Economy drive

[nineseven]

I would be interested in a budget spreadsheet Froozy if you don't mind?

Instead of looking at all leftover money as savings and therefore fair game, can you think of some of it as a pot of investment money to cover annual costs, and keep it in a separate account to any other savings?

Lily - I'm not sure it helps but I work savings (or, in your case, credit card debt overpayments) into my budget. So after I get paid at the end of the month, the first things to come out are mortgage, bills etc, my full credit card balances and x amount savings. I sometimes put more into savings as the month goes on where appropriate, if I sell something for example or want to round down pennies on an account, but the rest is money for food, going out etc. I make sure I have enough. TLDR: In short, savings are not leftover money, but they're planned.

[smalex]

Yes, most definitely agree with that.

[Wiggle]

Yes same here.

[Dandelion]

I am also on an economy drive. Not booking any long haul holidays that need saving for this year is a huge help - literally all our money can be put towards our credit card, which I am aiming to have paid off by the middle of the year. Then we need to rebuild our savings which never recovered after two maternity leaves. Then we can start thinking about a house deposit, and fun things. We earn a very decent wage between us so there is no excuse.

I find my Monzo card extremely handy. I am the worst for buying stuff with my debit card, feeling flush then a week later being shocked at the balance. I load my ‘spending money’ for the month onto my Monzo now, and any purchases are counted immediately in the balance. It will also send me a quarterly report of how much I have spent in Pret / Costa which is quite horrifying. I am much better these days and tend to easily have a few no spend days every week.

Monzo also do the round up function, where they round a purchase up to the near pound and those pennies get squirrelled away into a ‘pot’.

We have a book where we list our incomings and outgoings every single month, and work out exactly what all money will be allocated to. This works well for us as with commission, my pay is different every month.

[Skips]

I use the Monzo card for my fuel, I should probably use it more for working out what I spend on what.

[nineseven]

I love Monzo!

[Luce]

I also work savings into my budget. And extra buffers for other stuff that I don't/can't plan, too. I do a reconciliation every Sunday night and each element of spending is in a category so I allocate a certain amount to different categories. So when doing my reconciliation I can see that eating out category was way over budget etc (it is always that one)

I'm really frugal. I'm tight, basically. But I'm really quite scarred from when I was a teenager and dad was made redundant and was out of work for a year etc etc. Also, after we did our house extension, we'd maxed out all credit cards and overdrafts and I had to borrow money to buy the kids new coats. It was planned (and now all paid off) but it was distressing as fuck. So I just won't buy anything on credit unless it's an absolute emergency. Even holidays - we paid for our last summer holiday outright and it was so lovely coming home to no debt.

Most of my available money goes on socialising so I almost never have any spare for skincare, clothes, makeup etc. Sometimes I do just want to chuck it on our credit card but won't do it. I could live somewhere much cheaper and have loads more spare cash but I like living here so I'm happy with that choice.

Lily, correct me if I'm wrong but your spending habits (buying things online all the time etc) are linked to your mental health right? I'm just wary of suggesting things that might de-rail your therapy?

[Roma]

I agree with putting some savings away on payday and treating it as just another bill. Ideally into an account you don’t access so you can just “forget“ about your savings unless it’s a real emergency. Whilst you’re in debt you could start very smsll, say £25 per month. It’s more about getting into a savings habit really.

Try to consolidate your credit cards on a 0%. Why pay interest if you don’t have to?

Then open a separate account just for spending money and maybe groceries. I use Monzo for that and it’s really great for budgeting.

I also think having a goal to save for is very motivating. I understand that getting your teeth fixed is important to you and interest free. That’s fine if you can afford it but it’s still another debt.

Also, if home ownership is a goal for you then I think there are always possibilities, even shared ownership etc.

I find that once you have savings and no debt it is really motivating to add to your savings and it does add up as well!

[Lily]

Thanks all - this is very useful. I need to get a Monzo card it sounds like! This is a long musing post so feel free to ignore it as I am finding everyone's ideas very useful.

