This SOA stuff, is it just me that finds what other people spend fascinating?

racing_blue

crushed00 wrote: »

We read them and think, bloody hell wish we could track everypenny like that. We have tried and tried, but just cant manage. It doesnt help when your as hopeless with money as us two.

Don't know what you methods you have tried, but I find it's really easy if you make a point of ONLY spending directly from your current account (debit card & direct debits).

Then once a month you just need to sit down with your bank statement and fill out a spreadsheet: 12 columns = 1 year.

We have been doing this for 2 years, it takes about 10 minutes once per month & has been eye-opening.

Obviously we do spend SOME cash, but it is not much- maybe £50 per month- and I just record it as spent when withdrawn.

mildredalien

Sometimes it's not about the nitty gritty of every penny, but having an SOA can make really clear what income vs. expenditure is, and where the debts lie (including interest) which can be hard to fathom from a random post. If someone is seeking advice about which debts to pay off first or what road to go down to tackle debt, it really is the best way to get detailed advice IMO. Of course it's not always necessary, depends on the questions I suppose!

And yes, I do find it fascinating I still use an SOA now to compare my monthly spending to and check I'm on track. I think it would be all too easy to float back into spending more than I needed/wanted if I didn't keep my beady eye on my budget...