Not sure how to do a health check of my tax situation to see what help is available.
mastiles I've mentioned on here before about not having any desire to own possessions other than those I need.
I just switch balances between credit cards and play the lottery every time there's at least a double roll-over, I figure I'll win before I go bankrupt. The lottery win is also my pension plan and endowment shortfall fund so I'll get everything sorted in one hit.
First step: Be born into a frugal family
Second Step: When you start work set up regular standing orders to savings account(s), don't spend it all and don't live for pay-day like a lot of people (even with good pay) do. Don't be too flash (it's an arms race)
Third Step: Marry a woman who isn't into 'hobby shopping' and is careful with her cash.
I've no idea how you actually get out of debt once it has happened though..... It would presumably involve massive cuts in expenditure as well as re-paying the loan
You're doing a very wise thing Huggis. My wife and I ignored these matters for a long time and it came back to bite us. I still don't know where all our money goes and I've given up asking.
I noticed this weekend how many people are desperate to let everyone know how "well off" they are
Indeed, being someone who knows how great they are without needing status symbols also helps
Like many others on this thread we have a bills account which I transfer a set amount each month to cover our bills plus a bit of "emergency" funds. Her account is used for her spending as well as the household shopping. We have a couple of savings accounts (one for a lump that we don't spend from at all and one that acts as savings / slush fund for occasional extravagences) and make sure we put at least something into the savings account each month. My account (what's left) is used for mortgage, community tax, fuel and general treats / shopping / eating out / take away's / adventure races / bike events. There's not usually much left at the end of the month. Fortunate that Mrs BC has gone along with the generally more frugal lifestyle and doesn't find the need to own 73 pairs of shoes, or 36 handbags etc. Sometimes wonder how it is that people seem to have lots of new shiny things regularly as well as "expensive" holidays etc. I guess some are just a lot better off then we are but some are living well beyond their means and it will come back to bite them at some point in the future. I personally can't face having that sort of situation so we actively plan to avoid it.
Another thing to do is go through all your expenses and ask whether you need them or could you cancel them (even temporarily)? Also review how much you are paying and se if you can move and save (for things like electricity etc). Do you have a Sky subscription? Could you cancel/change the plan?
We did just that and saved something like £100 a month I reckon. Things we changed:
Sky subscription (got rid of movies and sport)
Changed our gas/electricy suppliers
Changed broadband/phone provider
Reduced our LoveFilm subscription level
Changed our house insurance (this had a HUGE impact - we almost halved our premium)
I am also about to put a hold on pension payments and overpay more into the mortgage account as well because, after nearly 20 years of paying into it, I am seeing no real gains but can see huge benefits in paying off the mortgage early (then I can consider other ways of planning for retirement).
Geronimo first step, third step +1.
Strangely when I had a bigger business and was on a cracking salary I was also at more risk of loosing everything.
So I went back to simpler business and easier life.
Your point about image and status symbols amuses me, a few years back Barclays commercial offered me a loan for a car, I remember thinking I could buy the Audi RS4 for that and everyone would think I'm doing well, but in reality it would never 'actually' be mine, it would be losing money and I'd be paying it back for a fair while so I'd actually be worse off.
As my old mum says the only thing that maters is your health.
One Rule:
In
Vs
Out
Simples...
I must admit though only recently have I wound everything in, and it's just so nice to sleep at night knowing whatever happens workwise interest rates etc nothing will be a problem.
I started with a version of this: https://www.pearbudget.com/spreadsheet
Tweaked it slightly to be more applicable to me (less flexible than the original, but based around what I know I spend each month).
*Everything* goes in the S/S (and has done for the last 3 years). Get receipts for every transaction (especially withdrawing cash) and every couple of days empty out the wallet and update the S/S. Really easy to track exactly where your money's going and where you can afford to cut down on stuff.
Has helped me a lot - I had around ~5k of credit card debt a couple of years ago, now I've got savings set up and a sensible monthly budget. Plus an emergency holiday/forks fund 
wow thanks for all the good advice and wisdom!
Samb - I started with a version of this: https://www.pearbudget.com/spreadsheet
Also interested to hear opinnions on whether it is worth paying for advice i.e. going to an IFA?
Also interested to hear opinnions on whether it is worth paying for advice i.e. going to an IFA?
unless you get a personal recommendation, I would stay clear. And definitely don't use the advice from your bank! Its probably not their thing anyway.
A practical tip I had which was really useful was to write down everything I spent, no matter how small, for a week. Much like writing a diet sheet, its amazing where all the money really goes and it certainly focused my mind. I used that as a base to calculate how much I needed to get out in cash each week to cover petrol, sandwiches, coffee, nights out, etc.
Using these two things I cut out the silly excesses and after a few weeks of literally not having any money left for the last 2 days, it made me so much more careful.
As has been said, a high salary certainly doesn't mean that people are in less debt, and those that are, find it much harder proportionately to cut back on 'what they deserve because they work so hard'!
some great advice there, esp from MF. I would simply add (and I know I sound like a miserable old b'stard for saying it but) that half the trouble is alot of people simply cannot understand that if you ain't got the money you can't have it. New clothes, gadgets, better car, white goods, furniture, DIY etc are rarely urgent and it won't hurt to defer for a few months or even years.
Buying an iphone whilst still carrying any credit card debt is just plain bonkers and totally wrong priorities, pay off some off your mortgae, say 20%, before spending more on doing it up or replacing the kitchen or bathroom. Obviously valid exceptions to each of my examples will exist but the gist of my argument is right. My bro in law and sister have just retired at 50 with a pretty decent pension saved up (self funded not employer paid) despite never earned that much and inheriting zilch. How? They lived like students most of the time (no kids admittedly), great holidays, nice but modest house, no car, no crap, no waste. All the under 35s at work are up to their eyes in debt but think nothing of having a gym memberships (run round the park!!), 2 foreign holidays a year, enough clothes to start a shop, a new car every few years and so on. Don't spend what you ain't got. And always pay off debt before anything else.
There are variants of it mentioned here, but the simplest and most effective method I've found is to "pay yourself first". That means set up a standing order every month just after pay day to siphon off money that dissapears into the spent ether. Some economists recommend 10-20% of every bit you earn, to ensure you will retire early and with a full coffer (compound interest is most effective the earlier you start, so tweak based on that). The key is that under no circumstances is this money to be touched, regardless of how much of an emergency of the day you have -- there will always be things that at the time seem urgent, but you cannot break this one rule. Periodically when the money has built into a reasonable pool, invest it in some vehicle. Keep it diversified, and there are reams of advise on strategies for that like no more than 5% in one entity, no more than 20% in one market/mechanism, etc.
If you want more shiny bike bits then set up "pay yourself first" account #2 which can have slightly relaxed regulations
This has always seemed to work for me because I never get used to having the extra income. It's never "in my posession" long enough to feel it's loss, and I never considered it when taking on necessary debt like a mortgage.
My mates take the piss outta me but since i landed my (then girl friend) wife with the news i needed a £2000 loan to pay off debts at 18yrs old, i have lived on 'pocket money' ever since.
I want some money i ask for it. I want to buy something, i ask for my cash card and hand it back at the end of the day. We dont have much disposable income atm with childcare costs and her working part time but in a few months we will be £350 better off per month and at 34 i only have 15yrs left on my mortgage and an endowment maturing in 10yrs. Hoping to be mortgage free by the time i am 45.
We were worried about the economy last year. There were redundancies at my work. We had a bit of savings but a holiday would have cleaned them out. My wife wanted a holiday, my kids wanted a holiday, i wanted a holiday. We didnt go on holiday.
If I don't buy this will I die? If yes buy if no don't. Do that for a while and you should save a bit.
Hoping to be mortgage free by the time i am 45.
Good luck with that
If I don't buy this will I die? If yes buy if no don't
I have bought a spear, and some matches.
Stop looking at bike websites if you need to save money, I don't think they help.
And don't buy an iPhone just so you can use money saving apps.
This is way too topical for my liking, me and the wife have been going through the process of trying to budget, plan and generally scrape up the funds to get through each month as we seem to have hit the wall. The means to the end is pretty much as we feared from what i've read, the only fly in the ointment is that i can live without the new shiney stuff and beans on toast for tea two or three times a week is no great hardship...no it's the fact she will have to work more hours which bites as the only opportunity she has are every weekend!!! Bye bye biking and climbing then..lets just hope it's not as bad as my pessimism is.
All the above seems sensible to me. I would add:
1. Go thru all your stuff and sell what you don't actually use or need. I've made around £1,000 in the last couple of months emptying my cellar of old bike kit I'd swapped out or stopped using
2. Buy what you know you need and want, not what your peer group does or magazines/media/everyone else wants you to
3. Avoid friends/other halves who are status driven and expect you to be the same. They tend to choose expensive places to go out/want expensive presents/holidays etc. In any case friendship's based on values and deeper stuff IMO
4. If you buy a lot of bike stuff, go to the classifieds here... usually top quality kit but dead cheap
Why did you say that tiger?
Edit - My endowment is not linked to my mortgage (Repayment) so the endowment (Which has a minimum payout promise)is a bonus. Pretty likely i will have no mortgage by 45.
Make a shopping list BEFORE you go shopping. And stick to it!
Definitely worth listing everything spent. I asked the other half how much she reckons we spent on the credit card for shopping etc. every month - she guessed about half of what it actually was. Though she said half the stuff was 'one-offs' - car service, etc. etc. but when I said every month had £x of 'one-offs' she started to realise you need to include them in totals.
A couple of tough months, then if you can get into a position whereby you pay off the credit card in full (you can set the DD to take the full balance a month which focuses the mind...) it'll be better.
Hoping to be mortgage free by the time i am 45.
I cleared mine last year - nice to know that I only have household bills to worry about - got a baby due soon so good timing I suppose.
I haven't read the rest of the thread however you have to think twice before you buy stuff. Do you need the morning Costa Coffee at £2? do you need to buy that bike magazine every month at £4.30 which just wants to sell you stuff? Do you really need that T-shirt? New bike part? or are you just buying it as "it's a bargain". you have to think twice about stuff. Look at your food shop, are you buying crap that you don't need? can you scale it down, ie you don't need those chocolate biscuits every week, just now and then for a treat?
do you have expensive TV packages (Sky) get rid of it? expensive contract phone, get a SIM only deal.
Get the debt off your credit card now, you are getting ripped off every month on interest. If you can manage a CC get one with cash back then pay the full cash back every month. Start a DD to put £100 a month into a savings account, then if you get a pay rise up it by say £50 or £100 as you won't notice the money. It soon builds up and can be left there long term or tap into it if you fancy a treat, ie a holiday.
Any spare cash, look into overpaying on your mortgage, the other best debt to get rid of ASAP. But have to check on your mortgage you aren't limited to X £'s overpayments of they will charge you.
Do you know exactly what comes in and out of your account? Do you both work FT or is the Ms PT because of kids. you both need to have the same attitude to money and getting rid of debt or it won't work! especially if you have only 1 joint account for everything.
Mr MC and I have joint acc for everything to do with house/bills/car etc, then seperate for our own clothes and fun stuff, that way he can't moan at the 20th handbag and shoes I've bought this month, and I don't complain when he buys a brand new motorbike every 3 years.
I came out of uni with lots of debts, primarily because I was young, immature and stupid but at 22 suddenly realised I didn't want to be in debt and struggling all my life and started doing all of the above to get rid of it. 5 years later no students loans everything is paid off and I'm comfortable. Do what I want but I'm careful not to waste money unnecessarily.
I have bought a spear, and some matches.
You could have made the spear and what's wrong with rubbing 2 sticks together. I don't think your showing the required dedication here.
Make a shopping list BEFORE you go shopping. And stick to it!
We do the pocket money account thing.
My money goes into one account and covers all the rent, bills, food, perol, and filling the pocket money accounts.
Hers goes into another account where it covers childcare, then is split between the short term savings (wedding) account and the long term savings (deposit for a house) account.
Always take a list shopping and do a "monthly big shop", not while you are hungry.
We make packed lunches for work and days out.
Cooking decent meals is cheaper than eating rubbish food.
Don't smoke.
If know I'm going out I take my budget for the night with me in cash and leave my card at home, i reckon that saves me a fortune
Just earn plenty.
Then you don't have to budget.
***coat on, runs away***
All you need to know is here:
My advice is simple. Work out what you need for the month and leave that in your account, transferring EVERYTHING else to a savings account. I do this, and know that whatever’s left in the account is left for me to spend should I wish to. In the meantime the savings pot grows and because I never see it, I don’t spend it. It’s helpful to put in a building society account which is a right pain to get to (only open the 3rd Thursday of the month etc) so that if you really need the money you can get it, but there’s no chance at all of you spending it on a whim.
Additionally, I have just one credit card (mainly for buying plane tickets and like when you want that additional protection) which is automatically swept out of my account each month. I have no debt other than mortgages, and pay for cars etc in cash.
As well as all of the above, 25% of what I earn goes into 'one-way' savings (essentially pension fund) which I couldn't get at even if I wanted to. That money's gone before I ever see it; I only ever look at what I get as a take-home on the payslip.
I have only ever bought a new car once (and that was when I worked for a manuafacturer, so an appropriately huge discount), I don't smoke, I rarely eat out, and I've not bought myself anything shiny and bike-like in the last year. Both the family cars have well over 100k on them, but they're well looked-after and will last a good couple of years yet.
I've never had Sky, don't have a mobile in my own name (a work one seems to cover me perfectly well), and I tend to buy stuff like iPods only when the previous one has died.
This probably makes me sound like a pious penny-pinching miser, but the reality is that I don't want to work past 60, and in order to have the sort of retired life I want then I'll have to work hard for the next 15 years to achieve this.
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