help with monthly budgeting

sane

stoozie1 wrote: »

Have you already spent the renovation monies?

Where are your child's Uni savings and your holiday savings etc currently invested?

Not interrogating, just trying to understand

No, I haven't. I'm getting the money in the first week of May and I planned all works after that. I will most likely have leftover money from the extra sum I borrowed... based on all quotations I got so far. When I did the remortgage application I grossly overestimated costs, to be on the safe side. I plan to "overpay" that back straight to the mortgage though.

My child's uni fund is being invested by my father, who is in the FSI business... and it looks like he's doing a great job so far. I'm not the only contributor to the pot, my ex is contributing the same amount and all 4 grandparents are adding to it as well.

My holiday savings aren't that much, right now it's a bit less than £500. I normally save from one trip to the next, if that makes sense. I've already paid for this May HT camping trip and for this summer's holiday abroad. I'm now saving for Feb HT 2019 ski and for next summer.

ValiantSon

sane wrote: »

Yes, that's what I meant. I've already looked into giffgaff for my child, and I won't buy an expensive phone as it'll probably get lost or smashed anyway...

The TV comment is a bit odd though, yes 30 years ago we had 3 channels and no mobile phones, do we need to go back now?

I don't think I'm paying that much for TV - as compared to everyone else I know we're paying a fraction, as we don't even have a TV subscription, only paying for TV licence and film subs. Having said that I'm ready to drop Netflix and keep Amazon prime only...



Yes, I do need the sports, they keep me sane. The £45 is actually not just gym, it's a cheap no frills gym, plus an annual tennis club membership.

On clothes: TBH I believe we spend more than that, which is why I'm here to try and set a realistic budget...

Utilities are fine, I use the MSE cheap energy club and review every year. My account is actually in credit.

You asked for suggestions on how to reduce your expenditure. I gave you some suggestions, but you don't like them because it means changing the way you live. I'm not sure what you expect, but here's a reality check: you are paying for things that you don't need and can only just afford. You don't have to do any of the things I suggested, but if you aren't prepared to make any changes to your lifestyle then don't waste people's time by asking.

Carry on as you are.

stoozie1

sane wrote: »

No, I haven't. I'm getting the money in the first week of May and I planned all works after that.

Have you maximised/considered using the 3-5% easy access savings available using current accounts, for the renovation monies and savings?

Re how much to contribute to pension to avoid 40% tax, I use this calculator https://listentotaxman.com/ and play around with the figures, but others seem to like Hargreaves Lansdown calculator too.

enthusiasticsaver

I actually think you have a pretty good budget there with a healthy balance. Yes of course you can make savings but do you really need to and will they affect your lifestyle? You are not in debt, you have savings and assets and have money for occasional treats.

You are overpaying your mortgage by almost £300 per month.
You have a £40k pension and are investing £225 per month. Is this in addition to employer contributions or do you have another occupational pension?
You are saving £200 per month for emergencies.
You are saving £100 for your DC for Uni or whatever.

Your disposable income includes £300 towards holidays each month and £100 to entertainment in addition to kids clubs for your DC and a gym membership for you plus Netflix etc.

As you get payrises, lump sums, bonuses etc you may like to do what we did which was to split additional funds three ways into short term (meals out, trip to cinema etc), medium term for an annual holiday, towards a new car or home improvements and long term which was invested in stocks and shares isas to subsidise pensions or mortgage overpayments. Same goes when you no longer need childcare for your DC. How old is he/she?

enthusiasticsaver

Spending app tracker is good and you can put it on your phone and it will sync to other devices. It used to be free. I have to say I use a spreadsheet though to compare how much I spend on various categories.

choccielover

It looks like you are renting out a second property??

Do you save separately for the tax bill for that?

Sorry if I’ve missed your answer if it’s already been asked.

I think you’ve had some good suggestions here, in my experience whenever we get a pay rise we try to put most of it into pensions or savings rather than add it to our disposable income. If you can do that with your recent Rose then perhaps that will help you meet your goals somewhat.