to be chuffed that I achieved a budgeting goal for 2023

[BudgetFoodie]

I always had a reasonable idea of how much the household spending was on food/booze/cleaning stuff and toiletries but I didn't keep a record. With prices going up and the cost of living increasing, I decided to track it all properly on a spreadsheet for 2023.........and I have kept it up all year. Writing everything down has definitely made me question the value of some things!

This year we have spent £4986 or on average £96 per week.

We are a family of four, two adults and two teens, adults wfh and teens take food to school/college. I am a frugal cook and I make most things from scratch, I buy things like meat and cheese on offer, batch cook and use up leftovers.

If you are feeling the pinch I really recommend tracking your actual spending, we saved enough this year to pay for a holiday.

Well done. I hope your success carries into 2024. Great achievement

Well done. How did you manage? Do you order online? Or did you keep all receipts? I would love to do this exercise but sometimes my husband gets some bits and pieces and he does not keep receipts. Also, if you have gotten other stuff i.e. a gift in the supermarket together with your groceries. Do you just discount that off the receipt?

Good on u.

Also, it's a really low budget , I think we spend about £130 average per week. Some weeks are expensive since and other less so

dh and i tracked EVERY LITTLE THING for about 10 years. used quicken back in the day, categorized accordingly; food, household, vehicles, pets....
we found it helpful when planning changes like the kids going to university and us retiring.
i blame Oprah for suggesting it :(

I use a spreadsheet too, and it works

It surprised me how much difference it has made just being accountable - even though it is only to myself. I track every penny - in and out.

I know where my weaknesses still are and I intend to spend less on them this year. (Red wine and tat from Amazon mainly)

I'm not entirely sure I am pleased I clicked on this thread.

Closely categorising and tracking my entire budget has been a life goal for me for some years, but I just haven't knuckled down and put the focus and effort in.

Props to you OP and all the well-disciplined spreadsheeters here! Knowledge is power and really I know that the only thing stopping me is laziness and I should make a resolution to start tomorrow (handy day for it too 😊).

Does anyone have any particular spending/budgeting app or technique to recommend please?

I do a mix of shopping online and Aldi /Lidl are both nearby. Online shopping means I buy what I need and can check prices.
I keep all receipts and have trained dh!

Don’t keep records but careful spending, happy to say 2024 poll tax will be finished by July

even just pen and paper works either keep paper receipt or write down every evening what you have spent that day, you can check on your bank or card statements to see if you missed anything
we budget £500 a month for food toiletries laundry cleaning supplies ( anything form supermarket) and I start with £500 so if I spend £67.78 I take £68 away so now have £432 left
I do the same for other categories too clothing, family treats

I couldn't find one that worked as I wanted it to, so I made my own.

I am retired, so have the time and made learning how to do excel spreadsheets one of my goals to keep my brain active.

There are plenty of good ones out there but state pension is paid 4 weekly which totally screws anything purely based on calendar months. (It's otherwise brilliant though, as I get 13 'pay' days per year

@LauderSyme quicken is still available, dh uses quick books for his hobby/small business.
initially it was linked with our bank account and automatically picked up that purchases at Shell were fuel, and payments to the hydo company was again placed in the household category.
that partnership stopped at some point BUT the online bank app allowed me to categorize and i could do it for free, again recognizing that some payee's were automatically assigned a particular category.
i'd make a quick call to your bank rep and see if they have a partnership.

I tracked everything on a spreadsheet about 20 years ago when I was a SAHM. I aimed for £100 a week on a supermarket shop but that did include household things. I still remember our monthly takehome amount which had to cover EVERYTHING - mortgage, all bills, food, all car costs, clothes. It was exactly £1898. Why it wasn't £1900 I don't know, but I was obsessed with that 1898 number! Very occasionally we went slightly over but I immediately took it off the next month's budget. Things were really tight.

It helped us afford a week's selfcatering holiday in this country. We haven't need to properly budget for quite a few years now as we are in a fortunate financial position but I seriously doubt whether we would be able to survive on just one wage now - for ANY length of time.

£96 in this day and age is really fantastic.

You Need A Budget has changed all our lives in my family. Started using it in August, with 2.5k debt and living paycheque to paycheque each month, not really sure where the money was all going. Now have a few k in the bank before payday, no debt, and are saving for uni for the kids. Costs 12.99 per month but has been priceless for peace of mind and for getting our finances in order.

I've used an app for over a decade now - iExpenseIt. It cost a few € at the time.

Everything is noted there. You can set up recurring payments, classify across accounts, expense category & subcategory. The reports feature is the most useful.

I still also review my account & spending with a pen & paper so I can work out how much I have to spend / cash flow.

It's not really helped me spend less as I'm a single parent with insufficient income, despite a good job; finally got divorced this year & my ex has been made to pay some half-decent maintenance so I'm hoping I'll gradually be in a better position.

The app has allowed me to know precisely what I spend - it just doesn't really help the whole financial planning element!

Hmmm this is good. We spend across a couple of bank accounts, so maybe a budget app is a good idea. Are there others to compare with ynab?

Ynab ( you need a budget) is fab software, it downloads straigh from your bank, shows how much in each category. I put your wage, tells you how much you have left. Input goals like I need 500 for insurance by may, tells you how much to save monthly, it’s great

Ynab! You need a budget it stands for

The one I mentioned (iExpenseIt Pro) is useful.
It's not really like YBAB - it's an expensing tool, not a budgeting one. But it's possible to work from as many different accounts as you want, and there's no limit to the spending categories & subcategories you can create.

I buy everything on a credit card but pay off in full every month. They send you an annual statement so you can see all you've spent. It's an m & s one that accrues points and gives out vouchers every three months, which I usually use for a free treat.

I just couldn't. I admire you and think well-done. But although I'm not rich, I wouldn't have the self-discipline or inclination for this. Life's too short.

It doesn't take long.
Life is short .........So I intend to get the most out of the money I do have.
DH and I went on a cruise just before Christmas........

Same.

Well, not the cruise, but having a proper budget has allowed me to save enough for a two week holiday this summer and we’re also booking ahead for 2025.

It feels amazing.

I can't understand this. It takes seconds.

I find it difficult to understand how anyone manages without tracking their spending.

One of the best things for me was using ApplePay mostly. Even if I forget to add in a payment to my app, I can easily check back on ApplePay.

Wow. 10 years of monitoring is seriously committed.
Wd have an excel document for income and expenses. But that's about it!