How do I start budgeting properly? Single mum, low income, new start.

[PurpleSocks37]

Hi all,
I’m in my 40s, a single mum to a young child. After a few really tough years (including leaving an abusive relationship, time spent homeless, and living in a women’s shelter), I’m finally in a more stable place. We now have a home (renting via housing association), and I’ve recently started working part-time. I also get a UC top-up.
I’m not currently receiving any child maintenance and I don’t think I ever will. He works cash in hand and seems to believe that the responsibility of raising our child is mine alone.
I know I’m not going to be saving big money right now but I’d like to learn how to manage what I do have better, and eventually build up a small emergency fund.
I’ve never really learned how to budget properly, and I tend to just get through the month as best I can.
I’d be really grateful for any beginner advice or budgeting tips especially anything simple or visual (spreadsheets, apps, etc). If you’ve been in a similar position and managed to get on top of things, I’d love to hear how you did it.
Also, if anyone has a good link to a UK-based budgeting guide or free resources, that would be amazing.
Thanks so much in advance.

Watch Nischa on YouTube

Have you got a smartphone @PurpleSocks37? I use the Moneysaving Expert budget spreadsheet to plan my budget.

Then I use the ‘Trends’ feature on Monzo phone banking app to put in my budget targets. I can then check as I go throughout the month how much I’ve spent and got left. Eg Monzo recognises grocery shops automatically abd so I can see how much left o have of my £520. It is very simple to do.

Sorry your ex is such a twat, btw.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/

Came in to mention the Martin Lewis budget planner as well. It makes you consider everything (I never appreciated his much we spend on haircuts before then).

Set a second bank account (or two or three), and each money, send over some money for Christmas, birthdays, holidays etc. Even consider things like school uniform. Shoes, uniform, stationery etc can easily cost a hundred pounds, so put aside ten pounds a month for this expense, and then come August, you’ll have the money ready.

Have you checked the state of your state pension? Don’t forget to keep an eye on how you’re going to support yourself when you retire.

I use an app called spending tracker. I list my bills every month and incoming and see what’s left to save.
I have a budget for on what I spend on food/ petrol but I put that on a credit card and pay it off at end of month. (For good credit score)
Always shop around for insurances/utilities.
Look at cash back current accounts.
Be aware of your little spends thet soon add up, things like lunches/coffees obviously cheaper to use stuff from home.
If you have tv packages consider having freeview and one package such as Netflix, watch that for a while then switch to Disney or prime. Rather than having several at once.
But be careful of how much you save up as you could be penalised by uc. You need to check the limit after that You could be better putting into a pension or a savings account for your dc .

I use a GoogleSheet to track all expenditure. It came from the Financial Foundations course by Meaningful Money (podcast & YouTube channel).
It is fairly basic, so you could create your own but what I like is that you can give expenses a category and it produces a pie chart showing the categories, so visually you can see that 1/3 of income goes on housing, 1/4 on food etc.

Start by tracking, as you can need to know what you spend and what that is spent on. Then after a few months you will spot patterns and you will see that you spend money on things that you could cut back on. For example, I spend a lot on having lunch out. It may only be £2-£4 each time but it adds up over a month!

Another YouTube channel to watch is The Ramsey Show. It’s American so expenditure and incomes are different but the principles are the same… spend on needs not wants, spend less than you earn, have an emergency fund, pay off debts.

Firstly OP, many congratulations on your new home and job!! It sounds like a massive achievement - please do contact CMS about your ex even if you don't think it's likely that you'll get any maintenance, it's better to get things recorded properly if you are at all able to.

CAP Money do a great money coaching course (no need to be religious to attend - I'm not - made some lovely friends there anyway!), and are generally very helpful, their services are all free.

As PP have advised, moneysavingexpert.com is brilliant - their forums have loads of info - you may find it useful to create your own debt free diary to keep track of your journey even if you're not in debt, the people on there are usually very supportive too.

I wish you and your DC all the best for the future!

The weekly or monthly budgeting is pretty easy, but putting money aside for those less frequent expenses can be tricky. I have a Starling bank account with several savings pots. I add money every month to cover things like car insurance, holidays, Christmas, and also a general savings pot.

Open a G’ment Help to Save account
https://www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income

Make sure you paying the max into your work pension. also consider opening and paying into a private SIPP. Report this to UC and it will come off your earned income and increase your UC award making it very efficient way to build up your pension.

Second the government Help to Save account. Anything you save over the next 4 years is topped up by 50%. It's designed to encourage people on low incomes to budget for the longer term (ie saving up for Christmas, school uniforms, insurance, car repairs, white goods replacement etc etc instead of budgeting month to month and struggling when there's higher expenses to pay for).

Also look at Moneysaving Expert and get the weekly newsletter with loads of tips on how to make your money go further. They also have a good budgeting guide.

So many helpful responses, I’m going to use a lot of them myself.

Sorry to intrude on your post. I don't have a budget, I don't spend what I don't have (ever) but my savings are dwindling. Im mid 60s so I can't take it with me and it's mostly spent on trips abroad with more planned.
Do I need a budget?

@ByQuaintAzureWasp

It sounds like you don't need a budget as such and, as you rightly point out, you can't take it with you.

However, you do need to be mindful of how long your savings will last, do you need to cover any big purchases like car replacement or home improvements and what will happen if they run out.

Could you increase your available cash by downsizing or even equity release?

If your savings run out, what will your lifestyle look like on your income - it sounds like you're retired so presumably have a private pension as well as the state pension either now or when you reach retirement age.

Depending on what you mean by 'savings are dwindling' and the other relative factors, it could be fine or you might need to tweak your spending. However, it's well known that younger retirees spend more than when they're older, and often than when they were working, because they have time to travel and pursue hobbies.

Firstly, find out what your disposable income is - Monthly income minus all your direct debits for the month. I write every amount down. I use the “notes” on my phone and add everything I spend so I have a running total. Every pound. You can then see how you’re going. Any money that is left in the month, I save. Good luck - you can do it!