It was my mum who pointed out I spend when I am unhappy. I would say it's because I'm stupid. But it got dreadful just before Christmas - I maxed out all my sodding cards and my overdraft, I had nothing left, and it was like I was pushing things to get as bad as they could. Spending money I didn't have made me feel sick, but it was like I was trying to make my life impossible. Everything else got bad as well then though. My therapist has suggested postponing everything - spending/self-harm whatever just for a day. Just to see what happens. I have found that helpful as you get a bit of a rush when you buy something and then the sick feeling sinks in; much as when you eat something you think you want, and then you feel sick about having done so.

As Smal says, a few hundred quid in savings would make me feel much more secure. Perhaps I should start moving it over to my brother again even if it's just £40-£50 a month. Roma I could do £25 a month; it sounds such a silly amount, but in 2 months you've got £50 which is £50 you don't have before. I could move it out of my account as soon as I get paid like Nine says.

The constant elation/relief because you have money only to then feel hollow sick despair because you don't have it is exhausting. I never feel secure - it's like I only feel safe when I am worried. I want to feel like normal people do! It is made complicated I think because I get several paycheques throughout the month due to my other jobs. Usually I am skint a few days after payday as I've paid off everything/paid out everything (I have never missed a bill) and then I have to panic until I get some more money in. Sometimes I wake myself up worrying about it. I'd like to be able to exist on my fulltime wage, which I should be able to do quite happily, and use the money from my other jobs for savings/treats/whatevers.

I do tend to pay off things like groceries and stuff when I put them on my card all the time so I get the points, but I think Monzo is the way forward. If anyone gets a referrer fee, sign me up!

This is just me muttering away to myself now, but since January these are the steps I have made to actively improve things:
- cancelled appointments
- cancelled/returned purchases
- deleted emails about sales from stores without opening
- gone to a cheaper supermarket
- cancelled plans for this weekend
- asked friends to wait until I get paid before we do stuff which involves money

What are your must-haves? Everyone has something which they would pay more for (Luce's is where she lives, which I totally get - I could not afford to buy anywhere like my flat, and it's in a gorgeous area of town, so I have settled myself to renting here rather than buying somewhere less salubrious) and Skips has her holidays which I also get entirely. What do you 'sacrifice' money for? Are there any things you can/do cut down on?

I'd say my gym membership, yoga, my cleaner, my hairdresser and meat from the butcher are my definite Must Haves (and my monthly threading which is £10). I buy make up rarely; my skincare is minimal and comes from Lush or is cheap bland stuff; I can do without manicures & pedicures. I don't need any more clothes or shoes. Like you, Skips, my holidays keep me sane, but these are a way off and I can save up for these. I don't go out very much and if I do I am a lightweight so I only have a couple of drinks. Eating out is something I do quite a lot so I need to cut down on that too.

Also - charity! I have a regular donation to that Trees charity, but people ask for donations and it's £10 here and £10 there and I can easily wind up sponsoring people in total £50 a month. Maybe I should choose one person to give £10 to and leave it there? That's hard though especially when I've asked for sponsorship before! How do you (generic) handle the constant barage of sponsorship requests on social media? Before Christmas I sent some money to my grandparents' cleaner so she could buy their 'coffee break' group some Christmas biscuits or something. She paid the cheque in and took me over my limit so I had to borrow £15 off Bruv. I knew it would happen but I couldn't NOT send something. Maybe a Christmas savings account is in order (Smal it's you who has one of those isn't it?)... I am too generous, I don't mean that in a Look At Me Lady Bountiful way but I like helping people out

SAVINGS GOALS
- Tattoo!
- Teeth?
- Slush fund (that's 3 months of wages isn't it - it would be nice to have that tucked away)

[nineseven]

I completely ignore all sponsorship requests

I don’t get paid a wage and have money trickling in at various times in the month. I manage this by moving everything straight into two instant access savings accounts (one for my tax, one for income after tax) and pay myself a set amount on the 28th of each month. That way there are no issues with direct debits for bills etc. You could do something similar with your extra income - or maybe funnel it straight into your debts or savings.

[Lily]

Basically I am like the Danny DeVito-in-Twins love child of Lord Byron and Elton John.

