Living life, loving life.......hypno's having a ball!

ShelleyC_2

Had to go and do some sums. Couldn't resist such a good idea :j

Highlight / lowlight is my 20% slushy spends including food / hols / handbags etc but no idea exactly what I spent on what!

Time to go back to spending diary I think!

hypno06

I have come to the same conclusion.....need to do a very serious spending diary assessment over the next few weeks.

It is not something I have found easy to do in the past....perhaps due to the fact that I had another adult in the house spending money too that I couldn't keep tabs on.....but now it is just me, I cannot see any reason why I shouldn't be able to do an accurate one!

So, tomorrow I will be buying myself a spending diary - probably just an academic diary that gives me enough space each day (page per day) to write everything in, that I can then summarise at the end of the week or something.....

ShelleyC_2

I'm copying - not in a scary stalker style honest

What I've found before is when I do the diary I spend less as guilty kicks in.

Might also look closely at last couple of CC bills. I spend everything on my cashback card so should have good record!

hypno06

Copy away - stalking or not.....I won't worry about it until I see you lurking outside my house :rotfl:

Because I have been using the envelope method of budgeting, most of my purchases are made with cash.....so unless I keep every receipt religiously (which is just not going to happen) I am in danger of losing sight of the spending - a couple of ££ here and there, on coffees etc soon adds up but gets forgotten!

So, hopefully the spending diary will help to keep track of that and will hopefully help me think twice before buying something unnecessary, or getting a cab home after a night out!

MrsMoo2U

I did a spend diary for the first time last month and it is a good way to stop from spending money.

A few years ago (well 10 years ago) I was having a special holiday and I really wanted to go out and see the whales but couldnt afford it so I decided that everytime I was going to buy something like coffee or a magazine or other frivolous stuff that I would put the money into a piggy bank instead. In next to no time I had the savings for the trip. Thanks to that trip I also met one of my most favourite people in the whole world who is now a really good friend. So last month I adopted that memory every time I was about to blow my budget on something. I know it sounds a bit mad but it worked for me.

hypno06

Not a mad idea at all, and one I have adopted on numerous occasions in the past.

Actually, at the moment I am transferring £2.10 via online banking every time I resist buying a coffee in the mornings.....it is just moved into a pot named "spending money" so is there forming part of the same social cash still, but just showing me that the amount I have been spending on coffees in the past has been a decent sized chunk of my money!

hypno06

So....spending diary duly purchased. And of course the first entry in it has to be the cost of the spending diary.....somehow that just seems soooo wrong!!

It is a page-per-day mid year to mid year diary, which will fit in any of my handbags, so there really is no excuse for me not sticking to it, and working with the results. Although a pure "spending" diary hasn't been something I have managed in the past, I did have a very long running "financial" diary which I kept up to date daily so that I always knew exactly how much was where, and what still needed to be found etc.....so I am sure I can do something similar to combine the two.

I will let you know how I get on, but the challenge to myself has begun

millionaire_in_training

I complete mine religiously and can see at end of month where all my money has gone. I had hoped to do it for the full year so I could get a really good SOA done for next year but lost the plot for a couple of weeks last month so 1 month will be missing. I was raging at myself as I had tried so hard to make sure I did it daily. Never mind I will still get a great idea of what happens to my cash

hypno06

Well, already I am beginning to see why I need a spending diary!

Today, for example, Spending diary £6.99, lunch £2.44, lunch for DS (on work experience) £3.40, cost of Study day for DD £5.......thats the best part of £20 gone in an instant!

Out of that, obviously the spending diary is a one off, and the study day is pretty much essential, but two lunches could have been done cheaper (and we have done pasta for tomorrow, so we are taking note!).

And that's *without* me buying my morning coffee

I definitely need to keep this going......and more importantly to take notice of it, and do something about it where needed!

ShelleyC_2

So it sounds good already - you've reflected on "bad" practice (not planning lunch) and adapted behaviour (planning for tomorrow!):j

I've fallen at first hurdle. Bad nights sleep. Forgot to find diary.

But so far 40 ish on fuel and 99p on sweeties! will try harder