Trying to save but accused of being a terrorist /fraudster :-(

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Hooloovoo wrote: »

It's not silly at all. My internet banking is down several times a year, often for several days at a time.

Through my job I travel abroad a lot. I spend maybe two months in total out of the country every year. All the time I'm travelling, I may not have access to the internet, or I may not be comfortable accessing my bank from the connection I do have.

To make it worse, during these periods of down time I'm usually making large purchases - flights, hotels, cash withdrawal for taxis etc. - that all need to be accurately tracked and accounted for so that I can put in the appropriate expense claim. And the budget needs to last at least two months, because it might be two months before I get any of this money back depending on when I file the claim.

If I didn't have an offline system to track all this (GNUCash on my laptop) I'd be in serious trouble.

Not to mention the fact that the "pots" system only really works for card expenditure. Once you have done a cash withdrawal, the money has left the banking system and unless you have some other offline method of tracking what you spend in cash the whole system breaks down.

Seriously, my financial life is so complicated, as it is for many people that travel on business. I have to cope with unexpected expenditure running into thousands of pounds a year and budget for that being missing until an expense claim is paid. It really makes me laugh how some people seem to struggle budgeting a couple of hundred quid for Christmas.

Ah ... I knew they were hereabouts ... there possiblieth speaketh one that hath so much to juggle compareth with thoth mere mortalth which doth havest so little to manage ... now then, hath anyone seen my NHS plastic teeth? I need a pot for them, not just for tonight but so I can save for a new set that fit better !

UserX

noh wrote: »

Available free from
http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/8/858EDC2F-1806-4D2D-85E3-0FBB08CB720A/Money2005-UK-QFE2.exe.exe

I've just downloaded this but it actually doesn't seem to be fully functional. The first thing you have to do - obviously - is start setting it up by listing your accounts, and it won't let me do that - the link just takes you to the Microsoft webpages with financial news and so on.

Hooloovoo

TurnUpForTheBooks wrote: »

Ah ... I knew they were hereabouts ... there possiblieth speaketh one that hath so much to juggle compareth with thoth mere mortalth which doth havest so little to manage ... now then, hath anyone seen my NHS plastic teeth? I need a pot for them, not just for tonight but so I can save for a new set that fit better !

How come everyone on this thread reads the posts, and then completely makes up their own facts rather than interpreting what was said?

I'm not claiming to be ridiculously rich. Far from it. I'm claiming to have a ridiculously high level of cashflow - oh if only all of it were mine!

This thread is about budgeting cashflow, not total net worth. Maybe if people understood that they wouldn't need 18 accounts to make sure they had a couple of hundred quid ready to pay the car tax, and another couple of hundred quid ready to pay for Christmas presents.

Seen_the_light

Well, my bank has gone down, I think once since I started this (well over a year) - I just waited until the next day, my personal internet doesn't go down - but if it did I and I was desperate (never actually been that desperate) I can access my bank on my phone (3G) or log on to my bank at work.
To access my bank I tap an icon and put in 2 numbers, really not that much more effort than opening a spread sheet, which if I used, I would at some point have to reconcile with my bank account (I have actually tried using a spreadsheet).
What if your computer crashed or your file corrupted?

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Hooloovoo wrote: »

How come everyone on this thread reads the posts, and then completely makes up their own facts rather than interpreting what was said?

I'm not claiming to be ridiculously rich. Far from it. I'm claiming to have a ridiculously high level of cashflow - oh if only all of it were mine!

This thread is about budgeting cashflow, not total net worth. Maybe if people understood that they wouldn't need 18 accounts to make sure they had a couple of hundred quid ready to pay the car tax, and another couple of hundred quid ready to pay for Christmas presents.

... erm ... yea ... er ... see ... there you go again, Hoo'oo'oo ... it's maybe the way "a couple of hundred quid" just rolls so easily off your keyboard ... One might imagine that those who need to make two hundred pounds sterling last 10 days including use for rent and food and electricity and well ... that's as far as it stretches isn't it? Car tax? ... What car ? ... Rich is also a state of mind as much as it is a take on someone else's lot ... I am simply minded of the phrase some things are more easily said than done ...

vman

Hooloovoo wrote: »

Seriously, my financial life is so complicated, as it is for many people that travel on business. I have to cope with unexpected expenditure running into thousands of pounds a year and budget for that being missing until an expense claim is paid. It really makes me laugh how some people seem to struggle budgeting a couple of hundred quid for Christmas.

