How many people account for every penny?

bandraboy

I just wondered how many people on MSE account for every penny. I don't mean in your bank account or an SOA (current state of affairs) but seperately on spreadsheet or financial software, updating daily.

I've just completed my first week of accounting for every penny and it's been great. So easy to see all the things you've almost forgotten you've spent. And where the money goes - tipping people, just how much I do eat out, and toiletries I already have.

So I just wondered who would get the award for being the most anal - er I mean diligent?:rotfl:

What do you do? Any tips?

iceicebaby

I complete a spreadsheet at the beginning of the month with my wages, and then all my regular bills and the transfer to my savings. I do this as my wages differ each month. I also include any 1 off spends I know about eg, hairdressers or someones birthday etc. I dont include everysingle penny on day to day spends, i just know I have £x left for spends for the month.

LilacPixie

I would but i'm rubbish with designing spread sheets. I must admit i an getting a little obsessed with the snowball calc.

debulition

I've been doing this for the last two and a half years, using MS Money. I like to know how much I spend in each category, and how the spending in each category compares month to month. If I've shopped in a supermarket, I break down the spend into different categories, so I know how much I've spent on food, alcohol, toiletries, cleaning products etc.

I guess my only tip is to keep every receipt until you've updated your records, plus I find it easier to keep records if I use cards rather than cash.

ShelfStacker_3

I try. However I have to have a little box labeled "Not accounted for" in my spreadsheet, for differences I genuinely have no clue about. Other than that, the spreadsheet is a thing of beauty; it lets me plan my finances years (literally) in advance.

I used to do the thing where I'd break down my spending per category (toiletries, food etc) like Drutt suggested, but if I needed to check my figures it meant it was a pain in the hole, as obviously HSBC online banking doesn't tell you what you bought and where, just amounts... I just do it by shop now.

Paul_Herring

I've been tracking my finances religiously for the past 5 years using MS Money (2002 if it matters) - all current, savings, credit cards and equity are tracked.

I even have an 'account' for money in my wallet in there, but I only use that to track in general how much money I spend per month (and to account for withdrawals,) - I don't track how much I hard cash I spend on what - I just have an entry on the last day of the month to take that account down to £0.

(I used to keep a spending diary where I tracked what I did spend cash on, but found it took more time than I was prepared to spend - most of it was spent on alcohol anyway.)

Doom_and_Gloom

I have a little purple book that I put ALL my spends in. From keep I give my parents to money I've given someone as I owed it to them. It all goes in it; every penny :rotfl: .

I'm on a VERY tight budget as I'm on JSA and can not afford to not know where it all goes. Even when I had a job I had to keep track of every penny. Even the 1p, 2p and 5ps that I save is put into the book so I can know and not freak out that I've lost money . When saving for a wedding as well as towards a deposit on a house (I have 4.6k so far :T ) you have to know as all those pennies add into alot of ££ that could help alot.
I don't do it on spreadsheets as on paper it's more real to me I have no idea why but that's how it is. I pay for everything I can by cash so I know for sure what I have at all times and only have 1 direct debit that comes out of my account on 1 day each month for the same amount so I always take that away from any money I have to make sure I know how much I have. It is the same for keep.
My parents have always told me to take out essentialls of rent/keep/mortgage out first then other bills. Then you figure out how to feed yourself with the leftover money and any thrills after that. Kept me good for ages :T .

bandraboy

Great to hear some inspiration from others. I know it makes sense, I think the challenge will be finding the time.

Although things aren't tight at the moment - I'm planning for a time when they will be so want to account for every penny.

Anybody else?

whitewing

For the last year, I have printed off online statements and attached receipts to them. Cash was used a little, and this was written in a spending diary. This was used mainly for self-employment reasons, in case I ever have a tax investigation and I need to confirm what stuff is for.

I usually do that monthly. It does act as a deterrent (sp?) to spending as the more I spend the more collating I do at the end!

In addition to this, this month I have started an excel spreadsheet, where all personal spends are logged on a virtually daily basis. This is partly so I can have a running total for the Live on £4K (or in my case £5.3K) challenge. And partly so I can start managing my budget even better.

A year ago, I was getting thro money in an uncontrolled fashion. I've re-evaluated priorities and made huge improvements over the past year. Now is the time to fine-tune. I expect it to take a good couple of years to see a big difference in our mortgage overpayments thro planned monthly amounts.

Cloudane

I account for every penny going in and out of the bank, but stop when it gets turned into cash and just label that as "daily spend". Accounting for cash is too fiddly - having to remember exactly how much that pint of beer was.. was it £1.20? 1.30? 1.25? - forgetting to account for the 7p of copper you dropped into the charity box etc. Too much hassle.

Roll on cashless society!

I also rarely mess with receipts, unless I've used the card more than once or twice in a day (which is rare). I already remember what I've spent on card each day if it was only 1 or 2 transactions and see it appearing in the online statement in the next day or two. If something goes out that shouldn't, or doesn't go out that should, believe me I know about it

ScrewYouHippy

I calculate every single penny, I'm moving towards being completely and utterly paperless.

I use a absolutely fantastic piece of software called "MoneyDance" - it cost me about 15 quid to buy, but it's saved me hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds since, so the outlay was acceptable.

The reason it works well is that it can import .qif files (which can be downloaded from my online banking at TSB) - so I automatically get all my transactions from the bank, and a really good feature is that it remembers stuff like "LM 00018181" and recognises that this is often used for Petrol transactions. (After you teach it once)

It then can tell me exactly, to the penny, how much I spend on different things. The more detail you put in, the more you get out. It's fantastic, I now have every single bill/account/savings everything hooked in and I can tell you to the penny how much debt I have. (lots!)

Anyway, I don't want to sound like an advert, but I can't recommend this software more. (And I'm a big Excel fan, but trust me, MoneyDance is so much better)


I hope someone finds this software as useful as I do. It's superb...