Spending Diary

Budget

Amanda65 wrote:

I've started an excel spreadsheet from Feb and am adding new columns as I go. One breakdown that I am findning quite useful is supermarket shop vs Londis (my local convenience store) I go in there to pick up things I have forgotten at the supermarket and inevitably end up with a magazine / bottle of wine etc. This adds to my general spend and is showing where I am missing out when calculating our food spend each month. It is also teaching me that if I work out a menu and make a list, not only have I always got what I need, I don't waste as much either

Dear Amanda65

You say that when you go to buy an item you may have forgotten from your main shopping trip you sometimes buy a magazine, bottle of wine, etc. What I have found helpful is keeping a blank shopping list on the kitchen wall and adding items as I notice that supplies are running low (or have run out). I take this list to the supermarket (having added items needed to cook the week's pre-planned menus). Then I first of all visit the Bargains (price reductions) shelves - often an item or two on my list is there at a much reduced price. I would also buy an exceptional bargain if it is freezable and can use it at a future date. Then I complete my shopping and MAYBE add a couple of items more. As I approach the check-out I stop and look at every single item in my basket or trolley and ask myself "Do I REALLY need this at present?" If not, I remove it and replace it on the shelves! Finally, I have just got myself a Sainsbury's VISA card which charges 0% for 10 months - the monthly statements show me exactly how much I am spending on food and basics (cleaning materials, loo rolls, etc.) and I can make a game out of seeing if I can reduce this total month on month. I hope these tips are useful to you.

Amanda65

Hi Budget - I have actually started a list in the kitchen for everyone to use as often it's not me who finishes a bottle/packet etc. and I only know we've run out when someone asks where it is!

The 'do I really need it' at the chackout always comes into play when I go to Ikea and find my trolley full of lovely but unecessary items for my home LOL!

And I am finding that just listing what I spend is having an effect. Just as an example I had to go to London today for a business meeting and instead of spending £2 on a magazine to read on the train I took my book (bought at a school jumble sale for 20p!)

Felix_the_Cash

Dear MSE'rs

Here's how sad I am: A few years ago I acquired a cheap palm pilot. This had an expense program and in the last year or so, I've been making good use of it.

I record and categorise spending (e.g. Groceries) by entering it into the unit and synchronise it with the computer. At the end of the month, I export the entries to excell. I then sort the data by category and total the spending in each area. These totals are then entered into my master spreadsheet. This shows spending by category, monthly total, annual spend to date and average monthly spend. This enables me to spot trends or areas where I can cut back and understand how much I need each month or year - which helps budgeting and regular saving.

Of course you can do this with a book, or even just by religiously keeping your receipts - I made myself a receipt spike by banging a 6" nail through a square of wood.

I do recommend using categories. A lump sum cash budget is a start, but it helps to prioritise your spending if you can see what's going where.

Of course, my biggest problem has always been working out what I spent in the pub last night - I'm not quite geeky enough to let the barman see me tapping a round into a computer.

sparkle_monkey

Hi Lucifer, I've found my spending diary to be invaluable. Before I was wasting so much money and had no idea where it was all going, regularly convinced that I'd 'lost' it somewhere! Right now I record everything on an excel spreadsheet, pretty similar to everyone else I imagine. Usually I update everyday as I'd forget otherwise (it also helps me to keep a running total so I can see if I'm going over budget). Another thing I do is highlight all the things I bought that were unnecessary splurges. If I add this up weekly it can be amazing how much money is spent at the corner shop on chocolate, magazines and soft drinks. As a result of seeing this wastage in black and white I've tried to cut down my consumption to save extra money..
It really helps you to control your spending - good luck with it!

sparkle_monkey

Amanda65 & Budget - Just reading your posts reminded me I bought a really cheap little whiteboard to go in my kitchen. I write my mealplans on there and my shopping list. Meal plans have REALLY helped with budgeting and reducing food wastage.

VP

I have been keeping a spending diary now for about 2 years. I use excel as I find it easiest to update - I just do it in the mornings before I start work.

All of our money comes into, and goes out of, our joint account, so my spending diary mainly tracks this account. I divide it up into 5 colums: debits, credits, balance, description and classification. I also keep a tally of total incomings to the account for each month against total outgoings, and a remainder. This is what's so useful about excel - I don't have to constantly update this calculation or do any maths! I then have a second worksheet for each month, where I total up each classification in a different column, so I can see where the money goes.

I don't keep a track of everything I spend in cash (I don't use cash much to be honest as I find it easier to track spending if it all comes out of the bank), but at the beginning of the month, we withdraw a certain amount in cash and only use that for spending on going out, lunches at work (we usually take our own lunch to work) etc. It seems to work for us, and we try to be really strict about it. This month, we haven't spent all of our spendies, so I'm actually paying some of it back in to cover a slight overspend elsewhere!

shellbell_4

ok this is the very first time I've used this so i hope this works - my kids showed me! I think you are all fab. Today is going to be the first day of concerted effort to get my finances in order - how can i expect my kids to be solvent if i'm not! and i have gained at least seven tips for "must do now" things to sort today - i am off to raid the shed for 6inch nails and a plank of wood - i know i have old diaries somewhere to use for a spending book -todays my day off so i will do a weekly meal plan (any advice welcome there!) and i'll get the kids to join in with an excel s/sheet tonight. Your tips have really motivated me to get sorted in an area of my life that i've been burying my head in the sand so a big THANK YOU to all.

Lucifer

Welcome to MSE Shellbell - you will do well here, there are some fab tips and some very supportive and knowledgable people on here. Consider yourself part of an extended family!!

skintchick

I only kept a spending diary for a month to show me where i was going wrong - now I just question myself every time I want to buy something and if it's not necessary I walk away.

To help this, I used to have a Post-IT note stuck on my debit card in my purse, so every time I opened my purse I saw the words:

DO YOU REALLY NEED THIS?

and would be reminded not to buy stuff!!

It worked for me.

Caixta

We have been doing ours on an Excel spreadsheet for three years now. These are the categories we use:

Car insurance
Car maintenance
Christmas
Clothing and footwear
Council tax
Cycling/swimming/badminton etc.
Debt (thankfully this is always zero but it's there more as a reminder)
Dental/medical
Eating out/takeaways
Gas & electricity
Giving (charity, etc)
Groceries & household consumables (loo roll, washing powder, toiletries, etc)
Haircuts
Holidays
Home and contents insurance
Home repairs and maintenance
Household goods: furniture and appliances
Internet access
Kids' pocket money/savings
Leisure (cinema, outings, etc…)
Life assurance
LPG/petrol
Mobile phone top ups
Mortgage
Newspapers/magazines/books
Phone bill (landline)
Presents - our own kids
Presents - kids' friends, birthday parties, etc
Presents - wider family & others
Public transport
Road tax
School expenses (trips, etc)
TV licence
Water rates


For us, these are all the categories we need. Excel is very useful as you can make pretty pie charts and see quite graphically how you're getting on. We start a new page for each month, so we can see which types of expense peak in which month and plan accordingly.

Now that we've been doing this for a while, it helps us plan our budget for the year ahead. It's helpful to compare with previous years too.

When we spend any money or pay a bill, we enter it on the spreadsheet, maybe every day or every other day - it only takes a moment.

Personally I don't go to the cash point very often, but when I do, I don't enter that on the spreadsheet, until the money has been spent. I know, it takes nerves of steel not to spend it once it's out of the wall and in your pocket!