Im really bad with money
Discussion
As the title says im really bad with money, I dont know what I do with it, every month it just seems to disappear out of my account on general living expenses.
I earn an average wage and should have a fair bit left over after payng my bills.
I try to budget about £50 a week for food, is this too much for a single person, ive tryed cutting it down but still have no money in my account at the end of the month? I live close to work so dont spend that much on fuel but that doesnt come out of the £50. I probably spend £15-20 a week on fuel.
I dont go out drinking, I dont buy the latest fashions, I dont smoke infact I hardly do anything except work..
I just never seem to have money in the bank.
So any tips? so I can get control of my money and save up?
I earn an average wage and should have a fair bit left over after payng my bills.
I try to budget about £50 a week for food, is this too much for a single person, ive tryed cutting it down but still have no money in my account at the end of the month? I live close to work so dont spend that much on fuel but that doesnt come out of the £50. I probably spend £15-20 a week on fuel.
I dont go out drinking, I dont buy the latest fashions, I dont smoke infact I hardly do anything except work..
I just never seem to have money in the bank.
So any tips? so I can get control of my money and save up?
I used to be exactly the same. I was earning an average wage but although I didn't smoke, buy gadgets, games consoles, films or music, have Sky or a phone contract, I didn't take out needless warranties or run an expensive car, and yet I didn't seem to have anything to show for it. The only thing I know I spent money on was in the pub, but I wasn't in there often enough to make a difference.
In truth, it was only by becoming very poor for a couple of years that I really learned to handle money properly.
The key for me was to consider everything in monthly terms. Don't think of the TV licence as £150 a year, for example, but as £12 per month. Do that with everything; house and car insurance, council tax and even holidays, and you begin to get a much clearer picture of how to divide your wages. You'll see how much you should put aside for the non-optional things (and you could set up a separate account and pay this much in every month), and also how much you can have fun with.
The next - more extreme - step is to do it the other way for the small things. You're not spending 60p on a Mars bar a day, you're spending £13 a month. The major one for me was getting lunch every day. Getting a Tesco meal deal or something from the lunch van for £5 a day seems like nothing but it's £107 a month!
By simply making sandwiches and buying multipacks of stuff you can easily save yourself £50-70 a month, and your lunch tends to be nicer too
In truth, it was only by becoming very poor for a couple of years that I really learned to handle money properly.
The key for me was to consider everything in monthly terms. Don't think of the TV licence as £150 a year, for example, but as £12 per month. Do that with everything; house and car insurance, council tax and even holidays, and you begin to get a much clearer picture of how to divide your wages. You'll see how much you should put aside for the non-optional things (and you could set up a separate account and pay this much in every month), and also how much you can have fun with.
The next - more extreme - step is to do it the other way for the small things. You're not spending 60p on a Mars bar a day, you're spending £13 a month. The major one for me was getting lunch every day. Getting a Tesco meal deal or something from the lunch van for £5 a day seems like nothing but it's £107 a month!
By simply making sandwiches and buying multipacks of stuff you can easily save yourself £50-70 a month, and your lunch tends to be nicer too
That is good advice, I used to be crap too.
Do the thing above, work out your bills for the year and divide by 12, putting this amount each month into a seperate account.
Then give yourself a weekly budget for petrol, food and spending. Either get this out each week and use cash or make sure you are good with accounting.
Set up a spreadsheet that lists your incomes, outgoings and record your spending, then you will see where your money is going.
The most important thing I learnt is don't just go to the cash machine and get money out every time you need it, when you see a one off figure you don't know how real this is.
Do the thing above, work out your bills for the year and divide by 12, putting this amount each month into a seperate account.
Then give yourself a weekly budget for petrol, food and spending. Either get this out each week and use cash or make sure you are good with accounting.
Set up a spreadsheet that lists your incomes, outgoings and record your spending, then you will see where your money is going.
The most important thing I learnt is don't just go to the cash machine and get money out every time you need it, when you see a one off figure you don't know how real this is.
I have 3 accounts with my bank
The money comes into my current account, then a large chunk moves bu S/O into my budget account, and another much smaller chunk goes into a savings account.
The budget account is for all my regular bills (spreadsheet on a yearly basis then divided by twelve). This includes all regular car related costs like petrol, seviceing, tax etc. It also includes my food, kids clubs and hobbies etc. basically everything other than plain old spending money. I do add £50 just to be sure. The great thing is I know exactly how much I need to survive each month, and I know exactly what can be trimmed back if things really get tough.
