How much left at end of month?
Discussion
Integroo said:
trowelhead said:
Integroo said:
We save between 3 and 6 grand a month between us. Young DINKs. Don't yet own a home though - but in no rush.
That's awesome well done 
I'm a spreadsheet advocate too, been using my own sheet since I bought my house about 5 years ago now, to really drill down all my spending as I was very relaxed about it before then, it's been the best thing I've done. I track everything on it, all income, and all outgoings including savings etc, so my bottom line is what I have as 'disposable income'.
I work a month ahead, so I know how much I will have spare at the end of next month, and then I can work backwards and see how much leeway I have if I want to buy something now.
Works for me, once it's up and running it's easy and quick to keep it updated.
I work a month ahead, so I know how much I will have spare at the end of next month, and then I can work backwards and see how much leeway I have if I want to buy something now.
Works for me, once it's up and running it's easy and quick to keep it updated.
So far this year I have averaged £100 per month "left" (I have a wife and 2 small children so it still disappears somewhere!).
I'm a big advocate of spreadsheets! When I started i never saved anything but I realised I was just drawing lots of cash out and couldn't account for it. I started using debit and credit cards as a way to keep track more than anything but found that I was spending less each month somehow. I still try and avoid having cash in my wallet!
My wife is the total opposite and doesn't even know how much she earns let alone spends!
I'm a big advocate of spreadsheets! When I started i never saved anything but I realised I was just drawing lots of cash out and couldn't account for it. I started using debit and credit cards as a way to keep track more than anything but found that I was spending less each month somehow. I still try and avoid having cash in my wallet!
My wife is the total opposite and doesn't even know how much she earns let alone spends!
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I used to do the same. All spending on amex, cleared monthly.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I now have lots of points which is great, however i lost all control of my spending and overspent by tens of thousands to get those free points. Online shopping, clothes, trainers, delivery services - the amex was the added layer that did not make the spending seem "real" - so i spent more than i would have if the cash was coming out of my hand / my debit card...
My advice would be to go back to a debit card, or monzo card which will show and categorise your spending as you do it.
I learned this the hard way, but have cut my spending by 2/3rds in last year.
trowelhead said:
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I used to do the same. All spending on amex, cleared monthly.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I now have lots of points which is great, however i lost all control of my spending and overspent by tens of thousands to get those free points. Online shopping, clothes, trainers, delivery services - the amex was the added layer that did not make the spending seem "real" - so i spent more than i would have if the cash was coming out of my hand / my debit card...
My advice would be to go back to a debit card, or monzo card which will show and categorise your spending as you do it.
I learned this the hard way, but have cut my spending by 2/3rds in last year.
Pay the card off more frequently than monthly. Personally I regularly check my amex app so you could record all of the expenditure into a spreadsheet or other app and clear the balance say weekly?
Shame to lose all the Avios! I’ve just booked another set of flights to the US with mine so saved around £2k off the early bird fare we’d looked at.
2fast748 said:
So far this year I have averaged £100 per month "left" (I have a wife and 2 small children so it still disappears somewhere!).
I'm a big advocate of spreadsheets! When I started i never saved anything but I realised I was just drawing lots of cash out and couldn't account for it. I started using debit and credit cards as a way to keep track more than anything but found that I was spending less each month somehow. I still try and avoid having cash in my wallet!
My wife is the total opposite and doesn't even know how much she earns let alone spends!
I’m the complete opposite and find cash is easier to keep track of. I draw out a self imposed weekly budget in cash and can easily see it disappearing over the week I’ve done this for 20 years. I'm a big advocate of spreadsheets! When I started i never saved anything but I realised I was just drawing lots of cash out and couldn't account for it. I started using debit and credit cards as a way to keep track more than anything but found that I was spending less each month somehow. I still try and avoid having cash in my wallet!
My wife is the total opposite and doesn't even know how much she earns let alone spends!
Personally I’d say 25% of take home pay is left at the end of the month on average (no fancy spreadsheets) but it helps that outgoings are very minimal - cars paid off, no loans, work from home so no temptations to buy that Starbucks or nice sandwich at lunch, likewise very little fuel to buy per month.
Wife gets paid every 4 weeks so it depends on when she gets paid in the month relative to the 1st when all the bills are paid. It is a PITA being paid every 4 weeks as some months we have to leave far more in the current account than I'd like because of this.
I'd rather we were both paid on the last working day, then all the bills came out on the 1st, so on the 2nd anything left (minus food, petrol, going out money and any odd spending like servicing, MoTs, holidays etc.) could be swept into the savings account rather than me having work as a payment in advance with her wages minus the variable money for the previous month.
The upside of being paid every 4 weeks is that if you can budget of 12 * 4 weekly wages the one month you effectively get 2 wage packets you get a whole "month's wages" as a fixed bonus each year, although the month it is paid can slip each year.
Currently I have about 25% of net, base income (excluding her 13th wage packet and my bonuses) left each month excluding holidays. This is rising to over 40% from September as we are cutting back a bit to cover our kids going to Uni and we are covering their costs including accommodation, so it'll drop back to about 20/25%.
