Help me make a budget

[espoleta]

I need some MN knowledge!

I've finishing up on maternity leave and heading back to work 4 days a week which means I'm down 20% of my salary and DP and I need to draw up a budget.

We went about putting figures in a spreadsheet a few months ago, it all worked fine and off we went. Today I decided to look at our spending from March and I'm shocked at what we're spending out money on!
Somehow we are spending £900 on food a month. That's for me, DP and DD (6 months and EBF so costs not a lot) and my two DSC 50% of the time! This excludes lunches (like 5-10 per day!). What are we spending it on??!!
Ideally (as per our purely fictitious budget) we would spend £450 a month. Is this possible?

Is there an app that we can both log what we spend by category?

How can I start pulling together a realistic budget? Where do I start?

How can I bring down my food bill?

Thanks

If you've allocated money for food and spends have you tried getting the cash out at the beginning of the month and then locking any cards away. One the cash is gone you can't spend it. It should help you focus on what you're spending on.

MN cliche but meal planning and online shopping brought our food bill down massively. Also just take out a set amount in cash a week for top up shops and only use that. Get what you can in Lidl and Aldi if you have one close by, or at a local market. Stop buying lunches and make packed ones. Make coffee at home before you leave rather than grabbing one on the way to work etc.

Also, if you really don't know where the money is going, you need to both keep all receipts for a few months to help you work out what the main and/or unnecessary spends are.

Take £100 cash to the supermarket along with a shopping list and don’t spend any more.

Thanks for the replies. Does £450 per month for food seem reasonable?

We (me, wife, DS) spend £400 per month on food from Ocado and we get everything we want- no basics etc- so yes.

Why don't you sign up for the YNAB trial:
www.youneedabudget.com/landing/ar-high-2-month/

I've just done my 2 months and signed up for the year. It's amazingly easy and I could see exactly where the money was going. It's really helped me stop and think before I spend too as I log everything.

Even if you only did the 2 months it should help you to get a handle on where it's all going.

My worst thing was top up shops at Waitrose.

Great thanks cactus.

I've started meal planning but online shops are the worst for me. I seem to but loads of stuff I don't need (like I can resist a "deal"). I think my Waitrose shops are better as I don't get distracted and just buy what's on the list.

I generally don't get cash out as I don't walk around with a wallet so I'm worried that if I did draw my whole budget I'll loose it! I'll talk to DP about that option.

Thanks all

£900 a month plus lunches for your family is enormous. Do you waste a lot? Buy lots of expensive things like out of season fruit, expensive ready meals, fresh fish, expensive toiletries, premium brands, specialist products?

You need to analyse what you are spending the most on and buy cheaper alternatives.

£450 pm should be plenty, but it's going to take a huge mindset change to achieve this.

You sound like a prime candidate for Eat Well for Less. There doesn't seem to be any episodes available but there are some clips on the website, so have a look at these and see if any of the pitfalls apply to you or you can pick up any tips.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0520lz9/clips

I'd also recommend YNAB. It's so helpful and you can track your spending really easily. I've had it for nearly three years and it's made an enormous difference!

Does the £900 include lots of non food items? Can you copy and paste some of the shopping lists or receipts from your online shopping account on here so people can pick up on what you are buying?

You aren't a squash and fizzy pop junkie are you? On a recent thread people were going through multiple bottles a day, which is obviously costly.

Do you need to go to the supermarket?

Can you shop online?

The work lunch’s are also pricey - can you take sandwiches for half of the week

Good quality food is so pricey now. It’s absolutely shocking and the govt wants people to eat healthy?!

The price of fruit for a week for a family of four is ridiculous!

Food just keeps getting more and more expensive. Like everything else in this country!

They really are squeezing everybody

£450 is definitely enough. I budget £400 for 4 weeks, so £100 a week, and that is for 2 adults, one 14 year old boy and a 10 year old girl (and a small dog).
I rarely spend more than £80 a week. I either use Aldi or Tesco online. I shop around offers in Tesco and double up the order so get 2 weeks worth of shopping at a time. Meal plan!

Yes yes to YNAB! Ideal for you both to track spending in "live".
450 Should be plenty- but you might want to ease down over a few months. We went from 6-700 a month down to £500 (eating nothing but the very best, all organic, but looking out for offers and being careful) and are now about £300 (Lidl all the way...), for a family of 4, all big eaters (though DC are still both small), and foodies.

£450 budget is very possible for 2 people and a bf baby. Top up shops are were we were spending a fortune. Try to get complete 'big shops' so you don't need to always be popping to the shop for bits and pieces. Try to just buy milk and bread in-between shops. Saved is a fortune. You could still get 4 £100 shops a month and have £50 cash in a small purse for buying milk and bread throughout the month.

I meant 'saved us a fortune'.