The remaining money is effectively disposable income, so I've worked out a fair amount for socilaising etc, and put the rest into the savings account. If I need more in the month I can always pull it out of the savings account, but it acts as a warning that I'm overspending.
Once the savings hit any reasonable level I transfer them to my offset mortgage.
It works well, and I've been doing it for 20+ years.
The money comes into my current account, then a large chunk moves bu S/O into my budget account, and another much smaller chunk goes into a savings account.
The budget account is for all my regular bills (spreadsheet on a yearly basis then divided by twelve). This includes all regular car related costs like petrol, seviceing, tax etc. It also includes my food, kids clubs and hobbies etc. basically everything other than plain old spending money. I do add £50 just to be sure. The great thing is I know exactly how much I need to survive each month, and I know exactly what can be trimmed back if things really get tough.
The remaining money is effectively disposable income, so I've worked out a fair amount for socilaising etc, and put the rest into the savings account. If I need more in the month I can always pull it out of the savings account, but it acts as a warning that I'm overspending.
Once the savings hit any reasonable level I transfer them to my offset mortgage.
It works well, and I've been doing it for 20+ years.
All good advice above, but I found updating a spreadsheet on a computer was too much effort if I'm honest. My approach is a little different.
When I get paid each month I cut a strip of paper and keep it with me detailing my bank balance on pay-day, then I write down all my guaranteed expenses working down the slip. Once those are deducted it shows my spending money left for the month. That in turn has deductions for whatever I have planned for the month. For each line item I tick them off on the right hand side when I see them leave my bank account, or if I've transferred into another account. At the bottom I'll keep a running tab of what I've spent so far on things like food, beer and petrol to help keep me in check - to make sure I don't over-spend too much!
Mine would look like this for example:
Balance.................Transfered....Paid
£XXXX
-775 Rent....................[X].......[X]
-100 Council tax.............[ ].......[ ]
-200 Food....................[ ].......[ ]
-15 TV license...............[ ].......[ ]
-45 Phone bill...............[ ].......[ ]
etc
etc
£XXXX <-- what's left for spending
-240 car tax.................[ ].......[ ]
-200 holiday saving..........[X].......[ ]
etc
etc
Spent so far:
Beer: 25
Food: 85
Petrol:
Another thing I do very well is have multiple savings accounts so I can keep my money separate. I have different accounts for holidays, car expenditure and my monthly spend.
You might think this approach is completely anal but believe me it has really helped me and I'm rarely out of pocket. I hope you find this useful!
When I get paid each month I cut a strip of paper and keep it with me detailing my bank balance on pay-day, then I write down all my guaranteed expenses working down the slip. Once those are deducted it shows my spending money left for the month. That in turn has deductions for whatever I have planned for the month. For each line item I tick them off on the right hand side when I see them leave my bank account, or if I've transferred into another account. At the bottom I'll keep a running tab of what I've spent so far on things like food, beer and petrol to help keep me in check - to make sure I don't over-spend too much!
Mine would look like this for example:
=====================================
Balance.................Transfered....Paid
£XXXX
-775 Rent....................[X].......[X]
-100 Council tax.............[ ].......[ ]
-200 Food....................[ ].......[ ]
-15 TV license...............[ ].......[ ]
-45 Phone bill...............[ ].......[ ]
etc
etc
£XXXX <-- what's left for spending
-240 car tax.................[ ].......[ ]
-200 holiday saving..........[X].......[ ]
etc
etc
Spent so far:
Beer: 25
Food: 85
Petrol:
=====================================
Another thing I do very well is have multiple savings accounts so I can keep my money separate. I have different accounts for holidays, car expenditure and my monthly spend.
You might think this approach is completely anal but believe me it has really helped me and I'm rarely out of pocket. I hope you find this useful!
Thats for all the tips guys.
I guess the basic premise of the advice is that I need to keep a record of what im spending. As im clearly spending more than I think.
I have a spreadsheet with my monthly out goings on and will build on that.
What I have been trying to do, is get £50 cash a week for food and the only other thing that I use my card for is to put petrol in my car, but I dont think this is working. But their always seems to be something else each month that I need to spend money on. If I was infact just spending £50 a week on food and £20 a week on petrol I would have a couple of hundred quid left over a month.
