Money / Budgeting in general

it often comes down to loans they took out when they were in their early 20's or something that continue to drain them for the next x amount of years and leads to them not being able to go out any weekend other than pay day and certainly not going on holiday.

or they've got an addiction to something.
 
I used to buy stuff all the time because I couldnt be bothered to make it.

Now I think of it this way...I'm saving probably £2 each time I make my sandwiches...or to put it a better way £2 for a minute of work or is that £120 an hours work?!
 
Raymond Lin said:
Oh, i forgot there's a Nandos, so another £10 a head, or carluccio's (£22 for 2 anyone and only had 2 juice, 1 soup, 1 lasagne and 1 dessert!), Yo! sushi and gourmet burger kitchen, cafe rouge in the vacinity.

Where I work is bad for my wallet!
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Or you just don't know how to make affordable lunches. :rolleyes:
 
Dead easy way to budget is to split your money into three pots, one is your outgoings, two is how much you want to save each month, three is for food/petrol/beer/clothes/out on the town. Just make sure you have standing orders moving the saving money early in the month
 
Ahleckz said:
Or you just don't know how to make affordable lunches. :rolleyes:
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I do know how to eat cheap at night though.

Most nights my dinner consist of 99p soup and some salad or meat. Where most people get take aways once a week, I never do. My dinner cost me about £2-£4.

It's just I rather spend the bulk of the monies on lunch rather than dinner. My weekly food budget comes to about £50, and that's all the food.
 
semi-pro waster said:
You're not questioning spending $100 on a shirt though? As pointed out it's in NZ Dollars so if it makes more sense to you then multiply the figures by 0.44571 (conversion back from NZ Dollars a few moments ago on XE.com). The actual figures don't matter hugely though as it's just about the principle of understanding finite resources.

As mentioned packed lunches can save you a bit of cash, however I tend to mentally set it off against the time taken to make it and my general dislike of doing so.
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Only because I thought it to ridiculous to mention. :p

And that's still £66.

I usually only ever take £20 + £10 additional on drinks before I go out and I am completely and utterly wasted. :eek:
 
Raymond Lin said:
I do know how to eat cheap at night though.

Most nights my dinner consist of 99p soup and some salad or meat. Where most people get take aways once a week, I never do. My dinner cost me about £2-£4.

It's just I rather spend the bulk of the monies on lunch rather than dinner. My weekly food budget comes to about £50, and that's all the food.
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Fair enough then. All balances out. I'll make very cheap lunches, but spend a fair bit more on dinner. I assumed you would be spending even more on your dinner and you were haemorrhaging money.
 
Ahleckz said:
Fair enough then. All balances out. I'll make very cheap lunches, but spend a fair bit more on dinner. I assumed you would be spending even more on your dinner and you were haemorrhaging money.
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LOL, I am not crazy :p

Plus, I don't go out every weekend either, I go out once a few months! Since it's only me feeding me, I buy little, but buy nice stuff.

In theory I could really save a bucket load by eating cheap, but i found that cheap often means unhealthy food. It is almost impossible to eat something low carb, low fat for under £2 when you buy ready done stuff, whether it is from a supermarket or boots, or cafe. If you want a salad, if you want soup, you need to pay £3+. £2 gets you chips, and pasties and burgers...stuff that is not good for you.
 
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I think its case of looking after the pennys and pounds look after themselves
im putting £900 in my isa this month out of <£1300 take home ,we have also just paid the mortgage off in full taking ten years but at the same time we have afew months on the cornish coast at our caravan every summer.
my other half makes most of the meals and soups herself for next to nothing, we walk most of the time instead of driving ,get most of my clothes from charity shops while making profit from other stuff we buy there (best so far is a 30p james bond book that sold for £190)
we get the best price we can on stuff like insurance ,never using credit unless its interest free.
going food shopping this afternoon to mullacos ,the trolly will be brimming over for twenty quid ,what im saying is it all adds up ,and also you can have a great lifestyle for not much money,ive got my first 3 weeks bodyboarding booked in aprill ,but thats my thing
 
It isn't too hard to save. It just takes willpower and effort. That's why most people fail.

1. Cut down on waste - I.e Get the best deal on essential bills. Cut or reduce the rest. Do you really need that expensive mobile contract? That expensive Sky (or Virgin Media) package?

2. Don't buy shiny things. Instant gratification seems to be part and parcel of the culture nowadays. If you want something then save for it. Be careful of the smaller "shiny things" adding up.

3. Set up a regular savings amount. I have a direct debit that takes x each month and puts it in my savings account. Anything else left in the current account at the end of the month also goes in.

I used to be a serial spender and so getting from there to where I am now (all sensible) took a lot of willpower and habit changing. However I am now glad I have done so.

I'm still not perfect though. I have a couple of impulse purchases on my credit card. Thankfully they are at 0% for 18 months! :D
 
kenmare said:
Only because I thought it to ridiculous to mention. :p

And that's still £66.

I usually only ever take £20 + £10 additional on drinks before I go out and I am completely and utterly wasted. :eek:
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lightweight?

I suppose it really depends on where you head out I guess, if I head into East London (read Shoreditch, brick lane etc) a night out will easily reach £100 usually including getting home but not always :(

However if I head out further west (acton, shepherds bush and chiswick area) then you find a fair amount of places where you can get 2 for 1 drinks etc that makes it much easier on the wallet.

Ah working nearer east London is deadly come Friday night after having kiss on the radio to get you in the mood :p
 
Lunches are a real drain. It's hard to find anything more than a sandwich and a drink around here for anything less than a fiver.

The most important thing to do is get a bank statement, sit down and make a list of where you're spending money currently.
Once you know where you actually spend your money, it's much easier to control your spending.

Running a car is tres expensive as well, but unavoidable for most people living outside of London.
 
At the moment I'm working on £50 per week, this doesn't include any monthly/yearly stuff like rent, phone bill or insurance as they are already paid up front for.

The £50 is for my petrol for work, usually 1 meal out a week and 1 night out drinking.

I've done it for the last 2 months and not really had a problem, some weeks I'm over by £5~ but at the end of the day I've been able to sort enough things out with the other part of my wage in that time.
 
Skully said:
Yes, I know you spent a lot on lunch! Don't keep forgetting to pack it!
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Lol, or i just don't bother :p

Today's lunch cost me £5. That's £25 a week, and last night's dinner was £3. Breakfast is cereal at my desk which is like £2.50 for a week and a half's worth.

I am NOT that silly with money, I don't eat out in the evening that much. Though this week I've ate out once ithe evening and that was £15.

Still, it's about £50 a week on food really all round on average.
 
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