2023 is definitely the year of change for me, change for the good. I am determined to get my life in order and finally start getting on top of things that have previously been a downfall of mine. One big area I am trying to change throughout the year are my finances, in 2022 I was terrible and honestly I took a lot more out of my savings account than I actually put in them, reflecting on 2022 was honestly an eye opener and I realised this is something I should really start taking serious in 2023 and beyond for a variety of reasons. 

That is why I am now creating a budget that I am determined to stick to so that by the end of the year I am in a much better place financial and can do what I want rather than wasting money, previously I have spent just for the sake of it and looking back now that is a terrible mistake as I could have done so much with that money I have wasted but nope instead it has gone on spur of the moment purchases I have never used or got rid of. I am at the point now where I am noticing what I am needing to change if I want to do what I have planned. I am so fed up with wasting money clothing whilst I am on this weight loss and fitness journey, I keep getting sucked into sales and trends or simply just buying clothing for the sake of not going home empty handed, I have realised though just how much I have wasted doing this and I know that if I reign in that spending and just wear baggy clothes until I really need to repurchase then I could save a fortune to go towards my goal shop when I complete my journey so I can build the perfect wardrobe for myself. With the cost of living crisis going on too I need to reevaluate purchases etc to make sure we have enough money to cover our bills, granted at the moment we are doing well but with how things are going and with a variety of bills increasing this year I know I need to change my spending habits to cover for those and anything else that possibly crops up. As I say 2023 is the year of saving more than I spend and making better choices to ensure we can do what we want throughout the year, there are a fair few big purchases I want to make so I am keeping those in mind as I am with the jobs I want to get done in the house hopefully having these in mind all the time will help me stick to the budget and make those positive changes.

So here is how I am creating a budget that I am more likely to stick to and really benefit from...

First up I am sitting down and going through the past few months of my bank accounts and putting each purchase into a category and seeing just how much I spent on them categories. I will then be creating a spreadsheet with each category on and a budget in place based on what I have previously spent and what works best based on my income so I can make cutback and improve what I am putting into savings. By doing this I am also going to be able to see any subscriptions I pay for that require cancelling if I don't get the use out of them, I am not wasting money on things I don't use anymore. 

We will also have a food budget per month as we always pay for 2 food shops each out of our wage, this just breaks the purchases up for us and means one isn't struggling to pay before payday. We will set a budget for those 2 shops based on previous shops and ensure that is what we work towards each food shop day. We will also be meal planning before we go, making a list and sticking to that list as we waste so much food and could save a small fortune if we just stuck to a shopping list each shop. We will also cover buying things for lunches in this too rather than going to Tesco every break and spending a fortune on meal deals and unrequired extras. The big thing for me is making sure money is going into my savings account each month so that budget spreadsheet is going to have a bit where I can allocate a minimum amount into the savings with the aim of adding more by the end of the month which if everything goes to plan should happen but these days you just never know I guess. I am going to make sure that when I make a purchase or pay a bill I am adding it to my budget so I know just how much I am spending rather than totally forgetting and not being able to track where I am. Then it will be a case of having an hour or so on a payday just to sit and go through the month and see where I was under or over budget and see if any changes need to be made to make the budget more beneficial. 

Throughout the year I am going to be trying to do a low buy year too where I set specific rules on what I can and can't buy in 2023 but I will go more in depth on that topic in a blog post in the future as I start to play around with the ideas that are going to work or not work as I take on the low buy year. I will be incorporating this into the budget as well as giving no spend days a go, I am hoping these stop me spending for the sake of it and help keep the budgeted categories looking healthy even towards the end of the month which is where at times I would usually struggle. 

As part of the budget I am also going to bring the cash stuffing back as when I did this in 2022 it really helped with my spending and I noticed I was saving a bit more than I usually would. I use this for the things I should really use cash for and the categories are treat money, boxing, women's football, my football, holiday money and goal shop. This just shows me how much I have set aside for each of those things each month and if I can make a specific purchase or not. For these envelopes I will look at what I have budgeted for on my spreadsheet then withdraw that amount of cash each month to put in the envelopes. I will then just ignore my card for these things and use that cash.

As I said a big part of my problem is impulse purchasing so what I am planning on doing is something I have seen online quite a bit... I am going to have a list on my phone where I write down what I could have bought but opted against as I knew I didn't need them. This should really show me just how much I am saving by making better choices and at the end of the day show me just how much I am improving when it comes to my spending. I will have another list too where I create a list of items I want to purchase that need to fit in the treat budget. This will create a bit of a 'can't stop thinking about it rule' rather than buying something there and then I will add it to the list and come back to it in a few days, weeks or even a month to see if I still want it or not. If I haven't thought about it since I first saw it I clearly didn't want it and the item can be removed or if it is still there after a while and fits my budget I can finally make the purchase.

This whole budget is definitely going to be trial and error especially for the first few months however, hopefully as I stick to it over time it is going to be easier and I can really create better habits with money and see my savings massively increase and help me get those jobs around the house completed.

Do you have a budget or is it something you are looking at in 2023?