total newbie, feeling so overwhelmed..

Legacy_user

Hello everyone,

I need some help please, I am in debt, not in control of my finances, living well out of my means and I need and want to do something about it.

I am very new to this site, I have joined up straight away and I am ready to do what is advised and necessary.

I have printed off my bank statements and credit card statements for Oct 17, Nov 17 and Dec 17 so I can log all the transactions and find out where my money is going initially and what I can do to change that.

Can anyone suggest a spreadsheet or software that I can use to log everything on to?

I really appreciate any replies and I hope to be of help to others in my journey to being debt-free.

Luna

sourcrates

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Lots of help available on here, all you gotta do is ask.

Nedcab I believe is good, but others will be along shortly with budgeting advice.


Can be quiet on a weekend.

Pixie5740

You could use a statement of affairs as a starter for ten.

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

I use YNAB to budget but there was a recent price increase for new users so I’m not sure it is good value for money anymore.

fatbelly

As far as this board is concerned it would be really helpful if you could complete a statement of affairs. Calculator here

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Then 'format for mse' and post on this thread. You should gets lots of useful help.

Cherryfudge

Lots of people use YNAB (You Need a Budget) to track their spending. I don't have personal experience of this, but I would recommend keeping a spending diary - every last penny! When you spot things that could reasonably be cut back, try working out what it costs you in a year. That can be a real eye-opener!

I'd also advise you to read lots of diaries, and especially to follow diaries of people in a similar situation to yourself. There's plenty of support and good advice out there, and this is a friendly, helpful board.

Lots of good wishes for the future

Honeysucklelou2

I use an app called spending tracker. It was free to download and I am able to log all income and expenditure for the month. It will show me in a simple bar chart or pie chart, where the money has gone which I find visually effective.

DCFC79

Complete an SOA as advised, 1 of the first things you could do is contact your gas and elec supplier, see if you could change your price plan. Maybe watch some of the Martin Lewis Money Show (or whatever its called in itv) if not already.

-taff

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Lots of people use YNAB (You Need a Budget) to track their spending. I don't have personal experience of this

It does track spending true but it's true worth is as a budgeting tool. Money goes into 'pots' and you control how much goes where and in what month. It's up to you to organise weekly/monthly/six monthly spends....Took me a while to use it like that though, I wss just using it as a spending tracker for a while until I realised I wasnt actually budgeting anyhting.

Anyway, the the point, OP, post your SOA, lovely people here will help you out

katie4

Luna_Lou wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I need some help please, I am in debt, not in control of my finances, living well out of my means and I need and want to do something about it.

I am very new to this site, I have joined up straight away and I am ready to do what is advised and necessary.

I have printed off my bank statements and credit card statements for Oct 17, Nov 17 and Dec 17 so I can log all the transactions and find out where my money is going initially and what I can do to change that.

Can anyone suggest a spreadsheet or software that I can use to log everything on to?

I really appreciate any replies and I hope to be of help to others in my journey to being debt-free.

Luna

Hi
Theres an app called Yolt which i have just discovered you connect it to your accounts (it is safe) and it categorizes your spending sso you can see where its all going
to me its been a god send