This is my income / outgoings - can you tell me how you would work this?

[MrTumblesbitch]

I am crap with money, and I want to turn this around. If I tell you my info below, please would you tell me how much you would save? How much would you pay off your debt? Am I being unrealistic if I thought I could get a mortgage in the next 5 years? I have 10k gifted to me for a deposit from a relative, but I would still need an extra £5k minimum.

Any tips for how to actually become good at managing my money and sticking to a budget?

Thank you! Info below:

In:
2,300 income - this fluctuates as I am self employed, usually £2k though
400 - child benefit and maintenance

Out:
950 - rent and house bills
200 - I am tied in to a franchise for next 2.5 years
100 - debt payments (I owe aprox £6k)
100 - sky / mobile / internet etc (will get rid of this at end of contract)
50 - fuel - I have a work vehicle so this is absolute maximum and there are no other costs to it.

200 - food? I currently would say I spend an obscene amount on eating out as I am knackered / lazy / depressed about cooking for 1 (Ds has a packed lunch on way home, cooked meal at school) so this is a guestimate for 2 of us for a month.

50 - cleaning products / loo roll / toiletries / bits that aren't food.

I have no savings and I need to find / put away money for my tax bill as from next Jan (which terrifies me)

Have I forgotten anything?

That makes total in - 2700 (though usually aprox 2400)
Total out - 1650

Why am I always broke??? If these were your figures, please will you tell me how you would run your accounts so I can learn how not to be so bloody crap!

A million thank you's if anyone has read this far! ps name changed as I am embarrassed - cubes of poo, your minge etc etc....

Don't worry tumblebitch, it's really hard and tax trips most people up at first but once you get in the swing it's easy :-) set up a seperate bank account and put money in there for tax xx

if I earn more than £100 in tax and national insurance? Sorry, cross posts there!

God this is scary, thank you all so much.

Basically paying on account towards your next tax payment.

So you pay an extra 50 percent in January and then another 50 percent in July based on your previous tax liability.

If your tax and NI bill is more than a grand.

So ignore your tax bill is over £1000 which it will be if you earn £2000 a month.

Here is a website explaining it.

www.gov.uk/understand-self-assessment-bill/payments-on-account

*if your, not ignore

oh fuck..... right, okay, well at least I know now. I think I need an accountant though, this is beyond me I think

I also forgot my student loan payments. I am going to owe them shed loads aren't I? I don't even know how to track them down it has been so long since I made a payment to them (years of being broke seems actually easier now!)

It's horrible when you first do it but it does make your tax easier along the line

Don't worry about student loans you'll not owe them much about £200 and it'll come up on your tax bill

By the way - thank you all so much. I needed this kick up the bum, I need to get in control of everything.

From looking at it all, am I up shit creek do you think or will it be okay?

Yup they'll be calculated and due with your SA. It's all done via your SA return.I think it's 9 PC on anything over 17.5 k unless you're on the new system so another £500 or so there.

ahh phewwww re: student loans......

thank you

Old gimmer here so I am the old system thank god!

You'll be totally fine, this happens to everyone. I'm assuming you haven't got a high tax bill for this January so you have until next jan to save. If not you go cap on hand to hmrc and explain what has happened and they will give you a payment plan but you must tell them before the tax is due.

I agree you are probably wildly underestimating your spending on food. And you are likely in for a shock with your tax bill - you can deduct your vehicle costs perhaps but you ought to be saving receipts, eg, if you have to get your vehicle fixed.

Easiest way i find to monitor spend is to spend as much as you can on your debit card, then at the end of the month download your bank statrment from online banking. Go through and colour code all your spending.

As a family:

In - £2600

Out
Rent £600
C Tax £105
Mobile/internet/phone/tv licence £75
Gas/electric £30
Car tax/insurance/content ins £40
Food/toiletries £300
Car fuel £100/120
School clubs £50

Total: £1400 give or take fluctuations in fuel/gas etc.

That gives £1200 for me and DP equally split as £600. I pay £300 pm to pay off my personal debt of £5k (not DPs in any way so my responsibility to pay off). When that's gone in hopefully 14 months time, we are going to put £600 pm to save for a house.

You sound like me when I used to think I was broke. I wasn't I just didn't really tally my spending with my available money. I've stopped buying food out. I don't just pick up this really nice thing because it looked nice but I'll never use/wear/see it again. I keep my food spending down to £65pw for the big shop and £5 for top ups during the week. I have 2 no spend days per week. I shop for the cheapest option rather than the most convenient. I check my account 3 times a week especially before I spend rather than after.

You need to look at how you're really spending your money, break it down into manageable chunks of budget and start from there.

I'm no financial advisor though so I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can help!

you havent included the following:
-clothing for yourself and child
-days out
-clubs for child

• birthdays, Xmas presents etc

-do you have any sports memberships or similar household maintenance? dentist haircuts

are you total rent and bills really only 950? are you including all utilities and council tax
do you have any insurance?
public transport or do you always use car?

you prob spend more than 200 on food. don't forget about all the little trips to corner shop or trip to coffee shop etc. also if you eat out a lot surely this would be on top of your 200 monthly on food

The good thing about an accountant, if you lack time or willpower, is that they can organise you a bit.

Say 4.5k in roughly 12 months is about 460 per month, so doable but you will need your spending to be what you said it was in your op - which it doesn't seem to be at the minute if you're not actually saving anything.

I would suggest you go and list what is actually being spent, and that will give you ideas of where you can cut back.

I am self employed befire I became a limited company the way I did it was this.

ALL my money went into my business account, then I paid myself a 'wage' to live on.

It is for next Jan thank goodness ( I have earned under the personal allowance for this year) so I have a year to get my ass in gear.

I need to sort it out though, I am starting to dread pay day as I feel out of control.

My food at £200 was what I was hoping it could be if I knocked eating out on the head..... I think that might be a struggle, but I am trying to be a reformed charachter!

The vehicle isn't mine, it is given to me by the people I do the Self employed work for. There are no costs but about once a month I put a tank of fuel in to cover school runs / none business use over the month. It is a total guestimate and done as a moral thing rather than a work obligation.

I like idea of downloading bank statements - thank you, that seems a good way to track it for me.

Lots of cross posts again - hang on, I will reply properly now

Also really look at your business costs are you spending like a wild woman because you think 'oh well it's tax deductible?' Remember if you are above the threshold you are only getting 20% of that back, where can you make savings there too.

Oh wait do you get a salary AND are self employed? So you'll be paying tax through your paye

So, to get this straight, if the tax bill is more than £1k then the self employed person has to pay their full tax bill (say £2800) for 2015-2016, and on top of that half of that again as early payment for 2016-2017?