To ask do you track your spending weekly, monthly or at all??

[biibbiibobby]

Posting here for traffic...(money matters is very quiet!
I tracked my money this week. And in total I spent about 370. It's a bit more than normal I think and more than I planned but anyway...I will aim to reduce next week I think!
250 of the weekly spend was my electricity bill of 110, fuel for my car 55 (which is still half full) and my bin charges 26.50 and food shopping for the week. (Had some bits at home already so it wasn't a full food shop!) although I have only bought milk and bread to top up.
So I spent 120 on random purchases , including a Chinese, lunches in work, two movies for the dc that weren't available on Netflix (8.99 each), 35 on a HUGE bag of kitty litter...etc so most of it was justifiable I suppose.

I thought it was a good activity to do and I might do it again next week. Do you do this? What's your average weekly spend? Do you track your spending?

Where can I get an expenditure spreadsheet? Is there an app or should I build one myself?
Any recommendations?

@Twinmama32
I use YNAB. It’s honestly the best thing I’ve done for myself recently. You get 34 days free, basically because they know you’ll save far more than the monthly fee in that time and get hooked! If you’re a student you can get a free year.

It’s takes a few hours to get setup, but once you are, it’s incredible. There’s an app for iPhone and Android, as well as a desktop app too.

I’ve also signed up at syncforynab because UK bank accounts don’t auto sync yet, and it’s all such a dream! Highly recommended!

@Sprockerdilerock

Yes I have an enormous spreadsheet where I track and categorise all my expenditure as well as forecast future months

I get quite excited when I update it. In my defence I work in finance

DH does this for the joint account and his own account.

I don't do it for "my" money which is why I had a very pleasant surprise when I finally checked it last week for the first time since before Christmas

I use YNAB, it isn't free unfortunately but as it is the only tool I have managed to successfully use and it stops us backsliding into overdraft endlessly, I think it's worth it.

It's not really spending tracking although that's part of it - you plan what your money is going to be used for before you spend so you can make more conscious decisions about it. It is flexible so you can always change your mind but because your have to do so in the app, it kind of makes you think about it - do I really want to borrow from the holiday fund for this new pair of trousers? Y/N.

If anyone wants a referral code send me a PM as we'll both get a free month :)

No but I put the spending/food/petrol money in a separate account, each month, in a separate bank so it’s very easy to keep track of with the app on my phone.

It’s the modern equivalent of jam jars.

AnotherDelphinium I’ve downloaded it so I’d love a free month!

Probably really stupid but how do I change the settings from $ to £?

Ignore me I’ve just found out how!

I don't really check my spending but check the money in my accounts maybe once a week on average. This way I can check about any risk of going overdrawn and check if anything unusual .

Used to do this up until we earned more and didn’t need to watch the pennies so much. Recently started again as circumstances have changed and we are trying to save more.
We don’t do this formally, we know how much all the bills are, and when food shopping, try to plan for a week but then try to push back the next week’s shop if we can get by with what’s in the freezer/store cupboard.
At the moment we aren’t buying clothes or going to the nearest town and getting stuff we don’t need, because of lockdown restrictions, so I’m hoping that by the time we get back to some kind of normal, we will be a lot less profligate than before!

@Sprockerdilerock

Yes I have an enormous spreadsheet where I track and categorise all my expenditure as well as forecast future months

I get quite excited when I update it. In my defence I work in finance

#same

I'm a project manager so massive spreadsheet come naturally!

I do ours monthly after pat day and find it really useful. It's easy to but X things as "treats" assuming it will be a cheap following month - then by the following month you've already forgotten what you bought and buy a load more... suddenly every months there's loads of wasted money!!

I use the money dashboard app. Link my bank and credit card to it and transfer transactions daily. Shows me exactly where I am. I also split all annual expenses and transfer a monthly amount to savings pot fir them.

Also do same for clothes and a safety net fir one off vets and car expenses. I have been in far better control of my money since I started doing this.

Meant to say the money dashboard app is also great as it knows main providers so auto allocates them to the pots you have set up. You can also ask it to remember as well. Only ones I really have to allocate myself is Amazon as it falls into so many pots!

I've been in serious debt in the past so track my spending very closely through online bills and apps. I check everything daily.

Yes, use Microsoft money to keep track of various accounts and what is spent on things like alcohol (but high!) or car fuel (bit lower). Have also got it loaded onto DCs laptops so that they get used to accounting for for what they have spent rather than it being frittered away without them having a clue or anything to show for it