Where is my money going?!

queenofrandom

I am not in much debt, student loan, mortgage, and just over £6000 on my credit card. This however is still stressing me out as I always go into my overdraft every month, even though all my bills are as small as they can be! Obviously I am overspending elsewhere, invisible, scary spending if you will, and I can just see it getting worse instead of better.

My question is, what are your pro tips on tracking spending? Any apps, spreadsheets, notes that you can recommend? Methods of tracking, methods of stopping spending before you do it, 'mindful' spending?

a_silver_lining

I have an app on my phone, a spending tracker. I update it the moment I spend and review it before a purchase which is a want not a need. If I fancy a takeaway but am near my monthly budget limit, or have already spent a lot on takeaways then it can be enough to dissuade me.

Niv

You could do an SOA which may help (http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php). But what I do is download my bank statements from online banking onto a spreadsheet and review what has been spent and where. I find it really helpful if you want to have different 'pots' of money but kept in one account as you can colour code different types of expenses etc to help budget.

System

Firstly, post a SOA on here. Someone more helpful will be along shortly with the link.

Secondly, write EVERYTHING you spend down. In which ever way you find easiest. I used good old pen and paper. I found all our money was going on top up shops and eating out. I also went through any receipt I could find from the previous month and scrutinized every penny. It's amazing how much money we were wasting.

And thirdly, budget. A budget really is the key to avoid overspending. Everyone seems to rave about YNAB but I'm not a fan.

fatrab

When I started my journey on here the best 2 things for me were a spending diary and setting a weekly/monthly target for NSDs (No Spend Days). Spending tracker app is good if you don't mind the pop-up adverts.

Make a 3 or 4 day menu twice a week, create a shopping list from that menu and STICK TO IT! There's a book & website called the Savvy shoppers cookbook, great for ideas. Planning 3 or 4 days food at a time reduced the amount of waste food I had to virtually zero.

Another great tip is to wait 24 or 48 hours before you buy anything! If you see something you like, don't just buy it there and then. Go home, sleep on it, and if you still think you need it then go back and buy it.

In the first instance though, complete an SOA as suggested above. Be brutally honest. Share it on here and we'll suggest some areas that might be worth focussing on. You'll probably spot them yourself as you fill it in.
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Best wishes

Potbellypig

a_silver_lining wrote: »

I have an app on my phone, a spending tracker. I update it the moment I spend and review it before a purchase which is a want not a need. If I fancy a takeaway but am near my monthly budget limit, or have already spent a lot on takeaways then it can be enough to dissuade me.

Which app do you use?

[Deleted User]

queenofrandom wrote: »

I am not in much debt, student loan, mortgage, and just over £6000 on my credit card. This however is still stressing me out as I always go into my overdraft every month, even though all my bills are as small as they can be! Obviously I am overspending elsewhere, invisible, scary spending if you will, and I can just see it getting worse instead of better.

My question is, what are your pro tips on tracking spending? Any apps, spreadsheets, notes that you can recommend? Methods of tracking, methods of stopping spending before you do it, 'mindful' spending?

My method of mindful spending is quite simple.
I don't spend anything during the week - and i'll explain what I mean ……..


So, I work 5 days a week, start 8.30, get home 4.30.
In that period I have no money on me....
I don't need to buy anything as drink and lunch/snacks are already brought from home and are with me, petrol i buy once a week - so no need for any daily travel costs either....


This, for me, means that at the end of the week I haven't had any 'petty cash' costs and subsequently, I've not dipped into that weeks earnings.
I'm making it sound easy and simple and it is, it's not complicated at all.
I read, on here, how some people spend some money every day and when I try and think how I could apply it to my own situation it scares me just how easy it can be to have spent £5 or more every single day.


For some who have public transport costs - take that exact amount of cash with you, or buy tickets upfront etc, etc, etc. have nothing on you and you can't spend it - and if you're a compulsive spender, the more you take, the more you'll spend.


Regarding socialising and spending:
I would go out on a Friday evening, or a Saturday or Sunday lunchtime - just 1 of those, i'm a real home-lover but I can see how the people that like to socialise heavily would find my choice of lifestyle crippling - each to our own !

MrsPorridge

Catsacor wrote: »

My method of mindful spending is quite simple.
I don't spend anything during the week - and i'll explain what I mean ……..


So, I work 5 days a week, start 8.30, get home 4.30.
In that period I have no money on me....
I don't need to buy anything as drink and lunch/snacks are already brought from home and are with me, petrol i buy once a week - so no need for any daily travel costs either....


