Need help with budgeting

Confusedbybanks

Hi, my husband and I are having trouble budgeting. I get paid monthly but he gets paid weekly. I pay the monthly rent and most of the household bills at the start of the month which leaves me with barely any money left and then he pays me back rent money each week for the rest of the month. From the spreadsheet I use to keep track of bills we should have about £800 'spare' each month to cover food and any additional expenses so theoretically we should have some leftover for a few little luxuries like a trip to the cinema every now and then. But we are barely managing to get by each week. Can anyone recommend a budget app that would help us keep better track of things? Thanks.

DCFC79

Confusedbybanks wrote: »

Hi, my husband and I are having trouble budgeting. I get paid monthly but he gets paid weekly. I pay the monthly rent and most of the household bills at the start of the month which leaves me with barely any money left and then he pays me back rent money each week for the rest of the month. From the spreadsheet I use to keep track of bills we should have about £800 'spare' each month to cover food and any additional expenses so theoretically we should have some leftover for a few little luxuries like a trip to the cinema every now and then. But we are barely managing to get by each week. Can anyone recommend a budget app that would help us keep better track of things? Thanks.

Fill in an soa

Willing2Learn

Hello again

The reason you have £800 'spare' money for food, additional expenses and luxuries, but find yourself short every month is because you are not budgeting properly. You should have a budget category for all expenses so that every penny of income is categorised at the beginning of the month. In your example there should be a budget category for 'groceries' and 'entertainment'. The money for 'additional expenses' needs to be properly categorised.


I gave you the links for YNAB, Emma, Yolt and MS Money in your other thread, in addition to a link for the MSE budget planner spreadsheet. None of these will be effective if you do not budget correctly. Please post your SOA (Statement of Affairs). We can help you to budget, but we need your SOA first. It will give you, and us, the full financial picture, and we will all be able to see clearly where your monthly budget is going wrong.


I hope this doesn't come across as patronising. I am just trying to be helpful.

Confusedbybanks

OK, thanks. I'll give it a go! I've downloaded Emma and it seems very user friendly. It's already helped me identify some unhealthy spending patterns.

EssexHebridean

I'd make the starting point the effectively "on paper" SOA if I were you. Apps can be great for someone who knows how to budget from the ground up, but it's vital you know the process and have a at least a rough understanding of where you should be at any given point in a month as without that insight you can't pick up if anything goes wrong in the app. First learn to budget, then use something to make it easier for you. Learning must come first though!

mitch2509

YNAB - you need a budget is a brilliant app.

EssexHebridean

mitch2509 wrote: »

YNAB - you need a budget is a brilliant app.

it is, but in this case the OP doesn't understand the fundamentals of budgeting by her own admission - it's really important to learn the basics before using an app!

MallyGirl

Try keeping a spending diary. Both of you write down absolutely every penny you spend in a month - it can be quite an eye opener for some.

Confusedbybanks

Thanks again for all the tips. So here is mine and my husbands joint SOA. I've just included our outgoings and not added in any budgeting for extras apart from food because that's how I'm dealing with money (clearly unsuccessfully!) at the moment. Any help welcome!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1517
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1160
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2677

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 895
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 131
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 44
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 12.83
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 29.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 17.06
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 105
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 23.5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1735.38


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 400
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 400

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................1813.21...40.8......0
RBS............................386.81....6.66......0
Tesco..........................8318.08...83........0
Loan...........................1187......89........24.9
Overdraft house acc............1000......20.24.....0
Overdraft personal ac..........500.......7.3.......0
MBNA...........................1790......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........14995.1...272.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,677
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,735.38
Available for debt repayments........... 941.62
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 272
Amount left after debt repayments....... 669.62

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,995.1
Net Assets.............................. -14,595.1

Confusedbybanks

I think the hardest thing for me is still that I get paid monthly and he gets paid weekly. When we were both paid monthly life was much easier and we never worried about finances. Even if I budget specific amounts of money for specific things, the budget won't be on money that is there at the start of the month - we'll only have half of that and a bit more is added each week. I'm thinking as I type really - would it be best to budget a sizeable amount to just topping up our bank account so that we are ahead of bills for next month?

Willing2Learn

Ideally you want to create a financial buffer. Yes, the buffer can be one months-worth of outgoings (including rent), but ideally you want to be aiming for a six-month buffer in the longer term.


Your SOA worries me, as you should have £670/month surplus to throw at your debts. But you are saying you do not have anything left at the end of the month. Your SOA needs to be accurate if you are to budget properly and effectively.


The way I see it you need to make the following adjustments to your SOA:

• Emergency Fund - Needs a monthly amount to cover yourself against the unknown.
• Entertainment - If your SOA is to be realistic then you will have to budget something towards it.
• Haircuts - Do neither of you go to the hairdressers?
• Contents insurance - You need to be insured, so there should be something here.
• You need to budget something in the fuel, car insurance, car maintenance and car parking categories.
• You need to budget something in your clothing category.

As for your husbands income. Take his weekly wage and divide by 7 so that you have a daily amount. Then multiply by 365 and divide by 12 to get the average monthly income. You can then enter that monthly income into your SOA as it will be accurate.
(weekly income / 7 x 365 / 12 = monthly income)