To ask how you manage your money

[whatlizziloves]

DH earns £35k I earn £21k

We have some debts, credit cards, store card and a loan.
Once our bills are paid, we've set aside money for food and petrol for the month, we usually have around £500 left that's "spare".

The thing is, that £500 is spent so ridiculously fast and we don't even have anything to show for it.
We will buy takeaways a few times a month, we spend money online buying things, and the rest I can't even account for.

I'd really like for us to have more savings but we keep telling ourselves we can afford to save.

I don't buy myself lots of new clothes / make up and DH doesn't treat himself much either!!

Neither of us seem to be particularly good at managing money but besides takeaways and a few Amazon purchases we don't know what we spend our money on. 🙄

How do you manage money and how can we start saving and stop spending?

Keep your receipts
Write down every single thing you buy.
Then you’ll know where your money goes

I learnt from wise mumsnetters that a spread sheet is Not just for the anal and also to take spending money out as cash and once it's gone it's gone!

Stay away from shops !..one item shop becomes five etc...write down what Amazon and take aways cost.. probably more than you realise....I am often using eBay for friends and they pay me in cash and it just disappears..so now I put it in a jar and pay into my account each month.

Make a standing order to a savings account not that you'll earn any interest at the moment to go out on pay day, along with all your other bills. Say £200, so you "only" have £300 per month in the account to spend on treats / luxuries.

Yep, you just have to do a basic but thorough record of every penny you spend. Once you’ve done this it’s easier to identify any unnecessary spending, or spending which shocks you, and do something about changing it.

@BackforGood

Make a standing order to a savings account not that you'll earn any interest at the moment to go out on pay day, along with all your other bills. Say £200, so you "only" have £300 per month in the account to spend on treats / luxuries.

I like this idea!!

Spreadsheets - documenting what your outgoings. The only real way to know where your money is going is to record it, as small amounts can add up here and there. Then you’ll get a better picture of where it’s going.

Also allocating ‘pots’ for that leftover cash, so you can only spend £50 on takeaways a month, or £XX on clothes etc. Be strict with those and it’s much easier to stay on track.

A couple of months write down absolutely everything you buy, right down to including the sweet/crisps/juice when putting fuel in the car!

You'll start to see a pattern and the amount will be scary. Then make your changes by targeting specific things.

Personally, I don't carry cash, it's too easy to fritter away without thinking - whereas every time I have to use my card, it's a conscious "spend".

Check bank accounts regularly to see where you spend. When you got to the shop, stick to a lost rigidly, not even looking at treats that could be tempting.

You could always set up a savings account with another bank/building society and use a standing order to transfer money in to it - it won't appear on your internet banking and provides and out of sight, out of mind little savings pot that you won't be tempted to transfer money out of.

There’s a guy you could look up called Dave Ramsey who gives advice on this & has really clear steps to follow to help you really secure your finances. He’s in the states but it translates across & you’ll find all the info you need for free. There are some great groups dedicated to this on Facebook too - if you search his name you should find some. It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around & sometimes having a really clear structure to follow is so helpful.

There are apps that can help you with keeping tabs on things.

Personally, what helped me is the realisation that by spending everything and not being able to save i can't plan for retirement or loss of earnings or any emergencies.

We live in a world where most households and people have more than enough goods.

Maybe look at the no spend challenges and agree with your DP to do a week of no spend and then extend it by how you see fit.

Re takeaways it helps that I hate them. I prefer to buy a Gousto box and do the meals from that as healthier and cheaper for example.

Write down everything and think of things re how long would you need to work to pay off a new top? Then it becomes less worth getting when you realise the cost behind it.

Be creative and pass old clothes to friends and get them to do the same. I haven't needed to buy anything for my kids because of this. You can also do nights in with girlfriends where you exchange clothes, make up, accessories...

It's like anything really. If you want it you will make it happen. If not you will make excuses.

Allocating pots of money for things, or just dealing in cold hard cash, again in pots so you can see it disappearing.

