Mum’s who are good with money help please 🤣

I use the 50/30/20 rule - 50% of income on essential bills (rent, utilities, phone etc), 30% on daily expenses (coffees, treats, presents, shopping etc) and put 20% into savings. Doesn’t work for everyone because obvs essential bills aren’t always below 50% but it’s a good starting point, if they were say 60% you could do 25% daily expenses, 15% savings - it’s a way to help balance your money so you still have money for yourself and to put aside 🙂

@Incognito so if you had an holiday to pay for and birthday which category would you take it out of ? Thanks x

Try Monzo! We have our joint account with them and when you get paid you assign your money to different 'pots' for different expenses e.g. we have a bills pot, you can set up for any direct debits to come straight from that pot! And a food pot, savings etc. You can also set it to round each expenditure up to the nearest £, ours goes in to the savings pot as a little bit extra! It just really helps us keep on top of our finances, you just have to spend a bit of time sorting it on payday, but you can also set it to sort it automatically for the things that are the same each month!

@Rachel I have I’ve spent more using it 🤣🤣 thank you for the suggestion. I am awaiting a genetic test that could mean I possibly have adhd and autism but not yet comfirmed x

@Fay depends, holiday - savings, birthday present - daily expenses or if it was a bday trip - savings. I also second using Monzo!

I have a spreadsheet where I track my income and outgoings, and I just update it once my pay comes in. This makes it easy to see how much money is left after bills etc and where I could potentially cut down on spending

@Incognito does this sound right in savings I have put £50 child isa £50 emergency and £250 sinking fund but will pay holiday/ birthday using sinking fund if due that month , if I have any money left from wants or needs that will go into emergency fund at end ot the month x

Thank you ladies x

I use every dollar to budget. It’s a great program to use. You can use the free version and it has recommended category amounts. My other trick is to use sinking funds. Make your savings automated every month and use a zero based budget. You making room for savings is paying yourself first. Make sure to sell items you no longer have use for. And wait at least 3 days before making one of those “impulse purchases” ie something for your daughter she doesn’t need.

I think the amount of savings, especially starting off can be a little arbitrary. It’s a matter of developing the habit starting off. So if you struggle to save $50-100 a month, I’d start there and then once you become more disciplined, look at the savings amount guidelines (15-20 %).

You already have great advice here, but one thing I’d add about junior ISAs is that you lose access to this money and it can’t be touched until your child is 18 and they get direct access to the account. It may be more beneficial for you to put this into your own ISA or a general savings account if you’d like to use it for your daughter before she’s 18, and/or you’d like control over it (e.g. you plan to buy her driving lessons when she turns 17). In my opinion, a JISA is only really worth doing if you are already maxing out your own ISA allowance and are a high rate tax payer where you’d benefit from the interest tax savings. Although I totally get that for some people they want specifically for their child to have a pot of money to spend when they are 18 and it makes it easier to save in the first place so that is also a valid reason.

@LMK I don’t want it before she’s 18 x

Do a spreadsheet! Type out all outgoings (incl petrol etc) and whatever is left,try and save some of it and the rest is for whatever you want..