Daily budget planning/recording... anywhere out there?

eclareb

Hi, ive recently completed the budget pages on here, and guess what..... We are definitely in the red category!

What I would like to do is find a spreadsheet/form/site that can help me to record my daily spending into different categories so that I can really see where my money is going (ive had to estimate on some of the categories on here because my circs have changed recently and Im not sure what my outgoings will be for certain).... and how much I spend for real on food and kids etc. Also, Im sure that I must spend on things that arent listing in the categories on here, but I cant remember what they might be at present. Does anyone have a useful website or link that they could recommend, where i could find a more detailed budget breakdown to keep daily records?

Ive never done a weekly budget before and Id greatly appreciate any advice in doing so ie.... do you really keep supermarket receipts for months? Do you write down everytime you go to the supermarket? What about when your supermarket bill includes household items and clothes or gifts?- just by looking at my bank statement totals I wont be able to tell what was included in each transaction.

Something I would find really useful on my online banking statement is to go into the statment and add notes next to each transaction listed, as a way of reminding myself.....

heppy23

I use a software package called Quicken. I then check everything on my online banking every day to update it all.

I don't go too mad breaking things down into all their groups (i.e. if I buy some petrol and get a chocolate bar I just put it all down as petrol). I don't think there is any need to be so detailed unless you think there is a specific problem you need to look at.

The big "hole" in my finances is where I take money out the hole in the wall and don't track it from there. I know I should but I try to put as much as possible on plastic so I know that cash tends to cover "everything else" - a coffee while out, car park tickets, bus tickets, my 3 year old having going on a ride at the shop etc. I suppose I would have my eyes opened if I had a close look at the cash.

eclareb

Thanks for that. Is Quicken free to download?

Im not that anal honest, it just seemed a logical place to start to track things. I used to use a cash book and write down everything i spent so that I knew what my ACTUAL bank balance was instead of believing the SMS message that I get from my bank, but while my running total might have been correct, it didnt give a clear view of where it was all going.

I have recently moved house - to a building site! and therefore a lot of my stuff is in storage, including my bank statements, so thought it would be easier to start to track in more detail from now.

I would design my own spreadsheet, but im not familiar with excel at all and thought that there might be an easy/idiots version out there somewhere.

I avoid taking out cash for exactly the reason you state!

piglet39

Hiya

Unfortunately Quicken is not free, neither is MS Money (which I use). They are both VV handy and contain lots of useful tools but, certainly MS Money, are quite pricey - 40 or 50 pounds I think although I am sure someone will correct me.

Have you tried doing a search for 'budget spreadsheet' on the internet. I did this a few years ago and downloaded a basic spreadsheet that someone had posted up as a template.

HTH

Piglet