Spending Diary

cheletastic

Felix_the_Cash wrote:

Dear MSE'rs


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.

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I solve this one by making a note of how much money i'm taking out so i can work out by how much change i've got left the next morning :j :beer:

yes!! i'm sad as well!! :rolleyes:

barcodecancelled

I'm afraid I'm too disorganised (or idle) to keep a proper spending diary in full detail; my solution is to buy and pay everything using my Sainsbury's Visa card. Every month I get a statement with every payment listed, who to and for what amount, plus the total for the month. I can then compare one month or year with previous ones. Another benefit is the Nectar points which help reduce spending a little.

choccyface2006

I use Microsoft Money too, and I urge you to explore it more! As well as all my bank accounts, I have set up a cash account to log any cash I get (For example, I bought something on my card for my mum today and she paid me back in cash, or birthday money etc..)

When I withdraw the money from the cash point I log it as "cash" so that I can reconcile it but where ever I can I split that transaction into the relevent payees and amounts. I find this is the best way to truly know what I am spending that money on. The more time you spend doing this, the better and more accurate the reports that analize your spending are, but also the more interesting it is, at the touch of a button you can see how much you have spent at a particular place or in a particular catogory.

Sarah

Lucifer

Thats magic choccy face - I will do that in a minute. God I am so glad I asked for help on this. I thought you would all think I was being dull, but I have learnt sooooo much. A big thanks to all!! :T :T

choccyface2006

Cool, glad to help

Chezza71

I use spreadsheets for all my finance stuff. For cash, I have a monthly sheet and split it into 4 weeks starting on the Monday. I make a note of what cash in hand I have and then type in daily the date, the shop (sometimes the actual item too!) and how much I've spent. I have a sum at the end which tells me what I've spent and another sum which tells me what I have left in my purse. Sounds dull but it makes you think before you spend and I can see where my money goes! Plus it makes me feel more in control.

Sleekit

choccyface2006 wrote:

When I withdraw the money from the cash point I log it as "cash" so that I can reconcile it but where ever I can I split that transaction into the relevent payees and amounts.

I also have a "cash" account in MS Money. When I take money out of the cashpoint, I treat it as a "transfer" from my current account to my cash account. This way, cash withdrawals do not show up on my budget.

Lydia.42

Wow, thanks everyone for the fantastic tips. I have tried starting a diray and confused myself each time. Will try and use these ideas.
Does anyone know if you can download MS Money, or would i need to pay for it??
Thanks
L

Lucifer

Sorry Lydia.42, I am not sure, but I am sure someone else will know. Mine came as a freebie when I purchased the Pc. Hopefully someone you know may have it and you can just borrow the disc. Once its loaded you don't need it. I would send you mine, but I have given it to a few people and now have no idea where it is (great moneysaver hey - not!).

dalore

Yer I've been using MS Money to log my spending for years. It's great. Makes you really go wow when you see where your spending has been going.

I do the transfer to cash account when I'm withdrawing from a cashpoint, as your not really spending the money yet when you withdraw it from the wall. Also for a while, we didn't have a debit card, just a cash card, so tracking cash transactions are vital.

And watch out, MS Money comes in a few international flavours, if you want it to sync to your UK bank accounts, make sure you get the UK version. If you trying to save a few pounds, see if you can pick up an old copy, it still does everything you will need.

You could download it from a torrent, but that would be against the law so I'm not giving any advice on how to do so.