how to stick to my £90/week budget to save 1 grand in 2 months?

treeroy

hello,
I have to buy a car in May and want to spend around 1.5-2k - and insurance is £500. so somewhere between 2-2.5k to get it on the road.
A while ago (january) i calculated my income/outgoings for the next few months and determined that if I spent less than £120 per week then I can save this money in time.
However I am struggling to keep it up. I now need to spend £90 or less per week if I still want to save this much!
I try to be careful with money, like only going to the pub once per week; making sandwich for work rather than buying one at the shop etc.; walking/cycling more to save car use. But I'm not meeting my requirements, and if I look at my bank account today and compare it to two months ago, it doesn't look very different at all.

in theory this coronavirus should be helpful; I now am working from home so no fuel costs to commute, no lunchtime shop/cafe purchases as the house is full of food. But still I'm concerned about not meeting the money target. I just had to pay £90 at dentist today...
I have a steady income and over time can accumulate money fine, but there is a deadline on buying a new car! I know it's possible to buy a cheaper car but I don't really want to buy a £450 facebook advert.

Any tips on keeping to tight budget?
I did try taking cash out each week, but I found myself running out and then being stuck in a petrol station having to pay £40 and not having enough cash.

eskbanker

You need to start by reviewing exactly what you're spending your money on, and then compare at a detailed level with your budget.  This will let you see whether the problem is how (un)realistic the budget itself is or if it's more about your ability and willingness to stick to it.  For example, how much did you budget for dentistry....?

If you're trying to save a fairly significant amount of money in a short period of time then you may need to be more ruthless, e.g. no pub trips rather than 'only' one a week (a certain virus will help here!).

treeroy

eskbanker said:

You need to start by reviewing exactly what you're spending your money on, and then compare at a detailed level with your budget.  This will let you see whether the problem is how (un)realistic the budget itself is or if it's more about your ability and willingness to stick to it.  For example, how much did you budget for dentistry....?

If you're trying to save a fairly significant amount of money in a short period of time then you may need to be more ruthless, e.g. no pub trips rather than 'only' one a week (a certain virus will help here!).

My budget was calculated simply of - I will earn X amount in the next number of weeks. And essential outgoings are: 2x rent, 2x car finance, 2x direct debits, 2x credit card bill. I then docked off the amount of money I wanted to save, and I was left over with £120/week so that is how much I can spend. In theory theres no reason I can't live on that amount for fuel, going out, food etc. - I know the budget is possible. 

i did not include dentist in my budget because I did not know that I have a problem with my wisdom tooth and require it to be removed.

eskbanker

treeroy said:
My budget was calculated simply of - I will earn X amount in the next number of weeks. And essential outgoings are: 2x rent, 2x car finance, 2x direct debits, 2x credit card bill. I then docked off the amount of money I wanted to save, and I was left over with £120/week so that is how much I can spend. In theory theres no reason I can't live on that amount for fuel, going out, food etc. - I know the budget is possible.

So the question remains: if the theory was accurate, how did you fail to meet it in practice?  Exactly which things did you buy that you hadn't anticipated?

treeroy said:

i did not include dentist in my budget because I did not know that I have a problem with my wisdom tooth and require it to be removed.

If you set a budget on a best-case basis, without any provision for such unexpected (but not entirely unforeseeable) expenditure, then that obviously doesn't leave any contingency and risks overspending versus an over-ambitious budget.

mwarby

I used to put 10-20 a month into a savings account for medical stuff, my main worry was glasses. Then when needed transfer the money out.

re the fuel, maybe try only taking 50 out, or try taking 90 out but filling up then not the end of the week