[Lily]

I completely ignore all sponsorship requests

I don’t get paid a wage and have money trickling in at various times in the month. I manage this by moving everything straight into two instant access savings accounts (one for my tax, one for income after tax) and pay myself a set amount on the 28th of each month. That way there are no issues with direct debits for bills etc. You could do something similar with your extra income - or maybe funnel it straight into your debts or savings.

You are so disciplined! I am in awe.

Right now the extra income keeps me afloat. But I really want to be able to channel that into something productive. I think once my first bonus comes in I will be able to pay off one of my cards at least and I will be able to figure out more where I stand and start properly budgeting. It would be good to move my extra money straight towards a debt and then when that's cleared a savings account.

[nineseven]

I have to be really otherwise I’d completely lose track and wouldn’t be able to save.

I think you need to get on Money Saving Expert and do an SOA (statement of affairs). They are pretty forensic on there and will soon come up with a plan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sh ... p?t=107280

[Kenickie]

I very rarely do sponsorship either - I don't feel bad as I've never asked for it though. I think of I was doing sponsored things I'd feel I'd have to reciprocate. Instead I have DDs to several charities so the money going out is more constant and it's all for things I'm interested in.

My things are meals out and holidays. I could also spend loads on clothes, and have done in the past. I find it hard to restrict myself to buying one thing, so instead, I don't subscribe to any shop emails and try and avoid threads on here, and restrict myself to just doing a sales order a couple of times a year.

[mojojojo]

It was my mum who pointed out I spend when I am unhappy. I would say it's because I'm stupid.

There’s a lot of very sound advice on the money side of things here already, Lily, but I just wanted to pick this out - it’s not “stupidity”, so please don’t add that to the already hard time you give yourself.

Shopping addiction is fairly widely recognised, and like most addictive behaviours likely does stem from some underlying issue, so maybe it’s worth raising with your therapist? (You May have already - sorry if I’ve missed it)

My eldest really struggles with it - she’s living at home at the moment and so she’s (voluntarily) giving most of her pay to us to hold on to. It doesn’t really solve the problem, but means she has far less to spend.

Anyway, sounds like you’ve got some stuff planned out and some more stuff to read up on, so I hope you start to feel better about it all soon.

[Marth]

I don’t do sponsorships either, but I do tend to spend when I’m not at my happiest. So I have been spending too much.

I have a monzo card and load money on to spend each month when I get paid. I also use the round up holiday pot.

I have everything go out as soon as I get paid. I also put away money as soon as I get paid. I have a savings account for Christmas/birthdays and one for annual bills (water rates, insurances etc) however I do wait till the end of the money and put what’s left into savings, and more recently there isn’t anything left.

So I think I will do as Nine said and put away an amount for savings at the start of the month.

I also try and make sure I take food in for lunch at work and I never but take away coffee etc.

I’ve never had a credit card (having been a debt adviser for a while ) and hate paying interest on anything. Therefore I would rather put away an amount each month then paid a bill yearly in full, than pay monthly with interest.

I plan to really rein it in this month. I will put away the equivalent of these two free council tax months to go towards a holiday I have planned in April.

[happyhighlandcoo]

It sounds like you've got good ideas. Just identifying your patterns is a really good start to changing things.

I have loads of different accounts for things I consider essential such as a car fund, gift fund, holiday fund. I pay in a small amount each month so when things like my MOT and Christmas come round I've got savings for them. I put money for spending in another account so spends are separated. These things have helped me to be more disciplined with money and build up my savings for bigger things like my house.

[smalex]

Yes, that's what we do coo. Xmas/birthday, holidays, house maintenance, car maintenance, food, petrol, general savings, annual memberships, think that covers most things. They all get something in the pot every month

[Luce]

Same. We also have a very useful miscellaneous category that is often quite well used

[Skips]

Any annual expenses are on my spreadsheet and are kept in my bills account every month. One tab is the master sheet which is the amount needed every month and the other is a tab for that month. The master amount is added onto the relevant line and that way I always have enough in there without too many pots. It sounds complicated but works for me and means I only have real emergency situations that's aren't covered over the year.