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Original poster

Taking control of household expenditure...how?

11 replies

nuttynoel · 18/12/2007 23:23

Help/advice greatly appreciated.
I want to get control of this house's expenditure in the new year. I have sole responsibility for ALL outgoings here (and they all go from my account)and I like it that way. Dh is a creative fluttery butterfly, has no idea how much things cost, just puts a set amount of money in my account each month and would never dream of questioning me on the finances. Also, he's very good when I say 'Xmas is coming and my purse is not too fat' and things like that. It suits me. That's not an issue in this house. I also generate a fair bit of income into the account.
BUT I am not planning/accounting for things properly. I am not happy with myself. I am not budgeting well. When I look at what's going in each month, I am astounded. I should be able to save a substantial amount and I would like to (perhaps for a holiday next summer). We should be living the life of Riley (who is Riley anyway?) but we're not. I think I am wasting money but I don't have the know-how to work out HOW.
Anyone know of any websites/computer programs/anything that would help me feel more sorted on this front.

OP posts:

JingleyJen · 18/12/2007 23:25

moneysavingexpert.com
they have a money make over challenge it takes a couple of hours and you need to have bank statements and bills to hand but it is really really good!

Good on you for facing this head on -

33kjs · 18/12/2007 23:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

coldtits · 18/12/2007 23:44

I don't think a website will help you - you need to sit down with pen and paper and write down every single outgoing you have, work it all out on a monthly basis, and jig them around so they get paid after the money goes in. Then, you take some of the remainder out and save it in another account. Then you spend the rest.

MrsTittleMouse · 19/12/2007 09:18

Usually it's difficult to know what your outgoings are (I certainly couldn't tell you how much we've spent so far this Christmas ). The usual recommendation is to get out the bank accounts for the past 3 months and go through them with a fine tooth comb. Then you find out that there is £200 taken out of the cash machine and you have no idea where it went, so you have to do a "cash diary" where everyone confesses at the end of the day how much money they spent and on what. That's when you find out that all the coffee/magazines/little treats really add up. Can you guess that I've done this before? We really need to do it again though.... [sweeps it under the carpet 'til the New Year...]

hopefully · 19/12/2007 09:47

The money saving expert website really is darn good. There's a spreadsheet to download where you can fill in ALL your outgoings - it has random things like pocket money and school dinners as well as debts, so you can fill in everything. I found it really really useful when I first moved in with dp, as we were able to do a joint one and see how much money we needed to contribute etc.

Original poster

nuttynoel · 19/12/2007 16:12

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Mrs T, it is the 'little' £200 withdrawals I think are cocking me up. The bank statements say I dun it but I have nothing to show for it. Luckily, we don't have any significant debt but I KNOW I am wasting money.
If our circumstances changed suddenly, we would be right up That creek and I will be the one who's dropped the paddle!
I will check out the money saving expert site.

OP posts:

ConnorTraceptive · 19/12/2007 16:24

We've gotten ourselves into a bit of a short term mess by not thinking about our spending. It can be solved fortunately with some sensible planning.

Dh and I sat down and listed all our outgoings and then set a budget for xmas, food shopping, petrol for the next month. I took out the cash to cover this and put it in seperate envelopes so £50 in an envelope for petrol etc, £250 in an envelope for food and the rule is you can't use mony from one envelope to cover the cost of something else. I tell you it has really made me look at what I'm spending on things and I'm alot more cautious about what I fill my trolley with. Before we used to pay everything on the credit card and just clear the balance so never thought twice about what we spent really.

I won't do the cash in an envelope thing forever but it really has been an eye opener to know that that is all i've got for a month.

ConnorTraceptive · 19/12/2007 16:26

It was a sudden change in dh work circumstances that buggered us up. It's amazing that a few weeks of over spending coupled with a sudden drop in income can do.

EggheadHilary · 19/12/2007 19:10

I would highly recommend moneysavingexpert.com as a starting point. It is like Martin Lewis himself says, Christmas comes at the same time every year so in January you start putting money into a savings account. That way by the time October rolls around you have money ready to spend!

The same with all yearly stuff like buildings insurance and car servicing etc. If you add this all up and divide it by 12 it would give you the monthly amount you need to save, but id your buildings and contents is due in May then you only have 5 months to save for it. Once you hit May you can then re-calculate.

It means that you are moving quite a sum of money out of your account into savings meaning that your bank balance doesn't seem so flush

Cash is the devil as you have no account of where you have spent it. Keep a cash diary and think twice about buying anything.

Original poster

nuttynoel · 20/12/2007 19:43

Thanks again.
The envelope suggestion brought back memories of when DH and I just moved into our first flat (back in 1988!). Interest rates went ballistic the month after we completed and we were well-pushed. We used to take out £50 a month in pound coins and that was our spending money. And it worked! We got through the days of 15% interest.
Now we have the dcs and a mortgage double what we had in 1988, and on paper we have so much more income - why isn't it that easy anymore?!?

OP posts:

Slummymum · 29/12/2007 20:23

I can't tell you how nice it is not to have any big nasty unexpected surprises coming through the door once you really know what your outgoings are - it does take time to gather all the numbers in - took us (well actually me) about six months to really get to the nuts and bolts of it all. I found 'What not to spend' by Alvin Hall a really good starting point and took my time over it (he is brill and has another book out for about a fiver). Numbers change but never that much and if you have a big lifestyle change you just rework the plan - learn to ride that bike and best of luck!

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