Need help with managing my money!

ledge97

Hi, I'm new to this forum and would like some help and advice on managing my money ie budgeting, saving. I've always seem to be okay with managing my money in terms of making sure my Bill's are paid in time, but ever since I've became self-employed I found it hard to save money and budget.

I've got into a habit off putting money a side that I wouldn't of had, for example If I work weekends I'll put that money a side or if I get a pay rise I'll put that extra a side. The problem I have is I'm finding hard to stick to a budget so by the end of the month I end up dipping in to my savings to cover my bills.

Obviously being self-employed it's hard to predict how much I'm going to earn, and one of the biggest problems is not being payed if fall I'll or, theres no work. At the moment I use a spreadsheet for my Bill's and just tick off as an when they go out, so that way I know where I stand with my Bill's, but theres goals I want to achieve like being able to mortgage a house with my partner, getting married etc, but I just find it hard to save money and understand where I am realistically with money, if that makes sense.

So If anyone could give me some advice with how to manage my money better and saving properly, it would be much appreciated. Thank you 😀

elsien

Just checking, you are stashing some for tax that you're not spending?

ledge97

Hi ! Yes I Pay in to the CIS Scheme, so basically the contractor I work for deducts 20% off my invoice and pays it. Otherwise yes anything I earn from my own jobs is put a percentage a side for tax.

Willing2Learn

Cory_Liddell wrote: »

If anyone could give me some advice with how to manage my money better and saving properly, it would be much appreciated. Thank you ��

Hi,


A good starting point is to create yourself a realistic Statement of Affairs (SOA). If you need help with this, then complete your SOA and post it into this thread for advice and guidance. (Remember to click on the 'format for MSE button' near the bottom of the form). This will list your monthly income, monthly expenses, debts and assets.

Basically, you need to divide your income into different monthly budget categories.

Some people use their Monzo account to support them with their putting money aside into different budget categories, called 'Pots'.

Monzo description of a pot:

A Pot is a space in your account where you can separate out your money from your main balance.

They are really useful if you are saving for a holiday or something special and want to stash away your money so that you don't spend it from your main balance, like a piggy bank.

You can earn interest on your Pot balance by setting up a Savings Pot.

ledge97

Thanks will get on to this !

Notepad_Phil

Cory_Liddell wrote: »

I've got into a habit off putting money a side that I wouldn't of had, for example If I work weekends I'll put that money a side or if I get a pay rise I'll put that extra a side. The problem I have is I'm finding hard to stick to a budget so by the end of the month I end up dipping in to my savings to cover my bills.

Putting a chunk of any pay rise aside is a great idea which stops the lifestyle creep that people can very easily fall into - it's very easy for people to say 'great, a pay rise, I can now buy that phone/car/whatever that I've always wanted'.

I'm in my fifties and am retired thanks in great part to the fact that I always strived to put as much money as possible from any increase in pay straight into my pension. Though I realise I have been very lucky in that I was employed at a time and in a career where the occasional good pay increase was not as rare as they might be today.

ledge97

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1400

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 189
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 68
Electricity............................. 19.5
Gas..................................... 16.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 12
Telephone (land line)................... 9
Mobile phone............................ 12
TV Licence.............................. 6.27
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 25.5
Car Insurance........................... 148
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 4.5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 30
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 9
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Vehicle finance overpayment ............ 54.16
Amazon prime ........................... 0
Microsoft office ....................... 6
Spotify ................................ 15
Package bank account ................... 19
Note 9.................................. 34
Gym membership ......................... 16
Pension ................................ 10
Samsung watch .......................... 22
Total fishing .......................... 36
Total monthly expenses.................. 1251.43


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


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11147....(189)......11.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 11147.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,400
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,251.43
Available for debt repayments........... 148.57
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 148.57

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,147
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. -11,147

(INCOME BASED ON WORKING A 5 DAY WEEK, IN A 4 WEEK MONTH)

Robin9

Cory_Liddell wrote: »

.
I've got into a habit off putting money a side that I wouldn't of had, for example If I work weekends I'll put that money a side or if I get a pay rise I'll put that extra a side. The problem I have is I'm finding hard to stick to a budget so by the end of the month I end up dipping in to my savings to cover my bills. ……………. 😀

Looking at your SOA there doesn't appear to be any savings. Where do you keep them - bank deposit, building society, premium bonds, under the bed ………. ?

surfsister

Car Insurance........................... 148

how can you pay £148 a month car insurance??

That is £1776 a year!!

Also why does your partner not work? Maybe you have small children?

IMHO you don't need to spend oodles of time doing speadsheets when I am sure you work enough hours already; just some common sense and will power. Get the debts paid off and don't incur anymore credit card spending/loans until the others are paid off. even not then maybe if you want a mortgage.

If you only have £147 surplus at the end of the month you cannot really save much towards a mortgage?? You will almost certainly need a deposit of tens of thousands. your rent is also extremely low, around where I am that wouldn't rent a chicken coup!!


maybe start having any pay for outside normal hours paid into a separate account if allowed and don't ever touch it.


Good luck.

colsten

Your monthly pension contribution is way too low

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions/#need-3

Willing2Learn

Hi,

Here are my thoughts on your SOA:

• Some bills such as gas, electricity and TV license seem very low. Is that because you are you are sharing the cost with others in your household?
• Are you really only spending £100/month on groceries? That is very low. Well done!!
• Your monthly clothing budget is non-existent. You must spend something on clothes...
• Your car insurance is very high. Did you use price comparison sites to check if you could get a better deal?
• If you have a car, then you must allocate something each month toward maintenance and the MOT.
• Do you really only spend £9/month on entertainment? That is only £2 per week! (Having looked again at your SOA, I think you should include your fishing expenses within your entertainment budget)
• I don't think you can afford overpayments on the car...
• The amount you are paying for a packaged bank account is high.
• I think you need to rethink whether you can afford your subscriptions to Amazon Prime, Spotify, MS Office, Note 9, the gym and your Samsung watch. (These total £93/month)

I think you may need to take a look at your car finance and associated expenses. It is costing you an eye-watering £525/month (including overpayments, maintenance costs and fuel etc). You need to ask yourself whether this is affordable and sustainable...as it is a very large percentage of your total income...