Budget for everything?

crockpot

Hi

Not sure if this is the right place to put this-feel free to move it!!

Been looking at our finances, and although I budget for big bills such as car insurance,road tax etc, i do not include other things like clothes for the kids. So i end up using the credit card to pay for stuff like that, and end up with no money!!

Hubbie has changed his job, working less hours and my part time job may end soon, so trying to manage of just his wage.

I have been doing meal planning and have got my food bill down, I have £50 cash each week for 2 children and 2 adults, which includes a bottle of wine to keep me sane!!

Any ideas or any family budget spreadsheets out there?

Need to include
School Uniform
School shoes
birthdays
cub subs
holidays inc spend-currenty only save for price of hol
in a nutshell everything!!

Thanks

Finished work for xmas so hope I will have time to sort money out

angchris

hiya :santa2: i managed to bring my son up on a tight budget by only buying things when really needed. for school uniform why not go into the school and see if they have any lost property for sale or stick an ad in freecycle for named school sweatshirts etc i found people/friends more than happy to pass on used uniform still in good condition. schools shoes were only bought when needed, if they still fitted then he still wore them...no need for new shoes every half term like my friend did (must of cost her a fortune) a good polish and they looked presentable. for things like kids birthdays buy a big roll of plain coloured wrapping paper that can be used for all occasions, and i bought a wholesale lot of cards off of ebay dirt cheap so i always have cards at hand. likewise presents can be bought in bulk as well or buy cheap stuff through the year when you see it and put it away till needed. cub subs cant really chop any off that lol.
for our holidays we normally go budget aka camping i bought my tent years ago and its paid for itself 10 x over. each month pop what you can reasonably afford into a savings account and just let it build, you don`t have to go away every year but when you do don`t go over budget. last time 5 of us went camping to normandy we had bbq`s most nights and baguettes for lunch, we had a fab time and for 3 weeks it cost under a thousand but we did go abit mad on the vino so could of done it even cheaper :rotfl:
check out the moneysaving old style board for a bit more inspiration, happy chrimbo everyone!!!:xmassign:

brummiebabe

Hi

I've recently started doing the proper budget thing (ie for everything!) as , like you, when kids need clothes/shoes etc, we hadn't got the money there. I opened an account with ING direct - you can then go on to open other accounts with them, I have accounts for xmas, kids clothes, our clothes, kids activitites (swimming, football etc), holidays, kids birthdays & general birthdays. I then have a standing order/direct debit to each account for the amount budgeted for each item. Then, when the money is required, you can transfer back to your main bank account. You can name each account with ING which makes it easier to keep track of! Now, when I get my £76 bill for swimming lessons each 12 weeks - the money is there!!!:j

I don't know if this is the kind of thing you were asking about...or whether I misunderstood your post:rotfl: .....if I did, then apologies!!!!

Js_Other_Half

Martin has a spreadsheet you can download which covers everything I think:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning

hth

crockpot

Hi

thanks for that, I already have martins spreadsheet.

Think i will have to sort my own out when I have time, have things which are paid weekly,monthly,termly,annual etc

Cubs is not much, but it all adds up, £1.50 for this, £2.50 for that club etc.

Might need a big sit down with a glass of wine when I work it all out.

kippers

We budget for everything now (the best we can) though it took us a while to get it right. We budget separately for Brownies, swimming lessons, piano lessons etc. We now budget for xmas and birthdays (this is the first year i have nearly finished birthday shopping for our hugh families for 2008)!

We budget for holidays, food, hair cuts etc and we have a 'general pot' for clothes...once this money has gone, then it's gone for that month.

Things still come along that we haven't budgeted for like school trips etc but we are getting better at budgeting all the time.

We also have a budget for day to day spending per week. This includes going out with friends...so if there is no money in this budget, then we don't go!

We started our budget by looking at the last 12 months of spending and working a budget from that. If your outgoings end up being more than your incomings, then adjust your budget.

At first it makes you feel like you have nothing extra to spend per month (but thats exactly why you are doing the budget in the first place), but soon you can see it working.