How do YOU budget?

WantToBeSE · 25 August 2016 at 4:14PM

I am wondering how you all budget?

Pen & Paper? Excel? Or don't you?

I have just started using Excel and find it really helpful. But at heart I'm a P&P girl. Just trying the Excel to see how i get on with it really.

atolaas · 25 August 2016 at 4:22PM

P&P all the way. I've worked in office admin for years BUT I like the way that P&P can survive hard drive failures and corrupt files etc. etc. I use a cheap A5 week to a page diary to keep track of my spending...it takes about 5 mins a day to update so its no bother at all.

C_J · 25 August 2016 at 4:42PM

For day-to-day shopping I have a free app on my phone which has various categories (groceries, fuel for the car, Christmas shopping etc) with their monthly budgets set. Every time I buy anything, I log it and it instantly lets me know how much I have left to spend in that category (and I can carry over any unspent surplus to the following month). It works well for me, and I get a huge kick out of staying under budget on every category each month.

I've also added some extra categories to it to keep a running total of interest payments from current and savings accounts (more out of curiosity than anything), and one where I log all contactless payments each month so I know when I have reached the £100 needed to get the most out of the 5% monthly cashback from TSB.

Other than that, all bank and savings accounts are on an Excel spreadsheet with flash drive AND portable hard drive back up, and the weekly food shopping list and meal plans are in an A5 sized book which goes everywhere with me.

euronorris · 25 August 2016 at 4:45PM

Excel all the way for me, but I am a little bit in love with spreadsheets! lol

melanzana · 25 August 2016 at 4:46PM

I just work out what my monthly bills are, put that amount away to cover all the Direct Debits, and spend the rest with abandon!

I'm early retired, no need to save anymore, the rainy day is here lol.

Oh, and it's pen and paper here too.

[Deleted User] · 25 August 2016 at 4:57PM

As soon as I get paid, I go online and pay all of my bills and buy my monthly bus ticket. I put money for food shopping in my savings and dip in each time I do the weekly shop. If there is anything left over that is for everything else like entertainment ect.

maman · 25 August 2016 at 4:58PM

melanzana wrote: »

I just work out what my monthly bills are, put that amount away to cover all the Direct Debits, and spend the rest with abandon!

I'm early retired, no need to save anymore, the rainy day is here lol.

Oh, and it's pen and paper here too.

I have a variation on that theme. I spend a minimum on food because I see it as a challenge to eat healthily without paying loads into the coffers of big supermarkets. We get the best deal we can on utilities and just pay up when it comes to Council Tax and things we can't really control. That means the money I don't spend accumulates in accounts for me to spend on things I enjoy like holidays, days out, eating out and treating my family.

I don't need a budget as such because I know we have more than enough to cover all essentials. The nearest I come to budgeting is to check bank accounts online and keep moving money around trying desperately to find a half decent interest rate.:mad:

melanzana · 25 August 2016 at 5:25PM

maman wrote: »

I have a variation on that theme. I spend a minimum on food because I see it as a challenge to eat healthily without paying loads into the coffers of big supermarkets. We get the best deal we can on utilities and just pay up when it comes to Council Tax and things we can't really control. That means the money I don't spend accumulates in accounts for me to spend on things I enjoy like holidays, days out, eating out and treating my family.

I don't need a budget as such because I know we have more than enough to cover all essentials. The nearest I come to budgeting is to check bank accounts online and keep moving money around trying desperately to find a half decent interest rate.:mad:

Sounds a bit like me alright, apart from the food shopping. As there are just two old codgers here now, we manage ok. We eat out a lot now. Payback time.

I hope my post didn't come across as smug. I would hate that. I know lots of people are struggling, god knows I did too back in the day. But I put myself through extreme money saving in order to retire early, and it has worked out well.

ScotinLondon · 25 August 2016 at 5:33PM

I have an excel that is on google drive, which logs everything and all the different pots i have.

For day to day spend - ie pay balance, any credit car spends & grocery budget is done on a free app on the phone.

I try and get it down to the last penny.

PinkGladioli · 25 August 2016 at 5:51PM

Wouldn't really say we budget as such, shopped around for the best utility deals etc so we each put half in the joint account to pay for these and the mortgage, I put a lump into my own savings each month and the rest is there to spend if I need/want to.

For me writing everything down or putting it on excel just doesn't work, what we need can change from month to month.

Frugal_gem · 25 August 2016 at 5:53PM

I use 'you need a budget' which has (cheesy line coming up), changed my life!

I don't have shares or anything, it just really works for me and has helped me monitor spending, cut back and save more.

Prior to that I had an excel spreadsheet but I could never seem to get my bank account and spreadsheet to match up!

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How do YOU budget?

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