Oh, get you, you complicated little thing you. Doesn't every who travels on business just use their credit and claim it back? I don't know anybody who doesn't work like that (and of course is itself a form having a separate account bucket for a certain type of expenditure, so really not that left field at all).

Nobody said it was a struggle, we are saying the opposite. It simplifies budgeting and works for us. My example of a Christmas bucket is an example of a simplistic budgeting situation solved. I have separate current accounts for more complex stuff, for example I have a couple of small business ventures that need to be kept separate. I'm sure my accountant wouldn't want everything thrown into the same hole, his fees would probably double!

Gromitt

vman wrote: »

Oh, get you, you complicated little thing you. Doesn't every who travels on business just use their credit and claim it back? I don't know anybody who doesn't work like that

Last time I gave a taxi driver my credit card, he looked at me like a cow looks at an oncoming train.

Seen_the_light wrote: »

What if your computer crashed or your file corrupted?

I can access my spreadsheet from any authorised PC, which includes my PC at work, so it wouldn't be a problem. The last 10 versions of the file are kept, so if all of a sudden the file becomes unopenable, then I'd simply revert to an earlier version and maybe lose a single transaction.

NowRetired

How can they pay on their debit card and then, when they get home, transfer money from their grocery account?

I have a vantage current account in which I maintain at exactly £5000.

If money comes out to pay a bill I transfer that money in from my savings account.

When money goes in, on 8 different days of the month, I immediately transfer the excess to my savings account.

Same if I or my wife need cash from an ATM, I/she withdraw what is needed then I transfer it back to my vantage account from my savings account.

Same if I need to use my debit card instead of my credit card.

I use Quicken 98 to keep track of my finances and a spreadsheet going on a year ahead with every known bill, DD out and payments in and estimates of my spending for the year ahead.

The wonders of on-line banking and being retired and only need 6 hours sleep a night.

innovate

Seen_the_light wrote: »

Well, my bank has gone down, I think once since I started this (well over a year) - I just waited until the next day, my personal internet doesn't go down - but if it did I and I was desperate (never actually been that desperate) I can access my bank on my phone (3G) or log on to my bank at work.
To access my bank I tap an icon and put in 2 numbers, really not that much more effort than opening a spread sheet, which if I used, I would at some point have to reconcile with my bank account (I have actually tried using a spreadsheet).

Hey brilliant. It had never occurred to me I could use 3G (or 4) if my bank's website was down.

Oh, hang on....their systems are flat on their backs and my phone app cannot connect. Never happens, you say? Just look at the RBS group. Could happen to any of them anytime, for a variety of reasons.

Seen_the_light wrote: »

What if your computer crashed or your file corrupted?

You would have a back up of you entire computer, wouldn't you? If you don't, perhaps you should think about it now. Most ISPs offer a certain amount of free cloud storage these days.

Hominu

Seen_the_light wrote: »

Well, my bank has gone down, I think once since I started this (well over a year) - I just waited until the next day

So in effect, even though you are not reconciling your bank account, you are reconciling your pots, and you could quite easily find your bank goes down, forget to do it the next day, then think you have more money than you thought and spend too much.

Seen_the_light wrote: »

To access my bank I tap an icon and put in 2 numbers, really not that much more effort than opening a spread sheet, which if I used, I would at some point have to reconcile with my bank account

I get a weekly text about my bank balance and as long as it matches my spreadsheet balance, there's no need to reconcile more than once a month. I find reconciling helps protect about things I might have forgotten about, or potential fraud. You don't seem to have that luxury as you can't associate the transactions.

Seen_the_light wrote: »

What if your computer crashed or your file corrupted?

Ever heard of cloud storage? All my photos, videos and other data is stored in the cloud. Should my computer crash, I can just use another. Should the file get corrupted, I can simply go online and download a fresh copy, or revert to a previous version.

What if your bank said "After a review, we have decided we no longer want you as a customer. We'll give you 30 days to move your credits and debits." ? My spreadsheet doesn't care where the physical accounts are located.