Where does it go?

Seanymph

The 'technical' bit was in response to a phone app suggested - my phone is old enough to be almost too heavy to carry

I have kept the diary since Friday, thanks everyone.

So, more questions - OH has bought about £350 worth of wood and roofing for a shed he's building me. Where would I put that? It's 'occasional' right? This mornings vets? boosters.....

And

What's next? Say I'm good and keep records for a month - it's depressing though, this morning alone was £32 vet, £108 Tesco and then £70 diesel. - If that's one day I guess I know where my money goes.

Anyway, what do I do AFTER I've got the month's spends in a list?

lizzyb1812

Right, got you now re the technical thingy - thought you were referring to keeping records generally

What you spent is not depressing - it just wasn't budgeted for.

You might not like this but you probably need a budget. Stuff for the shed comes under "house maintenance" or something like that, boosters come under "vets & pets". Some people budget separately for petrol/diesel, some include it in "housekeeping" or whatever word you want to call it.

A spreadsheet makes this easier - I can send you a very basic one if you want. But a piece of paper is fine

13 columns - 12 months across and the first column for a description

Top few rows = income = salaries, interest, etc plus a total

Rest of rows = spending = mortgage, loans/cards, insurances, Sky, TV licence, gas, electric, water, all regular stuff, etc plus a total

Each month the difference between income and spending = what you have to spend on groceries, diesel, clothes, etc. When you've recorded for a month you can enter the figures in a column and see where your money has gone, then use those figures to fill in the other months.

Split Tesco etc into groceries and other - ie did your £108 include books, mags, clothes?

Once you've worked out a reasonable figure for everyday spends you'll have an idea of what is left over for occasional ones like the wood.

Phew, sounds like hard work - but once you get going it is easy really and you will be in control of your money rather than the other way around

Seanymph

so I put all the d/d's etc onto the same spread sheet? And then add in the money spent?

Justamum

I used to use an Excel spreadsheet, until the computer got a virus which wiped out everything including a couple of months worth of spending so I've gone back to good old pen and paper. I've got a 14 column cash book and write down everything I spend.

anguk

I've just been reading Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management and there's a bit in it about household accounts and I thought of this thread:

16. A HOUSEKEEPING ACCOUNT-BOOK should invariably be kept, and kept punctually and precisely. The plan for keeping household accounts, which we should recommend, would be to make an entry, that is, write down into a daily diary every amount paid on that particular day, be it ever so small; then, at the end of the month, let these various payments be ranged under their specific heads of Butcher, Baker, &c.; and thus will be seen the proportions paid to each tradesman, and any one month’s expenses may be contrasted with another. The housekeeping accounts should be balanced not less than once a month; so that you may see that the money you have in hand tallies with your account of it in your diary.

http://www.mrsbeeton.com/mrs-beeton-book-of-household-management/chapter-1-the-mistress/

Very wise words from a book first published in 1861!

mavisangelica

I started this year and I got a spreadsheet from the internet which I have added to and adapted - I lurv spreadsheets . I have put it on Skydrive so that I can access it anywhere (I mainly update it at work.) I even have a separate sheet for food shopping so that I can keep a track of prices. On one page I just list everything I spend with subtotals each day so I can see at a glance what I have spent each day and then at the end of the month I transfer the totals (I have put in drop down boxes with categories and subcategories) to the frontpage which shows my monthly spend.

I think just the fact of recording everything has meant that I have stopped and thought about what I am buying rather than frittering. I agree that it is the cash I draw out the bank that used to just disappear and I could never remember what I spent it on.

My plan was to just record for a couple of months and then have a look and see where I could reduce my spending but I think that I have done this subconciously by just recording.

lizzyb1812

Seanymph wrote: »

so I put all the d/d's etc onto the same spread sheet? And then add in the money spent?

Yes, something like:

Wage 1 300
Wage 2 400

Total income 700

Mortgage 100
Elec/gas 80
C Tax 90
Sky 45
Pets/vets 25 might be once a quarter
Car bills 50 maybe a monthly fund for bills
Groceries - Tesco - say 200
Total 590

Left for occasional spends 110

Sorry, tried editing but it won't line up straight.

The trick is to get the groceries line right - first month just put in what you actually spent. Whatever you spend otherwise should come out of the left for occasional spends bit. Spending at Tesco etc on non groceries should come out of the last line too - that new top isn't groceries

Next month try to cut down the groceries and occasional spends line and go on from there.

That's the very basics - you'll soon get a feel for the entries that make sense for your lifestyle and the amount of record keeping you need to do to keep on top of things without it being too much to bother with.

Seanymph

so far I'm on the diary.

Last night I told my OH I 'may not show it to him' and he said I 'jolly well would'.

But to be honest I'm scaring myself with my grocery bill - our grocery bill - my problem is that we are three teens and two adults, and we overeat, and everyone likes the 'nice stuff' when I cook........ OH himself will eat six sausages for dinner, and act deprived if it's less - and they won't eat anything less than the expensive nice ones (Musks newmarket are their favourites) - so even sausage and mash comes in at about a tenner for sausages.

I'm probably piffling in the wrong department now to moan about food - but they cost a fortune.

Justamum

Seanymph wrote: »

OH himself will eat six sausages for dinner, and act deprived if it's less

:eek: That's a lot of sausages!

We are vegetarian, but I do buy the Fry's veggie sausages - everyone gets 2. To be honest I don't think even my DH could eat six at a time!

SailorSam

anguk wrote: »

I've just been reading Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management and there's a bit in it about household accounts and I thought of this thread:
http://www.mrsbeeton.com/mrs-beeton-book-of-household-management/chapter-1-the-mistress/

Very wise words from a book first published in 1861!

She could have saved some money on buying a notebook if she'd waited until she got home and entered everything straight into her Excel spreadsheet.