counting the pennies till payday

GreenSaints

I just started doing this from last month.

Mine is a little different as I don't add in any extra money I get (from selling for example) I just write down all my outgoings so at next payday I can make a graph and see where my money went. I like pretty pictures.

It's the best thing I've done and so far not been in my overdraft this month. Just another 6 days to go!

freebyfifty

vintagegirl wrote: »

I wondered if anyone else does this.
I am getting slightly obsessed with saving money. Every day, i write in a notebook every penny i am getting until the end of the month and then write down every bill i have until the end of the month, then work out what i will have left.


Am i the only one who does this?

Nope, definitely not alone. I have a speadsheet which I update daily and is worked out until June next year (so far). Every penny I get into and out of my bank account is put in it and I check it every morning against my online banking.
I am obsessed with it and am continually playing with the numbers to see where I can save money. Unfortunately I'm not the same as you and don't have loads to play with but at least now I am getting to the end of the month without getting to the end of my money

It has been my life saver and I would recommend it to everybody

HeartOfGold

I've been doing it for the last 15 years!

It actually works in a BIG way. For a short while, I managed to get up to 18 grand in my bank account, but getting married and having children has taken care of at least two thirds of that now!

Still, the fact that I've taken such care over incoming and outgoing monies in this time means I'm in the enviable position that when, say, my washing machine blows up, I can just go "Damn. Oh well, best get another one", instead of worrying about it.

I truly believe ANYONE on an everage wage (that's all I get anyway) can get themselves in this situation. Carry on the way you're going and you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

myteeduck

I do this too!
I got in a bit of trouble 2 years ago whereby I saw the avaliable balance in my bank as what I actually had to spend, so spent the money for my bills before they came out!

My mum gave me an excel document that she swears by... She writes what she has in her account, then every little thing she spends gets deducted. When she gets paid she puts the money in at the top, then lists every bill for the month even if its not been paid yet and uses the final balance as her true figure. Then as payments show on the bank she ticks them off the list - she always knows how much she has.

I modified it a little. I do the same but on the computer. I have a table with my wages listed, I write all my bills and have it formatted so i see my balance. Then as the month goes on I take bills paid off the list and change the wages to avaliable balance.

I also have seperate tables for each different month, so I can see now how much I have the month after in advance and can modify it to show how better off I will be when cards are paid off. Im currently setting one up to show how much I will have left if I move in to a place of my own.

I find it easy to view and I check it daily - also if i have more money one month than another I can see easily whether Im best paying extra to a credit card or putting it in savings.

You just have to find the way thats best for you.

MessyMare

I do this, on MS Money. I have all my accounts on there, even my cash accout (named 'purse) which has my petrol money and food shopping money for the week in (though it has it's cons, I love being paid weekly, so much less time before the next cash injection!) and all my receipts go in there, then get logged next time I'm at my computer. Though what's currently annoying me is that there's a mysterious round pound about to go out of my bank account and I don't know where it's going!

rachie_2011

vintagegirl wrote: »

Am i the only one who does this?

Haha... not at all!! I do this all the time and use a spreadsheet to forecast how much money I have, what I'll have after bills are paid, and also to calculate when my credit and loan will be paid off!

I'm so obsessed with my planner, that I've calaculated how much money I'll have up to the end of 2013!!! :beer:

YORKSHIRELASS

Yep I do this too. I am always thinking about money and have been known to get up in the middle of the night to play with my spreadsheets!!! When the car unexpectedly had to have a new tyre the other day I was straight onto the computer to rejig my finances to take account of it.

I actually think that keeping proper financial records is what really made me finally change my ways because seeing it in black and white is a real eye opener. I cant believe I used to sometimes pay for things and not know if my bank card would be accepted.

Well done on your achievements, mine are smaller because I dont have much spare cash to play with but I know I am making progress.

foxgloves

Not daft at all! It's budgeting. People who never do it usually end up in debt and learning HOW to do it, in my experience, has been the best route out of debt (debt-free from May this year!) I do a big budgeting session on payday at the end of the month when I check all the payments for that month have been made, then I write down all the regular outgoings for bills/dds/emergency fund for the month ahead & make a note of what is left, then I set the month's budget for food, petrol & some 'spends' for both of us. Then I deduct any cheques or cash withdrawels which aren't yet showing on bank statement & the amount remaining is basically what we have for the month ahead. Grocery budget is written on a little card & goes in the 'household purse' with the cash, the rest of the grocery spend goes on my John Lewis card so I can collect points for vouchers. The petrol spend always goes on my partner's M&S card so we can collect M&S vouchers. Both these amounts are budgetted for & both cards are paid off at the end of each month so only used to get us some vouchers, not for credit. Any bigger purchases, we no longer buy on impulse & always try to save up the money. We no longer have any interest in buying anything on credit unless it's an emergency too big for our emergency fund to deal with. 2 or 3 times during the month, I have a look at bank statements online & just check how things are doing. If my monthly 'spends' are disappearing quickly with nothing to show for it, I start jotting down what I buy in a little notebook. So, no, I don't think it is you being obsessional, I think it's the wise money management that most people practised in the past but somehow got lost as people were able to take on more & more credit & the banks & loan companies becamse more & more greedy. Budgetting is an absolute lifeskill. I just wish it hadn't taken me 20 years+ to realise this!! x

elsiepac

ColleenPamela wrote: »

Though what's currently annoying me is that there's a mysterious round pound about to go out of my bank account and I don't know where it's going!

Have you had to give your card details for anything recently? As "they" sometimes put a small amount on your card to check it's valid but then never deduct it and it drops off after X amount of time (depending on who you bank with). Examples are hotel stays when they ask to swipe your card and I'm sure I've had it when I did my last mobile contract...

LC

wannabehermit

Yep and I really enjoy it! IS this like spreadsheeters anonymous? Hi, my name is wannabehermit and I'm a spreadsheetaholic.

I have:

a spreadsheet with my budget - this is broken down to weekly, monthly & yearly.
a spreadsheet which shows exactly what I have spent each month and averages it out each month.
a spreadsheet which shows my budget compared to my actual quarterly spending (red for items I've over spent on and green for items I've underspent on)
a folder that contains monthly files with every single receipt for that month with a statement at the front showing what I have spent.

I also regularly throughout the month panic that there won't be enough to pay xyz, so write down what I have, what is coming in, what will be going out and then cry, and try to figure out where I can nick a bit of money from (e.g. underpaying the water bill for a week) or sigh a huge sigh of relief!