Do you guys budget?



dixonsafc said:
I never had previously but split up with ex about 8 months ago and she moved out.

So rent + bills doubled, so had to actually take stock of incomings/outgoings for the first time. I still have enough to be comfortable and no debt (other than student loan, but that doesn' count right?). But can't be quite as frivolous as I was with a lot more disposable each month.

I'm still on her Netflix and Spotify family account, so I'll see how long I can keep that running for.
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You shoukd create some new profiles on netflix with suggested names from the mighty smb, see how long it lasts!
 
Put a set amount each into a ‘bills’ account which covers food and all house stuff based on a spreadsheet budget - sometimes create a bit of a slush fund but use it for a holiday or weekend away / Christmas
 
Don't budget, but get a text every Thursday from my bank with my account balance, if it reaches a certain low point I stop spending. Don't give a shit about branding and image, have a cheap mobile phone that has a sim only deal. Try to buy nothing on credit. Make additional mortgage payments with the excess. Treat myself to a bottle of rum each month and Spotify for my commute.
 
Roger said:
I made a concious decision to avoid all credit (with the exception of the mortgage) many years ago. If I want something and haven’t got enough money for it, I can’t have it unless I save up for it.

I have also paid down the mortgage whenever I could.

Its great when times get hard as your outgoings are relatively low, and I must have saved thousands in interest over the years... so as a result I can actually have more things I want.

Also when you want something, ask the question do you really need it?
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This is sage advice. I've always known it to be true, but haven't always lived that way. I'm still on the journey to being credit-free (except my mortgage), but hope to get there in the next year and a half on current projections.
 
I’ve just worked out that if we hadn’t separated 10 years ago, and had taken the debt plan then, we’d have been debt free in 2.5 years and the house would have been paid off in another 4. How depressing.
 
I bought a property in my early 20s so was lucky with the advice I got in that respect, mortgage free for quite a few years now due to various property deals I've done so I have no need to budget these days. I dont mind spending a bit of money on things I like, however i never overspend and I'm not flash with it. I try to help family members out as much as I can too.
My advice would be not to borrow if at all possible, that's car loans to mobiles anythung really, you always pay more. Living within your means is actually alot more enjoyable long term than blowing cash you dont have.
 
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Dave Herbal said:
I do sometimes wonder what it must be like to not have to check your bank balance before you buy anything over £50, or to get to the end of the month without breathing a sigh of relief. I’ve never been in a position to do either, and I don’t think I ever will.

How do you go from having relatively fuck all to owning multiple properties?
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I earn good money and there's basically as much work as you want so it was easy to get a nest egg going again. I then met my wife and moved in with her a year later.

As I mentioned she earns good money and owned her own place so we could save a lot fairly quickly. Neither of us are smokers or big drinkers or crave fancy cars etc. Travel is where we spend our money. Even now we're smashing the mortgages because there's no overseas trips on the horizon for the foreseeable future.
Luck plays it's part I guess meeting someone who's got their head screwed on and on good money.
 
SydneyFan said:
I earn good money and there's basically as much work as you want so it was easy to get a nest egg going again. I then met my wife and moved in with her a year later.

As I mentioned she earns good money and owned her own place so we could save a lot fairly quickly. Neither of us are smokers or big drinkers or crave fancy cars etc. Travel is where we spend our money. Even now we're smashing the mortgages because there's no overseas trips on the horizon for the foreseeable future.
Luck plays it's part I guess meeting someone who's got their head screwed on and on good money.
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Tbf I know a lad who works offshore who went from nothing a couple of years ago to owning about 4 houses now. Downside - he’s missed his daughter growing up. Mind, they’re all on interest only mortgages propping each other up.
 
disco_kegs said:
Just because someone is willing to lend you the money doesn't mean you can afford it.

We moved house 4 years ago and worked out that £750 a month was the absolute max we should be spending. Looked at houses in that budget put in an offer and it got accepted. Went for a mortgage and they reckoned we could afford a mortgage of over £1200 a month. With all that's happened now we would be fucked if we had have took that on.
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Even now the whole mortgage thing is scary. I looked at the online calculator to see how much we could borrow if looking to move. Both on modest incomes with minimal debt. Result was a mortgage of £300,000. Fuck that

I have my excel spreadsheet for my budget down to the penny for disposable income. Feel much better knowing in some semblance of control of finances
 
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I’ve got a mate of mine who still lives at home, has a good job but is now in a debt management plan because his credit card spending was well out of control. I don’t know how he sleeps.

Me & the Mrs have got a few things on credit, but it’s buy now pay later which will be paid off approximately 30 days prior to the interest kicking in. We’re handing her car back after her PCP has ended saving ~£300 a month including finance & insurance so we’ll be better off in the long run. Money stresses me out so would never want to overload myself.
 
Pretty good with money not bothered about brands (but end up wearing a few due to where i work and the discount) my only real vice is golf i spend a fortune ...The only time i question a purchasei've made is when i send a Prov1 hurtling into the River Wear, dread to think how much money i've sent into there
 
Dave Herbal said:
I’ve just worked out that if we hadn’t separated 10 years ago, and had taken the debt plan then, we’d have been debt free in 2.5 years and the house would have been paid off in another 4. How depressing.
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I was due to be debt free next week. I now have rent to pay, a mortgage until we sell the house and then need to get another mortage to top up my share to buy another house.
 
Dave Herbal said:
I always chuckle at these threads. People giving it the big un about how well set they are, when all it takes is a divorce and they could be on skid row. And statistically, quite a few of you will.
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Ridiculously sometimes I think I should budget for this too. I love my wife and definitely don't want to split up with her at all but I've heard some horror stories.

Lad at work has just had his divorce finalised. His wife never worked and not paid anything towards the mortgage, decided she didn't want to be with him pretty soon in and to keep his house he's had to pay about £16,000 not including solicitor fees and all the rest of it. They didn't have kids.

Divorce is an area in which there'll never be true equality, add CSA arrangements to that list as well.
 
Dave Herbal said:
Tbf I know a lad who works offshore who went from nothing a couple of years ago to owning about 4 houses now. Downside - he’s missed his daughter growing up. Mind, they’re all on interest only mortgages propping each other up.
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Not exactly a viable business model like.

When i used to do compliance work for HMRC, once investigated a bloke who had about 4 or 5 properties on them types of mortgage as an aside to his main job. Wasn't fully declaring the tax on his rental income and the whole thing came crashing down like a deck of cards!
 
Seaham Towny said:
Ridiculously sometimes I think I should budget for this too. I love my wife and definitely don't want to split up with her at all but I've heard some horror stories.

Lad at work has just had his divorce finalised. His wife never worked and not paid anything towards the mortgage, decided she didn't want to be with him pretty soon in and to keep his house he's had to pay about £16,000 not including solicitor fees and all the rest of it. They didn't have kids.

Divorce is an area in which there'll never be true equality, add CSA arrangements to that list as well.
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Couldn't agree more with your last line. Both systems are weighted heavily towards the Wife/Mother and a lot of people have paid the price in both areas.
 

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