Household budgeting tips needed please. What do you do so I can 'borrow' your tips.

[PhantomOfTheChocolateCakeAvena]

I'm really bad at this, always forgetting to pay something and always spending all of what I have coming by the end of the month. I've opened an internet savings account but I need some tips to be more organised. My income is quite high compared to some (I won't say what it is if this is OK) but always seem to spend it all. I take ds out on Saturdays, we go for lunch and then to the cinema and the supermarket but I seem to spend £100, which is alot I think. I'd like to be able to save. I have money coming in every week and get paid monthly but I just can't seem to sort it all out.

Please help!
Hugs, Avenanap.

*pay for everything (council tax, water, elec, gas, phone, credit cards etc) with Direct Debit (it's often cheaper too) if you don't already
*if you have debts, set up standing orders to pay them off (£50 a month say)
*if you use credit cards, set up direct debits to pay them off in full each month, or at least minimum payment so you don't incur charges
*if no debts, set up a regular amount standing order to a savings account

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Thankyou.

Cinema and supermarket = big spend. Why not switch the cinema for a dvd, or if you do visit the cinema, just go once in a while? Possibly not the done thing, but sneak your own treats in, saves the extortionate prices that cinemas charge.

The supermarket is one great temptation. Shop online, or just do a 10 item shop, makes life easy when shopping with a little one anyway. Always shop with a list, and visit a smaller supermarket - fewer aisles to be tempted by and the shop is much quicker. Life's too short to spend in Tesco anyway!

You mention going out for lunch - why not try a homemade picnic in the park? Much cheaper. If you do go out, look out for various 'meal deals' on at various restaurants, like Umlellala says, moneysavingexpert.com is full of the latest roundups.

We don't go very often and it costs about £10. We sneak treats in aswell. I think I send too much at the supermarket. £50-60 for just me and ds. I grew u in a house with not alot fresh food wise so I'm always buying fruit fresh meat and fish. It's silly because I always end up freezing it or throwing some away. A list is a good idea. I should do a weekly meal plan and just buy whatever we need for the meals. I'm shocked at how fast it goes. I used to live off hardly anything when I had ds, we are so much better off now but I still end up with nothing at the end of the month. I could sho online as it will cut out the need to take him out for lunch because there's not alot left in the fridge. I wouldn't have to pay for a cab home either, that's another £8.

I'll have a look at moneysavingexpert.com. Thankyou for that.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?
Hi Phantom,

Have a look at some of these:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=food&threadid=514090-can-we-have-a-food-is-so-expensive-atm-and#1042966 6

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=food&threadid=545081-is-anyone-else-feeling-the-pinch-any-tips#11125484

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=good_housekeeping&threadid=373252-am-stoney-broke-top-money-saving-tips -please#7606381

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=good_housekeeping&threadid=548656-fly-money-saving-tips#11202655

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=good_housekeeping&threadid=519535-tell-me-all-o-fyou-r-best-money-savin g-tips#10550905

Loads more if you do a search of past year's thread by entering "money saving tips" Good luck!

Oops - pls ignore first line of that!

Thanks. I've always been useless at budgeting, it's not just now. They should give you lessons at school.

something that works for me is to pay everything I can by direct debit - that comes out of a different account into which I put enough money to pay the bills on payday.

Then I take out as much cash as I am allowed to spend (not including supermarket bills). Leave enough money in there to cover supermarket bills and transfer rest to savings account.

I do tend to keep a bit in the bills account to cover a sudden major expense or if the bills go up a bit.

Re. the food planning : there's a great book called to feed your whole family a healthy balanced diet with very little money and hardly any time... by Gill Holcombe. As well as cheap recipes, it gives weekly menus and shopping lists - just add your extras for lunches, cleaning stuuf etc and forget shopping until the next week.

I have three accounts now. I had one for years with the bank, then opened another one for this purpose which is now my student account and is overdrawn. I've just opened a savings account so I can put some emergency money/holiday money/school uniform/christmas next year money in there.

Make menus and shop to the menus. Cuts down the food that goes from the fridge to the bin.

Use cash only for three weeks. Work out roughly how much you think you'll need and take it out of the machine at the beginning of the week, and don't take out any more unless there's a real emergency (REAL!).

You'll automatically start thinking things like "actually we could share a bucket of popcorn" etc. As well as starting that habit it will give you a clear idea of where your money is going and how quickly.

Every day, do a mental sum and checklist of the small things you want to buy and decide not to. For example, small children's treats, greetings cards, choc bars, coffee and buns, gift "bargains" in shops etc etc. Note down at the end of the day and add up at the end of the week.

This will give you a clear idea of how frittering on small things that you think are "only a couple of quid" can eat into your daily budget.

If you're worried about frittering but not about how much money you spend then you could look at that amount and buy something nice with it. Or you could put it away somewhere.

It's like a dripping tap! I do have enough to cover all my bills and have quite alot left to save/clear the overdraft. I'm trying very hard not to spend, ds was trying to tempt me to buy an overpriced moisturiser but I didn't cave in. It was nice though . Looking round I have overspent on books!

why buy books, have you a library nearby? I have tons of books I' ve bought and thought it was terrible the amount I spent.

I just borrow them from the library now

ds reads them over and over again so we'd be in the library every couple of days.

Well, we are attempting No Spend November. It doesn't mean we don't spend any money (yes, it is a misleading name), rather ANY purchase has to be considered - and only made if essential. Can we borrow/reuse/use points/get creative/do without/wait til december? It's amazing how many purchases are down to laziness (can't be bothered to check if we have blu-tack) or spending that isn't necessary NOW - eg I'm terrible for buying 3 cans of beans rather than just one that I need (different if they are on offer of course).

It's quite fun to get into thriftiness and non-commercialism (loads of stuff on moneysavingexpert forums) but you have to be realistic and not too extreme and hard on yourself. It's not worth saving money by reusing old wax crayons but then buying loads of chocolate and magazines when you are down .

I have a whopping bill due out at the end of the month so shall be having a No spend November too . Roll on December!

You are right about buying things you don't need or already have. You can always use cans of beans though.

If you are overdrawn or in debt, it's usually better to clear that first before starting savings (you can use a credit card if you have a seriously rainy day). This means that you have to face up to your debts. I used to try saving and paying down debt at the same time and it never worked. Get rid of the overdraft on your student account first.

Also, write down all your expenditure in a little note book, even 45p on a pint of milk etc. That always gets me on the straight and narrow.

And learn how to cook lentils - they are delicious and cheap - and you can always have some meat with it, but you don't need so much.

We do the 'take out cash for the week and don't spend any more' thing sometimes. We did it for a month in September and it really works. We just did it cos we were fed up of being overdrawn every month. It is hard to do though, we were fairly strict and there were no treats or going out or extra yummy food - that was the most difficult bit.

The tip we were given which has had the biggest impact is using a PC package to manage our bank accounts and cash. It makes keeping a track of where the money goes so much easier ... and was frightening initially. It's helped us get back control and use our money for what we think is important (and fun) rather than have it disappear at the end of the month without much to show for it.