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Household budgeting

carly burncarly burn
in Not Sports Related
I'm ashamed to say I never do it and never have. I just seem to have a bit excess in my current account to cover any overspend and just hope for the best.Which worries me as I have a family to support!

I've never been in debt so guess I'm pretty tight Shrewd with money. I'm not really saving any money though
But I've really started to feel the pinch lately and I'm sure if I put a bit of effort in I could save a few quid.
I've had the same bank account for years and it always seems a balls ache to change?

So how many of you do it ?
Do you sit down every week and go through all your receipts or is it a religious monthly thing?
Do you use apps or old fashioned pen and paper?

I'll never get the money together to save the club at this rate!
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Comments

  • RossRoss
    I set up a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet about 2 years ago whilst I was saving up to buy a house.

    One column - 'in' (wages). one column - 'out' (rent/mortgage, regular direct debits, fuel, food etc.) and then that gave me my remaining figure that I had to spend myself that month. You can adapt it quite easily by having a 'left over' figure which is added to the wages figure at the start of the next month.

    I have adapted it for myself and my girlfriend in our new home and it works perfectly well as long as you know exactly what you've got coming in and going out every month.
  • NorthStandUltraNorthStandUltra
    I do the same as Ross & have an excel spreadsheet, I've gone a bit too far though & itemise how much I spend from the leftover amount & what it's on - can be an eye opener sometimes & makes me think 'did I really need it'

    I'm also a born worrier about money so it doesn't help my mental state know I only have £xx amount to spend a month after bills!
  • robinofottershawrobinofottershaw
    Have done something similar to Ross for nigh on 40 years. But then again, I did start out my working life as an accountant!
  • Missed ItMissed It
    I use a program called "You Need a Budget".

    It has been a lifesaver for me as I always used to run out of money before I an out of month and was always scrambling to pay annual bills like water rates, TV licence, insurance etc. It's basically an envelope budgeting system. Everything you spend is accounted for and money gets set aside until its due to be paid. It takes a little bit of discipline to keep it going but once you're in the habit of updating as you go, it's a doddle. You're supposed to budget to zero left over at the end of each month, but I always aim to have some unallocated cash left at the end of the month to put away in savings.

    I also don't waste as much money on bits and bobs and random stuff as I now know where every single penny is going.
  • DippenhallDippenhall
    Been using Account Tracker for a few years. Simple to use, enter all you budget items. I mainly use it to keep track of standing orders and DDs it's easy to check end of month position. I'm lazy at accounting and only do simple, so if I use it anyone could.

    https://grahamhaley.co.uk/accounts/
  • man_at_millettsman_at_milletts
    What Large said.
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  • AidenTheAddickAidenTheAddick
    NorthStandUltra said:

    I do the same as Ross & have an excel spreadsheet, I've gone a bit too far though & itemise how much I spend from the leftover amount & what it's on - can be an eye opener sometimes & makes me think 'did I really need it'

    I'm also a born worrier about money so it doesn't help my mental state know I only have £xx amount to spend a month after bills!

    This is exactly what I do, including itemising my "spare" cash spend.

    I'd say I update my spreadsheet roughly once a week from the receipts that I've kept. I'd definitely recommend doing it if you can spare 20/30 minutes a week. If you have the time, I don't really see any benefit to not doing it.
  • DaveMehmetDaveMehmet
    We've got a joint account that we both put into each month that the mortgage, bills & shopping come out of. If I'm honest, I haven't got a clue how much is in there, probably not that much as we pay quite a bit extra on our mortgage to get rid of it as quick as. My wife's probably got a much better idea but then she's the sensible one in the relationship (not that she's got much competition).
  • robroyrobroy
    I go for the spreadsheet like the others, very handy and never run out of cash. Always seem to have left over at the end of the month that roll's onto the next or into my savings.

  • BeardfaceBeardface
    carly burn said:

    I'm ashamed to say I never do it and never have. I just seem to have a bit excess in my current account to cover any overspend and just hope for the best.Which worries me as I have a family to support!

    I've never been in debt so guess I'm pretty tight Shrewd with money. I'm not really saving any money though
    But I've really started to feel the pinch lately and I'm sure if I put a bit of effort in I could save a few quid.
    I've had the same bank account for years and it always seems a balls ache to change?

    So how many of you do it ?
    Do you sit down every week and go through all your receipts or is it a religious monthly thing?
    Do you use apps or old fashioned pen and paper?

    I'll never get the money together to save the club at this rate!

    If you've got more going in than coming out then that's a good achievement in itself and you shouldn't be ashamed - it's probably why you've never budgeted properly - you've always done it subconsciously.

