Advice on how to budget please...

[alieh]

It is really key to get a handle on where the money goes. This always seemed so daunting and I would try to write it down in a notebook and do it for a day or two and then stop because it was just too annoying. I'm going to try one of these apps to see if that helps as I'm constantly on my phone!

One thing I try to do a few times a year is to download from our bank statements and credit card statements to a spreadsheet. Really easy to do from most banks. Then just go down the list and assign categories - most things it is pretty easy to tell what it is...groceries, clothes, kid's stuff, etc.

For the cash withdrawals I just call it cash. But most of the time - for me - cash goes on non-essentials (coffees, snacks, magazines, etc.) or grocery top ups so I don't worry about not being able to track that category in detail. By and large the cash line item is an easy target for cut-backs for me!

This can help with budgeting because you can see how much you actually spend now and what is realistic in terms of making adjustments, at first anyway. Whereas my husband will set arbitrary budget amounts for groceries that bear no relation to how we currently shop, for e.g. I prefer to look at where we're at and then make reasonable cuts and then try to budget to that. Otherwise I think it can be so defeating - "I've gone over my ?50 grocery budget this week so forget it!"

Meal planning has made a huge difference for us. I finally got control of it by having an actual print out template for each week, with a box for each day, a place to write grocery list, and a place next to each day for any grocery top ups I thought I would need. It is now so innate that I don't have to write it down anymore, but I did this for a long time. I also booked a weekly grocery delivery for the same time each week, which forces/prompts me to meal plan and adjust the order.

I feel your pain! Childcare costs are eye-watering. The mortgage doesn't even come onto our budgeting radar compared to childcare costs, which is a bit scary!

[betty46]

its very important to know how to manage our budget. I did the same mistake as many as you did before and now we plan and act. So make sure what you're putting on the shopping list its useful before your budget gets low. I'm sure everyone do the same but when the childrens are involved the things get changes. And that is the beauty of our life and on the end everything its going to be all right.

All the best

Beatrice

[Grotty]

OK so next question - whats the best app for budgeting? I want something I can put every thing I spend into with categories and also input ingoings and outgoings and work out monthly spend etc. Something visual with graphs/calculations would be a bonus! i love stats me...

[Fuschia]

Pocket money I use, for iPad

Not pocket money lite

[Pugwash]

When hubby was retired early on health grounds - we did not qualify for any benefits as my earnings were too high. He gets a small pension from work which is about 33% of his preious earnings. We now do our main supermarket shop fortnightly to cut down costs. I always look at the reduced goods when shopping, most of them you can freeze on the day - I have just noticed in my freezer some mince, pie, bread, sausages, fish.

Stews and casseroles - start off with meat and veg for meal one and you can extend this to day 3 by adding more veg and small pasta shapes so it can become a soup. if I entertain (extended family) I work out what do do with left overs- last Sunday there were 9 of us - home made quiche - large slice went to daughter no2 for her lunch the following day, coronation chicken - my work lunch for 2 days,fresh vegetables not used will be made into a soup later today, cheese - possibly another quiche. Each week I check what is left over - I got some apples from sainsbury's which do not taste very nice - will probably end up in a crumble or pie later today. We buy wu liquid and washing powder tablets from Lidl as better and cheaper than other supermarkets.Use BOGOF offers if you know you are going to use the product - make more use of freezer. I find daily purchasing more expensive as tend to use local shops. However you can get good bargains from local butchers (near the Plough) and his eggs are good value.

[canela]

hubby lost job 2 years ago in horrible circumstances with no redundancy package, and no entitlement to benefits as hasn't worked long enough in this country (sorry daily mail readers, but what you read about welfare for foreigners didn't work for us...). i quickly went back to my work, which is low-paid. what i earn most months does not cover our mortgage (which is luckily really low), bills and food so we until things started looking up a wee bit recently we regularly has to get a payday loan. So, have quickly learnt how not to spend money - and especially how not to spend anything on those little "extras". it's very simple - if you don't want to spend money just don't go to cafes, don't buy the paper, don't ever go near shops for any reason that is not unavoidable - no browsing ever! i do grocery shops online once a month, and just top up with milk, eggs, and the very very occasional piece of meat. most meals are pulse-based - nothing is cheaper than lentils soup or bean stew.

now, obviously if you don't have to scrimp so much they why would you as life like this gets rather joyless and pretty damn boring. but i used to have coffees and sandwiches and go out for meals without thinking....and now i could hit myself when i think of what i frittered away. our "rainy day" savings just didn't cut mustard for more than 6 months. it has been "interesting" to be so skint but it is mostly just really really stressful and if/hopefully when we manage to get heads above water again i know saving will be our big priority.

interesting thread, and some good tips.

[bornagain]

"and the very very occasional piece of meat. most meals are pulse-based - nothing is cheaper than lentils soup or bean stew. "

My tip is to use meat as flavouring (as common in many peasant-type cuisine eg Chinese or Italian). Just handful or less of bacon or belly pork or chicken really peps up a bean stew and makes it more full of umami. I buy a pack from the supermarket and freeze it in small portions for this use.

Also my leftover soup is very popular with my kids. Basically the sweepings of my veg drawer in the fridge chopped or grated very small cooked with a stock cube. Just make sure that you put in similar portions of each veg so that one flavour doesn't dominate. You can add crushed pasta, or the above meat or a beaten egg for more flavour and bulk.

[spanners45]

There are some great tips/suggestions here. I find this thread super interesting as I am always thinking we spend far too much money in the shops. I started a while back making a weekly food plan and must say it makes life so much easier, but perhaps that has more to do with knowing what the kids will eat and not having to think about it at the last minute. When I feel particularly organised, I take a good look at my cupboards and try to 'schedule' two meals out of whatever we have there. Amazing what you can do with a bit of imagination.

A few years back, when I was a bit tight on money, I came across a couple of books that I thought were very good. Both happened to be by the same writer. The Frugal Cook and Beyond Baked Beans by Fiona Beckett. She used to have a blog for the Frugal Cook with so many tips on smart supermarket shopping and great recipes on how to make the most of your shop and what you have at home but also what to do with left-overs.

Ps. Love the sound of that veg soup and will make it next time for sure. Just remembered reading somewhere that in Italy and Spain they use cheese rinds (Parmesan,Manchuria, etc) to flavour soups. A good idea too!