If you are paid monthly how do you make sure you don't spend it all at once?

[BigginsforPope]

Dh and I have a lot of credit card debt which we very foolishly ignored until a couple of years ago when we started to tackle it. We were on the point of IVA/DRO but we pulled our socks up and began to organise our finances. Over the last two years we have paid off approx £4000 from a £21000 debt and I am quite proud that we have made a good start.
But where we are still struggling (and our finances are still quite tight) is making sure we don't overspend at the start of the month. Dh gets paid monthly and I am SAHM, we receive a little tax credits and CB. The first weekend after payday we do a big meat shop which always lasts us through the month and I meal plan week to week although the plan is always subject to change if circumstances do. For example DD1 (13) has recently become a vegetarian so we are getting used to accommodating that into our meal plans.
We have a joint account where most direct debit's go from and I have a personal account which also has some direct debit's going out. I also have a savings account which I put money in at the start of the month to cover the payments which go out later in the month from either account. So basically I make sure all the repayments and direct debits are covered by doing this. What I am struggling to manage is our weekly spending money for food, clothing, school bus fare and treat money.

I have a budget all complete on the moneysavingexpert site and everything adds up (just) but I can't work out a system to manage the weekly spends and how to ensure I don't overspend one week. Without fail the last week of the month the bank account is empty so I am going wrong somewhere.
What do others do to manage?

I've not read the full thread but i would arrange for all bills to come out on pay day, do your big meat shop then transfer the rest into another account and transfer in a weekly amount (remaining balance/ 4 or 5)

That's good news about DD by the way - especially the bit about learning more about nutrition. (I recall for example, in recent times, veggie school kids who felt that being vegetarian meant that they could eat virtually nothing but chips - 'But there's no meat in chips!'. Day in and day out that was If they could get hold of them.)

If dh needs money he uses his bank card, he rarely gets cash out which is why I think he doesn't see it add up. We rarely discuss finances as such. I am responsible for making sure all the bills are paid but week to week is a quite free range for both of us although I am much more cautious about spending money. The last time we talked about it we did agree that I would manage bill paying and balancing the books. I am rubbish at talking about stuff especially when I get stressed about it. I bite my tongue for too long and then it all gets messy. I want to be able to say to dh we need to get a grip but I don't know how without sounding like I am trying to control him or getting panicky.

cozie DD is a good girl really, I think she ate cheese for every meal the first week she became veggie but she has done some reading and is really good at trying new things.

Ah. He uses a 'contactless' facility?

I second YNAB it is exactly like putting money in envelopes but you don't move the money out of your account.

We have several bank accounts. A joint one that DH gets paid into, then most of the money gets automatically transferred into an old account of mine that all the bills and essentially shopping come out of.

DH and I agreed how much money was available to spend each month and thats in the joint account essentially as his. When its gone its gone whether he takes it out as cash or taps his card. He buys fuel to get to work on credit card and I pay this off each month.

I have access to my account and transfer anything left into short term savings (a couple of months income equiv) and then when that hits its target amount excess goes to pensions/ longer term savings.

Its taken years to get to this point. We're not big earners, i'm at home. But each little bit of money put away adds up.

Our basic income covers the household expenses but not much else so I raise money for extras by selling everything not bolted down. Its a great motivational factor if the DC, DH or I want something to clear out stuff we're not using to raise the cash.

Out of interest, how does contactless work in practice? (I have the facility on cards but have only used it once or twice.) Does it only work when you have funds in your account?

I think the contactless facility works the same as when you use your pin/card in a machine. It is limited to small amounts ( I think less than £20).

So it might work up to the point they decided to cancel the facility centrally? Eg if you had an overdraft facility?

It's terrifically easy to rack up quite sizeable inroads into funds for a couple of seemingly small things a day. I recall on the occasion (or two) when I used it, it really didn't feel like a transaction in the way that cash does,

It's £30 now
And after a few transactions it requests a pin or signature
I use it loads
Wrt managing money...the cash thing is a good idea
I intend to do that this month

I'm thinking. Would a bank disable a contactless facility on a card so that you had no option but to use cash or go through the PIN thing?