I guess the basic premise of the advice is that I need to keep a record of what im spending. As im clearly spending more than I think.
I have a spreadsheet with my monthly out goings on and will build on that.
What I have been trying to do, is get £50 cash a week for food and the only other thing that I use my card for is to put petrol in my car, but I dont think this is working. But their always seems to be something else each month that I need to spend money on. If I was infact just spending £50 a week on food and £20 a week on petrol I would have a couple of hundred quid left over a month.
Odie said:
Thats for all the tips guys.
I guess the basic premise of the advice is that I need to keep a record of what im spending. As im clearly spending more than I think.
I have a spreadsheet with my monthly out goings on and will build on that.
What I have been trying to do, is get £50 cash a week for food and the only other thing that I use my card for is to put petrol in my car, but I dont think this is working. But their always seems to be something else each month that I need to spend money on. If I was infact just spending £50 a week on food and £20 a week on petrol I would have a couple of hundred quid left over a month.
Buy yourself a calendar for your wall as well - whenever anybody even hints at throwing a party stick it in the calendar so you don't forget and then you'll plan your monthly spend more accurately too!I guess the basic premise of the advice is that I need to keep a record of what im spending. As im clearly spending more than I think.
I have a spreadsheet with my monthly out goings on and will build on that.
What I have been trying to do, is get £50 cash a week for food and the only other thing that I use my card for is to put petrol in my car, but I dont think this is working. But their always seems to be something else each month that I need to spend money on. If I was infact just spending £50 a week on food and £20 a week on petrol I would have a couple of hundred quid left over a month.
Jeez, I'm beginning to sounds like a right boring fart aren't I?? LOL
When you say £50 a week on food, is that a weekly shop, odds and sods or a combination of the two? From my experience, it's the lunchtime sandwiches that are the killer. Simply making your own lunch will probably save you £20 a week once you add it all up. Likewise readymeals. A little bit of planning on the food front can save you a fortune. Doesn't even need to be time consuming. Make a batch of pasta for dinner one night, but add a little extra to have for lunch the following day (or freeze for another night). Maybe have half that supermarket pizza for dinner, then the other half for lunch the next day. It's the £3 sandwiches, the 80p posh crisps and (in my experience) the Nero/Costa/Starbucks coffee that adds up. Don't have to kill it totally, but perhaps moderate it by having one day a week (call it Friday) where you buy rather than make lunch. Soon becomes habit.
Even if you don't start making your own, simply timing food trips can save you money. If you go to M&S / Tesco Express (assuming you're near either) after 2pm or late in the evening, they'll have loads of sandwiches and salads reduced, so you can buy a few - they'll happily keep a day or two. Do that on a Monday and you have lunch for two days already sorted. If you have things like crisps or yogurts, buy multipacks rather than on the spot purchases. Miles cheaper! If you can overcome the PH stigma, Poundland / Lidl / Aldi are great for that.
Even if you don't start making your own, simply timing food trips can save you money. If you go to M&S / Tesco Express (assuming you're near either) after 2pm or late in the evening, they'll have loads of sandwiches and salads reduced, so you can buy a few - they'll happily keep a day or two. Do that on a Monday and you have lunch for two days already sorted. If you have things like crisps or yogurts, buy multipacks rather than on the spot purchases. Miles cheaper! If you can overcome the PH stigma, Poundland / Lidl / Aldi are great for that.
hornet said:
Good Lunch stuff
The £50 is everything I need to spend in the week so anything from the supermarket (food, cleaning stuff, beer etc), lunch at work, coffee from the canteen etc.I get a full hot meal or a salad at the work canteen for about £2-£3 (like school dinners) then I just have a sandwich or something on toast on an evening.
I dont feel like im living a frivolous life or spend loads of money a month thats what im finding strange. Just getting on with it, budgeting and always having an empty bank account even though I should have money left over at the end of the month.
It certainly doesnt feel like im spending £500 a month on food and petrol and other expenses.
Odie said:
Rollin said:
Direct debit to a deposit account of 100-200 quid a month.
Ive tried that once, going to give it another try.If so, get this - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/account-tracker/id3...
Make a note of what you spend, and put in all monthly expenses on a recurring basis - and it'll tell you what you have left to spend.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff