Money management tips?

[FakeSmile]

My husband and I have been living together for 6 years - married for 5 of those - and between us we are really bad at managing and keeping track of our finances. I deal with all of the rent and bills etc and whilst I do things like shop around when our energy is due everything is on a direct debit and I just ignore it all month to month.

I am on maternity leave after having our third child in 4 years at the start of the year and so money is really tight. I’d like to get a better grasp on our finances, what we have coming in and out, what we have left over etc but I really don’t know where to start! I think we’d probably need to set a budget too but again, no idea where to start! I’d love for us to get rid of some of our debt but it’s not very achievable when I dont know what money we have to do so!

Please can I have your tips on how to get started, any good books to read, apps to use etc?

 

[Allthatglitters666]

You can't go wrong with a look at the money saving expert forums. But I'd start with a pen and paper. Write down what you have coming in then essential fixed outgoings, agreed payments for debt and a realistic amount for petrol and food and see where you are from there. Good luck x

 

[Supyall]

I bank with Monzo, you can set up pots for each bill, and set up your direct debits to come out of the pots each month. So when I get paid I firstly put all my bill money in the pots, then I can see what I'm left with for the rest of the month. It's really helped me get organised, as I had things bouncing right and left before! You can also set up savings pots aswell which is super handy for things like car maintenance and xmas/birthdays.

 

[Northeast1988]

For me and my hubby , we live off my wage and his wage goes into savings
I have all my direct debits between 1st and 10th so everything after the 10th is for us to spend on whatever we want x

 

[FakeSmile]

You can't go wrong with a look at the money saving expert forums. But I'd start with a pen and paper. Write down what you have coming in then essential fixed outgoings, agreed payments for debt and a realistic amount for petrol and food and see where you are from there. Good luck x

I had a look through some of the money makeover guides and whilst full on looked like they could be of use, thank you!

I bank with Monzo, you can set up pots for each bill, and set up your direct debits to come out of the pots each month. So when I get paid I firstly put all my bill money in the pots, then I can see what I'm left with for the rest of the month. It's really helped me get organised, as I had things bouncing right and left before! You can also set up savings pots aswell which is super handy for things like car maintenance and xmas/birthdays.

An account like that could be of use but I always worry they aren’t legit! Now I actually know someone who uses it I may take more of a look!

 

[GirlLondon]

I'm not a tech person unfortunately but I suggest you write down all of your outgoings to start off with: Rent/ mortgage, water bill, internet, TV Licence, Council Tax, phone bills. Then see what you have leftover from that and then see about other things like how much you spend on food and travel.
For gifting, I suggest you get creative (homemade things) or shop from charity stores, upcycle, etc. Let everyone understand that you are on a budget as there is no shame! (I knew people who struggled as they kept up the pretence and didn't want others to know).

 

[ispywithmylittleeye59]

I was in a lot of debt until last year and the one thing that helped the most was creating a spreadsheet and being super strict with using it. I have the excel app on my phone so I have no excuse not to use it!

It helps because I can see where my money is going and can work out how much money I actually have left to spend as I go. It was also good for seeing how much I spend on bills and meant i could shop around for cheaper prices!

Also helped with debt / saving because I could see where I would be at the end of the year if I saved £x a month or paid £x to the credit card.

Think I just found the template on google and adapted it to suit me

 

[Uninfluenced]

The Money Advice Service have some good tools if you're getting started budgeting. Also agree money saving expert has loads of good guides.

 

[HumphreyB]

What I did and found helpful was to spend a month tracking my spending. So if you have an iphone there is a numbers app on it. Although you can pretty much do an excel spread sheet at home. Every penny I tracked down to a coffee. So mortgage, groceries/car fuel the typical day to day. Any cash I gave the kids.

I then looked at my wider expenses, things that crop up annually.

• Total costs for back to school
• Christmas /Santa
• Car costs, like service/insurance/tax
• House insurance
• Kids sports

Basically anything that is a guaranteed annual expense. I then worked out what I needed to put aside at each pay day in order to have enough money to cover all the above.

 

[Kim Mild]

Write down all your spending ( I just write each day in a diary) . Often there is spending that gets forgotten about. Knowing where every penny goes is a start.

Treating your finances like a business is advice I have heard , I found it helpful as it can take emotion out of spending .

The interest on debt accumulates faster than interest on savings, so concentrate on reducing debt BUT , a little bit money can be put aside in installments for forthcoming expenses that are expected ( like mot etc)

I find it easier to manage spending with smaller pots of money, rather than all household income together.

Also , can you change your direct debit dates to a date more convenient?

 

[JustmeKC]

Agree with everyone who has said note everything you spend. Write down every penny, no matter how small & try to categorise it. You will be surprised how much you spend on things that are not necessary, everyone is!
Look at your income, note from your spending what is essential and what you can cut back. You need to know what’s coming in and where it’s going before you can tackle it. You also need to make sure hubby is on board and willing to put in the same effort.

Revolut is great for savings vaults that you can section away little bits of money regularly. So if you know you’re going for lunch one day a week, you can set that money aside in a vault. Same with your annual expenses.

Shop around on your debt; are there any lower rate loans you can take? 0%/ lower rate balance transfer offers on credit card?

I give myself a set amount of money each week for general spending; so if I want take out coffee, a book, make up, clothes or whatever it comes out of that, instead of coming out of general money. I saw a tip to name all your money, and find that works for me.

Follow #debtfreecommunity on insta and there are so many people doing what you are trying to do, and there are so many tips, so once you put your mind to it, you can find something that works for your situation. Good luck!

 

[klakstrom]

We have a specific bills account that’s joint. Whatever doesn’t go into there gets halved and gets put into savings and the rest we do what we want with.
I agree with others; make an initial spreadsheet and work out where your money has gone in the past three ish months and you’ll have a great picture of where you should cut down.
A lot of the time for us it’s multiple trips to the supermarket because we forgot something and end up buying more things because we’re already there. That stopped by making a proper shopping list in my Notes and updating it throughout the week.

 

[FakeSmile]

These are all great ideas and given me lots to think about, thank you so much!

One of the things that I find difficult to manage is that I get paid monthly whereas my husband gets paid 4 weekly so his date moves around.

 

[rainbowlemon]

Like the others have said the first thing would be to list everything that you are currently spending on. How much is your rent/ mortgage, council tax, internet, do have a car? Go through your bank statements to see how much you're spending on food. Do you have any paperwork for your debt? How often do you buy clothes, make up? Small books, treats here and there for the kids do add up, but it's possible to change.

Generally I like this formula, but it depends on your family as well.

Spend - 5/10
Invest - 3/10
Save - 1/10
Donate (optional) - 1/10

 

[AladdinSane]

A zero balance budget has been my lifesaver. Literally look at all the money you have coming in on payday and allocate it to its own pot.
You can set it up on excel as well to show living costs and then other costs so you know exactly what you could cut down on if necessary.
I started it just before September and it's meant I didn't to spend all my December paycheck on Christmas presents like I would have done in the past. Just steadily saved up over the year..

 

[Allthatglitters666]

A zero balance budget has been my lifesaver. Literally look at all the money you have coming in on payday and allocate it to its own pot.
You can set it up on excel as well to show living costs and then other costs so you know exactly what you could cut down on if necessary.
I started it just before September and it's meant I didn't to spend all my December paycheck on Christmas presents like I would have done in the past. Just steadily saved up over the year..

Thats what I do. Every £ has a job.

