Addicted to sums, totals & spreadsheets....Am I the only one?

honeybear_2

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

I wish I knew all this, I have my online banking and check that but I don't have a spread sheet, I feel quite left out!!

xx

:eek:

No spreadsheet? How do you survive?

gilligansyle

honeybear wrote: »

:eek:

No spreadsheet? How do you survive?

For me, the problem with spreadsheets is keeping them up to date, ( You wouldn't think I trained people to use IT would you?) I found my pen and paper method easier because I always have it with me.I constantly add it all up. Wish I could remember which challenges I'm supposed to be keeping track of though!

mumofseven

I could not live without MS Money programme, I am convinced it has stopped me going under. I also have spreadsheets to calculate my net pay and my tax credits! They took a bit of time to create but can be quite useful sometimes.

I haven't gone quite as far as the OP in calculating percentages of everything but now the idea is in my head, I am off to my excel programme........

roxiepie_2

I'm a total geek too Little Miss!

I have what started out to be a budget calculator, but has now grown into a mega all-purpose spreadsheet. It calcalutes the rate it will take to pay off the card including interest. Has a date formula so it automatically updates when I get paid to show new debt totals based on the amount it calculates I have remaining that month to service debt.

Oh dear. Suddenly have the urge to do something wild just to balance it out.

JES_F1

I too have spreadsheets!

:j

I've got them monitoring my monthly income/expenditure, working out when different debts will be paid off on my DMP (and how much more other creditors will then get), my online sales, and just about everything for my finances! And where applicable, they all 'talk' to each other. :rotfl:

I'm also constantly checking my accounts online or through telephone banking.

I know exactly how much is left in my bank account, even down to the odd pennies!

Before my lightbulb moment at the beginning of 2008, which led to me setting up my DMP with the CCCS, I had no real idea what my outgoings were and just kept drawing out cash as I 'needed' it and just hoped there'd be enough left - and hoping that not too many direct debits would bounce! :eek:

I love looking at my account online now as there's actually money in it :rotfl:and seeing it match my spreadsheet.

This makes me sound rather obsessive and probably a little sad ...

Sassers

I constantly think about MSE, incomings, outgoings and whether I can do what I call `the double MSE offset !!!!! method'. I'm not being offensive - just trying to make myself laugh and get motivated. It does work for me. Along the lines of: I did mystery shopping in a bookies. I won £26 after putting on the bets. I got paid for a: doing the mystery shop b: got paid to put the bet on, and C:the winnings. I put the actual MS payment and £16 of the winnings towards the PAD challenge, combined £10 of the winnings and a £4 survey luncheon voucher towards my weekly shop. The weekly shop was all whoopsies that I made into freezered meals. So really I made the cash and vouchers into a `rubber chicken' offset MSE thang.........I love MSE, it's taught me so much. lol

Radish72

Its not mad and obsessive

Its sensible and addictive

I'm now trying to think of some random facts I can generate on my mortgage

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Phew! I'm glad I'm not the only one! :rolleyes:

I think it stems from not wanting to fall back into old habits - I used to add things up in chunks that I would round up or down, just £30 here and £15 there. And then I would check my bank or purse and I'd have spent no where near what I thought I had. Usually double the estimate!

I realised I needed to deal in absolute and accurate figures. It's similar to dieting I guess... Knowing different aspects of my finances gives me an all round picture. If you want to get fitter and lose weight you don't just go on what it says on the scales (or in this case your current bank balance) if you want to keep motivated, you go by dress sizes lost, changes in measurements at different parts of the body and mainly how you feel! It gives you a better indication as to the work you have put in so far!


As HappyToGetDebt Free asked - here's how to work out you percentage what you have paid off...

TOTAL DEBT AT START divided by 100 = 1% of your debt (FIG1)

TOTAL PAID OFF divided by the answer above (FIG1)

E.G.

£12000 / 100 = £120

£ 9000 / £120 = 75% PAID. Therefore I have 25% left to pay off.

HTH. More formulas later on! Don't get me started on spreadsheets. :rotfl:

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

I also have trouble keeping spreadsheets up to date but they are very useful. That is why my pocket is full of lots of scraps of paper of little workings-out. :-)

WASHER

Im totally addicted to my excel sheets, and I'm no longer in debt! I have been debt free for two years now, (I don't even own a credit card) and I still have to input my daily spend figures in to excel before I can go to bed at night.