Determined to make my budget work this month

[Mimosadreams]

Hi,

Month after month I waste my spare money and then end up limping to payday for the last week of the month. I’m sick of living like that and am determined to change.

this month I’ve made a spreadsheet to track my expenditure. I’m updating it every time something leaves my bank.

i’ve got 21 days till I’m next paid. All of my bills are paid and I’ve currently got £1239 that I’ll need to buy food out of, as well any discretionary spends. I’m aiming to have at least £500 of this left by payday.

any tips on how to make a budget work?

I split my 'after bills' money into weekly pots in Monzo so I have a set amount for the week and if it runs out then that's it until the next week. Works really well to help pace your spending.

I think you need to look at why you’ve been spending so much on food and discretionary expenses. Do you have other people to support?

You could look at another way.

Put the £500 you don't want to spend in a savings account and pretend it doesn't exist.

Split the rest into food and non essentials. You could transfer it into two separate accounts and then use the cards accordingly.

If you start to run out of money you need to buy less/do without/use what you have in/buy cheaper food/sell something/whatever instead of touching the £500.

Moneysaving Expert has a lot of advice on not spending:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/stop-spending-budgeting-tool/

If this works, you still have your £500 left at the end of the month.

How many people has that got to cover?

I'd put £300 straight into a savings account, and see how you go with the remainder.

What are you currently spending the money on? And what are you planning on reducing to hit your target?

Lots of questions! They don't all need answering publicly, but are probably worth considering.

Do it the other way OP, move £500 into savings now, and budget from the money you have left. Bonus if you have more at the end!

I put an amount in a savings account on payday. Making sure I have covered all outgoings and anything extra that will crop up in the month to come.

Save into an Easy Access account with high interest (5% ish) that only allows a certain number of withdrawals a year. So that it is accessible for actual emergencies or planned saving items, but not for unplanned frivolous overspending.

Enjoy watching your savings grow, and enjoy seeing the extra ‘free’ money grow, i.e the interest! Growing savings can be as compulsive as spending!

I would also look at your outgoings and bills, then look at any unnecessary bills - do you use them? If you haven’t used it, ie Amazon tv, audio books etc. cancel it!

set a standing order up to a savings account too if you can afford this.

then what do you think you have left for food, day to day treats etc. split that and set up a standing order to a ‘spending money / pocket money’ account for a little less on a weekly basis. Once the money has gone from your pocket money that week, it’s gone. You don’t ‘borrow’ from your bills / saving account.

I think everyone works differently and you need to see what’s right for you 😄, but this has worked for me on a tight budget.

That works out at 59 quid a day how is there not money left over if this is only for food

21 x 20 = 420..
So take out a £20 note and only spend that. This way you going to think about if you have enough to pay for things.
If you don't need more money then next day sweep it into savings...
It will buy you food all day and even a treat.

if you get an app like Snoop or YNAB you don’t need a spreadsheet to record spending, it does it all for you and puts it into categories like groceries, bills etc (which you can change). You can view all accounts with different banks including savings and credit cards so you can track your overall balance

(We’ve got into a bad habit of spending as we need / like first (within reason!) and then putting whatever’s left at the end in savings. We need to adjust and decide what to save first and then spend as per the pre-agreed budget. Just need to be disciplined and stick to it!)

Having £1239 after bills is a lot

Def put £500 away so leaving £700+

You say you struggle near end of month till pay day again

So what you are spending the £1200 on

Best way is to write down everything you buy /spend for 2/3mths so can where /what you spend it on

I also do this but not with a Monzo. It works well for me, once it's gone each week it's gone