 

[Bellaboo83]

I've just started this. I was always feeling poor at the end of the month and I get a decent wage so I couldn't understand where it was going. Another reason is that my CC debt has slowly creeped up on me the last year or so and I really want to clear it as quickly as possible. Yesterday I went though my income vs my bills and wrote it all down and was shocked to see how much I had left over because it never feels like I have that much in reality... I decided to go through my bank for the last calendar month - March 01 - March 31 and write every non essential spend down and add it up. Well I never, it honestly took me two hours but it was the most productive and illuminating 2 hours I've spent in a very long time.... I had £120 going on take aways, £80 on the local shop when I've needed something in a hurry or stopped for a treat after school. My food bill was astronomical as I was popping in almost daily with no list. We have a homebargains close to work and I had spent £130 during the month just popping in for a browse when I finished each day. I honestly had no idea I was spending all this, £5 here and £12 there was adding up to about £800 in income I couldn't account for!! It was so so worth doing the exercise, I've managed to shock myself so much at how much I have been wasting each month that I've now set myself some clear budgets and targets and can save a huge amount each month. I have always wanted to buy my own house and never thought it would be possible but actually after doing this I finally feel like it could be an option for me in the next 5 years! Today's plan is to find an excel spreadsheet to copy and fill out and every pound will now be accounted for. Wishing you all luck in your financial planning

 

[rainbowlemon]

I've just started this. I was always feeling poor at the end of the month and I get a decent wage so I couldn't understand where it was going. Another reason is that my CC debt has slowly creeped up on me the last year or so and I really want to clear it as quickly as possible. Yesterday I went though my income vs my bills and wrote it all down and was shocked to see how much I had left over because it never feels like I have that much in reality... I decided to go through my bank for the last calendar month - March 01 - March 31 and write every non essential spend down and add it up. Well I never, it honestly took me two hours but it was the most productive and illuminating 2 hours I've spent in a very long time.... I had £120 going on take aways, £80 on the local shop when I've needed something in a hurry or stopped for a treat after school. My food bill was astronomical as I was popping in almost daily with no list. We have a homebargains close to work and I had spent £130 during the month just popping in for a browse when I finished each day. I honestly had no idea I was spending all this, £5 here and £12 there was adding up to about £800 in income I couldn't account for!! It was so so worth doing the exercise, I've managed to shock myself so much at how much I have been wasting each month that I've now set myself some clear budgets and targets and can save a huge amount each month. I have always wanted to buy my own house and never thought it would be possible but actually after doing this I finally feel like it could be an option for me in the next 5 years! Today's plan is to find an excel spreadsheet to copy and fill out and every pound will now be accounted for. Wishing you all luck in your financial planning

Well done and I'm really proud of you for taking that first step! I also hope to buy my own home at some point. Have a look at a LISA the government will give you a 25% top up, but it's best not to put money in that you might need to get out due to the withdrawal charges. So build up an emergency fund first.

 

[WilmaHun]

I use a spreadsheet. I list all my debts at the start of the year, then do a column for each month and go in and add how much I've paid off of each debt at the end of the month. It helps me to know exactly what I owe and to whom. It also is really nice to look back on at the end of the year and see how much I've managed to pay off!

I also have a separate tab for general bills (phone, household bills, car insurance etc). I list our income on it, then it deducts all the bills (and debt payments from the previous tab) then shows clearly how much we have left disposable after bills. I just find it's good to have all your finances in one, easily accessible, place rather than having to go through my bank to see which bills have been paid/which debts are outstanding etc.

I also have a separate tab for savings so that we know how much spare cash we have set aside for emergencies etc,

 

[rainbowlemon]

I'm not a tech person unfortunately but I suggest you write down all of your outgoings to start off with: Rent/ mortgage, water bill, internet, TV Licence, Council Tax, phone bills. Then see what you have leftover from that and then see about other things like how much you spend on food and travel.
For gifting, I suggest you get creative (homemade things) or shop from charity stores, upcycle, etc. Let everyone understand that you are on a budget as there is no shame! (I knew people who struggled as they kept up the pretence and didn't want others to know).

I also have cut back on how much I spend on presents. I was previously okay with spending £45 on someone's Christmas gift. You don't have to make big gestures for people who really matter. For one of my best friends this month I sent her a packet of £4 chocolate buttons. Another person I gave her a box of her favourite toffees.