Weekly Budget

Spendalot_2 · 28 June 2005 at 2:15PM

Just trying to set myself a weekly budget.

I was thinking £150 to cover, food, petrol, clothes, entertaining, household purchases, eating out etc etc per week.

This would be the only expense over and above my regular bills (mortgage, utlities, childcare - essentials only).

I would like advice on

a) Do people think this is a reasonable amount for me, my partner and two year old to live on.

b) Is it really necessary to break it down into each category e.g food, petrol, etc etc. Although I have a rough idea what I would like to spend on food etc each week, there always seems to be some sort of emergency expenses so I figured that one pot would be the best way to budget. When we overspend on the groceries, I can claw back on other areas. Does this make sense?

Advice Appreciated.

Ember999 · 28 June 2005 at 2:50PM

I think that is a more than ample budget for yourself, your partner and your young child. There is just the two of us and I usually take out £100 cash per week to cover food, petrol, sundry expenses etc. I also find setting a firm budget for groceries counter-productive sometimes as I often spend very little one week and a lot the next, depending on what I need to buy. I buy special offers etc. as and when they come up, so shopping budget varies.

Xbigman · 28 June 2005 at 3:14PM

Personally I'd break it down. Some things are quite consistent, like petrol. If you travel 10 miles to work each day you are going to use similar amounts of petrol each month.

Budgets should however be flexible. You should have a target for each category to give you something to aim for but be prepared to be over on one and under on another. As long as it all adds up at the end of the week/month you are ok. You can also have a contingency built in. £5 or £10. Personally I don't do this as I tended to spend the contingency on the first thing that came up I hadn't allowed for, whereas I now have to look for an alternative to spending first and actually spend as a last resort.

If you are always over on one part then you can adjust the budget rather than ending up stressed that you can't come in on target.
Regards

X

david_hellier · 28 June 2005 at 5:06PM

Try to use less than the £150 per week and carry forward to the next week any you do not use. This way you build up a fund. This fund is used for any emergencies or luxuries, or washer repairs etc. This can only be managed by writing down what you spend. I would advise not taking out £150 in cash each week as you will spend it. So if you spent £130 one week, you have £150 plus £20=£170 next week and so on.

It is important to build a fund like this to avoid using credit cards or loans.

Spendalot_2 · 28 June 2005 at 8:08PM

David - thanks, I was planning to take out 150pw in cash. Your approach is much more sensible.....glad I asked for advice.

newfunk · 28 June 2005 at 8:17PM

Our budget per week is £40 for food, £10 for petrol £16 for partners cigs. We work it that at the end of every month we have an amount left, for which we can go shopping for whatever we want/need!! Works well for us, but I definetly see the benefits of what David says, When i was married I used to work this way!!

johanne · 29 June 2005 at 8:12AM

you can use martins brilliant budget planner to help!

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1089226742,17582

I still live at home and so dont have bills etc to pay but i do budget.. one thing i do is i only withdraw £30 a week to spend on a night out, bus fare and stuff i CANT pay by debit card with... all other transactions i use my card for because i know if i withdraw £20 cash for a £16.51 purchase i will spend the rest on rubbish! :rolleyes:

I of course come straight home and record all my transactions in my little notebook so i can make sure i know where im up to with my spending and how much i have left!

Weekly Budget

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free