How do you manage your finances?

missile

Citygirl1 wrote: »

Just wondering how do manage your finances these days, do you use cash or cards?....

I use my cards for almost everything. I only use cash for small purchases, like in a coffee shop.

Some online banks are dreadfully slow to update. At my bank I have option for a receipt which shows recent transactions. If your finances are tight you might benefit from keeping a note of expenditure and balance in your account?

madgagoo

I have 2 accounts, current and savings with an autotransfer between the 2.
Every evening my current account balance is set to £0.00 and the rest swept into (or from) savings, so every penny is earning me interest.

I use a bit of software called 'you need a budget' to allocate money to envelopes and track spending. I use my debit card for everything possible, although I think I shall change to a cashback credit card soon.

If anyone would like to look at the software it's at https://www.ynab.com, I can't recommend it highly enough! It makes you keep track of every penny and plan for the unexpected/annual bills.

beth.stephenson2009

I have three bank accounts: One for household , one for "other" bills, one for leisure. I split my income 50/30/20 between them.

Household expenses: Food, house maintenance (i.e. if the boiler breaks down and need to call a repair man), mortgage, electricity bill, council tax, phone and internet and water rates.

Other bills: Phone bill, insurance and if I get my licence back it will be used for petrol and any car matientance and insurance.

Leisure: Clothes, itunes downloads, ebooks etc.. you get the idea.

Any money that is left in any account is put into savings account at the end of the month.

This way I can 100% control what im spending and how- and I can't buy the latest Twilight DVD and find im short for my phone bill, for example.

I probably get round to saving a couple hundred a year as well. Might not seem like much, but it is certainly more than I would if I was spending willy nilly.

beth.stephenson2009

I also think it is KEY to check your bank accounts every couple of days- there have been times when I have thought I have had more/less money than I have done.

GooliesOfFire

Me and my OH manage same way for years. We both have our sole accounts where our wages go. From there we pay certain amounts (standing orders 1 day after our wages reach our accounts) every month to:
- Halifax joint account - for food and car petrol
- Nationwide joint account - all the bills (except mobile phones and my/her private expenses and hobbies)

The rest of the money left in our sole accounts we can spend as we like. We pay mobile phone bills separately, from sole accounts. Also money for my motorbike insurance and petrol go from my account. My wife pays for her contact lenses from hers. It works for us. Easy to control as you always know what you've got left after paying to joint accounts and how much and when you pay for your private direct debits (as there are few).

kitschkitty

All our bills are now paid by direct debit (as so many companies want to add on charges if you pay any other way) except the council tax, but I can pay that online so it's just as easy.

I normally pay for everything by card, occasionally take out cash for things like bus fare, but find cash is so much easier to spend 0 e.g if there's no cash in the house we can't go spend it on a takeaway! But then I've always thought it really odd to make small purchases by card too, and loathe making purchases under £2 or £3 on a card.

Hubby used to tend to take out cash to pay for everything, but is now a lot more used to paying by card for things.

Having had my handbag stolen once, it confirmed how much I dislike carrying cash around. Luckily I only had £15 in my bag that day (more than I normally had on me back then as I was skint, but was out on a day trip) but I simply can't afford to lose cash.

I check my online banking every day or 2, and have to say we aren't extravagant shoppers/spenders, so our accounts are normally what I expect, and I have always kept a close eye on finances. When I was young (and skint) I used to write down every single purchase/penny I'd spent.

I do still keep a little chart of how much all the regular bills are though, as I like to keep track of them all (and how much they seem to keep rising)!

Pugwash69

I rarely take cash out. All of my direct debits are timed to go out after wage day and by the 7th of the next month, so anything left after that is play-money. :beer:

RoxRoxBling

LondonDreamer wrote: »

I find if I have cash, I will spend it as it's already left my account which makes it "free" money in my mind. Very bad! So I draw out a small amount of cash for buying things like milk from the corner shop but everything else is on card so I can account for it easily.

I'm exactly the same :beer:
Wish they had more cash machines that give £5 notes.

allthingsmustpass

Citygirl1 wrote: »

Do you draw out money each day and how do you keep track of it? I do use online banking but I'd still find it hard to keep track of my money if I drew out of the cash machine every day or so.

I use an iphone app called 'spending log', wouldn't be without it. You take your phone with you when you spend, so you can just log what you spend there and then, it's really quick & easy.

You can see what you've got left, it keeps track of your account balances, so you don't need to check online all the time. Just have a look before you spend and you know straight away.

jonmcclelland

Currently get paid into my Co-Op account and immediately transfer £1000 into my two Halifax Reward accounts. This is then transferred back to Co-Op and I use that as my funds for the month after rent and direct debits.

I take £30ish cash out every Monday morning and use it for any small spends for the week ahead such as random cups of coffee, newspapers etc. I don't spend much as I normally bring my own lunch to work but it's there as an emergency and if at the start of the next week, I've still got £10 in my wallet leftover, I'll only withdraw what I need to get that £30 in my wallet.

Any purchase over £10 I put on my credit card and pay off the full balance at the end of the month. I am only young and am trying to build a strong credit history so this way suits me fine. I always keep my credit limit available in my current account, so there will be zero chance of me having insufficient funds when the bill date is due.

At the end of the month, whatever I have left in my current account after rent, direct debits and bills, I roll over the remaining amount into my Online Saver or ISA's with Halifax and start the ball rolling again on the first day of the month with a new payday.

I can live quite comfortably off my salary and I have zero debts or dependants so this method suits me for the time being.

:beer: