Just dont know where to start!

woody14867

I have come to the conclusion that I have no clue how to budget.
The question I have is this..
I have income from three sources, my wages, child benefit & housekeeping money from my son.
My wages get paid into my bank account
The child benefit to my wifes account
The housekeeping is paid to my bank account.

What i tend to do is withdraw any excess and use that to fund the things that I dont budget for.
(Days out/Takeaways/fun things).

Would It be better for me to draw up a budget that includes absolutely everything, leave all of the money in my account and pay for the budgeted items as I go? The thing that does worry me about this is that if i am budgeting for a holiday @ £100 a month and there is a few hundred pounds in there that if i go over on other items it may dip into holiday funds.
Like i say i really dont have a clue how to do this effectively(which explains a lot).
You advice would be much appreciated.

lazer-zxr

Proxima_Centauri wrote: »

I can certainly relate to this bit! I often wonder if people are born spenders / savers, because people tend to be one or the other! Or is it learned behaviour.

It's bizarre how after your LBM, and after getting in the habit of repaying debts though, that (atleast for me), the whole spending thing becomes an uncomfortable and alien concept.

I knew how to spend, hence the £53k debt.
But now, if someone gave me £500 and said, you need to spend this, or I'll take it back .... I really would struggle to spend it on anything. What would I buy????? I might buy a better lunch than the sandwiches I have, after that ..... I don't know how to spend anymore? Quite funny really.

cms-help

Doesn't your wife receive sickness pay from her employer (you said she was going back to work in January) or SSP at the very least until she returns to work?

woody14867

cms-help wrote: »

Doesn't your wife receive sickness pay from her employer (you said she was going back to work in January) or SSP at the very least until she returns to work?

She was made redundant from work so is not able to get benefits ( as i earn too much)

sourcrates

Do the DRO, and in twelve months time this will just be a bad memory.

For the life of me i cannot understand your reluctance, this is just the scenario debt relief orders were designed for, there is absolutely no point in making token payments to creditors, it serves very little purpose, and just puts off the inevitable.

What is the point of having solutions if people will not make use of them, sorry to sound blunt, but the solution is staring you in the face, yet you dismiss it out of hand !!!!!!!

fatbelly

sourcrates wrote: »

Do the DRO, and in twelve months time this will just be a bad memory.

For the life of me i cannot understand your reluctance, this is just the scenario debt relief orders were designed for, there is absolutely no point in making token payments to creditors, it serves very little purpose, and just puts off the inevitable.

What is the point of having solutions if people will not make use of them, sorry to sound blunt, but the solution is staring you in the face, yet you dismiss it out of hand !!!!!!!

He's declaring £377 a month surplus income, while not spending anything on a variety of things that are legitimate.

Back in post 1 though, stepchange thought he was eligible, so who knows?

sourcrates

fatbelly wrote: »

He's declaring £377 a month surplus income, while not spending anything on a variety of things that are legitimate.

Back in post 1 though, stepchange thought he was eligible, so who knows?

That's the point I'm trying to make.

Stepchange allows for spending the OP has not budgeted for.

A more realistic budget would probably make him eligible.

woody14867

cms-help wrote: »

Doesn't your wife receive sickness pay from her employer (you said she was going back to work in January) or SSP at the very least until she returns to work?

fatbelly wrote: »

He's declaring £377 a month surplus income, while not spending anything on a variety of things that are legitimate.

Back in post 1 though, stepchange thought he was eligible, so who knows?

Thanks for your sarcastic response. The reason I came on here was for help not to be dug at. I am trying to be as honest as I can and relay things as I have been told them.
Maybe you could of just asked me why there was a discrepancy?

cms-help

woody14867 wrote: »

She was made redundant from work so is not able to get benefits ( as i earn too much)

When she returns to work in January, has she got a job to start? Or is this when she will start looking for work? Your wife's income would definitely ease the pressure but if she doesn't secure work until summer next year (as an example), you're looking at your situation going on for much longer.

You do, however, need to look at the root cause of the problem. It's all very well freeing up money but it seems as though you will just spend, spend, spend that free money.

MrsTinks

woody14867 wrote: »

Thanks for your sarcastic response. The reason I came on here was for help not to be dug at. I am trying to be as honest as I can and relay things as I have been told them.
Maybe you could of just asked me why there was a discrepancy?

You can read it how you like, but I didn't see fatbelly as being sarcastic...

And fatbelly was commenting on in your original SOA it appeared that one of the reputable debt help charities thought you were eligible. Both sourcrates and fatbelly have been around the block here a fair few times. They are trying to help you and have asked several times about missing expenses which has then been filled in retrospectively.

The point of an SOA is to declare EVERYTHING - if you spend £100 on a holiday saving each month then WE NEED TO KNOW. SUre the reply might be "ok drop it for now" but if you don't tell us how can we hope to give you a meaningful solution?

Either lay it all on the table and the people giving their time here for free will do all they can to help you, or speak directly to one of the debt charities again They are however likely to ask you for the same level of detail as us...;)