Where does the money go?

[tempName101]

So I have created a budget, and should have plenty left over after all essentials.

I can't believe that I'm just frittering away £290! I'm working from home, only travelling for the school run, obviously Xmas shopping at this time of year but I never have any money left at the end of the month. No savings and things like MOT cause a right month.

I have some debt but that is being managed by a DMC at £34per month.

Maybe my food bill is higher? And daft things like comics for DC...?

We use YNAB (You Need A Budget) instead of pen and paper or a spreadsheet. Definitely worth the money (about £60 per year) for our family as it gives such clarity over our spending. There’s a bit of a learning curve but once you get it it’s quite addictive!

I'd recommend YNAB. Every expense should be accounted for. If your MOT is £50, you need to be putting £1 per week/4-5 per month towards that bill. Then it will be waiting for you and you won't be looking for it when it's due

There's a good one on the MSE site. It reminds you of all the 'one off' things you don't realise - haircuts, dentist, prescriptions, glasses, birthdays, Christmas.

Borrow books & music from local library

You can shop around for the cheapest MOT online too in your area

What is kiwi co?

Do you need Spotify as well as Amazon prime? You get Amazon music with the latter. Similarly, do you need Netflix as well as Disney plus and Amazon prime?

You have a fair few subscriptions. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Disney Plus etc. It's a lot per month added together. Are you honestly getting your moneys worth on all of these?

Local library is only open 2 mornings a week while we are at school/working.

Kiwi co is a monthly kids educational/craft box, it's a frivolity but DD loves it and it has about 3 days of activities/experiments, which then inspires us to do other things.

Hmmm...no I don't need Spotify/prime/Netflix, but we don't spend much on out of the house activities (we walk/beach/swim in sea) and we can't have free view due to location, so saving £13pm on the licence.... my problem is keeping track of the 'missing money' rather than trying to chip away at small luxuries that are accounted for already.

So far I have listed what I already had accounted for,and some others that posters suggested, thought of monthly "allowances" for other things and broken down the yearly expenses into monthly as some posters suggested and I'm looking at savings 'pots' for those expenses.

I'm also considering using 1 bank account as a 'fuel card' to keep a better track on petrol, and will start the spending diary ASAP.

I know you just want to know about the missing money but can't you see how easy it is for you to not be able to track it when a large proportion of your day to day spending is "a frivolity" or "a treat" or a "subscription to xyz"?

I'm feeling quite positive about it all to be honest, Xmas shopping is done with the exception of that last Xmas food shop- so I should be able to get through December with minimal disruptions to 'normal spending' and hopefully keep track of that to give an indication of where the money goes- I've had lots of helpful advice from this thread. Thank you

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz hmm yes I sort of see where you are coming from but those are expenses that I am happy and comfortable with, and more importantly aware and conscious of.

I don't think we are living in poverty, and I think there is no reason why we can't have treats and frivolities within reason.

If I was to just cut out the subscriptions, and go to the library- I would not be addressing the actual issue, that money would be frittered away on something else. (I know myself 🤦‍♀️)

so I would be taking away things that give us pleasure without any actual gain.

Yes I do agree - no need to cut the nice stuff if you can afford it and use it.

Does your online banking allow you to export to excel? I know you've said you are crap with spreadsheet but we could maybe suggest a few basic steps to take with the spreadsheet to help

For example- I don't buy makeup, get my hair done or drink alcohol.
Most of my clothes come from eBay/charity shop
ALL of my books come from charity shops.
I don't make any monthly donations to charity.
I haven't been abroad since I was a teenager.
I grow seasonal veg (not always successfully!)

I'm a frittered and a spendthrift, but I could be a lot worse 😂

I will explore that! Have downloaded the MSE budgeting tool which is on a spreadsheet as well so will see if that helps me get to grips with it.

You're spending £95 on prime a year when you could pay upfront and it'll be £79. Also switching to prime music would mean saving £180 a year on Spotify

I'm also considering using 1 bank account as a 'fuel card' to keep a better track on petrol, and will start the spending diary ASAP.

We use a cashback credit card for fuel and groceries- paid off in full every month so like a debit card really, just get some extra cashback on regular spending and it’s really easy to see how much we’ve spent on these 2 ‘variables’.

The problem with budgets is they don't take into consideration one off spend, and these are often a large part of our total spend.

For me this month, I had quite a few I would never have included in a budget. Just at the top of my head that came as over £300.

dontdisturb Budgets should take into account one off spends!! It's very rare that there is anything that comes up that you're not expecting.
You should have pots for things like household maintenance and car repairs and the random £1s that the children's school always wants for something or other.
And, most importantly an "emergency" pot for things that suddenly hit you all at once, so affording these doesn't causes issues with other spending areas.

What crept up that was £300 unexpectedly? I'm nosy 🧐

"I'm also considering using 1 bank account as a 'fuel card' to keep a better track on petrol, and will start the spending diary ASAP."

@tempName101 honestly, try YNAB. You don't need a separate bank account for fuel, you just need a budget line for it.

With a 'budget to zero' system, you might have £4000 in your bank account, but you know that you only have £100 spare, because everything else is committed. You can have budget lines for birthday presents, Christmas, eating out, spending money, subscriptions, etc.

Use the library! If you have a tablet, smart phone or computer you can get kids comics free on an e-reader.

Also cancel Spotify there's a version of amazon music you get free as part of your prime membership. It's not as good as premium Spotify but will save you £15 per month.

I've just seen your comment about not being able to visit the library when it's open. Use the online service. I reckon I save at least £1000 a year using my library.

I had a serious book, newspaper and magazine habit! Library is greener, cheaper, less capitalist. You can borrow music, films and box sets too.

Why don't you rotate through the online subscription services, so sometimes have Disney and sometimes have Netflix? Keep Prime though as useful for so many things.

If you run a car, repairs, insurance, MOT etc are not unexpected, they're just irregular. So you need to account for them in your budget.

Good to see you've found MSE OP, you'll get lots of tips on how to get everything cheaper. Lots of little savings can really add up if you get a few quid off your utilities, entertainment packages, phone service etc.

Also look at their mantra about thinking whether or not you need and use the things you buy - you seem to have a lot of entertainment packages - do you really use all these regularly? Good tip about rotating, they're all very easy to stop and start at will, and if you try to cancel, they often offer you deals to stay. For example, we currently have Now TV movies for some extended period that I can't remember, maybe 6 months, half price. We've almost never paid full price in several years.

Your phone looks expensive - you can get loads of data only a sim only contract from the likes of GiffGaff for under a tenner a month, which means the phone part of your service is costing over £300 a year. In a 2 year contract, your phone is costing you around £700, which is far more than you need to pay.

For stopping smoking, can I suggest Champix tablets. DP used this after years of failed attempts by other methods but found it really easy and has now not smoked in nearly 3 years.