How do you keep track of your spending

Apodemus

I’m pretty good with spreadsheets for many different, complex uses, but when it comes to my day-to-day finances I’ve found nothing that beats pen and paper and an old-fashioned ledger book.

yorkie3

I can recommend Money Manager on Android

bowlhead99

Apodemus wrote: »

I’m pretty good with spreadsheets for many different, complex uses, but when it comes to my day-to-day finances I’ve found nothing that beats pen and paper and an old-fashioned ledger book.

There is a certain elegant simplicity in pen and paper - but it's harder to copy-paste the figures there from your online statements.

The last personal finance software I used was Moneydance which if you like the 'ledger' style of bookkeeping is straightforward to use, and handles accounts in multiple currencies easily enough, which I needed - though it does cost $50. However after using it for a while I never got around to reinstalling it after a PC change; it had served its purpose in giving me a good idea of what I was spending on what, and tracking various accounts which I have since simplified after buying a property that I'd been saving towards.

This was about 5 years ago and I haven't gone back to it. A simple spreadsheet manually updated is fine if your affairs aren't complex and you want to know how much you have, rather than everything you've spent your money on to get there. If I wanted to track spending I would use software rather than relying on the automated systems you get with some banks or credit cards, as they will inevitably not have the categories you want or be customisable for reporting.

I do use a homemade spreadsheet to track investments - but don't update it very often as I can just use the broker/platform online statements for a snapshot of what something's worth. It's more for planning / performance review, which is not a daily or monthly task.

Apodemus

bowlhead99 wrote: »

There is a certain elegant simplicity in pen and paper - but it's harder to copy-paste the figures there from your online statements.

Indeed, but there is something therapeutic about taking the time to write it all out in a language that makes sense rather than bankingese!

Also, while I have household expenditure notes/diaries that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother wrote, I sadly can no longer access my own spreadsheets from the eighties and nineties - the era before I rediscovered pen and paper!

bowlhead99

Apodemus wrote: »

Also, while I have household expenditure notes/diaries that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother wrote, I sadly can no longer access my own spreadsheets from the eighties and nineties - the era before I rediscovered pen and paper!

If you had those old spreadsheets from the 80s I'm sure there would be some points of curiosity and nostalgia! My own grandmother has generally kept a diary over the decades (of what she did rather than what she spent) and now she's over 100 there is probably some stuff of historical interest in the old ones.

Still, while there may be some nostalgia or quirks of personal interest in pulling out the spending habits from a generation ago, there's not a huge amount of practical value. You probably have different tastes, preferences and priorities these days and likely spend a different proportion of your wealth on broadband internet than granny did back in 1930. A spreadsheet backed up with cloud storage can probably a more enduring record (if you want it to be) than a paper book which might get lost, stolen or burnt down...

louloubelle79

I use Moneydashboard app keeps track of spending and collates credit cards and other savings acct in one

Amoux

I use Google Sheets shared with my OH. I don't like too much granular detail when it comes to finances, so I have split my monthly expenses into three categories. Essentials, Savings and Investments, and Personal Spending. I split my income into those categories which I don't change month to month.

Essentials are things that I need to pay (like bills, rent, council tax) whereas personal spending are things I want (holiday, hobbys, restaurants, pub, entertainment etc).

We then pay for all essentials with a joint account which makes keeping track really easy as it's all in one account. Personal Spending is done on my own credit card and paid in full each month, and leftover money is rolled over into the highest interest current account. Savings and Investments are automatically transferred each month by standing order.

So really not much tracking needs to be done, as the categories have their own accounts and provided that it doesn't go over the allowance allocated then I don't care so much.

cloud_dog

Alexland wrote: »

I just don't really see the point when we are already fairly careful on how we spend the money in the first place. Some months we spend more on holidays, home improvements, etc but do why does it matter and what value would there be in categorising and calculating it precisely? We already invest a high proportion of our income and don't spend much overall so the detail seems like a waste of time. I just scan to check transactions look correct.

Alex

Two examples where it came in useful for me, and I'll acknowledge there are many ways to skin a cat).

First, noticed a gradual increase in food shopping bill (month on month). Additional individual purchases were being made, which when consolidated with usual food purchases were adding significantly to the overall food budget. Additionally, I noticed that the 'general' food shop was increasing (slowly). So, there were two aspects here, one was the additional purchases which were not being grouped under the food budget, giving a false impression of what we were spending on food. Secondly, there had been a slow migration from shopping at Aldi (excellent food by the way), back to more frequent (easy) trips to the local Tesco. Aldi is literally 200m further down the road but parking can be a bit of a pain.

Second (and this didn't need MS Money/transaction analysis but it caught my attention in the spending review), our energy usage costs were increasing. Turned out to be additional electricity usage which we were able to pin down and reduce.

evenasus

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

Quicken deluxe 2002, the last UK version that was available. Brilliant and simple. I tried MS Money and couldn't get on with it but do know loads swear by it

Another vote for Quicken, which I've used for years.
I don't know how I'd manage without it.

OldMusicGuy

I think anyone that said they don't track expenditure should be drummed off MSE after their forum badges have been ceremonially ripped off! ;)

I used to track expenditure when money was tight (younger years) but as my wages grew to a good level I didn't bother at a detailed level, because we never overspent our income and I was saving a reasonable amount. However, since retiring, our total monthly take home income has dropped by 70% and we are therefore reliant on pension drawdown and savings.

Now we do have a large DC pot and quite a lot of savings, but I don't want to start getting through that without tracking closely what we are spending. Here's an example; in the "not tracking expenditure days" I never paid attention to the price of petrol, I just filled up when necessary. Since retiring (and keeping a detailed budget) I found we were spending more on petrol than I had budgeted. That's due in large part to the fact I found out that filling up my classic car on 97 octane at the motorway services costs nearly 20p per litre more than using a local garage! I never knew that!! So on a typical day out to a car event, I might use around 30 to 40 litres of fuel which means I was wasting £6 to £8 for the "convenience" of using motorway services.

I now plan ahead and always fill up at local garages. That was an eye-opener for me and makes me glad I am in the MSE mindset. Maybe the mentality is different if you have more secure income streams like DB pensions and rental income, or are still working and have a good wage. Maybe I am also a tightwad in my old age....