hello all..

i earn pretty good cash but i do struggle budgeting…hardly save and often have more month left than wages…any tips/apps that may hep me? trying to get to the point where i have savings…a plan

I’ve used youneedabudget before and it works fairly well. You get the first month free then it’s something like $5/month after

I was like you for a long time. What sorted me was getting a separate current account purely for paying bills. Work out your monthly outgoings, set up a standing order from whichever account your wages get paid into to cover all bills + a bit extra. Transfer all bills/Direct Debits to new bill payment account. Cut up the ATM card the bank sends you for the bills account.

Job done.

I’ve used youneedabudget before and it works fairly well. You get the first month free then it’s something like $5/month after

How ironic

Cut backs!!
Few months off the coke and Hookers
Food shopping.. go to aldi / lidl
cancel Sky TV
Stop drinking booze / cut back / dont go to the pub
Make packed lunches
Stop buying stuff you dont need

yup spend a fair bit on food (ex-chef so fussy) so that could be tweaked
tv is pretty cheap just got the basic virgin package
drink very little none in the house
packed lunches defo…i was spending £230 a month on garage grazing
ha yeah thats the tough one…thanks ill look at the app

get married……she will make sure you dont spend it all. 😆

avoided marriage which i hear ton is a pricey affair anyhow!

Does your employer have anything like a share save scheme. My current one does. Buy shares at around a 30% discount and set a monthly amount for 3 years that comes straight out of my salary.

At the end of three years either sell the shares for whatever the current going rate is or get your cash back if they’ve crashed.

Very worst position is break even and as the money goes at point of source I do not miss it / can’t spend it on shit!

Alternatively, have a DD set up straight in to a difficult to access savings account leaving you enough for bills and a reasonable spends?

everyone – Member
I’ve used youneedabudget before and it works fairly well. You get the first month free then it’s something like $5/month after

a spreadsheet is free! 😆

avoided marriage which i hear ton is a pricey affair anyhow!

married 26 years and i am loaded……. 😉

i spend enough time with spread sheets to involve one in my personal life…ill find out about the share savings thingy…thanks

What The flying Ox said. Make sure you have 3 accounts set up – cash, which is what you get paid into every month, bills and savings. Get hold of your last 12 months bank statements and work out what’s a regular outgoing (mortgage / rent, bills, petrol, insurance, any other direct debits and standing orders), add it all up and set all of that lot to come out of one dedicated account. Set up a standing order to move enough into that account the day after you get paid so you don’t have to think about it again. Then work out what’s comfortable to get by on as ‘cash’, ie food plus beer tokens, and move whatever’s left into the savings account.

That way you know even worst case you have a roof over your head, and you can tinker with what you spend vs what’s savings. I found it easiest to be generous at the beginning of the month and try to have enough left over at the end to top up the savings. In a bad month you can just dip into the savings account if you have to, but there’s enough of a psychological barrier to make you pause.

Definitely works. Managed to save enough for a deposit on my first flat this way.

What sorted me was getting a separate current account purely for paying bills. Work out your monthly outgoings, set up a standing order from whichever account your wages get paid into to cover all bills + a bit extra. Transfer all bills/Direct Debits to new bill payment account. Cut up the ATM card the bank sends you for the bills account.

^ This
Absolutely!

I actually run with four accounts: spends, bills/rent, rainy day and ‘big savings’ (that must never be touched).
Cash goes into the spends account weekly rather than monthly.

I would also recommend moving gas/electric to standing order rather than DD, add a few quid extra and over the summer you can build up enough to cover a nasty winter gas bill.

The other big one is to take your weekly spending money out as cash in one go, and pay stuff in cash (e.g. Take a tenner per day in your pocket if it helps ) – A big whisky bottle for schrapnel makes it even better, any change in your pocket of a night-time goes into the bottle.

Edit:

Worth adding that Lloyds bank do a ‘save the change’ thing so that every time you spend something on your card it rounds it up to the nearest pound into your savings account (e.g., spend £6.73, it takes £7.00 out of your current account and adds 27p to your savings account, that’s added an extra £8.12 to my rainy day account this month)

Worth adding that Lloyds bank do a ‘save the change’ thing

And it’s amazing how this adds up over the course of a few months as well…

all really cool ideas…ive got a ton of bike kit to sell which will help too i reckon…thanks everyone!