How do you keep track of your Money ?

LilyMae_2

I need to keep a very firm track of my money each month. I have always had a rough idea about whats going on and usually my DH would have had the day to day overview. But i am now on my own having recently been widowed, so I'm wondering how you all manage?

My late DH used spread sheets etc but I hate having to start the PC just to check something which I'm doing a lot at the moment. I am on a much reduced income so need to keep a firm rein on things until I can get more work hours.

Please let me know how you keep track.

MrsWoolfe

Hi LilyMae,

Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss and hope that you are coping as well as you can at such a hard time.

I tend to use spreadsheets most of the time, but then I am on the PC quite a lot anyway so this makes sense for me. Could you perhaps use the spreadsheets as a starting point?

What I mean is maybe use a little notebook or have a chart somewhere with all the headings- note up in your book where you are on each item (i.e. how much you have spent/budgeted whichever works best for you) then each day make a note where you need to and maybe just once a week update the spreadsheet with the weeks figures?

quite a few of my clients used to do this- they would buy a little accounts note book from Smiths and use this day to day and then update things once a month...certainly seemed to make things a bit easier for them (and me?!) to keep track of things.

Hope that helps?

MrsWoolfe

hilstep2000

I use a personal budget that's on Microsoft works, and internet banking. Works for me.

rafa205

Depending on which bank you are with, a lot offer great online management services so you can easily view where your money is going.
I prefer to use Excel and have created a spreadsheet to manage my finances. At the start of the month, I enter my wage and projected outgoings including estimates for petrol, shopping, going out, buying sandwiches at lunch etc.
Providing you don't kid yourself into entering under-stated amounts, this should help you to keep an eye on things.

You can personal message me if you want and we can swap e-mail addresses then I will send you the document I use - it's really helpful

shebangs

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rising_from_the_ashes

Hi LilyMae, once again, I'm so sorry for your loss.

I have a big spreadsheet with several pages - there is one page with all my monthly outgoings on which I update at the start of each month.

Other spends have their own pages which I tend to update weekly or monthly (depending on what they are).

I do note everything down daily in a notebook which makes updating the spreadsheet reasonably easy - and also lets me quickly check what I've spent so far that week/month (it's always with me!)


I do like Mrs Woolfe's suggestion of an accounts book - and might just treat myself to one for 2012!

Hawthorn

First of all, my condolences on the loss of your husband.

I do mine on the PC too, but my Dad has always done it without. He has written down all of his outgoings in list form(he has a notebook for this purpose), when they are due to be debited, and how much they are.
He would then divide the income/expenditure up into weekly form (even though they get their money monthly and have for a long time....he's just used to working in weeks since that was how he was paid for years) You could do it whichever way suits you best.
He used to have a sectional money tin, and he would divide that up and pay into what was needed weekly - ie, council tax, water rates, gas/electricity, though I guess with these days most things being Direct debit that's not really necessary.
That way he knew what was coming in and where it was going weekly

Every expenditure was accounted for, christmas, birthdays, emergency funds, and all meals where planned and the budget firmly adhered to.

Myself, I have a 'virtual' money tin. I have online banking and several bank accounts which are used as holding pens. I transfer money between them, so if council tax is £25 a week, I put £25 a week into a holding account. A couple of days before the direct debit is due to go out, I transfer it back into the main account.

It seems a bit controlling perhaps, but on a tight budget it's necessary to be aware of where every penny is headed. I have a budget for food, and rarely go over that (but have a bit of a buffer fund, just in case)

It might all seem a bit overwhelming at the moment - not least because of your recent loss, but once you find a system that works for you it becomes second nature instead of hundreds of lines and figures all blending into a big jumbled mess.

Anyway, the first place to start is jotting down all outgoings...and I mean everything....hairdresser/clothing/travel costs/insurance/utitilities...everything. Once you have all of that, you can start to look at organising your cash around it.

Good luck

Linda32

I use a spreadsheet, pretty simple affair really. Whats coming in on the right, what goes out on the left.

I list all the direct debits first and just assume they have already gone out. That way I don't have to think about them during the month, they just happen.

So after that what is left is ours.

I am very very carful at writing down every card spend so that we know how much is coming out or due to come out.

I don't keep a track of my purse money really, as in writing down that sort of spend, Because you can obviously see how much you've got left.

prettypaula

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Hi LilyMae, once again, I'm so sorry for your loss.

I have a big spreadsheet with several pages - there is one page with all my monthly outgoings on which I update at the start of each month.

Other spends have their own pages which I tend to update weekly or monthly (depending on what they are).

I do note everything down daily in a notebook which makes updating the spreadsheet reasonably easy - and also lets me quickly check what I've spent so far that week/month (it's always with me!)


I do like Mrs Woolfe's suggestion of an accounts book - and might just treat myself to one for 2012!

im jealous of your spreadsheet skills!

ive searched far and wide online for a good template but theyre all bloomin american...

im awful at doing them i know what i want it to do but havent a clue how to make it do it.

rising_from_the_ashes

prettypaula wrote: »

im jealous of your spreadsheet skills!

ive searched far and wide online for a good template but theyre all bloomin american...

im awful at doing them i know what i want it to do but havent a clue how to make it do it.

I can't take credit for mine - it's way beyond my capabilities!:o

I use this one that CW18 did for the Frugal Living Challenge:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=39711066&postcount=360

It's fab as it's split into different worksheets for different budgets and has a totals sheet at the front so you can keep track of whether you're on budget (or not).

Cheryl kindly added another sheet for me for the pets (I wanted to separate these out from the household budgets) ......

I will highly recommend it to anyone as it's really easy to use (all the formulas etc have already been put in) so may be an idea for anyone wanting to try it for 2012. HTH:)

tracey12_2

Hi LilyMae

Sorry for your loss.

I use www.myspendingdiary.com I find it useful and easy to use. You can do reports on it on your monthly spends and it is easy to set up headings so it is easy to see where your money is going each month.

When I am out and about I keep all receipts and transfer these onto the spending diary and also use online banking so I enter all direct debits coming out of the bank.

HTH

Tracey