    If you've got a specific target in mind, whether it's to give you a bit more savings or a big purchase, then I'd suggest the excel trick used above but in reverse. I.e. everything goes to savings except what you need to spend. You should allocate you self a budget from that for entertainment / frivolous spend, but it'll get you in the habit of saving the maximum amount, not a minimum target amount. Also when there's a one off payment you've got the funds to cover a rainy day.
  • GreenWithEnvyGreenWithEnvy
    Lots of sage advice from the previous posts. I would also look at websites like Money Saving Expert. com for advice on switiching energy supplier, house insurance, car insurance etc. etc. - can be easier than you expected. It is not sexy but flipping heck you can literally save hundreds of pounds a year and that will kick start you into looking after your home finances a lot more.
  • T_C_ET_C_E
    i_b_b_o_r_g said:

    I just budget to give my Mrs 100% of everything I own and she spends it

    Feck, I married her sister.
    My Missus has Hayes and Jarvis on *speed dial 1*
  • eaststandmikeeaststandmike
    Me and the missus have always had a joint account and use software to track it. We are using Banktree at the moment and it does the job.

    Our wages are paid straight into the bank, most coming out is done by standing order or DD and we budget with whats left.

    You can set Banktree up to debit the account in the software to mirror all the DD's and SO's so all you need to do is reconcile a bank account which we do once a week.

    You can also add lines to fool the softwrae so for example we have a line called "holidays" but the date in the box says 31.12.17. We put X amount on this line each month so the software thinks we have spent it however it is just sitting there ready to pay for our hols when we book one.

  • JoshrewCAFCJoshrewCAFC
    Currently at Uni I have kept an excel spreadsheet which helps a lot with tracking how much I spend (and I've made categories to show what I spend it on). Everytime I buy anything I get straight on the notes of my phone and write down 5 food or 7.68 going out etc. Then just put it all in the spreadsheet maybe once or twice a week. Its really simple and I do it by week and a new sheet for each year, however now in second year I've found it harder to track as subscriptions to Amazon Prime and Music come yearly and monthly, the same with bills too.

    I'd say it's well well worth it for personal spending and I have a separate bank account for bills to keep the money for that and everything else in another account.

    It doesn't take much time to set this up.

    Just as a side-note: I always look at life in terms of a time-money relationship. If changing bank account and bills providers will take out too much time in your opinion then its worth not bothering as time to relax and not stressing about changing provider is worth money.
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  • BeardfaceBeardface
    eaststandmike said:

    Me and the missus have always had a joint account and use software to track it. We are using Banktree at the moment and it does the job.

    Our wages are paid straight into the bank, most coming out is done by standing order or DD and we budget with whats left.

    You can set Banktree up to debit the account in the software to mirror all the DD's and SO's so all you need to do is reconcile a bank account which we do once a week.

    You can also add lines to fool the softwrae so for example we have a line called "holidays" but the date in the box says 31.12.17. We put X amount on this line each month so the software thinks we have spent it however it is just sitting there ready to pay for our hols when we book one.

    that's love right there
  • charltonkestoncharltonkeston
    Something I always thought I should do but after 35 years at work it might be hard to change my ways. if I have a fiver I'll find something that costs a tenner.
    But as both me and my wife have always worked I sort of get away with it.
    The only financial thing I ever took seriously was my second mortgage which I paid off years early, then I promptly sold my house and I then hocked myself with another mortgage.
  • ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    I'm so wealthy that I don't care.
  • T_C_ET_C_E
    DaveMehmet said:

    T.C.E said:

    i_b_b_o_r_g said:

    I just budget to give my Mrs 100% of everything I own and she spends it

    Feck, I married her sister.
    My Missus has Hayes and Jarvis on *speed dial 1*
    I do hope that's a shop.
    So do I........ ;)

  • McBobbinMcBobbin
    Because my budget is roughly the same every month I don't check my bank balance very often. Me and the Mrs have our own accounts we are paid into and a joint account. We put some into the joint account to cover all the bills and food etc, the rest is ours. We also have a joint savings we keep a buffer in, and top it up if we have money left over for holidays.
  • thewolfboythewolfboy
    When you start budgeting you are amazed at how much crap you spend your money on! I think Large has given good advice but it takes a while to build discipline to non spending. I quite like going two or three days without spending anything at all. Be aware that the big money secret is compound interest: If you own shares you reinvest (as much as you can) what dividends you earn, so that over the years the shares grow and grow - so long as you select the right shares of course. Good luck.
  • Cardinal SinCardinal Sin
    Carly Burn - you're not alone, I just wing it during the month. I'm not particularly extravagant and neither is my Wife but I know I could be saving a decent bit of money if I could be arsed to budget. Saving quite a bit recently as I have stopped wasting it on Charlton.
  • Rob7LeeRob7Lee
    I just have a Excel spreadsheet, all regular DD's listed, salary going in and just put in all spending.
  • cafcdave123cafcdave123
    It's all about finding the right balance, for example, my Mrs earns more than me so I spunk all my wages on drink and drugs.

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