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 the 1K pot is so that if you have a household emergency eg washer breaks or car needs repairs you don't have to borrow again
I do agree with DR on that.

Thanks for your original post & ongoing updates @Allnewtometoo It's been really useful to read everyone's top tips & ideas. You've inspired me to sit down today to do our budget.

I last looked at our budget in February & I've written all the direct debits out again today & I'm shocked by how many things have increased without us really knowing/realising! We've been brutal & cancelled some subscriptions - we've even cancelled the TV licence as we don't watch it anymore. We've saved about £150 a month by reducing or cancelling the direct debits.

One thing we've noticed is that it's very easy to access things like buy now & pay later/loans/overdrafts/credit cards, but once you are using them, it's very hard to break the cycle & start saving for an emergency fund & sinking funds. This is what we're now doing but a problem with our car has come up & it can soon set you back.

@Statsquestion1 thank you for sharing you're monthly breakdown. I found it really helpful to look at it alongside ours. Although there are some differences with income/outcome, it was useful to see the things on your DD list were similar to ours.

Many people have recommended different accounts for different reasons & we've found this really helps. We have the normal NatWest account for wages & bills but then we have a CHIP account that's for an emergency fund, we use the pot function in Hyperjar to save for sinking funds (yearly bills like car insurance that we're paying monthly on DD currently) and Monzo for variable spending like food, petrol & our own spending.

I agree with others that this should be taught in schools, or there should be an inexpensive service that you can pay for to get you on track! There's a side hustle for someone who has already got this sorted!

I’ve used it for years and love it. It’s worth every penny!

Edited to add, I haven’t got the automatic thing set up on YNAB as I still prefer to do it manually. Also, how would it know which category to allocate it to? For example, Sainsbury’s could be groceries or petrol. I’ve never got my head round that so I’ve just left it as is.

Yes I really struggled with the idea of getting my £1k emergency fund while I still had a £1.2k overdraft.

But in the end I think I was putting a small amount into a regular saver, alongside selling stuff online / using spare income to get my overdraft down.

Did all the things like cutting subscriptions, doing a bank switch to Nationwide (they made £150 of bonus payments to their members around April, plus I got £200 for switching). I called the bank every couple of months to reduce the overdraft.

I personally find having savings is more motivating long term. Still have debt (a loan) but it feels lighter I'm gradually snowballing that debt.

It leaves the category as blank, and flags it amber—notifying that you need to categorise it.

All imported transactions have a little icon next to them until you click that they’re okay. So for example, if you’ve shopped at a retailer before, the AI will guess that it’s for the same purpose—Shell was petrol last time, it assumes that Shell is petrol this time, and is that correct? Tick ok if it is, or change the category if it isn’t.

I’ve always had pots for holidays/Christmas etc but have found because they were all in the same bank account I would easily dip into them and was forever moving money back to my main account as I’d overspend

i opened a Monzo account for using abroad and have since found that having lots on there means they are “out of sight, out of mind” and because I no longer see then everytime I log on I forget amount the money and it’s building up nicely.

not sure if it’s allowed but I’ve added a link below for anyone wanting to try Monzo as it will give you and me a bonus amount between £10 and £50 when you sign up.

https://join.monzo.com/c/xw030dgw

@Sunshineandswimming im really pleased its been helpful to others too. I was thinking about TV license actually, as saw it in my DD. We do watch tv but almost solely streaming, we do have netflix. The dc watch YouTube gaming stuff too. Very very occasionally, maybe 2 to 4 times a year, I might watch something on iplayer or itvx.

Today is my day off this week. Friends are attending a kids even that will set me back £20. This in itself isn't bad but they're going to an American style diner afterwards...im veering towards just not going at all!

@Sunshineandswimming im glad you found it useful. I and an avid planner, so budgets, food plans etc, excel sheet ls are all my thing. I revisit it every few months. We bought a new house this year so it was being tweaked for a few months whilst we settled in.

Thank you.😍

Today's revelation - £32 in OD charges last month.

I did manage to secure a Tesco CC by requesting a lower credit limit. I only want it for groceries and petrol. Im hoping this will reduce my OD usage through the month and I can pay it at the end of the month, leaving the money in my account for longer.

Im feeling less anxious and more in control.

It's amazing

@Allnewtometoo You might be better getting a 0% money transfer credit card. Transfer money to pay off your overdraft, then treat the credit card as a debt to pay down month by month, ideally before the 0% deal ends.

Another vote for YNAB here. There are some Mumsnet threads about it which are good, but there are also loads of videos on YouTube about it. It takes quite a lot of effort to work it out at the start but it has changed my (financial) life and I’ve only just started using it. Hard recommend

I use this app to track my expenses and bills: www.toolsonfire.com/en/BudgetTracker

Bit of an update, I had to complete a financial needs form for my divorce process, abd realused the budget i did that prompted this post was WAY off. Good in one respect, as i now know where thd money is going. Bad in another, as I really dont have very many options to "cut back" on. Im going to re read this thread later for inspiration!