Where does it all go?

[Stamplicker]

Hey,

I am trying to get some control on our spending and outgoings. We live in the midlands and have a good joint Income of 6k a month, and yet it all just seems to fly in and out of the bank!!!

we’re both due to be paid on 25th ( next Thursday) and we’re literally down to £400!

does anyone else feel the same?

Get the Emma finance app. Makes a big difference as you can actually see where the money is going.

£400 for a week doesn't seem bad though. Assuming you've no bills to pay?

If it makes you feel better, we take home about £2.5k, get paid next week and am down to £35.

I'd dream to be in your position.

Down to £400 how awful.

A lot don't have that much after the first few days.

I know I’m not struggling and that I’m fortunate. It just concerning that money is literally being spunked into thin air!!

Yes, money disappears quickly every month!

But only you know were yours goes. After bills (which I monitor closely/check for cheaper alternatives!) much of mine goes on takeaways or grocery shopping!

If you genuinely don't know where yours goes then time to knock up a spreadsheet for a couple of months to monitor it.

I noticed this myself and we are in a similar position. How much do you spend on “nothings” that you think won’t make a difference ?

That takeaway at the weekend? That coffee on the way to work? That pair of socks you don’t really need? Bag of nachos or popcorn for the movie night?

We cut all those things right back. We buy a bottle of wine rather than go to the pub if it’s just the two of us. Have nailed the art of making a meal from leftovers. It all adds up so much.

Even the little nothings cost a fortune now.

Coffee and a pastry from Pret - £7!!!

A little lunchtime Nando's treat for me and DH almost £50 😳

Get an app and stay keeping track. You'll be amazed where it goes!

Lots of budgeting apps/sites help available. I keep a very close eye on what i spend and check my bank account daily. I was in debt years ago, manageable and all paid off. I never want to get to that again so i check it and save religiously.

Little purchases really add up over the course of a month. Look at all direct debits and check where your money is actually going on a monthly basis. You have an amazing income ( my wage is £1.7k monthly)

Once informed you can make decisions on what change is needed and so on….

write down all your transactions for the month and you will see where money is being ‘wasted’. Dh and I have a budget for everything - food, eating out, utilities - so easy to see where the overspends are. Once you have done this you can look at cheaper options eg fix electricity price or phone charge or tv package etc

I’m down to 81p and fet paid on 29th. I really don’t know where it goes

Is the £6K income gross or net?

I think a proper monthly budget and logging all your outgoings against it will help you identify where it all goes. Then you can decide if you want to cut back in places etc.

As said do a spreadsheet of everything you spend, then you can see if you really have to spend all that money or whether a chunk of it is going on junk.

Why would you need to spend more than £400 in the next week? Do you have a big bill coming up you’re not going to be able to pay?

Otherwise, that’s a large amount of money to have left over, you can do a big shop, fill up 2 cars and have a day out. Why would you need more for 7 days?

It’s about what we have at the start of the month once all the bills are paid and I don’t feel like we’re struggling, we just know what we can and can’t afford.

If we didn't track our money I'm fairly certain I could spend £10,000 a month and be left with nothing...only way I keep up with our finances (which aren't £10,000 a month sadly!) and ensure we have what we need for all short and long term goals is with a spreadsheet.

Track every £ you sound for the next month then identify areas to cut back spending. It isn't any more complicated than that especially as you have a healthy monthly income.

Me too - I have a really comprehensive one that tracks everything

Before you get paid next week write down every fixed necessary expense. Then write down every variable necessary expense. Look at your variable expenses for possible savings.

Lastly, go through 3 months of statements and look at your incidental spending. This is the area where you are likely to be able to make easy savings

Open a new bank account for day to day spending and on pay day put a fixed amount in for the month.

Set up a standing order for a manageable amount to go into savings on payday. This month you have 400 left for the week. Why not set up a regular saving of 300?

The key to saving is to save on payday. If you leave the money in your current account it will just go by the end of the month.

Ignore any of the comments saying they'd love to be 'down to £400' - the point is that you feel you should have more than that and/or want to know where your money is going, and that's what matters right now. My advice would be to go completely old school - write every single income and expense in a notebook, even what seems like insignificant amounts. Do this over a couple of months at least, and you might then start to see what's happening! In the longer term you need to set up (a) financial spreadsheet to allow you to plan for monthly outgoings and budget for longer term items. You may well have seen from your notebook that you want to spend less/more in certain areas and setting a budget helps stick to that. I do have experience of giving budgeting/debt management advice in a previous role, and often people are spending vastly different amounts than they thought! Good luck!

I use Moneyhub and find it really helpful. It has all my accounts linked and classifies all the expenditure so you can see just how much you're spending on utilities, groceries, entertainment etc, and how that varies month to month.

There’s no magic to it. Presumably you don’t take it all out in cash and pay every single transaction with cash?
So your bank statements will tell you exactly where it “goes”.
Often it’s small amounts that you don’t add up, or larger once a year bills (like MOT) that you haven’t budgeted for.

It will be all the incidental spending...the coffee here, the meal deal there, the top up shop, and you spit a couple of deals and buy them too and 'ah, shall we get coffee and cake whilst we're here?'. Adds up quickly.