While I don't use a spreadsheet that often I do look over my current account at least once a week to see what is going in and out to make sure its on track. I know all of my regular outgoings to the nearest pound (always surprises me when people can't do that), and stuff like food and petrol I'm within a tenner over the month of what I've budgeted.
Holidays have to be the biggest issue for me currently. I'm torn between cutting back as I no longer have to pay for holidays for 4 people in school time or spending about the same for 2 people out of school holidays and having nicer holidays.
I'd rather we were both paid on the last working day, then all the bills came out on the 1st, so on the 2nd anything left (minus food, petrol, going out money and any odd spending like servicing, MoTs, holidays etc.) could be swept into the savings account rather than me having work as a payment in advance with her wages minus the variable money for the previous month.
The upside of being paid every 4 weeks is that if you can budget of 12 * 4 weekly wages the one month you effectively get 2 wage packets you get a whole "month's wages" as a fixed bonus each year, although the month it is paid can slip each year.
Currently I have about 25% of net, base income (excluding her 13th wage packet and my bonuses) left each month excluding holidays. This is rising to over 40% from September as we are cutting back a bit to cover our kids going to Uni and we are covering their costs including accommodation, so it'll drop back to about 20/25%.
While I don't use a spreadsheet that often I do look over my current account at least once a week to see what is going in and out to make sure its on track. I know all of my regular outgoings to the nearest pound (always surprises me when people can't do that), and stuff like food and petrol I'm within a tenner over the month of what I've budgeted.
Holidays have to be the biggest issue for me currently. I'm torn between cutting back as I no longer have to pay for holidays for 4 people in school time or spending about the same for 2 people out of school holidays and having nicer holidays.
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
Using a spreadsheet.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I have a "balance left to spend" in line one, which takes all income and expenses from the lines below. Two of the lines are for the credit cards and I update them every couple of days to keep an eye on where we're at.
djc206 said:
trowelhead said:
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I used to do the same. All spending on amex, cleared monthly.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I now have lots of points which is great, however i lost all control of my spending and overspent by tens of thousands to get those free points. Online shopping, clothes, trainers, delivery services - the amex was the added layer that did not make the spending seem "real" - so i spent more than i would have if the cash was coming out of my hand / my debit card...
My advice would be to go back to a debit card, or monzo card which will show and categorise your spending as you do it.
I learned this the hard way, but have cut my spending by 2/3rds in last year.
Pay the card off more frequently than monthly. Personally I regularly check my amex app so you could record all of the expenditure into a spreadsheet or other app and clear the balance say weekly?
Shame to lose all the Avios! I’ve just booked another set of flights to the US with mine so saved around £2k off the early bird fare we’d looked at.
romeogolf said:
Using a spreadsheet.
I have a "balance left to spend" in line one, which takes all income and expenses from the lines below. Two of the lines are for the credit cards and I update them every couple of days to keep an eye on where we're at.
This might be the best solution thinking about it, I'll give it a goI have a "balance left to spend" in line one, which takes all income and expenses from the lines below. Two of the lines are for the credit cards and I update them every couple of days to keep an eye on where we're at.
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
Personally, i know my direct debit amounts for water, council tax etc.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
My food bill averages out about £35 per week, and my petrol £30.
For everything else i budget £40 per week, and everything i buy during the week (Cinema tickets, beer or Amazon shop) gets mentally totted up to £40. Once i get there, i stop spending.
If i want to exceed the £40, i take a moment to work out if i really need it, and if the answer is yes, it comes out of savings(the money left over after all expenses).
ETA, if i have a surplus one week, i add it to my "fun" £40 budget for the next week.
Like other posters, I swear by an Excel spreadsheet. I've used mine since I stopped using Microsoft Money in 2003! This allows me to set the fairly conservative annual budget below - as a percentage of my income - for our family of 4.
PAYE tax 21%
Pension (exc. employer contribution) 13.5%
NI 6.5%
ISA investments 13.5%
Mortgage (ends 2021) 7%
Car & van costs (van owned, loan to buy car, plus all non-fuel costs) 7%
Cycling costs (cycle more than drive) 3%
Food 6%
House repairs 3%
Utilities, phones, TV 3%
Holidays 3%
Council tax 2%
Insurances 2%
Cleaner 2%
Petrol / diesel 2%
Clothes 1%
Eating out 1%
Contingency 2%
Other 2%
In theory, this shows that I have nothing left each month at all! I'd argue that's no bad thing, because I've accounted for everything including saving.
In practice, there is actually a lot more flexibility than the above suggests. I generally run a modest positive balance in our joint account, zero in my personal account and sweep any remaining sums very quickly into short term savings.
PAYE tax 21%
Pension (exc. employer contribution) 13.5%
NI 6.5%
ISA investments 13.5%
Mortgage (ends 2021) 7%
Car & van costs (van owned, loan to buy car, plus all non-fuel costs) 7%
Cycling costs (cycle more than drive) 3%
Food 6%
House repairs 3%
Utilities, phones, TV 3%
Holidays 3%
Council tax 2%
Insurances 2%
Cleaner 2%
Petrol / diesel 2%
Clothes 1%
Eating out 1%
Contingency 2%
Other 2%
In theory, this shows that I have nothing left each month at all! I'd argue that's no bad thing, because I've accounted for everything including saving.
