planning?

BlueJ94

Hi all, first proper post here!

I need help with saving/budgeting. I currently owe money out and I have direct debits set up, looking for ways to save a little extra. I allow myself 1 or 2 items for myself a month no more than £15.

Current debt is £1399.96
income - £1120.

monthly bills;
car - 105 (fuel - £180 roughly)
welsh water - £37.15
phone £59
DD to owed companies - £60
Food shop £80/90
Giving OH money for the car. £100 ( only got 2 months left.)

Mot next month £50

If I could get out of my current phone contract I would, but I cannot as I have already tried.

Any advice would be great. I am not struggling with payments just interested in saving a bit more.

fatrab

Hi and welcome

Have you tried keeping a spending diary to find out exactly how much you're spending?

£385/month plus repairs for a car seems a little high but if the car's paid off in 2 months time then that's good. I'm assuming the rest (other than fuel) is for insurance and tax?

You might be able to save a little on food if you shop at Lidl or Aldi?

If your outgoings are £630 as stated above then where does the remaining £490 go? You could pay off all your debts in 3 months with that surplus. Determine what are wants and what are needs, and ask yourself where you want to be in 6 months time - still in debt or debt free...?

BlueJ94

Hi thanks!

no I haven't, but I will look into doing that.

My car insurance was £170 but that's paid off now, got a quote and its only £80. I spend £180 a month getting to and from work, I have an audi tt 99 plate which uses a lot of fuel. Mot next month and hoping it passes otherwise I'll be having to spend more money on it. I bought the car off my OH at £1,400. I owe him roughly £235 I think which I can do within the next two months.

I shop at Aldi sometimes, I do shop in Tesco and buy the non branded stuff.

I actually never keep track of what I spend so I have no idea where my money has gone.. i should really keep track.

The only things that are on my outgoings are things I have to pay for, food shop I could probably lower as I just chuck everything in and don't plan meals ect.

fatrab

Do a spending diary for a few weeks, there are Spending Tracker apps that you can use. Might be an eye opener for you!


I think working out what your wants and needs are should be a priority. If you're spending that much on fuel I'd suggest you need a more efficient car. I know that's probably not what you want to hear but I've just had to make the same decision. I'm now saving £200+ per month on fuel alone.

System

jadewest94 wrote: »

I actually never keep track of what I spend so I have no idea where my money has gone.. i should really keep track.

Until you know where your money is going you can't begin to sort things out. Get a diary, write down every time you spend any money and what you buy, even 25p on a Freddo. No need to itemise stuff like the weekly shop for example, just put the amount, but if you're in the habit of going to Greggs or Starbucks or buying something from the sandwich van at work every day that needs to be put down. £3 spent like that a day at work is over £700 a year.

fatrab

If you're paying your insurance monthly then you're also throwing money away there too. You should be setting aside money over the year to pay it in full.


Complete an SOA. Be completely honest.
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

BlueJ94

fatrab wrote: »

If you're spending that much on fuel I'd suggest you need a more efficient car. I know that's probably not what you want to hear but I've just had to make the same decision. I'm now saving £200+ per month on fuel alone.

I was driving a 1.2 corsa before I had my Audi and the petrol side of things still worked out at £160/180 a month to get back and forth work. I won't be changing my car as it works out as more expensive. I appreciate the feedback though

BlueJ94

Tarambor wrote: »

Until you know where your money is going you can't begin to sort things out. Get a diary, write down every time you spend any money and what you buy, even 25p on a Freddo. No need to itemise stuff like the weekly shop for example, just put the amount, but if you're in the habit of going to Greggs or Starbucks or buying something from the sandwich van at work every day that needs to be put down. £3 spent like that a day at work is over £700 a year.

Thanks! I usually make food for work, I make pasta etc. Good info to know though!

BlueJ94

fatrab wrote: »

If you're paying your insurance monthly then you're also throwing money away there too. You should be setting aside money over the year to pay it in full.

Ideally if I could afford to I would, I only started work a year ago thankfully so never really had savings as I was on JSA, meaning my last years insurance was £1600. This year its £900.

wrote:

fatrab

jadewest94 wrote: »

Ideally if I could afford to I would

I'm confused. If you have a surplus of £490 each month, how can you not afford to save a little every month?

If you decide to keep a spending diary I think you'll soon see where your spare money is going every month. Sometimes the advice you receive on here is a little hard to accept but as you know the whole purpose of this site is to help save money.

There's no way a 1.2 Corsa uses the same fuel as an Audi TT unless there's something seriously wrong with it. It'll also be cheaper to insure the Corsa, cheaper to tax and cheaper to repair if anything goes wrong with it. I completely understand that you want a nice car, and if you can afford it then great. But you should still be trying to be a frugal as possible.

The whole point of your opening post was that you wanted help saving and budgeting.

Your insurance was £900 this year so it's probably going to be slightly less next year if you shop around and have another years NCB. If you save £50 per month you'll have £600 in a years time towards paying your insurance in full. That will save you money in the long run.

You have a surplus of £490 and that will go up once you've paid for the car in 2 months time. Your total debt is £1400. That would take 3 months to pay off your total debt if you are committed and prepared to make sacrifices.

You don't say if you're being charged any interest on the "DD to owed companies - £60". If you are being charged interest you should pay off the debt with the highest interest first.

Hope this helps and best wishes

BlueJ94

fatrab wrote: »

I'm confused. If you have a surplus of £490 each month, how can you not afford to save a little every month?

If you decide to keep a spending diary I think you'll soon see where your spare money is going every month. Sometimes the advice you receive on here is a little hard to accept but as you know the whole purpose of this site is to help save money.

There's no way a 1.2 Corsa uses the same fuel as an Audi TT unless there's something seriously wrong with it. It'll also be cheaper to insure the Corsa, cheaper to tax and cheaper to repair if anything goes wrong with it. I completely understand that you want a nice car, and if you can afford it then great. But you should still be trying to be a frugal as possible.

The whole point of your opening post was that you wanted help saving and budgeting.

Your insurance was £900 this year so it's probably going to be slightly less next year if you shop around and have another years NCB. If you save £50 per month you'll have £600 in a years time towards paying your insurance in full. That will save you money in the long run.

You have a surplus of £490 and that will go up once you've paid for the car in 2 months time. Your total debt is £1400. That would take 3 months to pay off your total debt if you are committed and prepared to make sacrifices.

You don't say if you're being charged any interest on the "DD to owed companies - £60". If you are being charged interest you should pay off the debt with the highest interest first.

Hope this helps and best wishes

hi thanks for the advice! I currently don't know where I'm spending this money, maybe I'm wasting it.. but I will be starting a planner so I know where ALL my money goes! I didn't mean I couldn't afford to start saving now I meant last year as I had no job etc.

I appreciate all advice given, I know what you mean about the car. If I was in serious debt and struggling to pay anything towards my debts I would sell my car for something cheaper. I only use my car for work now, I used to just drive about for the fun of being able to do so.

Yes I agree, I did ask for advice which I am grateful for! I'm not being charged any interested on my DD to the companies I owe as it's an agreement through Lowell.

Thank you for your great advice though!