Struggling with budgeting

[Roxy86]

Hi all I hope I am not creating a new topic where a similar one already exists and am sure this has been covered somewhere else on the site already but I didn't spot anything when I looked, so...

I have a real issue with all things financial, mainly budgeting. I get paid, on average, the same every month (roughly, as I am part time but get more overtime some months than others)
My mum has tried dividing it by 4, so that I have a certain amount to spend each week, and I UNDERSTAND how that practice would or SHOULD work, in theory, but it's actually sticking to it/acting it out. I have also stuck post-it notes onto different compartments of my purse telling me what the money is for (bus fare to work, for example) but, like other dyspraxics I have read about, I am a impulse buyer. I spend now, think later. Then suffer the consequences.

I hate having to ask a friend or family member to 'sub' me til the next pay day, it's usually only a tenner or so and I ask my best friend at work first, then my boyfriend, then, and only then (as a last resort) my mum. It's a pride thing I think

I am lucky, in the sense that I have a job and no financial ties/responsibilities as such (I have my phone bill but am considering going back to PAYG) I pay mum my keep to cover the weekly food shops and council tax but thats' about it. My mum takes me to the local branch of my bank, every pay day morning, before work just to ensure she gets the money!!

I wouldn't say I am ashamed, as I don't believe in gambling, and have not turned to illegal activities to fund my 'problem' ...BUT, I am not proud of it

[Tom fod]

It's not easy for a lot of people especially with the cost of living and many opportunities/temptations to part one from ones money. I suspect there will be quite a bit of interest in this.

I like to be conscious of how much I'm spending and on what though I do quite easily fritter cash away on non essential stuff I like the look of. Having recently managed to get my own flat I'm quite conscious that I'm not saving as much as when I lived at home and only had to pay rent. I have a spreadsheet (though it's not currently up to date or complete). There are quite a few sources of information about these days about how to budget the trick is to look at them and find a system that works for you and that you can stick to.

Do you analyse or keep a record of what you spend your money on and compare that to your basic pay/what you'd normally expect to get in your pay-packet. Try to take delight in saving money so you can watch it build up and spend it on something nice that will bring more of a long-term benefit rather than a short term fix.

Do you use cash or do you tend to pay by debit card. I'm assuming you don't have/use credit cards. If you'd spend £5+ a week on PAYG you're most likely better off with a contract, as long as you stay within your limits?

Being the son of a miser who can see/admit my own bad habits but equally I do like to treat myself to luxuries 'now and'. I do feel like I can offer some advice here. Hope some of what I've rambled on about/other peoples contributions to this thread give you some strategies that you can put in place.

[Roxy86]

Hi Tom, thanks for your reply

I do keep for receipts... for a day or so, until I decide the product is not faulty etc. lol! I get a mini statement and then a printed balance every time I draw cash out, so I know what I have left and how long that has got to last me but then something 'shinny' catches my eye and it's gone It's almost like I have these blinkers on (like horses wear on roads?) and can't see anything else!!

I pay cash for nearly everything, so can see exactly what is coming/going and don't have a problem counting money/change like I had heard some dyspraxics do and I am very cautious not to go over my limit on my phone bill (it was 600 minutes, but I changed it to 900 when I went over that, ONCE, never again! )

Thanks for the advice, to be honest, from looking at it a little deeper now, I am thinking it is more of a will power thing now lol!

[Tom fod]

You're welcome. I know the willpower trap after all the lager and kebab I had last night!

I can't think of his name Martin someone off Money Saving Expert but he has a mantra something like Can I afford it Will I use it? is it worth it? Nothing wrong with treating yourself from time to time just need to find and employ your inner miser sometimes!

All the best

[Roxy86]

I thought I vaguely remembered posting/starting a new topic on this so have copied and pasted this from another conversation elsewhere in the forum, as I feel it is of relevance here too... Some points I have previously made in my first post, but, lately? It is borrowing/lending I have found that confuses me the most, here, I try to explain...

I've got budgeting/lending/borrowing issues and I can't organise my wages each month I don't believe in credit cards, and only spend what I earn... But, I do worry how I'll cope in the future. When I first first get paid, I think I'm loaded and go shopping, indulge (am v much an impulse buyer) and often lend people money for petrol etc and this then leaves me short for the rest of the month. Also, I HAVE to see what the money is going on, otherwise I just feel like I am giving my money away for no reason, and cannot understand when I am paid this money back, if they have leant ME money in the mean time, how much/who owes who what Its all VERY confusing to be honest and something I need to get my head round, and soon

[Tom fod]

If someone who owes you money, gives you some money but tells you it is only a loan they are not actually repaying you the money you lent them in the first place.

