For all you who are used to budgeting

[Chinwag]

What are your systems for keeping track of your spending through the month?

We use a computer program - put all income and expenditure into it (keep all debit slips etc) then you can check how you're doing against your budget.

Works very well and I am your original head in the sand, let the bills pile up type person (DH is the organised one).

I use a plain old spreadsheet, start with what is in bank, input everything that will come out before next pay in, as well as everything that will go in Tax credits etc. inout every single transaction you make, end resuklt, how much money you actually have, ta da.

As far as groceries go, we have a limit, and take it out of the bank in cash at the beginning of the fortnight. I think if you use cash, you're less likely to overspend, but if you do a big shop, remember to keep a bit back for milk, bread and fresh foods as you need them.
Also, ALWAYS do a shopping list- plan all meals, and only buy what you need. Saves me a bundle.

All bills, food, kids' activities, travel costs etc etc come out of one account. Work out annual expenditure on these, divide by 12 and make sure that amount is transferred into the bill account each month. Whatever's leftover, if any, divide by 4 and take this amount of cash out each week. Leave cards at home, and just use cash for non-essential spending.

Simples!

Keep an eye on all Direct Debits/Standing Orders.

Try not to use credit card (if I have to then I keep the receipt and try to put money aside to pay for it out of weekly cash).

Try to stick to taking cash out once a week - a little more than you think you'll need (so if you think £100 will pay for travel, shopping, odd cup of tea, etc, budget for £120) then you won't be tempted to 'switch' shopping (and add some extras of you only need a pint of milk). If you have money over at the end of the week, put it aside as there will be some weeks when you need it!

Be realistic calculating bills - remember that gas/electricity/car servicing/insurance...all go up every year!

Be an insurance/mortgage tart. When the renewal notice comes in, look around for a better price. Sometimes you will see offers on insurance that offer to match any other like-for-like offer AND give you some money. Pay bills like this in istallment ONLY if it is interest and fee-free (money may as well be in your account).

Get a penny jar! You would be amazed how 20 and 50ps add up. Even try a £1 for Christmas.

Put a little something aside each week/month for the kids birthdays and holidays. Then feel extra smug when you pay for the birthday party without going into the red.

Shop around for groceries (if you have time). Some of the 'essentials' and other store brand stuff is really quite good.

Look carefully at your bank statements. Highlight the 'naughty' stuff and see how it all adds up (£10, £20 out of the bank a couple of times a month, 'switching' groceries... all add up).

You don't have to like like a monk - see what you can realistically do without and what you can't - ie if you work all the hours and have the luxury of a cleaner 3 hours a week, well, if that makes life better, then keep the cleaner. Maybe you can save the cash elsewhere (maybe a gym membership that you never ever use?).

Keep some money aside each month for 'mad money' - cinema, pizza... you need to once in a while!

E-bay the stuff you don't need/use. Good quality used kids stuff sells well.

That's it for now...

We pay for absolutley everything on the credit card and clear the balance every month. I keep all the receipts in a folder so I can see how much we are spending.

If you don't want to put it on a credit card then choose ONE payment method (cash/switch) and only use that one method. Very easy to lose track when you pay a bit of cash here, switch there and the occassional purchase on a credit card.

If you sell any thing on ebay put the money aside for a set purpose rather than just fritter it away on bits and bobs. All our ebay money is being put aside for holiday spending money - whatever we make will be our limit.

Sad I know but start thinking about budgeting for christmas now. Once we've payed for our holiday any ebay money will be for xmas

I've tracked all spending and income using MS Money for about 8 years now. I never really got the hang of budgetting with it though. It was very good at telling me what I'd spent, but always after the event, sometimes months after as I wasn't always very good at putting in the receipts.

This week I've changed over to a different program called You Need A Budget. It's rather American, but seems very good. It's much more focussed on the overall budget than what's in which account. It keeps track of all the spending on each budget category (you can set these youself) and shows how much you've got left. It's very user friendly. They've got forums, online seminars and courses etc all of which are free to use. The software isn't free though - there's a free 7 day trial or you can pay $59.95 (which was about £42 on tuesday) for the key to use it for longer.

I know I sound like an advert - sorry! I've only been using it since Monday too, but I'm convinced it's going to make budgetting easier for us. I know it could all be done on a spreadsheet, but I've not got the time to set one up that works like this (accounts automatically linking to the budget etc).

If you want to read more see here

Ooh that's interesting bumpybecky - MS Money is the one we use but MS have stopped developing it, so we've been looking around for a replacement.

ynab won't keep track of investments like money did, but mine had stopped updating in money anyway

I downloaded the free trial of ynab on monday and was convinced within a few hours of playing that it would work for me. The forum is very friendly too. They helped me out with a question and didn't make me feel silly

Thanks. I have a spread sheet on the go, which I try and fill in every day when I have spent. But I find it labour intensive, and I miss things out sometimes. Then it becomes inaccurate and doesn't work!! Grrr.