So I’ve lived the past few years in constant struggle. Each day I’d wonder whether my next paycheck would cover rent and bills, let alone food and essentials. Once every few months I’m able to treat myself to a new pair of socks or if I’m feeling really flush - a pair of shoes or a DVD. I never used to be the type to save money, so when my car would have problems or I’d find a sickly shade of yellow attached to my windscreen, also known as a parking fine - I’d have to go without food for the next week to pay for it. Many times I’ve had to cancel insurance or scrap a car, move into a cheaper place - just because of an unexpected bill entering my letterbox.
So this past month I’ve started to budget and goodness - I feel great about it. I’ve made a list of all incoming funds and all my outgoings. Unfortunately my outgoings outweighed what I was taking home. So no wonder I’m under a huge mountain of debt. But without putting it into persperctive and writing everything down I wasn’t to know. So I start a new job tomorrow which is all good and well. By working 60 hours a week my takehome will only be £1000 a month after tax. Not really enough to live comfortably- especially working so much hours. So what will I do? Get a second job. I plan to work in an office based job during the days and move my first job in a bar to the evenings. I will literally live for work, but once all my debts are cleared I can reduce my hours and relax a little more.
So - how to budget. By reducing my outgoings I am already potentially saving myself an awful lot of cash. Instead of buying regular cigarettes (a luxury in itself, smoking), I can purchase tobacco which will last longer and be much cheaper in the long run. So that’s already around £20 a week saved. Instead of shopping at Sainsburys I can buy food much much cheaper from ASDA or Tesco - buying storebrand food always saves a lot of funds. That is potentially another £15 a week spare.
To save money for busses, I can use my little legs to walk - saving valuable cash and keeping myself fit at the same time, what more does one need? I don’t need to keep the heating on when I have jumpers in my wardrobe. I don’t need to keep using the oven and stove if I make a lot of food in one go and freeze it - microwaving each portion when I’m ready for my next meal.
I can potentially save myself a lot of money. Every single penny I don’t spend by budgeting and being sensible can be deposited into a high interest savings account. Not only will this slowly build my credit but it will mean the interest payments will get larger and larger, therefore I’m making free money just for saving.
Another good idea would be to simply work out your outgoings in regard to bills and rent. If you can get a rough idea of what you’re paying each month, minus that from your monthly wage and set up a direct debit to your savings account. Whatever you will have left over after food rent and bills can automatically be put into your savings at the end of each month. Providing you’re not constantly checking your savings - you might look a while later and be pleasantly surprised at how much you really have saved.
And providing you don’t get excited and blow all your savings on a flash car or an impulsive trip to the Bahamas, you’ll be rolling in the cash before you know it. This means you’ll have an excellent amount of savings put back, therefore cancelling out your needs to have an emergency credit card or a big overdraft loan.
There’s one simple rule to all this. Reduce your outgoings. Know the line between what you NEED and what you WANT. And there’s nothing else to it. Before you know it you’ll have paid off all debts and be able to live without the burden of finance or late payment fees. Good luck!