I think you can request a card without the magic whatsit contactless chip in. Honestly I'm not sure it would make any difference, it all adds up. Perhaps I need to get him his own spending/pocket money account and ban him from the bills account.

No it doesn't feel like a transaction - more like some kind of magic or somebody giving you free stuff especially at the drive through.

I appreciate that you feel hesitant about speaking to him on the subject. It's not always so easy in real life.

I think you're going to have to, though, if it's worrying you. Might you consider suggesting putting the whole family on cash allowances for weekly spending or something like that? (Getting rid of the tappability at the same time, perhaps - until such time as you all feel better about things.)

I definately recommend YNAB also (it changed my spending around from having debt to having savings!) and also joining our Frugaleers thread.. we have lots of good support and friendly advice there ..

You need to separate your disposable cash from budgets money.

So yes a separate account for DH and an allowance which is his free to spend goes in on pay day. You have the same. Then have a house account for planned family spending and bills. I've gone one further and have a separate account for family spending and for salary/bills but it means we can have large amounts sitting in that account while we wait for payments to go out and don't worry about fraud on the account.

It's useful to separate spending out this way so eg I don't a a rule buy my beauty stuff or cosmetics in the weekly shop (unless it's bog standard basic stuff which we will all use eg sun cream).

Also you really need to pay savings into a separate account in pay day. Preferably one you can't get at easily.

zzzzz saving something as we have nothing to fall back on if, for example, our washing machine breaks down. That is the reason for thinking about saving - more of a short term contingency than a long term goal. Otherwise we end up using credit again.

Thank you Laska I will take a look.

And yes, cozie I think I need to put on my big girls pants and get on with it.

Good luck.

Move the cc debt to a 0% card
Go on MSE site...loads of long term 0% desks atm

Hi,

We are both paid monthly. We have offset accounts linked to the mortgage (to lower the interest we pay on the mortgage) and I use one for the direct debits and the other as 'spending money' for food, diesel for the cars and pocket money for us.
At the end of the month (when we are paid) I make sure there is enough money left in for the direct debits that come out during the following month. Some months are cheaper due to council tax/water not coming out in Feb and March. Anything left is transferred to the spending pot account and the savings pot account. I always allow the same amount, per week, in the spending pot (£75 a week for food, £25 for fuel for each car, £50 pocket money for DH and myself) then put what is left in the savings pot.

Works well for us.

What does your DH do for lunch? My DH can spend quite a lot on sandwiches/crisps/chocolate at lunchtime. He was quite shocked when he realised how much it added up to and he went back to making a packed lunch instead for a while but I notice he has slipped back to his old habits again recently. Making his own lunch saves even more than the cost of the lunch as it means he stays in the tea room at work rather than going into town and picking up a magazine, new book etc. while he is there. We aren't struggling at the moment but if we were that is the first place I would look for savings. A few pounds a day adds up to a lot of pounds by the end of the month.

Dh doesn't usually eat lunch at work and if he does it is when he is entertaining a client so paid by the company.
We have had a chat about money and I don't think he realised how tight our budget is now. He is listing stuff on ebay and we are both checking our spending with each other. I do genuinely think he has a bit of a blind spot to the household budget and I need to keep control of it.

Well done for speaking to him. That can't have been easy for you.

I suspect you'll find budgeting easier when you've managed to get a handle on the small things. And don't feel despondent if you manage some savings and they're suddenly wiped out by a big unexpected spend. ( Wasing machine goes irretrievably on the blink or something.) Just remind yourself of the difficulty you'd have been in if you hadn't been saving and pick yourselves up and start over again. One day you'll get ahead.

Food wise, I think it helps to order weekly groceries online. As you are ordering, you can see how much they are going to cost. If you go over budget, you just substitute or delete things from your virtual basket.