Budgeting? How, may seem simple to you. Please help.

mags50_2

That sounds really good Plum Pie...will have a look...thank you

ixwood

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning

Lalaladybird

I struggled with this too and the only thing that worked best for me was to abandon budgeting and just make the decision to stop spending! We keep the outgoings as low as we possibly can, live the OS way and we are now living beneath our means :j

champys

eclareb wrote: »

Thanks, some good advice in these replies, tho some do sound a bit complicated, I will have to re-read them to get my head around them.

That website looks really simple to use and far easier to read than the basic basic excel spreadsheet I was trying to cobble together.

I dont use credit cards for spending on a regular basis, only when necessary, ie concert tickets etc, Im just trying to juggle the cash at the moment. Withdrawing cash and keeping track of it as well as the numerous supermarket trips I make in the week. When I look at my bank statement I cant believe or understand WHY? do I go that often??

Any other advice/tips/methods gratefully received.......

eclareb - use whichever system you like best, but here are some basics:

1. in order to control future spending, you first need to know what you spend now.
2. make it a habit to never part with any money (cash or card) without either keeping the receipt or jot down in a notebook what it was and how much.
3. process this information as soon as possible (otherwise you forget or it becomes too much) at home, either into a spreadsheet, written ledger or on-line system. Be religious about this and don't let it build up - do it asap.
4. shopping less often means less information to process. Supermarket only once a week, for example (learn about meal planning!)
5. you will find that the discipline of writing down what you spend will already reduce it.

Don't judge yourself. Just write it down. Only once you have a full months' worth of spending information, start looking at it to see if it gives you the clues you need. After writing down for another month, and comparing to the previous one, you are really ready to set yourself a 'budget' for each category. Once all this becomes a habit, you are cruising. But remember, it takes a little time, so don't get disheartened with it.

MrMicawber_2

We don't keep each receipt. Perhaps we should after reading this. We do have a lot of different accounts - Holiday, Car, House, Birthdays, Christmas, Childrens, Mortgage OP, Extra Savings (That's not got much in unfortunately), pocket money and one or two others. Over the years we have refined what needs to go into those accounts so we can keep things ticking over. At the start of each month (but it could be any convenient point) we transfer money into these accounts so what is left in the current account is pretty much for that months outgoings only, namely food and essentials. This works quite well for us but I can see we could probably do better.

We do plan meals and take a list to the supermarket and try hard not to stray from the straight and narrow. The meal plan and list are essential, and only shopping once a week really does prevent frittering.

When you write down the receipts do you write down each individual item purchased (Toothpaste £2.10 etc) or e.g. just Tesco £95?

Pleased with myself today - saved £51 on home and contents insurance. Not the purpose of this forum I know but it's a decent bit of saving made.

champys

MrMicawber wrote: »

When you write down the receipts do you write down each individual item purchased (Toothpaste £2.10 etc) or e.g. just Tesco £95?

Well you see, I'm an accountant by trade, so I probably take this further than most. If you really want to know, I split the weekly supermarket receipt. All the food items are grouped together in my list under 'food' (and that is really only food, not wine or cat food etc). The non-food items I list separately, so indeed there could be Toothpaste €0.69. Then for each month everything is put into categories like 'food', 'household', 'books & magazines', etc. We live in a very rural area and don't go into town more than once a week, so many days go by that we don't spend anything at all - so it is not as much work as you think.
Being very nerdy about the spending analysis, I also calculate each category as a % of total spending, I keep a monthly chart of total income vs total expenditure and my main goal is to have a clear picture of our monthly average spend - this is so I can plan for my retirement. Sadly, with the current crisis, this is now not going to be any time soon!

eclareb

Thanks champys, thats very straightforward and sound advice and a good 'go on and get on with it without stressing about it' piece of advice. Thanks so much.

Its really interesting to hear other peoples approach, some of you have obviously worked out good schemes over time.

Charis

Rhonda's guide to budgeting at Down to Earth is a gentle introduction to how to budget http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2008/07/budgeting-new-beginnings.html There are more posts on budgeting and frugal living that you can access via the side bar on that page.

champys

If you have any questions during the process, just ask. I love teaching this subject!
And remember, don't judge yourself, no guilt - simply write it down.

Penelope_Penguin

Looks like you have lots of great advice here :j As this isn't strictly Old style, I'll move it to the Budgeting Board