Not sure if this is the right category but I need help on managing my spending if poss please?

Cisco001

"I have my hair done every 6-7 weeks at £75"
???
Why is it so expensive? You probably need another hairdresser. 

I personally have multiple bank accounts.
I have my main current account for salary and direct debit paying bills.
Once I have got my salary, I only left enough money for the bills in that account.
The spending money move to Chase account for its 1% cash back.
And obviously any spare move to various easy access/ regular saving account/ ISA

daveyjp

Even living alone circa £150 a week (assuming (£100 is saved) for all day to day living expenses outside of unavoidable spend isn't that much.

It may seem a lot over a single week, but not everything is purchased weekly so one week you may need to spend £250, the issue is have you saved £150 over previous weeks (over and above your regular £100 savings) to cover the extra spend that week?  If not your £100 savings will disappear.

Brewer21

We used to do a money pot for bills many years ago then actually keep the bank account for day to day spending. Now it's all changed all online bill payments even daily shopping we hardly use cash.
We have two bank accounts (well more than that but not used so much  ones) The main account is for incomings and bill payments, the second account is for spending.
Once we are paid and enough left in there to cover DD/SO payments and a savings pot we transfer the rest into the spending account for day to day spending.
We like it that way as you can separate and keep an eye on spenditure. We do of course have large bills sometimes to pay, like recently we bought a new fridge/freezer. That went out of the savings account which is an easy access one but we initially put it on a CC but paid off in full when due.

Not possible with yourself of course being on your own but we cut each others hairs now, ridiculous prices now (£75 I guess you get the full treatment) Not seen an hairdresser now either of us for around 12 years. My wife gets comments like, I like your hair it looks nice, it suits you and stuff like that, the old man did it👌

Marinis

Believe it or not £75 is cheap around here for colour and cut. Other hairdressers charge over £100. 

Marinis

Hi daveyjp,
 I’m sorry I don’t quite understand your response to my question. Are you saying that I should easily have sufficient funds. Would you suggest I save more each month and if so how would that help if I’m already using my savings of £100 to get me through to next pay day? 

prettyandfluffy

Marinis said:

Hi daveyjp,
 I’m sorry I don’t quite understand your response to my question. Are you saying that I should easily have sufficient funds. Would you suggest I save more each month and if so how would that help if I’m already using my savings of £100 to get me through to next pay day? 

No, the opposite I think, that your income isn't high.

prettyandfluffy

Marinis said:

Believe it or not £75 is cheap around here for colour and cut. Other hairdressers charge over £100. 

Once you know exactly where your money is going you can make decisions about where to economise and what you won't compromise on.  You need to make those choices because you know what you can live with.  As my Mum was a hairdresser I had many haircuts (and perms!) that I didn't want, as soon as I had a weekend job I started going to a hairdresser and still do.  Your money, your choices.

Nasqueron

Marinis said:

Believe it or not £75 is cheap around here for colour and cut. Other hairdressers charge over £100. 

End of the day, if you're struggling for money and justifying spending £75 because it's less than £100+ rather than thinking if you can live without going so often or doing it at home etc then you'll end up going into debt when the savings run out. You can arrest the spiral now by thinking differently, or continue on the path you are and all the budget software / SOA in the world won't help. The Debt Free board will straight off suggest cutting mobile bill down, cutting broadband down, shopping around for deals and yes, not spending so much on hair

boingy

Regardless of whether you use a spreadsheet or a notepad or something else, the first task is the same. You need to write down everything you spend, no matter how small. You need to do it across a whole month at least, preferably across two or three months to capture the less frequent expenses. Then you will probably see a few "incidental" costs that add up to more than you think. A friend of mine used to buy a large Costa coffee on his way to work every day and sometimes another one on his way home. He couldn't believe how much that was costing him each month!

Yorkie1

blue.peter said:

Yorkie1 said:

Years ago, perhaps before we were all expected to be so savvy with computers, I did a short budgeting course.

That sounds really useful. I've never come across anything of that sort. It might have saved me a lot of stress if I'd had the benefit of such a course 50 years ago. Who provided it? I'm wondering if the OP would benefit from going on one if it's available to her/him/them. It sounds like something that could usefully be promoted to other forum users in similar positions.

It was run by the Treasurer of our church, who was a retired bank manager!

As others have written, the main focus was on getting people to be aware of what their expenditure was, so that they could make informed decisions. There was absolutely no judgement on what people chose to prioritise.

For example, if you were buying a meal deal each day from a shop while you were working, say £4 in today's money, that would be £20 per week, which would be £940 per year (approx 5 weeks' holiday). Once you have that information, you can decide whether you prefer to make your own lunch at a cheaper price, or not.

Or an average sized car cost £xxx per year to run (tax, insurance, fuel, depreciation / servicing). How much would it cost you to use public transport? What is important to you? (Although I did very low mileage, it was important enough for me to have the flexibility that a car of my own offered, rather than the more cost-effective option of using other options. No judgement, just informed decision-making in the light of personal priorities).

More recently, I was shocked at the amount I had spent on takeaways and on ebooks, when I went through my bank & credit card statements to work out exactly what I was spending on what!