General belt tightening advice

[twattymctwatterson]

This is not an "I'm poor" thread. It's a "help me be less shit with money" thread.

I'm a lone parent, work 30 hours and pay for wrap around childcare for 3 of the 4 days. Should earn enough (just about) to cover the bills but generally find myself struggling at the end of the month because I'm crap at budgeting and generally a bit of a scatter cash. I'm trying really hard this year to get on top of things, pay off debt and save a bit.

Does anyone have any hints? Do you think that £30pw is feasible for food for an adult and a five year old? Should I be taking out a set amount for each week and sticking it in an envelope?

There are psychological reasons for my spendiness that I won't go into and I'm trying to tackle that too but sensible budgeting advice would be really helpful.

Hi OP my New Years resolution this year was to take control of my spending, not get into more debt and start to reduce my existing debts. Two months in and I've finally got a grip on my finances for the first time in my adult life I did this by downloading the free app called "good budget". It's basically a digital version of the old envelope system - every time I get paid I split the money between the envelopes and then every time I spend I put it on the app. Might be worth a look?

Thanks wherehave I'll go take a look now! I know I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm so shit at this at my age but I guess you've got to start somewhere!

Ever heard of MoneySavingExpert? Lots of useful tips there.

Download a free to do app (Todoist, Wunderlist, etc). Set reminders for when each contract or tariff expires and you need to renew it. E.g. car insurance, broadband, electricity and gas, mobile phone contract, saving accounts, etc. Companies make a ton of money because people are lazy and forgetful, and never remember to shop around, and are put on worse tariffs once theirs ends.

Keep track of your main expenses. Some people say cash helps them track expenses, but I find using cards helps me because there’s a detailed digital record. You cannot know what you don’t measure. Up to you if you want to do it in an app, on a spreadsheet, etc.

Come up with an estimate of your monthly expenses. Do not forget expenses which do not happen every month (an annual holiday, a bill every quarter, etc.)

Supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi can help cut the food bill, big time. Try to plan your meals in advance, and to shop accordingly. Do not pop down to the local shop 3 days a week just to get a few things – you will surely spend much more that way.

Cut down on cigarettes, booze, coffee on the go, etc.

The trick is to start to track your spending, every penny out, every month and categorise so you can see where the money is going so you can make a budget. Apps are good as are spreadsheets.
It so easy to assume that you spend £50pw on food when in reality the top up shops, lunches, dining out and coffees out can easily double or triple it.
When you have a working account of where your spends are going, then go cold turkey, have a month off spending anything other than bare essentials and negotiate better contracts, using quidco for cashback. Think about a new bank account to better interest rates or switching bonus.
After the cold turkey month, decide on your budget and stick to it, keep tracking spending, whether it is physically on an cash envelope system or app/ spreadsheet tracking.

We are trying. My salary has reduced and we've lost another source of income. We did our expenses spreadsheet again yesterday. Bad. All our contracts are up to date. We just need to stop spending. Plus I've been for interviews for a second job.

I would love to do people's budgets for a living, instead I'm a chartered accountant (bore)

I download my bank statements in excel, give them a category I understand (for example, I get reimbursed expenses so have a category for that, category for presents, clothes, food shop, coffees, eating lunch out for no reason) then I pivot the date and analyse. Then I cut from there, identify one offs etc.

The other day I worked out my future mortgage repayments split by capital and interest with growing rates for fun. I had a blast.

Moneysavingexpert is your friend. Start with their Money makeover and also get their weekly newsletter for ongoing hints and tips and get into the habit of being good with money over time.

Also look for ways to boost your income like changing your bank account for a free £150. There are people who do that regularly just to get the free money.

£30 pw for food is fine as long as you have access to cheaper shops and are happy to eat some cheaper meals.

OP I would suggest going back through at least 3 months of all your bank statements (and credit cards if you have them) and categorising your spending so you know what you have been spending on.

I don't use much cash so it was easy to do.

I downloaded statements in excel and just went though line by line.

E.g. I went through and tagged house, and then a sub category for mortgage, gas, council tax etc
TfL
Car (sub categories for fuel, insurance etc)
Holidays
Clothes
Eating out
Pret was its very own category...
Drinking out
Supermarket shops

• more as I came across spending

Then a simple SUMIF or pivot table and you can see where all your hard earned money is going, then you can see where it is possible to cut back (and where it isn't - like my housing, car and TFL costs are basically fixed costs).

You mention debt - see if you can transfer it to an interest free credit card if you haven't already. Again MSE will show you what offers are available and which of these you might qualify for.

Thanks folks! (Sorry didn't see additional updates yesterday)
All good advice. I've managed to pay off a bit of debt due to some inheritance last year. I've got about 3500 left (apart from my car) but it's on interest free. Definitely will download an app and check out money supermarket later tonight.

I found spending cash and leaving the cards at home reset my spending habits and really curbed my emotional/impulsive spending. Being able to say, in the moment, “I will buy this next week” was more effective, for me, than having a strict budget (I just crack). A few days to think helps prioritise what I really need, and can be time to know that I can live quite comfortably thank you without things that seemed so essential.

Cooking double to freeze when I cook from scratch helps resist takeaway splurges. I can microwave something handy faster than the takeaway is delivered.

From my mil I got the tip of freezing cake and biscuits in portions. Stops me eating it all up, and I can grab a portion of something nice and a travel cup of coffee on my way out the door. I’m getting to an age where I like things the way I like them so I prefer my own cake and coffee to the coffee shop’s.

If you’re trying to cut back on food spending having a couple of easy recipes for leftovers helps cut back on waste. Omelettes, soup, smoothies and bubble&squeak will clear out the fridge.

Save off the top of your wages every month rather than hoping you’ll have something left over.

Use a list when shopping. Because I pay in cash I tot it up as I go round and try and have a cushion so I’m not embarrassed at the till. I’ve discovered that I seldom really miss anything I put back. For me personally, breaking the belief that I need to buy [whatever] has been the key.

Don’t do random browsing. I’ve saved by not setting foot in shops I don’t ‘need’ anything in.

I use tails.com to get my pet food. It's good quality good, very reasonably priced plus a subscription means that it's delivered so I do t have to lug heavy bags about.

Given most people don't like swooping pet food on a weekly basis (depending on offers) I think it's regular low price is a good alternative.

Here's my referral link for a £1 trial!!

tails.com/fetch-your-friends/MATTH85Q

I do a stay home day for a whole day every second weekend. I find this great for stopping unnecessary spending. Generally when I go out I go after lunch so it avoids buying foods. And meal planning helps too!!

You don't have to stay at home to not spend money. There's plenty of places to go for free or very cheap. Country parks etc, if they're close by you just need a bit of petrol to get there and if parking isn't free, free parking can usually be found close by and just walk in - I often go to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and it costs me maybe £2/3 in petrol. I sometimes buy a coffee or an ice cream, but you could equally take a picnic.

Try the £30 shopping. Write a meal plan, check what you have in already.

Can you change your hours so you don't need the wrap around? You may find dropping a few hours and working in between school may leave you mine ££ for food. Obviously some jobs may not be flexible, you may not want to etc, in which case I echo all the good advice received so far.