I know some online banks ie Monzo allow you to allocate money into pots rather than just a lump of cash that keeps being whittled down.

I have a weekly budget (I get paid weekly.) I write every single thing down and at the end of the week/day before payday, I do my budget again. If I’m having a particularly bad month in terms of being spendy, I make myself do the budget every day. I set myself ‘no spend days’ and I rigidly set budgets for groceries.

I also finally realised that savings should be built into my budget, not just a throw whatever is left at the end in my ISA approach! I have two separate ‘reward’ schemes with my bank, a help to save account through my tax credits, premium bonds, a monzo account and Plum.

Plum takes roughly £35 a week into savings, £50/month help to save, £15/month bank reward savings. It all adds up and previously I would have just spent it all on crap!

Also I keep a list of non essential/non time sensitive stuff I want to buy, like a new dress or a gadget for the house. I try not to buy anything impulsively.

Leave it on the list a few days/weeks and see if you can afford it, if you can’t - look again next month and carve out budget for it. You’ll find that you don’t want stuff as much and it may fall off your list. Or you enjoy it more because you’ve waited for it.

Monzo helps me.
I take my "spare" and allocate pots for holiday, kids activities, Christmas etc. There's also money for my frivolous stuff but it's limited and Monzo shout at me if I go over budget!

I save first. I also keep an eye on nhow much I have left in my account and make a note of it on my phone and adjust it when I spend anything, so I always know how much I have left. I aim to be left with £1k in my current account by the end of the month and always have, as a buffer in case of any emergencies. If I have more than that left at the end of the month then I transfer that over to savings too.
I have long term savings and a 'dip into' savings acc for larger expenses like holidays, Christmas and car expenses.

I'm not organised at all although I would like to be.

However the one thing I am good at is not building up credit card debt. If I do pay for something with the credit card like a new boiler, it is paid off as fast as possible.

So much peace of mind not having debt. So, if a lot of your spare cash is being frittered away, use a chunk of it to reduce your credit card debt. Then it won't be such a waste. And the other thing is to stop buying things or to ask yourself do you really need that item rather than just wanting it.

I would transfer £200 into savings. Then for the first couple of months split the other £300 into your own accounts, half each. Then you can see if you both fritter £150 each or if one of you fritters or if other bills food/kids/travel are actually more than you estimate each month.

Some great suggestions!!!!!!

Pay yourself first. Save as soon as you’re paid so you treat savings as a bill in it’s own right rather than as what’s left over.

I've used this before to help me get clear on things:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/#bplanner

I second the suggestion of Monzo too and it's so easy to register and get set up.

Your reason to save needs to be stronger than your reason to spend so it helps to get clear on all the benefits of why saving makes your life better.

Next month could be a very different story if you decide to switch things up a bit, that's the good thing about money.

Good luck OP!

Absolutely treat saving as a priority monthly "expense".

I've noticed the last year I've slowly started overspending a bit more each month / it's easy to do. I've started a YNAB trial after seeing many MN'ers recommend it over the years and I like what I see. I really think it's going to help me.

If you've got debts, unless they are on 0% interest, work on paying them off before you start saving.

I record my spending in an app on my phone, like others have said, track everything you spend for a month or two to work out where your money is going. My boss used to swear by www.youneedabudget.com, may be worth a look? Money Savings Expert has lots of advice too.

The good news is if you don't know what you're spending it in then you won't miss it at all. Just set up a direct debit into a cash ISA and set it for £400 a month. You'll have £4800 this time next year!

@whatisheupto

The good news is if you don't know what you're spending it in then you won't miss it at all. Just set up a direct debit into a cash ISA and set it for £400 a month. You'll have £4800 this time next year!

@whatisheupto

That sounds great, but if we put £400 a month away that only leaves us with £100 spare.

Can we access the money in an ISA?
I'd like to make sure we can access it "just in case" but not access it unreasonably.

Your first aim should be to get a 1k savings built up! Then tackle the debt OP!! Don't add to it....get rid of them all, start with the one with the highest interest!! Then when they are paid off you ca b save more!