In practice, there is actually a lot more flexibility than the above suggests. I generally run a modest positive balance in our joint account, zero in my personal account and sweep any remaining sums very quickly into short term savings.
Edited by The Cardinal on Thursday 8th August 13:31
The Cardinal said:
Like other posters, I swear by an Excel spreadsheet. I've used mine since I stopped using Microsoft Money in 2003! This allows me to set the fairly conservative annual budget below - as a percentage of my income - for our family of 4.
PAYE tax 21%
Pension (exc. employer contribution) 13.5%
NI 6.5%
ISA investments 13.5%
Mortgage (ends 2021) 7%
Car & van costs (van owned, loan to buy car, plus all non-fuel costs) 7%
Cycling costs (cycle more than drive) 3%
Food 6%
House repairs 3%
Utilities, phones, TV 3%
Holidays 3%
Council tax 2%
Insurances 2%
Cleaner 2%
Petrol / diesel 2%
Clothes 1%
Eating out 1%
Contingency 2%
Other 2%
In theory, this shows that I have nothing left each month at all! I'd argue that's no bad thing, because I've accounted for everything including saving.
In practice, there is actually a lot more flexibility than the above suggests. I generally run a modest positive balance in our joint account, zero in my personal account and sweep any remaining sums very quickly into short term savings.
Surely using your pre tax income artificially makes your bills a smaller percentage?PAYE tax 21%
Pension (exc. employer contribution) 13.5%
NI 6.5%
ISA investments 13.5%
Mortgage (ends 2021) 7%
Car & van costs (van owned, loan to buy car, plus all non-fuel costs) 7%
Cycling costs (cycle more than drive) 3%
Food 6%
House repairs 3%
Utilities, phones, TV 3%
Holidays 3%
Council tax 2%
Insurances 2%
Cleaner 2%
Petrol / diesel 2%
Clothes 1%
Eating out 1%
Contingency 2%
Other 2%
In theory, this shows that I have nothing left each month at all! I'd argue that's no bad thing, because I've accounted for everything including saving.
In practice, there is actually a lot more flexibility than the above suggests. I generally run a modest positive balance in our joint account, zero in my personal account and sweep any remaining sums very quickly into short term savings.
Edited by The Cardinal on Thursday 8th August 13:31
djc206 said:
trowelhead said:
mandos_01 said:
Can I jump on to this and ask a question?
Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I used to do the same. All spending on amex, cleared monthly.Those of you who use a credit card for the vast majority of your outgoings, what method do you use to keep track? I stick everything I can onto an Amex for the rewards, but find that it limits my control on keeping track of what's actually being spent.
Its never a problem as I've always cleared the balance in full at the end of the month, but means I save anything from £0 in a month to £1000, would be good to get a bit more structure behind it
I now have lots of points which is great, however i lost all control of my spending and overspent by tens of thousands to get those free points. Online shopping, clothes, trainers, delivery services - the amex was the added layer that did not make the spending seem "real" - so i spent more than i would have if the cash was coming out of my hand / my debit card...
My advice would be to go back to a debit card, or monzo card which will show and categorise your spending as you do it.
I learned this the hard way, but have cut my spending by 2/3rds in last year.
Pay the card off more frequently than monthly. Personally I regularly check my amex app so you could record all of the expenditure into a spreadsheet or other app and clear the balance say weekly?
Shame to lose all the Avios! I’ve just booked another set of flights to the US with mine so saved around £2k off the early bird fare we’d looked at.
I still run my business expenses on an amex to get points as those are the same whatever i'm using to pay. I just found i'd always spend more personally on credit cards than cash/debit.
If you are setting a budget on spreadsheet or using YNAB etc, then paying using an amex and clearing that often is a great idea.
I should have around £500 if the month is sensible. But in reality it's about £0, as there always seems to be a £500 thing to pay for every month. I've got a house, wife, 2 kids and 2 Hondas and moving house soon (hopefully) so things like surveys, estate agent fees, searches, etc seem to take that £500 a month at the moment. Once I move the cars are due MoTs, etc, and my daily needs tyres soon, then I will want to do home improvements, so the cycle of saving nothing will continue for at least another 2 years I think.
I'm a spreadsheet advocate/planner too. An unaccounted missing £20 annoys me.
I'm a spreadsheet advocate/planner too. An unaccounted missing £20 annoys me.
btdk5 said:
How is this possible? £5 a day....do you just eat lentils?
I used to spend £2 a day when i started me apprenticeship.Today ive been off work, so i had:
- A bowl of cereal for breakfast (30p?)
- Cheese on toast for dinnner, with a pear and a peach (£2?)
- Battered cod with peas and sweetcorn (£2?)
I also read moneysavingexpert forums, at £35 a week is considered extravagant...
What do you eat on an average day for £5 to be considered cheap?
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