Your weekly cash - how do you do it?

izools

TheEffect wrote: »

I don't actually plan. I just buy everything on my Debit Card and keep £20 in my wallet. Oh the beauty of being [STRIKE]on a gap year, working full time and having little expenditures.[/STRIKE] irresponsible and frivolous

Keep it in the bank!!!! :money:

D1zzy

izools wrote: »

Keep it in the bank!!!! :money:

..............soooooooooooo boooooooooooooring - were you never young ?
I do hope you're an old f*** (like me) , not just young and sad

ajharris

The best thing you can do is avoid using cash, use your debit card. Most establishments including many pubs welcome cards. This way at the end of the month you can see where every penny has gone by looking at your statement and you are less likely to fritter away lose change. You may even find that you spend less this way. Good luck

kijog

Wow, thank guys - some really good advice. I think I've been barking up the wrong tree looking how to manage cash - should be using the cards. It's probably denial that has stopped me from relying on the cards up to now, it's just easier on the eyes when you open the bank statement! I suppose in the long run it's easier to identify where the spends actually went.

I have the same problem - notes turn into change, change turns into a big pile of change, and a big pile of change disappears.

Never a truer word said!

I'm going to try and go 'cashless' this month and see where that gets me - hopefully I'll have some good news to post back with!

dzug1

Well I don't really organise it at all. It happens.

I take out £40 every Thursday. Mrs dzug swipes half of it (she hates using cash machines) If I've any left (other than a few coins) the next Thursday I take out less. If I run out in the week (not very often) I take the £40 out early. If I know I'm going to need extra in cash for some reason, the £40 gets raised. I certainly don't bother to keep track of it.

Everthing else goes on cash back credit cards, cleared in full each month

sulkisu

I tend to spend more if I use cards instead of cash. Now, I use cash wherever possible. I work out how much money I need for cash purchases and withdraw this at the beginning of the month. I don't carry it all around with me, I just take what I will need for a particular day and the rest sits in my cupboard. It works for me and I definitely spend less.

izools

D1zzy wrote: »

..............soooooooooooo boooooooooooooring - were you never young ?
I do hope you're an old f*** (like me) , not just young and sad

Nop still young, 23 years old, but after going through Bankruptcy I've had the financial slap in the face I needed (three years ago now) to say bye bye to my years of irresponsibility maybe too early; but what's wrong with learning early that being a spend thrift doesn't bring long term happiness?

I'm all up for maturing early Owing £50K + mortgage at the age of 20, suffice it to say I've enjoyed myself plenty enough between 18 and 20 to have memories that'll last a lifetime.......

And anyway, whilst I may be as thrifty as they come 90% of the time, it all goes by the wayside on a Friday evening. I have to balance it out But not so much that I'm not paving the way for being able to go to university in a couple of years time without needing a student overdraft and the like.

maysmummy

FWIW
I have worked out a monthly budget, with monthly allowances included for one-off expenses like car tax, TV license etc. The rest is divided into weekly cash which I draw out on Friday. This covers shopping, socialising etc for the whole week. If I run out of money, then tough- there's a few days to waite. A true emergency (I've not had one yet) can be covered by the surplus left in the bank for one-offs.
It is truly amazing how the urge to by organic, deli-produced pecorino cheese disappears when you will be skint all week to buy it.

xyz123

kijog wrote: »

I could even take out all £250, knowing then that I shouldn't use my bank account or debit card for anything - or is that just an impossible challenge?

It's up to you. but isnt the reason the you need budgeting in first place is that you need some help in managing money. i dont do any of these thigs as i can control my spending and live within available means....

lordash

My method is to withdraw £100 from the ATM and try to keep as much of it in my wallet for as long as possible - usually lasts 2-3 weeks until I reach my last £20 at which point I withdraw another £100. I never use my debit card for anything other than larger transactions (£25+) or internet orders.

For me, this is by far the easiest way of keeping track of what you've spent and what you've got left - both in bank balance (bills, large transactions) and cash (day-to-day transactions). And no nasty surprises when I find out that all those £5.37's and £3.89's I've put on my card resulted in me being overdrawn by 2p and ending up with £70 worth of fees.

I also feel secure that if my card gets cloned/lost/stolen/damaged I would have enough money on me to be able to afford food/bus fares/etc. until it was sorted out. And its also better for the smaller retailers who have to pay the banks excessive card processing fees for debit card transactions.

And since I've been doing this, not had a single bank charge and also think much more carefully about what I spend money on - its a much more painful experience breaking a £20 note or withdrawing £100 cash than making repeated card transactions for small amounts.

Cash is king