.....

Thank you !!!

DCFC79

Do you order much from Amazon to make use of Prime ?

Look at your shopping bills, shop at cheaper retailers, drop the brands.

You either need to increase your income or reduce your bills, apologies if you know that.

Fill out an SOA if it will help.

Create a budget for yourself, set aside x amount for you to spend when you go out.

Neil_Jones

petergriffin95 wrote: »

Hello all,

I am new here but quite confused & worried at the moment.

Just moved into a new apartment and have to pay quite a lot of bills like water, gas, etc. etc. When I then also look at my netflix & amazon prime membership I realized that I am actually spending quite a lot of money fixed per month before I even do groceries and other stuff like going out.
Now I spoke to some friends who said that I should just cancel netflix and amazon prime for now to cut my costs.

I would say you need to prioritise your spending.
Put your details into this, see where all your money is going:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning#free

Then prioritise accordingly. Rent is a key one, as no rent = eventually no place. Gas, Water and Electricity bills are also high priority, as will be your insurance and council tax.

Beyond that, everything else you can usually take or leave, though some are dependent on others - if you have Sky/Virgin you need TV licence for example, and if you have broadband you will probably need a phone line for it too.

But before doing so I wanted to ask all of you how you do it? I mean, yeah, of course, I can cancel my subscriptions but isn't there a better way somehow to keep on top of my bills and still manage to have a life!? I live currently in Manchester if this helps...

Unfortunately sometimes we all have to cut back on our luxuries and treats, plus staying in can be seen as the new going out (plus the older you get the less you desire to get your glad rags on and party until 2am anyway!)

Sometimes its as simple as if you don't have the money coming in to fund it, it has to go. If that means giving up Netflix for a few months or not going to the pub for a while, that unfortunately is what it takes. But until you do a proper budget you can't know that.

forgotmyname

Earn more or spend less, you dont want to know what happens when you get it the wrong way around. Its stressful and i do not get stressed generally.

Sometimes you see others seeming spending more than they earn and you maybe right, it may catch them up eventually.

Check the debt free and bankruptcy boards for a peek into the future.

Seen the error of my ways i have

xylophone

It may suit you to open a Santander Lite or a Natwest Rewards account for your bills.

mt99

Could you explain what you mean by services accessing your account and data concerns?

petergriffin95

Hi all,

this is already super helpful!!!
So you do the budget with these planning tools or a spreadsheet I think? Isn't this a lot of work at the end/beginning of each month?

@mt99: Well I saw some stuff where you can connect your bank account to the tools and then automatically get a budget and savings and stuff but you need to share your credentials (like in money dashboard). Do you use that at all???


Thank you :beer:

d70cw6

do a soa: income and expenditure

gingercordial

petergriffin95 wrote: »

Hi all,

this is already super helpful!!!
So you do the budget with these planning tools or a spreadsheet I think? Isn't this a lot of work at the end/beginning of each month?

@mt99: Well I saw some stuff where you can connect your bank account to the tools and then automatically get a budget and savings and stuff but you need to share your credentials (like in money dashboard). Do you use that at all???


Thank you :beer:

Keeping track of your budget does need some work but that's one of the sad things about being an independent adult. It can't be avoided without danger of going into debt.

You don't need any fancy web-based tools though. The key thing is to know your income and your essential expenses. Use the SOA link provided to work this out: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php Make sure you include everything including things like insurance renewals, MOT, anything else yearly (split it over 12 months and save up for it like that) and be realistic so include something for Christmas presents and so on. It can be a bit hard if you're in a new place to know what your bills are going to be, but overestimate to start with, don't underestimate. If your bills are variable then this is the bit that might take some thinking about each month to check they haven't gone up from your original budget. Ideally you should be including a monthly amount for savings/emergency pot that you won't touch.

Once you've done that, hopefully you have some excess every month. Say you have £100 left over - this is your fun money. You need to decide what you want to do with that. Spend it on Netflix subscriptions? Save up for a holiday? Go drinking? That's all fine as long as you stick to it and don't spend the same money twice.

To make sure you stick to it, you must learn to keep track of what you've spent. Of course you can use fancy apps but the easiest way is a pen and paper - keep a piece of paper in your wallet for that month, or carry a notebook, or use the notes function on your phone, whatever works for you, but keep track and be disciplined enough to make a choice between going out this week or getting a takeaway if you have already spent most of the month's allowance. This really is the only way.

Of course if you do the above and what you need to spend on rent, utilities, groceries and all the other essentials is more than what you earn, you have a problem but addressing it now is the key to avoiding long-term debt problems. Post your SOA and I am sure people can help you find places you can make savings.

Best of luck!

mt99

Ah yes, well no, wouldn't advise letting programs access your bank account. Do your budgeting offline on a 123 spreadsheet, a piece of paper or one of the SOA links posted here

DCFC79

petergriffin95 wrote: »

Hi all,

this is already super helpful!!!
So you do the budget with these planning tools or a spreadsheet I think? Isn't this a lot of work at the end/beginning of each month?

@mt99: Well I saw some stuff where you can connect your bank account to the tools and then automatically get a budget and savings and stuff but you need to share your credentials (like in money dashboard). Do you use that at all???


Thank you :beer:

Using a spreadsheet is hard but each month it gets easier. You can have a whole page for the year and fill in each cell what your bills are.

Why not first study your bank account, work out how much you spent say last month on buying a lunch in the week or how much you spent on groceries.

I agree with mt99, I wouldn't have a program access my accounts.