Just turned 30 and decided I need to sort my life out

EimearF

Ok the smoking probably accounts for a lot of the missing money. That’s about £300 a month. 

It’s good you are getting some refunds. Try and keep £1k as an emergency fund. Factor that into your budget if the refunds don’t cover it. 

Hen dos and weddings are pricey! Add a line in your budget for ‘holidays’ and include saving for these there. That way you know you have the money without credit. 

Do you cook as a group in the house? You could save on groceries by making dinner turn about and therefore less waste from veg etc 
well done on coming on here and making a change and well done on giving up cigarettes!

Mr87

Hello and welcome!
I'm not going to repeat what many of the above have already said, all good things. What I will say is: could you have another go at the SOA? As many of the categories have 0 next to them it isn't possible to really know how you've got to your current position (I think we can guess, but it's just that - a guess). It's really hard work and will take some time, but go through at least 3 months of statements on all of your cards and work out how much you've spent in each category on average per month. But as with most things that are hard work, they are really worthwhile. You will get a much better handle on what you need to cut down to balance things. In short: don't tell us what you *think* you should be spending (hence asking about what's a reasonable food budget), just say what you're spending. The rest will follow.

monetxchange

All great advice above. Would also suggest having another go at the SOA. Remove the other income now you've done it to show the third you pay. I think it's helpful for you to be honest in it on how you spend, not what you think you should be spending. Like you say, you spend a lot on takeaways and not just £100 on groceries. Go through a years bank statements and fill in each category as a monthly average. Then we can advise on where to trim.

As for the categories where you've put zero and what you should budget going forward, that's really up to what you think is reasonable. If you want to clear debt quickly, it's good to budget tightly in stuff like entertainment, but not unrealistically. For example, if you really spend £50 a month on travel, there's no point budgeting zero, spending it anyway and then ending up short in other areas. 

It's also important to put aside for those yearly expenses that pop up all the time like Christmas. To be honest, for Christmas I wouldn't be saving a lot as you don't have kids and can make arrangements with adult friends and relatives not to buy for each other. It's all wasted money getting passed round one another anyway!

[Deleted User]

It's not a case of finding out what you should be spending on groceries, going out and presents.  You really need to sit down and go though your bank statements from the past year to work out how much you actually are spending.  It's no good saying you'll only spend £100 on groceries each month if that's a completely unobtainable goal.  You need to be able to see where you are now to find out what you need to cut back on.

Applewood1

Definitely spend some time going through your bank statements to map out where your money is actually going. I was in a similar situation to you (same age) a few years ago but decided enough was enough. I spent a couple of years there paying off over 10K in CC debt and the only way to do it is to first understand where your money currently goes then changing your habits from there. Going through bank statements is very eyeopening but it's not a quick exercise so dedicate the time needed to do it properly. The good news about the current situation is that most of us have gained time so hopefully shouldn't be too hard!

In terms of budgeting, one of the best things I've found to manage my spending has been opening a Monzo bank account. The real time updates of what you've spent and the daily roundup notifications keep me focused on not over spending and much more aware than I was of how small things add up so quickly! Using Monzo for all my spending (not bills etc) has radically changed my spending habits.

Good luck!

Wannabehousebuyer

Thank you for all of your advice- I went onto the MSE budget planner- went through all my bank statements- WOW there was some absolutely sickening things in there - £150 nights out, £300 shopping sprees.  MOVING ON.....

I have played around with food shopping apps, read the forum for guides on average spending etc-  have based this all around that £5k in 12 months is 416pcm. Now, i have debt to pay etc but that is  kind of m goal ( That would be my shared ownership deposit- without fees) ALSO- with my £400 savings I paid some debts last night at 2am! it was like ripping off a plaster - very happy with myself. 

My budget as follows ( all figures rounded for ease)
Income                                   1645
Rent                                        617
Contents Ins                           7
Water                                     15
Gas and Electric                    24
Service charge                       4
Gardening                              5
Cleaning Products                15
Wifi                                         10
Tv Licence                             5
Phone                                    75
Dog Insurance                      15
Food Shop Inc Dog Food     140
Social Budget                       100  
Petrol                                     20
Debt repayments                  50
Beauty                                  50
Hair                                       20
Clothes                                 40
Xmas                                    10
Holiday                                  20
Birthdays                              20

TOTAL                                  1262
                                             (338)
DEBTS 

Admiral         £148        - made a £111 payment yesterday to settle!!         PAID
Studio           £103         - PAID YESTERDAY 
Aqua             £290        - Made a payment yesterday                   £128 outstanding 
Barclaycard £380
Santander   £496
Very             £1733


My plan - 
End of April Pay day-         338 for debt repayments  (+ 30 Top cash back due) = 368
Pay aqua - 128        (240)
Clear Barclaycard    £380   (-140) but put my food shop back on it - and change my direct debit to pay in full every month and i do my online food shop on it - going forward - .help to increase my credit rating.- or so I have read???? 
Also we are still - maybe going to be in lockdown - so I am hoping to make as many cutbacks as possible - ie I dont think I will need a £100 social budget - maybe a 1/2 takeaways with a zoom quiz? but anything left over at end of may - i will be chucking at my debt. I have a pouch of 200 cigarettes sitting here - waiting to be sold for £50 - which will be my post lockdown night out funds - so it isnt coming out of my budget! LOL

I am aware that xmas and birthdays are looking very light however-i have never saved for them before I want to prioritise me first (MY DEBT) before. 

Any comments are welcome and i would love and advice- it really does help! 

Thank you all so much for coming on this lockdown debt journey with me!

Determined_diva

Well done on making the first step - you got this!

Singlespeeder

Excellent work ! It's quite exciting seeing debt go !! 
Keep up the good work!

Mr87

Wannabehousebuyer said:

Thank you for all of your advice- I went onto the MSE budget planner- went through all my bank statements- WOW there was some absolutely sickening things in there - £150 nights out, £300 shopping sprees.  MOVING ON.....

.. Can absolutely identify with this 😂 once you've figured out how much money is going down the drain, you don't really need much help from us now, do you?

On the house buying front, if you haven't already, open up a lifetime ISA. This gives you a 25% bonus on anything you save for a deoosit when the time comes to buy a property. MSE has good articles on it. You are unlikely to get as good a risk free return as that... 

Wannabehousebuyer

Mr87 said:

.. Can absolutely identify with this 😂 once you've figured out how much money is going down the drain, you don't really need much help from us now, do you?

you say that .... haha i have to stick to this first! And saving  is literally a foreign language to me, i have a s/o every pay day to my savings account - i'm always transferring it back over in drips and drabs!  Plus i need to build my credit rating-  i think its 222/999 - so after paying off my debt that is the next challenge- if you have any advice on that? 
.Mr87 said:

On the house buying front, if you haven't already, open up a lifetime ISA. This gives you a 25% bonus on anything you save for a deoosit when the time comes to buy a property. MSE has good articles on it. You are unlikely to get as good a risk free return as that... 

Yes, I have been looking at this- i need all the help i can get! Thank you! I might do this the afternoon!
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