Scared of spending money

[Moaningmoney]

I know this sounds really stupid . But I have always had money weekly. But I have recently gone over to uc . So now I get it monthly. I have 1100 to last me a month. I know that is a reasonable amount. Rent had already been paid . I feel scared of spending even on food and other needed stuff . I know that's not logic at all and I can't even explain why. Logically I know I just split it into 4 . But it doesn't sink it.

Could you work with enveloppes and put 1/4 in each of them so you know you’re not going to overspend?
I think it can take a bit of time to get used to manage a monthly budget vs weekly

No I don't use cash. It would confused me even more because bills are paid on line etc .

There must be an app that will log your spending?

Set up a new bank account and get a quarter of the money paid weekly by standing order from the account your universal credit goes into. Use the new account for all your spending and just forget about the other one.

Set up a starling bank account and make use of the "spaces" feature - basically pots of savings for different functions e.g. bills etc. then they are not shown in your available balance so you know what you have to spend only. you can set up direct debits to come out of different spaces.

Oh thank you . Are they easy to open. I don't have a driving licence or passport. I'm going to Google.

It is difficult to change systems.. the 28 day Vs 30 / 31 day cycles make it hard when budgets are finely balanced.

If you have access to a spreadsheet ( Google sheets is free) it is worth setting an annual budget ... Go back through your bank statements to work out how much your bills are for the year. Add a little more to take into account cost increases

On another sheet calculate best you can what your income is going to be for the year.

Divide both figures by 365 to give daily amounts. You can then use these figures to calculate how much your costs are going to be for the month / 28 day period week and how much income you have for the same period.... Subtract costs from income to give your disposable amount for the period.

I found it very easy but i had a passport, so you might need to check. I did it all online and within a couple of hours had an account set up!

Id go with Starling too. They are really great.

You can do something similar with other bank accounts and a saving account. It would be much easier if you have easy access, eg with an app.
You can also set up direct debits so it’s all fine automatically if you’re worried about forgetting.