AIBU to wish paying weekly was an option

[dancebarefoot]

I am paid weekly and it can be hard to balance monthly payments with a weekly income.

My council tax is taken out of my account weekly, every friday - and this is so much easier than having one week where everything comes out and I'm left with nothing to live on!

AIBU to wish more companies would offer this?

Thanks but if it costs money it's really not for me at this time!

I keep a diary, I write every spending and income in it weekly.

I check my diary before I go shopping to see what's due out over the next two weeks and I spend appropriately.

it can be done but you have to think ahead, which is why I find writing everything down easier. I can the forecast next week's balance.

if you split your monthly bills into four as you do for council tax and transfer this amount every week to a second account it will help you keep it straight.

So for instance council tax is £70 a month, rent £250, gas and electric £40 and broadband £15. That's £375 a month, divided by four is £93.76 so you transfer that amount to the second account on payday and don't touch it.

I tried leaving the same amount in one account but kept forgetting what it was for and how much should be left each week as some bills came out but there'd been another payday.

Nothing to do with self restraint and everything to do with having a million things to remember and trying to keep an eye on my kids while taking money out/shopping.

I'm on low income 30hours national minimum wage, I get child benefit and working tax credit. My childcare cost £300pm plus living expenses and bills. I've yet to miss a payment or starve.

budgeting and tracking is key to keeping afloat, I have the issue of nearly £600 goes out the week before payday so I need to "save" it for 3weeks to ensure I can cover what's due to go out.

You don't need software on an expensive app a £1 diary will do form a cheap shop.

Well yes this is it. Thankyou for the clear helpful post above crazy that combined being helpful and conducive with being understanding about how life is!

I don't believe I said I missed any payments or we were hungry ginger, I just said I wished payments could be made weekly as for me that would be easier!

understanding about how life is!
I too understand how life is. But I also understand that if I don't put any money aside to pay the bills all month, in the last week of the month I'm going to be screwed. Its not rocket science!

I feel you, it's frustrating!

I have two accounts, one for daily spends (food, clothes, going out, whatever) and one for bills/rent. I get paid four-weekly which is just as bad as every week as the date changes every month!

Every time I get paid I transfer all my bill/rent money into one account, and all my direct debits come out of that account. For you, you'll have to total up your bills/rent payments, divide by four, and transfer that amount every payday. Then you know how much you have left/week for spends, and you can't dip into your bill money either.

Get all your payments coming out of one account and maybe try and ring the companies and arrange it so that you have your large bills on different weeks if that would help as well. Hope you find a solution that makes it a bit easier!

Thank you, it can be a bit difficult sometimes :)

I understand that, but it's not a possibility with many companies, so instead you find another way of dealing with it.

being paid weekly is a pain in the arse if you think ahead or make provision it's made easier.

My comment was ill judged, it wasn't a judgment on you more of a fact of life for myself.

(light hearted) you could use the 7'ps

Proper
Planning and
Preparation
Prevents
Piss
Poor
Performance.

Why does that money come out of your account? Can you switch to bpay? I can schedule weekly bpay payments from my account for everything online.

What about getting it taken from a credit card and making regular payments to that?

I never use direct debit - I don't trust companies to have access to my accounts. Much prefer to instigate the payment from my end or at worst use a credit card so my account balance is "protected" from errors.

I don't have a credit card.

Some companies charge more if you don't set up DDs.

Sorry bpay isn't available in the UK. It's like a paypal system but only for registered companies like utilities and phone companies. You can pay all your bills that way on any schedule you like.

That's utterly crap that you have to do direct debit!

What I do is work out the most that is likely to go out of my account in the most expensive month of the year, then regard that level as the "zero" balance that I must never go below.

I understand that OP appears to be struggling to even have one month of savings, but if you can't ever get ahead of the bills enough to do this then you have more fundamental problems to worry about than difficulty budgeting.

Assuming OP is and remains financially solvent, what I'm suggesting doesn't require any extra money overall, it just temporarily requires that when fluctuating income is above average, spending should be delayed. (Presumably bills don't fluctuate the way income does, so there must be moments when she is "ahead" and could delay some spending.)

Aussimum, I don't like it either but there are some companies that insist you use DD, when I had sky they refused to set up an account unless it had a DD on it. Then if you cancel the DD, they cancel your account. It does suck!

To illustrate what I mean, suppose you calculate that in the most expensive month of the year £1000 may go out of your account. Then at any time your balance is £1000 or less, you are broke and can't afford to spend anything, if you have any discretion over the spending.

Say you have £950. Weeks pay is £80. Balance now £1030. You have £30 you're allowed to spend. Spending you have no choice about (direct debits, food so you don't starve, etc.) still goes out, but as far as anything else is concerned, the limit is £30.

I dream of having £950 in my account ever

My other half is self employed builder and is usually paid weekly too. Our boys have got use to the idea that no treats until after rent (the biggest and last bill of the month). Then everything is tightly budgeted. Every week a set amount has to be put aside - if is lower then the following weeks are adjusted accordingly or if it is more good as it can be savings which will help with later poor weeks. Bills next month are £1600 so we need to put at least £400 a side a week. That is the plan anyway ....

my dp gets paid weekly it is a pain sometimes. I do a diary for the month with all direct debits and lowest wage then on side have estimated balance. I have a set amount for us to spend each week based on lowest income. any extra gets saved towards school uniform/trips etc. I also spread the bills over the month.

I'm on benefits, all of which come in at different times (some weekly, some fortnightly, some 4-weekly). So I know it's hard to keep track of everything. I tend to manage it the way Disconcerted suggests, always maintaining a minimum balance so that I'm not going to get stuck by direct debits. My bank account doesn't allow overdrafts so it's a real problem if I don't have the money in there when a direct debit is due.

It's hard work to build up a float of money when you feel you're living week to week, but you have to do it, some weeks I have no income at all (then in another week I might get £500). I limit myself in the amount I can spend outside of bills, I don't spend the money in my account just because it's there. I use a free app on my phone where I log my spending and tells me when DDs are due to come out (and payments are due to come in) - doesn't cost anything and means I'm up to date with what's coming in and out of my account.

I think budgeting and basic accounting should be taught at school as a mandatory subject. I've never understood why it isn't.

YNAB is brilliant -we get some income weekly, some 4 weekly and some monthly. Bills are monthly but spread over the month. With YNAB I'm never caught short.

Oh and big problem of fluctuating money is that you have to go without and then end up with a big list of things needed when you do have spare cash ... I am thinking of new clothes for children and shoes without holes bte