I've just done a budgeting spreadsheet - shocked!

[Allnewtometoo]

Where does the money go?? I do know i have a bit of a "frittering away" habit. Buying a drink at work, getting the dc snacks from the petrol station, that sort of thing but jesus I cannot believe how much I should have "leftover" each month. I know that on paper can be different to reality but even so, this is mind boggling.

Can anyone recommend a way to sort myself out? Is there a plan/program/book?

I know some of you will say "just stop spending" but I feel like I need more than that.

I've previously read about sone sort of budgeting app but can't remember what it was called.

I think this is what to focus on, along with splitting your money into different accounts and only spending from the spending account on a 'when it's gone, it's gone basis'. Being more mindful about spending can make a huge differences as all those 'it's only a few quid' purchases can add up massively.

A daily £5 spend every weekday is about £100 pm, or £1200 per year or close to £15k a decade if you saved the money at 4% interest instead. That's the price of a very decent second hand car, just by cutting out one tiny little incidental spend.

And many people spend a lot more than that, hundreds of pounds a month on things that they hardly notice, don't always value and could be cut down a lot with little noticeable change in lifestyle.

Leaving aside the people who don't have enough money to cover the basics, and those who have so much money they can spend how they like without running out of money, it's probably the biggest factor for the 'middle majority' in how financially stable they are, how much they spend on non essentials. The people who are 'always struggling and never have any money, finances derailed by 'unexpected' expenses like a car repair or a vets bill' have just spent too much on crap a lot of the time.

Another thing I do and it costs nothing, if you're with O2 sign up.to Airtime rewards, it gives you cashback on your spending in certain shops, I bought a toilet brush from Argos the other day and it's given me 3p, it does take a while to build up as it's only certain shops but I've had £80 off my phone bill over the past 3 years for doing nothing other than my usual spending.

I also do Bing rewards, 5 minutes a day on my phone searching(which I was doing anyway) and reading news articles, I got a £5 voucher for Tesco last week.

And if your company has a benefit scheme where you can buy vouchers for certain places, sometimes you can save £5 on a £100 Sainsbury's voucher for example.

Google sheets has a really good budgeting spreadsheet that I use and it’s free. Use a bank like Monzo or Starling that lets you set up pots for spending.

I adopted a "never buy anything" attitude. Literally, every single purchase I questioned or tried to talk myself into delay or could I do without, or plan a substitute (coffee flask etc) as soon as I realised.

Spending only cash, or giving yourself a daily budget for frittering, can also sharpen focus.

I've always (since 1980s) had money left over at end of month so didn't have to worry about day to day budgeting.

Last 25 yrs, the big expenses (eg mortgage) come out of bank account days after my pay gets to bank account, so basically I only have to think about budgeting for one-off big expenses... most spending goes on credit card so then I only have to think about paying that off once a month.

as i said elsewhere, I have a 'don't buy anything' attitude in general. I have to persuade myself to buy anything most the time.

Agree
I take out £50 cash for top ups and bits when out per month

If I'm out shopping or running errands I take a bottle of water with me.
Sometimes a small coffee for after swimming-Yeti flask
Thats £5 saved right there

Children dont need constant snacks, if they do just buy multipack and fill water bottles to take with you

Personally I found they are less whiny for stuff if its Aldi crisps and good old fashioned tap water on offer 🤣

Ahh this is exciting, it’ll be life changing having complete insight into your spending and you will feel so much more in control. Good luck with it, you have made the first huge steps to change and towards financial freedom and choice, rather than it having control over you. Agree with having a look at Dave Ramsey for advice on being debt free :)

I swear by zero-based budgeting. Have done it for years.

I have a Google document and write everything out for the month. It really helps me focus my mind on what needs to be paid. Whatever is left after bills gets divided into virtual pots. Food. Transport. Gifts, etc.

Keeps me out of debt. When the pots are empty, I sell things if I need to.

one of the best money saving things I’ve done recently is also one of the simplest and that’s to keep a couple of multipacks of snacks and fruit shoot (own brand superstore ones) in the boot of my car. Then when we’re out and about for the day I can just grab something for my handbag rather than buying snacks at 3 times the price. I know kids don’t ‘need’ snacks but I also know that if she starts getting Hangry my day will be miserable so if a fruit windup or pack of raisins from the car will avoid that then that’s what I’ll do.

I gave myself a shake a few years ago and went through my bank statements ans put in all my spending for the year and was shocked. I set up budgets for Christmas and holidays, so e,g £150 a month for holidays, 200 for Christmas and birthdays. 50 a month for lunches out. Then I stuck to it, I used an app called toshl. Trzcked and assigned every spend. Honestly I was out of my overdraft in a year and had savings. I had to adjust budgets a bit, but I stayed within my means. Tracking your spending works.

I cut down on food spending by eating out the freezer and cupboards and meal planning. I mended clothes and shoes. Re used stuff rather than bought new. I sopped and thought before I bought anything. Honestly it works, it wasn’t miserable and being out the overdraft is fab.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/

Lots of good tips and advice here.

I agree with above, set up new accounts and automatically transfer money for Christmas, birthdays, one-off expenses such as car tax, school uniforms etc. Even hair cuts can add up. Work out how much spend on these each year, divide by twelve and transfer that amount over.

