How do you do it?

Minminmoo_2

Hi Everyone,

New here so please be gentle with me. I'm rubbish with money, there I've said it. But I know what my biggest problem is. I just don't know how to manage my money on a day to day basis.

How does everyone else actually keep track of their money? Do you use an app, a spreadsheet, a piece of software, a book?

With my home accounts I have some money coming in monthly and some coming in weekly. With lots of bills going out at different times I just get confused. I need something that will tell me what my balance is going to be in the future taking into account things that go out and come in. My mistake always is to see a nice credit at the ATM machine and think woohoo, when in fact there are loads of bills coming out tomorrow.

How does everyone else do it? I need something simple, easy to up date, I have an iPhone but not an iPad. I can use a laptop. I am computer literate and I could make a spreadsheet but that requires a lot of manual imputing.

I'd be so so grateful for any help anyone can give.

Mmm

bigadaj

In your situation may be best to use a statement of affairs to work out your spending patterns, go over to the debt free wannabe board and all details are their.

You may not be in debt currently but the for, will allow you to break down your spending and see where your money is going, at the end of the day only you can decide whether you are spending appropriately or wisely for your own needs.

Ballard

You could open a second account then calculate your monthly direct debit total and transfer the remainder to the second account. Your original account would hold 'untouchable' funds whilst your new account would be your 'spare' cash.

You would need to keep on top of it in order that you don't send either acount into overdraft but it may help you.

elsien

I have two accounts. Money paid into one account, fixed sum transferred across into the second bill account each month for all direct debits and known bills such as car service/mot. I work out all the bills and payments due over the year and average it out, with a bit extra in case a thing goes up. That doesn't get touched for day to day stuff.
Then plan for the daily spends - what works for me is getting a fixed amount out of the bank each week and when it's gone, that's it. I have an envelope system for money for the window cleaner, papers etc which comes out of that. You can do the same with an app, but I personally prefer the physical system or my brain starts hurting!

chris_m

The first thing I do is not to use cashpoint balances, as you know they are only at the point of asking and can be misleading.

I use a spreadsheet with columns for each month and rows for;
Balance brought Forward (a formula to copy Balance Carried Forward from the previous month)
1 row each for standing orders and direct debits.
1 row each for credit card payments
1 row for cash drawn (I don't record when I spend cash, only when I draw it)
1 row for other spending (entered as a formula, eg =25.00+17.48
1 row for anticipated spending (mainly for what if scenarios, i.e. can I buy this now?)
1 row to calculate/deduct all the spends from the starting balance, giving my month end balance.
1 row for salary in
1 row for Overall Balance Carried Forward.

I also have rows for Credit Card balances brought forward, spend, payments made and carried forward. The payments made cell is referred to by the bank account credit card payment cell in the following month.

Maintenance is pretty easy - all the standing orders and direct debits only change occasionally so can be bunged in for a year or more ahead. I actually use formulae so I only need to put in the first value after a change and the rest "trickle" through.
Day to day spend just needs the relevant formula editing to add the new spend then, at the end of the month I convert the formula to the value for that month and start using the next month's cell, as a formula.

It needs discipline to ensure that I always record everything, but after a few months it became "second nature". It actually sounds more complicated than it really is.

Once used to maintaining it, there is no limit to what can be done.
I have multiple bank accounts, multiple credit cards, formulae tying them all together, balance graphs and macros to transfer money between accounts month on month to ensure that I keep as much as possible in the higher interest-bearing accounts, conditional formatting to highlight negative balances and, even, estimations of inflation and salary increases (just bunging one value in and having the formulae use that) so I can forecast several years ahead. It was extremely handy in determining when I could retire

agrinnall

Although others may disagree I haven't tried anything that is any better than MS Money, available to download free from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=20738.

Anthorn

I don't need to keep track because my spending is consistent and I finish every month with a surplus. The only time I might keep track is when I buy something and I make sure I can afford it. These days though I'm being frugal while I increase my mostly dead unless needed rainy day fund from £1000 to £3000.

[Deleted User]

Why not make a future-dated spreadsheet.

At the top, you have your "now" balance. Underneath, you have everything you're expecting to go out, and everything you're expecting to come in, with the relevant dates. Add formulas for a running balance at the end of each line.

That way, you can see what your finances will look like a day, week, or month from now, and how much leeway you have in terms of spending up to that date.

As you spend something, you'll decrease your "now" balance, and all your future balances will also go down as a result.

Tragen

Keep twice your monthly bills amount in your account. No real (for me, at least) need to keep a spreadsheet etc, just go over your statements every month to look for possible errors/fraud.

Andypandyboy

Organise all of your direct debits and standing orders to come out the day after you get paid. Then look at the balance and allocate a monthly amount for food/transport.

Nicholas

agrinnall wrote: »

Although others may disagree I haven't tried anything that is any better than MS Money, available to download free from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=20738.

Agreed. Been using MS Money for 16 years