If your money never seems to last the month, you are not doing anything wrong.
Many families set a budget, start with good intentions, then watch it unravel once real life kicks in.
With prices higher than they were a few years ago, budgeting feels harder than ever. Food costs more, bills jump around, and there is less wiggle room than there used to be.
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The key is not a perfect budget. It is one that fits your life and gives you a bit of breathing space.
Skint Dad says:
A budget only works if it matches how you actually live, not how you think you should live.
Get everything written down
A budget can only work if it includes everything you spend.
That means bills, food, fuel, school costs, birthdays, subscriptions, and the small bits of spending that are easy to forget.
Do not rely on memory. Go through a few months of bank statements and your latest bills. Look out for things that come out monthly, every few months, or once a year.
If you take out cash, be honest about where it goes. Those small amounts soon add up.
Be honest about treats and habits
If you buy a coffee most weeks, put it in. If you grab snacks, lunches, or the odd takeaway, include them too.
There is no point pretending these costs are not there. A budget built on wishful thinking will fall apart quickly.
You do not need to cut anything yet. First, you need to see the full picture.
Keep your budget simple
You do not need a fancy app or a complicated spreadsheet.
If you like digital tools, use them. If they confuse you, grab a pen, paper, and a calculator.
What matters is that you can look at your budget and understand it straight away. The simpler it is, the more likely you are to stick to it.
Round your spending up
Rounding makes budgeting easier and safer.
If a bill is £35.12, round it up to £36 in your budget. Do this for all outgoings. For income, round down.
This creates a small safety margin. Over a month, those pennies often turn into a few extra pounds left in your account.
Build in breathing space
Budgets fail when there is no room for things to go wrong.
Food shops cost more than planned. Kids need last minute school items. Something always pops up.
Adding a buffer, even around 10% on flexible spending like food, can stop one surprise from wrecking the whole month.
Set clear limits for everyday spending
Once your bills are covered, work out what is left for food, travel, and day to day costs.
Some people find weekly amounts easier to manage. Others prefer one monthly pot.
If cash helps you control spending, use it. If cards work better, that is fine too. There is no right way, only what works for you.
Reward progress, not perfection
Sticking to a budget takes effort, especially at the start.
Plan small rewards when you hit milestones. That might be a takeaway night, a cinema trip, or a treat you have already budgeted for.
Rewards help you keep going. Just make sure they are planned, not impulse spending.
If it goes wrong, adjust it
Everyone overspends sometimes.
Instead of giving up, look at what happened. Was the budget too tight? Did you forget a cost? Was it just a tough month?
Budgets are meant to change. Each slip-up is information you can use to make the next month easier.
If you have ever felt like you couldn’t stick to a budget, you are not alone, and it does not mean you have failed.
Keep your reason front and centre
When spending feels tempting, remind yourself why you started.
You might be trying to clear debt, build a safety net, reduce stress, or get through the month without panic.
Spending outside your budget does not make you a failure, but it does make things harder in the long run, especially if you are trying to stop spending money you don’t have.
Change habits without cutting out all joy
Cutting everything out usually leads to burnout.
If you enjoy takeaways or nights out, look for cheaper swaps rather than stopping completely. A night in with friends costs far less than the pub. Cooking a favourite meal at home can save a lot over time.
A good budget supports your life. It should not make you miserable.
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Jirina Prochazkova says
The one thing that really helps with food shopping is planning your meals ahead. Plan your meal for a week and only buy what you need for those meals but don’t forget about breakfasts and work lunches!!! Than go to mysupermarket and compare your shopping. If you don’t like the idea of your shopping being picked and delivered by some stranger – you can print our your shopping list from mysupermarket and take it to the shop with you. You even have a option to split the shopping to between couple of shops to make the most of supermarket savings and offers. Great article by the way x
Rachelradiostar says
Everything you’ve said could just as easily apply to weightloss!! You could call it debt loss ! I maximise my money by regularly buying yellow stickered meat for the freezer. Save energy by bulk baking and cooking too if you can. Freeze the extra portions for another day. Great blog :-)
mick huxtable says
a good point to stop you sleeping and worrying tell your partner if you are struggling with debt or paying bills
maria@moneyprinciple says
A good one! I am not a great fan of budgets but I love – and do – budgeting. Budgeting is dynamic and tailored to our needs and wants. I’d like to add two more things, if I may: a) we have a GKW line in our budget (God Knows What) and this allows for some slack; b) we have an ‘I’m so worth it’ budget whick is specifically for having fun – this way, we never forgot to have fun when paying off debt aggresively.
Dad in Training says
For me the thing that made the most difference was getting militant about who paid for what. So instead of us both picking up food shopping as and when we set it so only one of us ever pays for food shopping. That instantly got rid of a ton of confusion over who bought what, when and for what.
Same thing with a load of other bills. You don’t get a full picture of how much you’re spending on an item until only one of you is paying for it. Then you’re better able to see if you’re overspending on certain things.
thara says
Free stuff. Instead of days out we head down to the local park to have a picnic or to walk there. And we prefer to go to our local library rather than visit a arcade or spend a whole day at the beach etc. Try collecting some pine cones on your nature walks too. To cut our entertainment and travel costs we re create the movies at home with a plate of hot tasty popcorn and a glass of white wine. You can find a lot of cheap stuff at almost all of the high street shops in town. You can certainly save more money by ordering only soft drinks at restaurants and pubs instead of wine.
Thara says
Find out about free or low cost events. Often times the local library will have story time or interesting talks for residents. Or you can even see if your local church has something on. My local church has all sorts of fun community oriented events for families and smaller children. Even at my gym or local shopping mall, I find out about social events. The pubs in my area often put on cool live music events and quiz nights.
See if you can find own brand items. Instead of doing my weekly food shopping at Sainsbury’s, I tend to go to those hidden farm shops which are a part of a garden centre. Good luck. My personal limit is £50 for food shopping and I prefer to stick to it. I never waste.
Borrow things from a library in order to reduce costs. You can even pick up free mini leaflets, magazines and newspapers from a library these days. Try it. See what occurs as a result.