Need to start budgeting

BurnsieUK

Hi all,

Just wanting help re budgeting (I have played with the spreadsheets and plan on this forum already, but this doesn’t help me stick to one or make one that works for me).

Since 2011, at the end of each month I would go through my account and, well account for where my money is going. Thus although I have a good understanding about my outgoings, I’ve never really made a budget from it.

I am in my mid-30s, have a mortgage on a 2-bed flat (£88k remaining) and earn £30k per year. I live alone and have no dependants…yet I am not seeming to save any money (even though I earn more than years previously, when I did seem to save money!).

• I have a credit card with £4k on, which is interest free.
  
• I have approx. £7k in savings.
• £440 mortgage + £90 bui

lding maintenance

So, I think I’m on pretty good deals for the essentials (and have checked the comparison sites)
I

• nternet – pretty much cheapest deal I could find (£17pcm). I would be interested to know how much data I use on it…do some people just their their hone data nowadays?
• Mobile phone £32pcm (this is a contract. Previously I did have another phone and tried to keep using it contract free by having the battery replaced…I think it cost me more doing that!!).
• Sky - £42pcm. Had it since last Sep. Deal cant be any cheaper. I will be getting rid in Feb when contract is up.
• Other media – Amazon Prime (£79ish per year)
• Electric (I don’t have gas), paying £58pcm. I have approx. £250 credit on my account from overpaying and will reclaim this in the spring. I have now started turning my water heater off at night and just “boost” it for 30mins prior to having a shower.
• Water – I don’t use a lot.
• Fitness – Approx. £20pcm gym and £25pcm for a martial arts club I go to.
• Car - £11pcm tax, £250+ for petrol (I drive 70 miles per day, which sucks) and wear and tear which I need to track better (maybe £400 per year). Insurance £350 per year
• I pay £125pcm toward my credit card. If I save on something, such as my Sky bill in Feb, this will go towards the credit card as well, increasing my monthly payments.

Food – this is the big one for me I guess and where my savings can be made. I lllooooovvvveee food. But I work long hours and hate cooking. To try and keep me eating healthy, I order in foodprep stuff, at £55per week (x10 meals). This doesn’t include breakfast of approx. £15 per week of stuff stuck as bread, fruit, toilet roll etc. However, I spend £350-450pcm in food in total (including meals out and anything bought in anywhere that sells food).


In terms of increasing my income, well, I am looking for a job closer to home, but this will probably see a reduction in my wage to the value of the cost of my commuting.

I have had part-time work. I have marked college for exam boards to make sure they are doing it currently. This will hopefully start again in jan 2020, making approx. £1000 per year.

I cant really see being a high demand for me as a tutor as my area is expertise is Sport Science, which doesn’t really have a lot of exams, so students just copy and paste into their coursework!

As mentioned, I could save money for food, even without cutting back on my foodprep order. However, I struggle sticking with it (driving past the supermarket/take way on the way home). I have left my wallet at home on occasion, but then sometimes worry I’ll need it during the day for emergencies etc. I have considered taking money out of my account for food budget, but most supermarkets near me are card only now.

So, any suggestions? :money:

(sorry for the ramble). :beer:

BurnsieUK

p.s. also change current accounts when there's a good offer on

Willing2Learn

What do you want to get from having and keeping a budget? What is your goal?

If it were me, I would start with a Statement of Affairs (SOA) so that I would have all the necessary data available to calculate my monthly budget. You may find it useful to carry with you a spending diary to help identify where any money is leaking from your budget.

Once you have an accurate SOA, you could enter the figures and budget categories into MS Money (downloadable for free). MS Money is a pretty good piece of software with which to budget.

Just wanted to add, that although it is not free, I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) for my monthly budget. I find the methodology (zero-based budgeting) very helpful...

Neil_Jones

Depending on your mobile usage patterns £32 could be seen as excessive unless you like burn through minutes, texts and data like there's no tomorrow.

Sky £42 you can probably do better depending on your package but is a lot of the luck of the draw as to who you speak to at the time as to what you get. When this expires see what you can do.

Car again considering £11pcm is probably £120 a year suggests its an older and/or dirtier model and your vehicle excise duty (considering "Road Tax" doesn't exist and hasn't since 1937 ) will continue to increase by £5 every year under this.

Food wise - Lidl & Aldi (and Farmfoods) are your friends. Get the bulk of your staples there and anything they don't do you can get elsewhere.

BurnsieUK

Thanks for reply both.

I will look at the app.

Also considering getting a piggy bank account for food where I put in a certain amount at the start of the month and then, I'll roll over any excess and/or put 1/2 towards my credit card

Also, getting a job closer to home would also give me more time and will mean I can cook more.... However z irrespective, I'll need to look a quick/cheap/healthy meals (not that they exist!).

BigDava85

Download an app called Fudget, it worked wonders for me, helped me pay off a lot of debt and now there is non I can see easily just how much is left after all my bills to the last penny ����

System

You live alone and spend £350 - £450 a month on food? We are a family of three (one of which is a "staaaaaaaaaarving" 13 year old) and we don't even spend that much in a month on food, not even at Christmas.

If you can't be bothered to cook, get yourself a microwave (if you don't have one) and a freezer (if you don't have one of those either) and start shopping in Iceland. Seriously!! Some of it may not be to your taste, but you won't know until you try. It's not just the prepared meals, there are the desserts and the frozen veg also - the prices are good for other stuff and they deliver free if you spend over £25. They also have a bonus card which you swipe and earn yourself offers and / or you can save on your Bonus Card and spend it at a later date which could also help with your budgeting.

There sometimes seems to be a stigma around buying frozen food rather than fresh, but frozen food IS fresh. It has been frozen to preserve its freshness. We prefer frozen as there is less waste if plans change and we don't have time to eat things before they go off.

I hope this helps.

NB We don't exactly live off Iceland food, but we do buy reasonable number of frozen meals from Iceland, particularly when we know that we are all going to be off in different directions and mealtimes are going to be missed or irregular.

Neil_Jones

I must admit I didn't read the OP properly, because I didn't see the £350 a month a spend on food. I live alone and I'm doing well if I spend that over six months and this is on Lidl prices I should add.

I suspect the OP is probably going to shops like Waitrose and M&S? Neither of which are particularly cheap to start off with. I stand by my claims of Lidl, Aldi and Farmfoods because everything is cheap in those stores.

BurnsieUK

I must clarify, my "food" spending is anything bought from a shop that sells food. So toiletries are included as are anything household related.

It also includes any meals out, takeaways, pints or even anything from a vending machine at work

Willing2Learn

BurnsieUK wrote: »

I must clarify, my "food" spending is anything bought from a shop that sells food. So toiletries are included as are anything household related.

It also includes any meals out, takeaways, pints or even anything from a vending machine at work

I recommend you include food and toiletries in you groceries category. Pints or meals at a restaurant I recommend to be allocated to entertainment. As for the vending machine, I recommend having a takeaway category to include this (and takeaway food in general). It is really important that you allocate your spending to categories that make sense of your spending habits.

Did you look at the SOA that I linked to in my previous post. It is a really good way to categorise your spending using their template. You will find it beneficial!

BurnsieUK

On it now:money: