Your 'rules' for handling money smoothly - need ideas!

Jo_R_2

Wow, why is it that everyone else sounds so organised and I *should* be, I mean I'm reasonably intelligent (I think!:D), my dad always swore I was the sensible one with money, and yet here I am...

I mean, I'm not frivolous, I haven't ever been out on crazy shopping sprees, the debts I have have all been run up due to a) consolidating debts when with ex (mostly his I might add but we live and learn), b) as have come up recently, benefits overpayments (albeit relatively small in comparison to my CC and loan) from when OH moved in, and c) getting through hard times and resorting to the credit card, pains me but at the time better that than no way to pay rent

I received a letter yesterday confirming I am having some money refunded from a travel card I took on holiday a year or two ago to the tune of nearly £300 :j I'm not sure whether to pay off one or two or part of one of of the benefits overpayments (no interest being incurred but the mental benefits of being able to tick off a debt) or throw it at my CC or loan...

prophecy_grrl

I'd put it towards the debt with highest interest rate if I was you.

We do the same as most others on here - we both get paid monthly, and have 4 bank accounts - one for all the bills (they're all on dd's), one for Hubby's savings and one for mine (both cash ISA's so we get more interest, we split the savings 50/50) and our everyday account for food shopping, petrol etc. It seems to work well as I budget for EVERYTHING (got too much time on my hands lol) and most months we have some left over in the everyday account which we then put into savings.

HTH

Lizzybop

Hi Jo,

I find the key is some kind of spending diary. I keep ours on a spreadsheet, but used to do it in a book.

Hubby gets paid, set amounts are transferred to our personal accounts - pocket money for the month. Set amount in joint account for all Direct Debits and to include food & petrol along with some for 'other' monthly spending. All the rest goes into savings.

I have spreadsheets which track what we have spent and what is still to come out against what the online bank account shows. So although the bank account might show say £1000, the mortgage might be due out the following day and it also shows that I only have £350 to spend IYSWIM??!!!

Goodness, have just read that and it looks terribly complicated but it isn't really. I guess what I'm trying to say is keep a track of everything you're spending, be aware when direct debits are coming out, and never assume that just because it's in the bank that it's available to spend.

My DH says everyone should have a Lizzy!!!!!! Ohh-Errr :rolleyes:

SarahNeedle1872

Ours sounds a little complex, but in reality its not...
I have two current accs, one with two savings accs attached (First Direct), and one with one attached to it(Halifax)...
OH and I both get paid on the same day, so on payday, I transfer over everything that is needed for the bills that month (all bills but Sky and OH's mobile bill come out my curr acc) including food money etc, then what OH has left in his account is his to spend as he wishes. I put the food, petrol and my £50 'spends' money into the savings acc linked to the Halifax acc. Each week, I transfer over that weeks budget into the current account.
All the bills come out the FD acc, and the two linked savings accounts hold the monthly saves (car ins, birthdays etc) and the debt repayment money, to be used when needed.

It all sounds a bit complex when I write it down! But I have a spreadsheet that tracks everything, I check the dates of the DDs every month to make sure the money is in the right place, and I check online banking at least twice a day!

Jo_R_2

Lizzybop wrote: »

Hi Jo,

I find the key is some kind of spending diary. I keep ours on a spreadsheet, but used to do it in a book.

Goodness, have just read that and it looks terribly complicated but it isn't really. I guess what I'm trying to say is keep a track of everything you're spending, be aware when direct debits are coming out, and never assume that just because it's in the bank that it's available to spend.

I think this is where I need to sit up and take notice! I know all my DDs except a couple come out right at the start of the month (from when I was working, I used to get paid last day of month so arranged it like this then, however I don't work now so may be worth revising this arrangement to spread things more evenly?)

I know what comes out of my account as regards everything I'm spending... The trouble is as things are, I shouldn't actually be spending anything from my account! In saying this I mean I have enough coming in from benefits and maintenance to cover DDs but that's pretty much it. Rent comes out of my account, which OH transfers over (being more efficient from next week is the plan and keeping on top of that will really help) but I have realised where *I* fall down is organising the "rest", by this I mean grocery money and any other spends (little things that add up such as playgroup, presents, and stuff like that.) I need to either make sure OH is a) paying for this out of his account (seems like a bit of a pain, we do this when we're sorted but doesn't give me much freedom if he's, say, at work and I need to get something - I'm terrible for forgetting to get the money back off him later if I need to and I'd really much prefer it wad there in the first place - maybe a separate account for grocery shopping/other allocated monthly spends?)

I just so want to feel like we can budget for and see any spare cash so we can throw it at our debts but we're not careful enough at the mo to do that... Also OH is very much of the mindset that he works hard and wants to enjoy some of his money... I don't disagree at all (we seem to be meeting more and more in the middle about this, I'd be horrifically regimented if I really got to it!) but if there's anything spare he wants to use it for something we don't "need" rather than using it to pay off extra on our debts - then he complains that we're gonna have these debts for ages!

Running_man

Hi.We have a very simple method for all our money.
One joint account.Arrange to have all direct debits come out on same day.We use the first of every month.
Savings go into Isas>no other saving accounts.
We want to buy anything we know exactly how much we got left.Using a small notebook to write everything down> so much easier to budget

You say OH works hard wants to spend on things you dont need.Dont we all.
If you get your debts under control doesnt he realise he would have more money to spend.
Can I ask why do you have seperate accounts?We have the one.If Oh spends something she tells me and vice versa then we know where we are.
So basically its keep things simple.

Jo_R_2

Hi Running man

I have a current account which stems from when I was a student, I've never managed to pay off the overdraft so live in it basically. He has always worked and has a small overdraft so we would both need (I would want) to pay off any overdrafts before getting a joint account, if we decided to do that.

The way you explained it sounds so very simple - I like it! However I have been burned in the past (I took out a loan in my name to clear my ex's debts, and am left paying it off now) and I would much rather things stay separate but together iyswim?

I do think having that arrangement would definitely help though when it comes to unexpected/unplanned spends! However we're working on it as we are and seeing how things go.