How would you feel about this budget vs expenses for the rest of the month?

[Budgetquery]

I tend to panic about money since i separated so bear with me.
I have 816 left until next payday on the 24th
out of that I need to pay for dds birthday party. 125 for the activity and then food so I’m guessing about 150 (we’re going to make pizzas)
I have to get petrol and also food shopping each week.
there’s still Disney to pay and my broadband and phones which is 70…
so that’s 210
which leaves 606 for the food and petrol. I I have to get a birthday present for my ds’s friend too…so 15.
I don’t think there’s anything else to pay but something always crops up…
I know I’m panicking, how do I stop this!

Do you have savings? Maybe trying to accumulate a savings buffer might help, I know it sounds impossible in your budget, but even just a regular small amount. Are you making pizzas at home? That seems a lot of money for homemade pizza, it would be cheaper to get them delivered!!! You could easily make 20 pizzas for £20 and money left for ice cream!

Yes I do have savings but I REALLY REALLY do not want to dip into them for this. I would panic so much more if I did that. I’d feel like I’ve failed. 😞
yes we are making them ourselves, I need to find bases and I need to find gluten bases too for one of them. I’m hoping to stretch to ice cream. Thank you

Op a money advisor said to have savings divided into rainy day and oops something has cropped up so that you don’t panic like this! I’d say dip in, how can you have failed? You’re doing great x

Making dough is easy. Look at Becky Excel’s gluten free pizza dough. It will cost pennies to make, no way will you need to budget £150!!!! I would make all the pizzas gluten free as you won’t have to worry about cross contamination. My family like them, and kids won’t notice much of a difference.

Is there any opportunity to increase your income to give you some extra money, I know it must be tough being a single parent. Does you ex do any childcare, could you do some weekend work if he looks after them at the weekend?

Ooh thank you I’ll look that up. I do have gluten free flour here from the last time she stayed and I made her pancakes. The activity they are doing is 125 so I’ll definitely need that.
I can do over time at work but not every month unfortunately. And this is what I have left after my big bills.
yes their dad has them 50% of the time but I find that doesn’t really reduce the food shopping that much. I’ve never run a household by myself so I’m just a mess some months to be honest. Money is always in the back of my head and when I was with dh money was never an issue so it’s all new.
I know I’m lucky in lots of ways but that doesn’t stop the worry.

Well I think the party sounds lovely and the children will have a good time. Just make sure you do a good clean of the kitchen keep the regular flour hidden somewhere safe! My sister went to a pizza party and they cooked the regular and GF pizzas in the same oven and she was very ill!!!

Over time you’ll no doubt increase your earnings and hopefully things won’t be so tight each month soon.

I know someone who manages really well by putting actual physical money into separate labelled jars each payday.

You can do it virtually as well, with names bank accounts

I've added a link with info from Barclays, but all banks would likely do something similar.

barclayslifeskills.com/working-life/confidence-with-money/managing-your-money-using-the-jam-jar-approach/

Oh dear, thank you for the advice I’ll give the oven a good clean too then!! Just to be sure! Thank you so much. Yeah I’m hoping things will improve as we go

I’ll take a look thank you ☺️

Having just read the benefits bashing thread, £816 sounds like a really healthy sum to get by on, despite your expenses.

As others have said, you can make your own pizzas or even get the children on board to make them with you.

The present for your DS's friend doesn't have to be £15. The Works do book bundles for a tenner. Maybe get one of those, divvy it up and it will be two or three gifts going forward.

When my DC were still living at home 7yrs ago, I didn't have that much left a month. I was working three jobs but managed, although I appreciate costs have gone up since.

As for Disney, there are torrent sites where you can stream Disney, Netflix, Apple, Prime, latest cinema releases for free. I've used them for years.

Other than that, keep on keeping on! You're doing great. Have a fabulous time on your DC's birthday.

Thank you ☺️ ah I just feel like it’s not enough of an emergency to dip into it. But maybe separating a bit out might be useful. I just want to be as disciplined as I can i suppose.

thank you ☺️ I need the gift for Sunday so I’ve left it a bit late. There’s not many options nearby unfortunately without going into town and then paying for parking. 😅

To be honest, that sounds like a decent amount to me! How much do you usually spend on the food shop? Just stick to a budget for the present and lower the cost of the pizza like others advice.

You said the activity was £125 and then food on top which was pizzas, so only £25 for the pizza?

Whats the activity, that seems the pricey bit

I usually spend about 70 a week on food, sometimes a bit more

If it makes you feel better I have £41 until the 20th.

I do have a nearly full tank of petrol and £60 on a Tesco gift card so I'm feeling fine.

Single parent, professional job, trying to get out of debt so I can build savings.

Not to be snarky but it's hard to see what you're worried about at all.

25 for all of the ingredients so the bases I was gonna buy packaged but might make from scratch now. And then ham, peppers, cheese etc and a jar of pizza sauce

Go-karting

Sorry @LividSunshine i know it could be worse. It’s just that I’m anxious is all.

No I get it.

You need to account for every pound so you know where it's going. Work out what you HAVE to spend vs what you'd like to spend and see what's left. That should ease your mind.

I spent years living on the credit card when I didn't have enough. Now I have a budget I at least know where it's going.

I think £25 for the pizza is completely reasonable, I didnt think that was a lot at all

Its the activity which is costly but you appear to have room in the budget so its probably ok

You should be fine then!

If I have done the maths correctly you will have £581 after the party and other costs? And 3 weeks to go until the 24th. So that’s £193.66 per week, if you usually spend £70 on food, then that leaves £123 for petrol. That’s a lot per week, I’m sure you’ll have some left over. You’ll be okay! 👍

I hope so, something always crops up doesn’t it 😅 here’s hoping it’s a month of no surprises

Have you got any credit with your energy supplier? Mine tends to build up a bit and so I request a credit refund when things get a little tight. It’s a like a low-key emergency pot I forget about and remember every now and again. Worth checking! Also, Tesco clubcard points, or similar. Now’s the time to spend them if you need to!

I'd feel very comfortable with that amount of money - that is a lot for 3 weeks.

But, if you are worried about funds, then perhaps spending so much on an activity for a party isn't the wisest choice?

How many people are you feeding from your weekly shop ? Is that something you could look at saving something from each week ?