Advice on setting / keeping a budget?

[sarracenia]

Hi ladies,

I'm relatively new to the forums, so hello!

I'm wondering if anyone has advice for setting up a budget - I've never been successful at sticking to a budget, as both DH and I are naturally frugal and minimalist people, and we fortunately don't have issues with debt. I've set one up several times but usually find keeping track of expenses too time consuming, and I never keep it up.

Now that we have a baby coming along I feel motivated to set up a budget and stick to it - in part, to make sure that we have enough to get us through my year of maternity leave, and to also save for our life with this new little person.

Do you have a budget? Do you stick to it? Do you have any recommended resources to set one up?

Thanks in advance!

Sarah

 

[LDC]

hi there

I've always been quite savvy with money and we've always been lucky enough to not have to live religiously to a budget.

I then went part time and we really had to watch what we were doing

I set up a bank account just for bills and never learnt the pin number so I can't use the money on it. We also put this card away so that we don't use it.

I sat down and worked out all of our direct debits each month and also looked at reducing the outgoings we had, like swapping gas and electric supplier as this saved us over £600 a year! I also put in things that we pay annually (TV licence, car insurance, water bill twice a year) and so that when the time comes the money is always there. now each month we pay in a set amount each and this covers our outgoing bills without us even having to think about it.

Are you UK based?

I found our biggest outgoing was food and I now cook from scratch and have saved so much more than when I was cooking with jars etc. I also make my own stock and soups using my slow cooker, which also costs less than an oven to run and so my electricity bill has also come down a little.

I'd say buy baby things second hand when you can as they're always in such good condition still and buy things in preparation for baby coming little and often such as nappies and wipes. an actual baby doesn't cost much once the necessities are there.

I find with my bills being paid from the account that I am more conscious of how much money I have left on my debit card as that's all I have.

money is quite tight for us but I manage to save £50 a month, it's not much but it's something and I would have wasted this before
!

xx

 

[broodymrs]

We have a bill account and do the same as pp with it. For my personal account I used the budget planner on the money advice service website. I think you have to be realistic with a budget. Set a small amount aside for incidentals as there's often something that crops up that you haven't thought of. I budget money for treats too, even though it's just a small amount as you can't go without treats indefinitely and it's like an incentive for sticking to the budget

 

[broodymrs]

Oh I also save every month for Christmas so I've got some money when that rolls around