Budgeting systems

[Mallowmarshmallow]

Hello all

What budgeting systems is everyone using/would recommend?

We are ok off financially but not at all savvy, I know we spend bits and bobs on loads of random stuff and I’d really like to be able to track it better.

My husband will pay off some debt in the spring so we will have more money and I want to be able to manage it sensibly.

How do you remember/work out everything you need to budget for? For example birthday presents, kids clothes throughout the year?

I have several accounts that I pat standing orders into monthly for the different categories ie. Clothes, birthdays, Christmas, decorating, activities etc. The money rolls over to the next month if not spent. It just makes me consider my purchases.

I used to have to budget down to about £10 accuracy and before that every penny. Money is a bit easier now. I always used a spreadsheet, front tab with monthly bills on and budget for non DD expenses such as food entertainment etc. Then I'd have a tab for each month of the year, adding on additional things like Mother's Day, birthdays, and saving for Christmas. Every time a bill or DD amount changed I'd update the spreadsheet. If things didn't add up ie outgoings were more than income, it was easy to spot what was a priority, where we can cut back and how best to spread any painful points. For me it was about being disciplined and sticking to the budget each month or risk not having enough for a nice xmas or the holiday we had already paid a deposit on.

YNAB. It will cost you about £3.99 per month, after a trial period, but you will save so much money. You don't need to open extra bank accounts. You don't need to move money around. YNAB will show you where your money is going and where you can make savings

Yes, I'm trying YNAB at the moment too.
We have separate finances and a joint account for joint costs, which we both pay into monthly, a set amount.
This is getting madder, two kids in, so we are trialling having a single budget in YNAB. So far so good?
You can get two months free if you google.
If you like it and don't want to pay you can recreate it with spreadsheets, more work but the same result.

Ps- YNAB is an app and online tool, using the envelope system of putting money aside for this and that. Has lots of great resources to learn how to budget

When I was much younger and money was tighter we wrote down everything we bought just like YNAB but in an accounts book. We still have it. I found it recently and it's over twenty years old. Makes for an interesting read.

Basically it's a mind set, you say you know you buy bits and bobs. All it actually takes is the willpower to stop buying unnecessary items. I guess you want the evidence written down to force you in to the mindset.

I've got lots of different accounts
My own which my wages go into.
A bills account where all standing orders direct debits and any bills come out off including mobile phones etc. Each month we transfer half each with a little extra as a buffer which builds up and if it goes above a certain amount goes into the savings account.
A savings account joint with hubby
And another current account which is solely used for the weekly shopping.

When we get paid we each transfer half the bills money.
Half for he shopping account
The work out what's left from here we transfer over to the savings. Sometimes it's only £30 if it's a busy month with birthdays etc.
Then my own account I may for my petrol and any little bits I may want In the week.
It sounds chaotic but actually works really well

I have a lot of different bank accounts for bills and then the food/shopping general crap budget is withdrawn in cash for the month. Any leftover cash is put in a piggybank.
Any leftover money in the bank pays extra debts or goes to one side for our house deposit. We've basically discovered we can't be trusted not to spend our entire bank balance on rubbish so this system is working for us.

This shows where it all goes www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

For clothing purchases including footwear, sportswear and school uniform I use a very high tech method - a 5 compartment paper notebook. One section for each person including myself. Every time I buy anything, I write it down along with the date and the cost. More for interest than anything else but it has made me question whether or not I really want something as I know I have to write it down in the book. Every so often I tally up how much I've spent per person and think about where to cut back.