I give myself a daily allowance for spending. It covers food and other groceries, haircuts, bus fares etc. It used to be £15 but I've recently given myself a rise to £17.50.

If there are 31 days in the month I put 31 x £17.50 into my 'Day-to-day' account, so that's £542.50 for August.

I use my John Lewis credit card for pretty much everything so I get vouchers. Every few days I see how I'm doing against my £17.50 allowance, do a little reconciliation and either pay off the relevant amount on the credit card or shift any leftover money into a savings account. I've found it really helps to.keep me on track.

I give every penny a job…I use a spreadsheet and I track in a general way.
our current budget is (I also round up)

Me 3100
DP 4100
Child benefit B 280
Total 7480

Housing
Mortgage: 1900.
Insurances(life, house): 150
Total Housing: 2050
Utilities
Electricity 150
Waste collection: 30
Broadband & TV: 80
Mobile phones x3: 60
Total Utilities: 330
Food & Groceries
Groceries & household food: 500
Dining out / takeaways: 200
Total Food: 700
Transportation
Fuel: 250
Car insurance & tax: 150
Maintenance & NCT: 100
Public transport / Parking: 20
Total Transport: 520
Education & Kids
School books, uniforms, fees: 50
Activities, sports, clubs: 50
Pocket money/treats: 60
Total Kids & Education: 160
Entertainment & Lifestyle
Family outings, hobbies, gifts: 200
Subscriptions, books, etc.: 60
Miscellaneous expenses (haircuts,nails): 60
Personal spends:200 x 2 = 400
Total Entertainment: 720
Savings & Miscellaneous
Emergency fund / Savings: 2000
Holidays (monthly allocation): 500
Clothing: 200
Miscellaneous buffer: 300
Total Savings & Misc.: 3000
TOTAL MONTHLY SPENDING: 7,480

All bills and savings are paid first and then everything else is secondary

Arrange as many direct debits to come of as close to pay day as possible.

Set up another current account for food shopping and put a set amount in that every month.

Then keep enough in your current account to pay for petrol and any other direct debits and sweep the rest into a savings account.

this makes it easier to budget and also save.

Also meal plan before you hit the supermarket and only buy what you need.

Just in case its helpful to anyone, if you're with Natwest (I'm sure others are similar), in the transactions area of the mobile app you can look at categorised spending. It's done automatically, but you can tweak categorisation yourself (and it will look for other related transactions and sort those too). Won't necessarily have all the functionality of a bespoke app, but might mean you dont need a whole other app to get some insights!

I use an app called Debit and Credit. You have to be disciplined to enter things in but you can set a budget and then do it at the end of the week.

I also watch Callum Hammer when I need a good talking to. The episodes from 2025 seem to have people with mental health issues, but the earlier ones are good. He shows you how to actually budget with daily expenses especially if you need o get out of debt

I AM excited. I know i "give in" to the dc too much. Its a cycle of thinking we don't have much, nice to have a "treat" but I really feel like if I can get a handle on this, they will benefit. They'd love to go abroad. They've never been. We "can't afford it".

Thank you to each and everyone who has commented I've read all of the replies abd there's some excellent ideas. I like the look of Snoop. And I am going to be thinking very carefully about spending.

I suppose my priority is to get rid of the overdraft, and find a 0% purchase card for my solicitor bill.

I do have a hair appointment today, its something I've decided to start doing for myself and this is my second one. It doesn't feel quite right to be spending on hair (it was £95 12 weeks ago) but its less than a fiver a week which can be easily saved elsewhere.

Focussing on what you can offer to the dcs will be good and aiming for a holiday is a brilliant idea.
Why don’t you talk about this with them?
If you never model being careful with money, making some sacrifices in certain areas to gain something elsewhere, saving for something and watching that money grow, how will they ever learn?
Talk to them about budgeting and show them what a difference it can make.

Another one who has a spreadsheet, every single penny we spend goes on there. It's so easy to see where you are wasting money.
We don't need to be frugal but we only buy coffee when out as a treat, for monetary and health reasons. Even then we will tend to lean towards Greggs or McDonalds,if it's only a choice of a big chain, rather than Costa as it's so much cheaper.

I never really buy treats for my DC when out. I always take a wee bag with treats in it and they know when the bag is empty that's it, there is no more treats for the day. I couldn't tell you the last time i went into a petrol station - always pay at pumps so there is no temptation to buy something.

I don't go shopping with DC so they can't add things into trolley.

Always make a shopping list and try to stick to it. impulse buys are ok if you're getting a good deal.

I know it’s old school but I used to draw my disposable income out in cash, have various envelops for Christmas savings, birthdays, holidays etc and a set amount to put in. Then anything that was left I see for a coffee at work etc. once the cash was gone, no more McDonald’s for the dc or coffee for me.

Doing it that way also means I always have money for birthdays and Christmas (another debt or pinch point for me as I never saved. The problem I had was I’d transfer savings, then have to transfer them back halfway through the month when I mysteriously ran out of money:

I’ve never had a budgeting spreadsheet and I’ve never needed one. Never been in debt or had any issues with money.