Crap with money

[TrueBlue]

Has anybody got any advice how I can be more careful and sensible with my money?

Long story short been spoilt all my life by my parents I dont and never have ever appricated the value of a pound but now I have met a wonderful woman who really makes me happy and I have to break from my dependancy on my parents I am 26 years of age ffs!

Any advice welcome :thumbsup:

 

[canveyshrimper]

Deposit your monthly salary in my account Scott and I'll give you a weekly allowance.

Seriously mate you need to set your self a budget.

 

[Pubey]

The best advice I ever received is to draw up a budget.
It's really easy. Work out what money you've got coming in each month (wage). Work out what things go out each month which you have to pay (direct debits, bills etc). If you have bills and stuff which you pay then set up direct debits that go out 1 day after your wage comes in, so you don't ever see that money.

Then itemise and budget each main thing you spend money on... SUFC, beer, going out etc etc. Make realistic budgets for each of these.

Balance the books. If you are seriously spending more than earn, then you'll need to have a serious chat with the parents/missus to look for things you can cut back on.

When the Missus moved in I found it was really good to be completely open with someone about what I was spending on crap and stuff, it was a bit like therapy. I think it was vice-versa for her. I buy less music and drink less beer, and she buys less clothes and crappy magazines. Those things massively add up. If you're open about money and budgets then that morale-support/peer-pressure can really help things work out.

Honestly, the feeling when you're debt free/regularly-saving is great.

Also, I'd definitely recommend the Money Saving Expert website/forum.

 

[TrueBlue]

The best advice I ever received is to draw up a budget.
It's really easy. Work out what money you've got coming in each month (wage). Work out what things go out each month which you have to pay (direct debits, bills etc). If you have bills and stuff which you pay then set up direct debits that go out 1 day after your wage comes in, so you don't ever see that money.

Then itemise and budget each main thing you spend money on... SUFC, beer, going out etc etc. Make realistic budgets for each of these.

Balance the books. If you are seriously spending more than earn, then you'll need to have a serious chat with the parents/missus to look for things you can cut back on.

When the Missus moved in I found it was really good to be completely open with someone about what I was spending on crap and stuff, it was a bit like therapy. I think it was vice-versa for her. I buy less music and drink less beer, and she buys less clothes and crappy magazines. Those things massively add up. If you're open about money and budgets then that morale-support/peer-pressure can really help things work out.

Honestly, the feeling when you're debt free/regularly-saving is great.

Also, I'd definitely recommend the Money Saving Expert website/forum.

Cheers for the advice mate

 

[bucket&spade.f.c]

Has anybody got any advice how I can be more careful and sensible with my money?

Long story short been spoilt all my life by my parents I dont and never have ever appricated the value of a pound but now I have met a wonderful woman who really makes me happy and I have to break from my dependancy on my parents I am 26 years of age ffs!

Any advice welcome :thumbsup:

Why would you lsiten to the advice now when you havent for years?

Iv told you I would help you with this many many times and you never taken it up

 

[TrueBlue]

Why would you lsiten to the advice now when you havent for years?

Iv told you I would help you with this many many times and you never taken it up

Been a bit too proud mate

 

[bucket&spade.f.c]

Been a bit too proud mate

Fair doo's

Right you at work?

if so I will scan and e-mail you one of our Budget/Income and Expenditure forms and you can use that as a rough guide!

you shouldnt need to much of it as you dont have any house over heads but you can easily change the boxes for your own use

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Deposit your monthly salary in my account Scott and I'll give you a weekly allowance.

Seriously mate you need to set your self a budget.

This is what I do, I have all my bills etc coming out on the same day that I get paid then split whatever is left over usually 4 weeks until I get paid again. It works for me!

 

[number11]

When I first moved into a place of my own I massively struggled to budget. Similar to Pubey I found it really useful to get things down on paper. I worked out my income and essential expenditure (over estimating or rounding up expenditure) and worked out what was left. You can then look at the expenditures and see if there is any scope for bringing this down, especially if income is less than essential expenditure. If income is greater than essential expenditure then you have the budget for the rest of the month on luxury / non essentials. What I actually did for the first few months was calculate how much my remaining monthly budget worked out per day and marked down in the diary what this was each day and what I spent money on each day so I would have a surplus or deficite each day and try to ensure a surplus or level by the beginning of the next week.

I stopped after a month or so as the act of getting things written down, working out where you waste money and where you can save money starts to get you thinking. One of the easiest money savings for me was making my own lunch rather than buying from a shop each day.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

One of the easiest money savings for me was making my own lunch rather than buying from a shop each day.

100% agree. Saved me well over £100 a month.

 

[TrueBlue]

Fair doo's

Right you at work?

if so I will scan and e-mail you one of our Budget/Income and Expenditure forms and you can use that as a rough guide!

you shouldnt need to much of it as you dont have any house over heads but you can easily change the boxes for your own use

Cheers mate appricated

 

[Pubey]

Definitely agree with the lunch thing, like Matty I save loads. It helps that the Missus has them too, because there are huge economies of scale when it comes to buying food/salad etc.

 

[TrueBlue]

100% agree. Saved me well over £100 a month.

I would hate to think how much money I spend on junk food and drink

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Well you made a good start Friday by turning up at mine with 0 beers hence an outlay of 0p

well played :winking: :raspberry:

 

[OldBlueLady]

This is part of the reason my dad was always so firm with me when I started work - split your wages into 3, a third to mum, a third to save and a third to spend, that was always the way it was. That was fine while I still lived at home as it did discipline me with money. You need to change things round a bit once you've got your own home - the "spend a third" decreases quite considerably on a monthly basis - but once you can draw up a budget, you can work out then adjust things on months where you have big expenditure e.g. season ticket purchase, car insurance, holiday purchase, Christmas etc. Takes a bit of getting used to at first but little savings like, for instance, cutting out buying lunches or limiting takeaways make a massive difference.

Oh, and perhaps you'll understand now why I always say that away travel for me is always about the money! :raspberry:

 

[mattytheshrimper]

I would hate to think how much money I spend on junk food and drink

Exactly, so making your own lunch for work is a good start!

 

[number11]

Definitely agree with the lunch thing, like Matty I save loads. It helps that the Missus has them too, because there are huge economies of scale when it comes to buying food/salad etc.

Indeed. A couple of days a week I will also cook more than needed for dinner so I can take the rest for lunch the next day....massively helps with economies of scale...and often its nicer the next day!

 

[TrueBlue]

Exactly, so making your own lunch for work is a good start!

Can you make mine for me?

 

[bucket&spade.f.c]

Cheers mate appricated

All sent mate....let me know if you need any help with it

 

[Cricko]