Everything changes

Dakota_Rose

I work a zero-based budget, giving every pound a job. It works brilliantly for me but takes real discipline. Once it’s allocated, it doesn’t get touched. Also has a way of making you feel perpetually poor as there’s nothing to dip into.

Could be a good way of addressing your debt and managing spending though if you’re feeling ready to commit to it 😊

Chocolatefund

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81967820#Comment_81967820

What date of the month do you get paid?

I get paid on the 'last working day' of the month. All my bills and direct debits come out on the 1st.

Whatever is left is what I've got for the rest of the month. Makes budgeting a million times easier.

enthusiasticsaver

I agree with @Chocolatefund that having your bills coming out soon after payday and if you pay your credit card and put some in savings you will then know what you have left for the month. You could divide into 4 or 5 weeks and budget weekly if that helps. The main thing is to get out of this pattern of getting paid then having a spend up. Ideally it would not matter what day you get paid so you do not have this pattern of boom straight after payday and bust a week or so before the next payday. That is what budgeting helps you do. Smooth out the spending over the month.

foxgloves

Well, giving every £ a job is essentially what budgeting is. Your salary arrives. You sit down & set a budget for the month ahead. Start by deducting bills followed by other essentials i.e groceries, petrol for getting to work, etc. Allow yourself a modest set amount of Spends which is your treat, coffee shop-type money. Not too high an amount as you have debts to pay but enough for a small weekly treat. Then you allocate overpayments to your debts to get rid of them as soon as you realistically can. You need to pay a monthly amount into an Emergency Fund & then into different pot categories to build up funds for clothing, car maintenance, etc....I think all of us on here probably have different savings pots categories. I have 10 pots in addition to general savings & an emergency fund. But the important thing is that your monthly spend, including debt repayments HAS to be within your monthly income. As I found from experience, it is much easier to build savings pots & general savings once one is no longer wasting valuable income on servicing debt.

As it seems you don't have a mortgage or rent to pay, you really are in a prime position to get yourself solvent. You just have to want it more than you want to fritter your money away as soon as you are paid. It's a personal choice of course, but the current course of action comes with a high likelihood that your debt will increase, making payback when you do finally accept the necessity, a much longer process.

I recognise quite a bit of my own past spendy behaviour in your posts. I discovered budgeting in my 40s - a process which facilitated us paying off around £35k of debt - so am proof that it is never too late to improve our relationships with money.

Can you see yourself wanting to be debt-free more than you want to continue your current over-spending patterns?

South_coast

Exactly what Foxgloves has said 👍 I receive my wage slip and make a note of the total figure. Then I deduct what's coming out for bills, what I want to put into savings (in your case, make extra payments to the debt), what I need to spend on groceries and petrol (you don't have a car, so your categories will be different), then what's left over is for me to spend as I wish.

It doesn't need to be hugely complicated with multiple different bank accounts. I believe you already have a Monzo account - so do I, and I use the pots to split out the money. If I end up spending more on groceries than I thought, but I'm not doing as much driving as I thought I would be - no problem, I can move it from the petrol pot to the groceries pot. But if the money isn't in the pots, then that's that and I stop spending. I ignore the overdraft option completely, because that's not my money

foxgloves

"Because that's not my money".

Yes, THIS! Absolutely agree, @South_coast. That's pretty much the mantra I used while debt-busting & I still include it in my dfw diary signature! Our income is our money. There isn't any more.

itsthelittlethings

I think I am going to pay £100 off my CC per month and ask for a reduction in the limit each time I do. Whenever I get extra money through overtime or whatever I will chuck it towards that and do the same. Other than that I will have a zero based budget giving every penny a job. I already have quite a few bank accounts and use them for various different pots. Hopefully this plan will work.

itsthelittlethings

Work is dire, but otherwise things are good. I have seen a job that's the logical next step for me so I might apply this weekend. Anything to get away from the "team" I'm in, if you can signify them with that word.

I managed to make a curry last night. It just needs portioning up for the freezer. I made a pasta bake last weekend and also have the ingredients for another curry which I will make next weekend. I get paid on Friday and will shop for over the weekend and order a delivery shop for early next week.

Out of a friend's birthday dinner tomorrow. Must find a card and write her a voucher for a hand knitted pair of socks. Then my non-local sister is here with her family at the weekend as her son is playing sport. She is also going to see my niece's new flat. Hey boyfriend has finally passed his test and bought a car so he can get to work easier. All very exciting. Next weekend I should be doing overtime and the weekend after I am finally going to see my mum.

All good except for a hospital appointment and procedure next week which I'm not looking forward to. You have to balance the good with the bad in this life.

I will do a full debt round up when I get paid. It's too depressing to think about now.

itsthelittlethings

Had an ok day at work and did my chores and cooked when I got home. Just watching Masterchef and knitting now. I am feeling anxious but I don't know why so I'm just trying to chill. My flat is very light and gets hot in the summer as the windows don't open very wide and it's south west facing. Although I do like the summer I'm not so keen on the longer evenings, especially as I need to go to bed earlier now to get up early.

itsthelittlethings

Got a big supermarket delivery in yesterday so am set for food for a couple of weeks hopefully. Am doing well on not spending all my money the moment I get paid. Budgeting down to the last penny is working well.

Saw family today, watched my nephew play sport and then had a lovely picnic in the sun. Now finishing the weekend chores and cooking dinner. I haven't done my studying but I will try and do one unit this evening and the second unit tomorrow.

Knitting a pair of socks for a friend that I'm really enjoying. Spent a lot of time knitting yesterday hence the chores today.

I put my credit card limit down after making a payment to it when I get paid. Hopefully this will lead to it actually getting paid off.