Spending diary

redmel1621

After a long, time consuming look at our spending over the last 3mths it is apparent we are massively overspending, so I want to keep a spending diary this month as I think it might help to 'stop' us spending. If we have to log it, we might not buy it.

How have people found the best way to do this... note pad/phone and do you write loads of detail about who spent the money, the time, date, what the spend was on... or do you just write a date and value?

I can't decide how to approach this, having never done anything like it before.

Willing2Learn

I use the budget categories of my ynab monthly budget as my spending diary. For instance, I know I wasted £5.20 on chocolate bars eaten while doing grocery shopping lol

redmel1621

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I use the budget categories of my ynab monthly budget as my spending diary. For instance, I know I wasted £5.20 on chocolate bars eaten while doing grocery shopping lol

I'm still resisting YNAB at the minute. Work is too up in the air at the minute and I can't be bothered with setting it all up and having to change it all. Once things are more stable, I might give it another bash.

I hope they were top quality for £5.20! I'm a big meany and will only buy the 'four for a quid' chocolate bars lol.

DawnW

I just use an actual paper diary. Keep all my receipts, and fill in spends when I get home. If you don't have a diary, any old notebook will do

a_silver_lining

App on my phone. I always have my phone with me and so just type it in when paying so it is always done. I make my own categories, such as shopping, gifts etc.

tlc678910

redmel1621 wrote: »

I'm still resisting YNAB at the minute. Work is too up in the air at the minute and I can't be bothered with setting it all up and having to change it all. Once things are more stable, I might give it another bash.

I hope they were top quality for £5.20! I'm a big meany and will only buy the 'four for a quid' chocolate bars lol.

Hi, you might not want to pay for YNAB at the minute and that's fair enough. I still use the old version purchased for a one off fee rather than the new subscription model, but I just wanted to say you wouldn't need to change particularly anything if you move jobs.

You set up your categories like rent/mortgage, food, fuel childcare and when you receive money (from wages/benefits/anywhere else) you add that money to the model at the time you receive it and fund your categories the amount you wish.

For e.g. In sept you might tap in £1000 income (made up of 600 wages and 400 benefits) and decide to distribute this this 200 to food, 500 to rent, 100 council tax etc until it is gone. You needed no childcare or fuel so you didn't fund these categories.

In Oct you might have a new job and when you get paid add £1300 all from wages. Again you fund your categories and this time because of your new job you do need to allocate funds to the childcare and fuel categories.

You have received different amounts of money and allocated it to different categories but the model: rent, food, tv licence, saving for a sports car doesn't change.

If you do want to make a change e.g. you get Netflix and want to add this category to your bills you can easily add a category or edit a heading e.g. Sky tv to Netflix and when you receive money just choose to allocate whatever is the correct amount.

Hope that is clear as mud
Tlc

Potbellypig

redmel1621 wrote: »

After a long, time consuming look at our spending over the last 3mths it is apparent we are massively overspending, so I want to keep a spending diary this month as I think it might help to 'stop' us spending. If we have to log it, we might not buy it.

How have people found the best way to do this... note pad/phone and do you write loads of detail about who spent the money, the time, date, what the spend was on... or do you just write a date and value?

I can't decide how to approach this, having never done anything like it before.

Excel spreadsheet.

Lydia42

tlc678910 wrote: »

Hi, you might not want to pay for YNAB at the minute and that's fair enough. I still use the old version purchased for a one off fee rather than the new subscription model, but I just wanted to say you wouldn't need to change particularly anything if you move jobs.

You set up your categories like rent/mortgage, food, fuel childcare and when you receive money (from wages/benefits/anywhere else) you add that money to the model at the time you receive it and fund your categories the amount you wish.

For e.g. In sept you might tap in £1000 income (made up of 600 wages and 400 benefits) and decide to distribute this this 200 to food, 500 to rent, 100 council tax etc until it is gone. You needed no childcare or fuel so you didn't fund these categories.

In Oct you might have a new job and when you get paid add £1300 all from wages. Again you fund your categories and this time because of your new job you do need to allocate funds to the childcare and fuel categories.

You have received different amounts of money and allocated it to different categories but the model: rent, food, tv licence, saving for a sports car doesn't change.

If you do want to make a change e.g. you get Netflix and want to add this category to your bills you can easily add a category or edit a heading e.g. Sky tv to Netflix and when you receive money just choose to allocate whatever is the correct amount.

Hope that is clear as mud
Tlc

Great info. For day to day spends do you have a miscellaneous budget and just deduct from that? I'm also dabbling with YNAB and wondering how to track the day to day bits - unlike the fixed bills, its my day to day stuff i forget to keep a check on. :rotfl:

Willing2Learn

redmel1621 wrote: »

I hope they were top quality for £5.20! I'm a big meany and will only buy the 'four for a quid' chocolate bars lol.

That is £5.20 for the whole month lol...although I could easily munch the lot in one go....mmm...chocolate

Lydia42 wrote: »

For day to day spends do you have a miscellaneous budget and just deduct from that? I'm also dabbling with YNAB and wondering how to track the day to day bits - unlike the fixed bills, its my day to day stuff i forget to keep a check on. :rotfl:

You just set up a category for each type of spend. So, going back to the chocolate, I separate that out from the 'grocery' category and it gets added to my "sandwich, latte & snacks" category. Every penny needs to be tracked, and it's good to itemise it out, so you know where money is being wasted. I used to spend well over £150/month on snacks and I've cut it down to less than a tenner. I also have a separate category for "fast food lazy dinners"...

Working_Mum

I have used a notebook for the last 7 years!! I do two things with it - I balance the cash in my purse at the back (so always know how much is in there) and write up all other spends in the front i.e cash, debit card, payment from internet banking - I hi-lite payments made using my debit card so I can see if I have to account for it coming from my bank account. I then hi-lite it in pink when the payment has gone out of my account.

I occasionally use my credit card and operate the same system hi-lite to say I have used my card and then hi-lite again in blue to say I have repaid it.

I have columns for fuel, food, kids school spends, kids "other" spends and "other spends.

I now have years of these journals and have called upon them to confirm when I have paid stuff. They helped use up my stationery hoard when I first did my cupboard audit!

I get up twenty mins earlier each day to sort my receipts etc and it's a great way to start my day, in control of my pennies and no nasty surprises around the corner!

brila

People who use YNAB - do you use a debit card for everything? Or cash for everything? How would you manage using both payment sources?



I used to keep a paper account of payments in and out and a running balance - but haven't been keeping my eye on the ball for a few years. Need to get back on the wagon now! Irregular incomes here, so ynab could be useful. I like the idea of allocating the money that comes in to different areas and getting ahead in that respect.