Request for personal budgeting

arkidgosu

I’ve recently started to make a good bit of money in my current job. I come from a very working class background, and my parents struggled when I was younger, and aren’t very financially educated which I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me saying - so I’m not either.

I’ve done some work to learn the basics, read some books etc, and I’ve started investing into HSBC all world index fund. I’ve got many goals and I’m struggling to budget for them.

My income can vary quite a lot but the minimum I earn in a month would be around £3000, and the maximum maybe £4200. Each October I can also claim my tax back for the year previous, so get a lump sum then. This year it won’t be a lot because i started mid-year, so I’ll be looking at around £4000 on top of October pay.

I'm currently saving the travel but also want to save for my future. I have £6000 in my index fund, £5000 in an emergency fund, and my pension is diversified and has £13,000 too. I recently took out an £8500 loan across 4 years which I pay at £200 a month, and that’s my main outgoing currently. I don’t currently pay rent but am moving to Manchester soon where I expect to be paying out £600 or slightly more to rent with my girlfriend, and obviously some more on leisure and food etc.

I appreciate this is a bit of a word vomit and probably is missing a lot of details. I’m just looking for some general advice on where to start.  

arkidgosu

I’m aiming to go travelling in around 1-2 years which is my main goal I suppose. 

Shadyocuk

Why did you take out the loan if you have a min of 3K a month income and no expenses ?? and if you intend to go traveling in 1 or 2 years what will you use as income to repay it whilst traveling ??

jimjames

arkidgosu said:

I appreciate this is a bit of a word vomit and probably is missing a lot of details. I’m just looking for some general advice on where to start.  

How much is the loan interest rate? If it's higher than the savings then it's taking you backwards rather than forwards with your plans. No point paying interest at 10% but only earning it at 4% on your savings.

arkidgosu

jimjames said:

arkidgosu said:

I appreciate this is a bit of a word vomit and probably is missing a lot of details. I’m just looking for some general advice on where to start.  

How much is the loan interest rate? If it's higher than the savings then it's taking you backwards rather than forwards with your plans. No point paying interest at 10% but only earning it at 4% on your savings.

It’s 6.4%. Do you think I’m better rerouting some of my monthly saving amount to overpaying the loan to get that paid off early? I could pay £200 over each month and pay it off in a couple years.  

arkidgosu

Shadyocuk said:

Why did you take out the loan if you have a min of 3K a month income and no expenses ?? and if you intend to go traveling in 1 or 2 years what will you use as income to repay it whilst traveling ??

That’s a very good point and I don’t have a very good answer. I traded my last car in at £6.6k, and got a loan of 8.5k to get a 15k car. I’ve always been very into cars, I get a lot from them, so thought I’d treat myself to something a little nicer. The car I have will hold its value pretty well and I’ll sell it close to the time I go travelling to finish any loan payment off. I know financially that’s not the best idea but it’s the one part of my life where I don’t mind because of what I get from it. 

Eco_Miser

A general rule: as far as possible, save up before buying anything, rather than buying on credit or getting a loan. 

So, you know you'll want a replacement car sometime, probably furniture and white goods for your new Manchester home, etc. 

Divide the cost of each item by the number of months until you want it, then try to put those amounts into a high-paying easy access savings account (or regular saver account, or maybe a fixed term fixed rate savings account for the more distant needs) each month.

 If the £3000 a month doesn't cover it all, use the extra in higher paying months to catch up.  Keep track of it all using a spreadsheet like Libre Office Calc. 

arkidgosu

Eco_Miser said:

A general rule: as far as possible, save up before buying anything, rather than buying on credit or getting a loan. 

So, you know you'll want a replacement car sometime, probably furniture and white goods for your new Manchester home, etc. 

Divide the cost of each item by the number of months until you want it, then try to put those amounts into a high-paying easy access savings account (or regular saver account, or maybe a fixed term fixed rate savings account for the more distant needs) each month.

 If the £3000 a month doesn't cover it all, use the extra in higher paying months to catch up.  Keep track of it all using a spreadsheet like Libre Office Calc. 

Thank you for this. Really simple idea but almost feels like I’ve had an epiphany, really good idea. I’ll put this to practice!