Budgeting

[babyinarms]

At the moment I'm writing down every cent I spend. I've devided it into direct debits, monthly bills/ expenses, groceries, car/ petrol, clothes / misc and kids/ social.
I'm tracking everything. The thing is, I'm just breaking even with no money left to save.
How long did people track before it became second nature or do some track long term ? If so, did it affect your spending. Currently , I find its making me aware of what I spend/ where it's going but not helping me save !
I know I'm lucky to be breaking even, trying to clear a few debts too but my aim is to save if I can .

If I'm honest I wouldn't even think about saving until you've paid off the debt. It took me about 4 months to start to see any benefit/ of my budgeting x

Try and clear the debt for sure. You will be better off. Can you live really frugally for a few months. Make meat stretch - have pasta and pesto the odd night, that type of thing

Thanks. I am tackling the debt so that's probably the main reason why I can't save. I thought maybe I'd save a little while clearing it.??
I am trying to be more frugal, shopping around for utilities, grocery shopping with a list and meal planning and cutting down on clothes for kids/ days out.... opting for cheaper/ free days out !
Will Def try the meat free days . Kids love pasta so shouldn't be a major problem. I'm probably being impatient and expecting instant results. It took a while to get into this debt so will probably take a while to get on top of it too.

That sounds bad, cutting down on kids clothes. I've cut down on mine and dh clothes a long time ago, but continued to but too much for kids, so it's not just the kids clother iykwim.

I cut down on DS clothes too. I used to buy loads when things were reduced thinking I was saving money but would then find things wee too small for him when I dug them back out or they would be totally wrong season. Now I buy as he needs things and keep things to a minimum x

It can also be a matter of maximising your income.
Check your tax code I've you're working
Check your benefits entitlements
Are you getting gross interest on savings accounts if you're a non tax payer?
Sell stuff you don't need
Look at deals with utilities
Can you get a cheaper mortgage deal?
Have you considered asking your creditors to freeze interest?
Looked at 0% transfers on credit cards?
Considered a debt relief order?

Yes toasy, I work part time. Will check into getting tax entitlements looked at, thanks for that. I am looking into the credit card transfer , it's the paperwork is putting me off, but I'd better do it.
We're tied into our mortgage but I think we have the best deal anyway. Thanks for the tips .