Setting a budget

Dobbibill

A quick glance has a few things jumping out at me.

groceries are quite high for 1 adult & 1 child. (I spend a little over that for 4 adults)

You have a car but no car insurance?

Your buildings & contents look very expensive. At renewal check out TCB & Quidco for cashback.

When doing my budget I use a free template online https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/budgets.html

iammumtoone

Dobbibill wrote: »

A quick glance has a few things jumping out at me.

groceries are quite high for 1 adult & 1 child. (I spend a little over that for 4 adults)

You have a car but no car insurance?

Your buildings & contents look very expensive. At renewal check out TCB & Quidco for cashback.

When doing my budget I use a free template online https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/budgets.html

Yes thats why I deleted as was going to do again as forgot some car insurance. I know my insurance is high I need to start a separate thread on that to get some advise on changing. I can get it so much cheaper when I go compare etc but I find it hard to determine what they offer for that price, whilst mine is high I think it good insurance I still want good insurance just cheaper

Dobbibill

Insurance is a bit of a balancing act isn't it - getting cheap(er) but getting the right cover for you/your home.

iammumtoone

Does anyone know how I can get my SOA I posted back (google creche?). I was going to re-do but as I have already received some advise on it, I might as well keep it the same. There was also a comment underneath explaining why I had excluded benefits from it which will need re-posting

thanks

datlex

Budgeting requires research. For example hair cuts - how much does it normally cost you at the hairdresser? An how often in a year do you go? For example mine costs £68.50 I go 4 times a year so need to cover £274 a year, this means I need to set aside the equivalent of £23 a month (£22.84).

Savings should not be seen as what you don't spend. They should be seen as a bill. Let's face it you are saving for a purpose. Whether that be for your dotage, to save for a large purchase, as an emergency fund, or for a non-monthly bill such as car servicing. Like any bill it should be budgeted for. Of course if at the end of the month/week you have money left, you can add those to a savings fund.

iammumtoone

Mumoffourkids wrote: »

I found a guide which gave the amounts creditors would expect to roughly see when you apply to them to reduce payments. It gives you an idea on how much you could spend on food, clothes etc depending on how many people in your household. It was on beat my debt website and was called an expenditure guide. I downloaded it but now can't find the website I got it from. But maybe that would give you a starting point. You obviously don't have to have all the categories or could go for lower amounts than they suggest, but it could be a start.

I missed your post, thank you.

I found it http://www.wkda.org.uk/downloads/expenditure_guide.pdf

It seems doable. I will use those figures and try to keep to them adjusting where needed. Thanks again thats just what I was looking for. I will re-do my SOA using those figures and see where that leaves me.

Mumoffourkids

That's ok. It was what I was looking for as I had no idea what is average expenditure on certain categories. T leaf it should give you a starting point and then you can adjust as necessary.

iammumtoone

Re-posted I have amended some things and added others (I knew that last one wasn't right I had too much left at the end)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1460
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 200
Total monthly income.................... 1660

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 108
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 81
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 52
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 37
Groceries etc. ......................... 290
Clothing................................ 48
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 2
Car Insurance........................... 45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 100
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 40
Contents insurance...................... 40
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 55
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 65
mortgage overpayment..................... 60
swimming lessons........................ 40
school meals ........................... 44
work meals.............................. 65
Total monthly expenses.................. 1497


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 105500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 12500....(108)......1
Total secured & HP debts...... 12500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,660
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,497
Available for debt repayments........... 163
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 163

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 105,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -12,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 93,000

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

iammumtoone

I have not included benefits as I am not sure what they are and want to get to a stage I don't rely on them (they will stop when UC eventually comes in) I am also expecting to have an overpayment situation in April as I had a large payrise this year.

Child benefit I dont class as my money it has always been paid into a separate account which is my sons money (but in my name)

Dobbibill

That SOA is looking quite healthy - there are a few things that can be done cheaper if you were really struggling but with surplus funds at the end of the month you have wiggle room not to have to cut everything to the bone.

You need to give the £163 a job to do - whether that is into a surplus category for a coffee or topping up the savings or entertainment category to make that more, whatever you choose to do with it, give it a job.

As you go through each month be prepared to wiggle things a little to make sure you are not depriving yourself too much in one area that you resent the budget It's rarely perfect first time and needs to be revisited frequently and tweaked.