Knowing where you stand is very important if you want to get a handle on your money but informal lending between friends can mean getting/asking for repayment becomes awkward because of the emotional involvement. The simple solution is to only spend what you can afford and be as financially independent as possible. Have a policy of only borrowing or lending in an emergency and making a formal agreement of when any loan will be paid back and making sure it is paid back as soon as possible and avoiding borrowing off B to pay A and so on.

Having a credit card can be useful if you can use it properly and responsibly. Always pay it back in full or as much as you can afford each month. It is not free money and the cost of borrowing grows the longer you're in the red.

Proving to financial institutions that you have a sensible attitude to debt and managing money will ensure that they are more disposed to lending to you in the future. Especially in terms of if you ever want to take on a mortgage. You could argue that owing money to a financial institute on a credit card/as a loan is simpler as it should be in black and white just how much you owe. (Avoid payday loans at all costs!)

Of course they could take you to court if things went badly awry. However being taken to court by the bank is probably going to be preferable to being taken to court by a friend or taking a friend to court.

http://mybnk.org

[griffaliff]

I find struggling to balance the books is my worst trait.

I always have money for rent as that is the backbone of my existence when it boils down to it. It is also my biggest expense each month. To manage this I have a separate savings account (with nothing in it) that I put the rent money into as soon as I get paid via online banking. I have two reminders on my phone each month to tell me to put the money in and take it out and put it into my current account the day before the rent is due, this way it always gets paid with no cock ups.

Bills I don't do this with but I usually have enough to cover them (sometimes not (cap in hand to parents which is frustrating and embarrassing)), I'm lucky that I share with my girlfriend so any bill is split 50:50 which makes things cheaper. Thinking about it now I could do it with bill money too but these costs fluctuate which makes things difficult.

Other than this I am hopeless with money, it is my largest concern as I'm 27 with around £3500 worth of overdraft (from uni, which I left 3 years ago) and credit card debts. The credit card is controlled as I purposely got rid of the pin number so I can't use it frivolously and I don't know my online log in details for it either for the same reason (you can make cash transfers online from the credit card to the current account). I took it out to buy a new computer which I needed and to build my credit rating. I pay the minimum of £25 each month so this is OK and there is no interest on it, I just cannot seem to shake my £2000 student overdraft. I think 'OK, I'll pay in £50 a month to try and cut it down' but then what happens is some important and unexpected cost comes up and I have to use the money I've paid off - back to square one.

Saving money simply doesn't happen.

My dad was even kind enough to lend me the money to pay it off around August last year but a few days after it was paid off I had to find £350 for the deposit to the flat we now live in so I had to dib into it for that, then another unexpected cost came up (broken down motorbike) - same again. Rinse and repeat for a few months with bills etc (compulsive spender) and I'm back to it being -£1900. I haven't told anyone about this, not even my girlfriend, out of sheer embarrassment.

What worries me even more is that I know my dad has dyspraxia (I reckon having it myself is genetic) and he has admitted to me that money slips through his fingers like water. I know he is £10,000s if not more in debt so I live in near constant fear that I will end up the same as I get older. Even as a teenager just earning pocket money by working in kitchens at the weekend, I would always seem to owe other people money. It's like I have the same problems now I'm 27, they are just larger and more relevant to the adult world (I don't borrow from friends any more having said this).

Sorry for the essay, I am well aware there are people who don't have dyspraxia whose debt problems are much worse than my own but I suppose what I am saying is relevant on this channel.

My income isn't massive either, working in aboriculture the earnings aren't much but I do it because I can do the job and I love working outdoors. This makes things difficult to manage financially and nigh on impossible to save anything each month.

I will be honest I have considered doing things that are illegal to earn extra money but I decided to stay away from it because I'm not organized enough and I don't wish to get caught.

Any advice would be awesome!

[dyspraxicyoungperson]

I'm exactly the same.

Something that's helped me has been giving my mum my debit/credit cards, slip that I am only carrying cash in my purse. It was a bit odd at first but it has really made me appreciate the value of money!

[aurum]

I am an impulsive buyer too. I always end up going to overdraft or emptying credit cards. I can never keep up with that. The more I earn the more I spend. I buy now, think later. Then i am overworried and stressed. Over again. As i got another job, now hoping to get it sorted till xmas