This, for me, means that at the end of the week I haven't had any 'petty cash' costs and subsequently, I've not dipped into that weeks earnings.
I'm making it sound easy and simple and it is, it's not complicated at all.
I read, on here, how some people spend some money every day and when I try and think how I could apply it to my own situation it scares me just how easy it can be to have spent £5 or more every single day.


For some who have public transport costs - take that exact amount of cash with you, or buy tickets upfront etc, etc, etc. have nothing on you and you can't spend it - and if you're a compulsive spender, the more you take, the more you'll spend.


Regarding socialising and spending:
I would go out on a Friday evening, or a Saturday or Sunday lunchtime - just 1 of those, i'm a real home-lover but I can see how the people that like to socialise heavily would find my choice of lifestyle crippling - each to our own !

Its a good idea - but I always take my debit card with me - I'm afraid that something unexpected might happen and I need to pay for an emergency - having said that it's never happened!

Thrice

I kept every single receipt for a full month, and I wrote a post it for anything that I didn't have or couldn't get a receipt for (like milk from the corner shop etc).

I wrote the whole lot out in date order, and I was actually shocked at how much money I was spending! I always thought my spending was at the weekend, the lunch out when I was shopping for clothes I didn't need or makeup I'll never wear. Turns out I was frittering pounds and pounds every day! Nipping to Morrisons for a sandwich at lunch time and buying a new top and extra food that I didn't need.

The next month, I lifted money from the bank on payday for my grocery shopping. Bought wee brown envelopes and put £50 into each envelope for ALL food, toiletries, dog food etc etc. If we ate it, drank it or sprayed it, it came out of that weeks envelope.

I joined up to the Bring your lunch to work thread, and I made lunch every single day for me and DH out of the grocery spending money. NO lunchtime trips to the supermarket or anywhere else.

I've also started only paying at the pump when fuelling up, no trips into the small shop and picking anything up.

And that first month I put £300 into my savings account. An actual whole £300 that I hadn't frittered away!!

For October I'm going to cut down on screen time at home after work. Sounds bonkers, it's nothing to do with money saving, is it?? Well, another trend I noticed was my amazon app spending in the evenings! Watching TV, getting bored or distracted and sitting on my phone. Next day a package turns up at work...... Oh I forgot about that! :o:o Needs to stop, and October is going to be the month for it!

I'm loving Catsacor's thing though, simply leaving the cards at home! Sounds amazingly simple, but it's probably life changing for some people!

Potbellypig

Catsacor wrote: »

My method of mindful spending is quite simple.
I don't spend anything during the week - and i'll explain what I mean ……..


So, I work 5 days a week, start 8.30, get home 4.30.
In that period I have no money on me....
I don't need to buy anything as drink and lunch/snacks are already brought from home and are with me, petrol i buy once a week - so no need for any daily travel costs either....


This, for me, means that at the end of the week I haven't had any 'petty cash' costs and subsequently, I've not dipped into that weeks earnings.
I'm making it sound easy and simple and it is, it's not complicated at all.
I read, on here, how some people spend some money every day and when I try and think how I could apply it to my own situation it scares me just how easy it can be to have spent £5 or more every single day.


For some who have public transport costs - take that exact amount of cash with you, or buy tickets upfront etc, etc, etc. have nothing on you and you can't spend it - and if you're a compulsive spender, the more you take, the more you'll spend.


Regarding socialising and spending:
I would go out on a Friday evening, or a Saturday or Sunday lunchtime - just 1 of those, i'm a real home-lover but I can see how the people that like to socialise heavily would find my choice of lifestyle crippling - each to our own !

My midweek after work/school hours:
Monday - x1 child gymnastics class
Tuesday - x1 kid football training
Wednesday - darts/snooker night
Thursday - x2 kids swimming lesson
Friday - 5 a side football

Good luck spending nothing in the week Potbellypig.

poppasmurf_bewdley

queenofrandom wrote: »

I am not in much debt, student loan, mortgage, and just over £6000 on my credit card. This however is still stressing me out as I always go into my overdraft every month, even though all my bills are as small as they can be! Obviously I am overspending elsewhere, invisible, scary spending if you will, and I can just see it getting worse instead of better.

My question is, what are your pro tips on tracking spending? Any apps, spreadsheets, notes that you can recommend? Methods of tracking, methods of stopping spending before you do it, 'mindful' spending?

I think the first thing you need to do is get out of the mindset that you're not in much debt, as you say in your first line.

You have a student loan, a mortgage and £6k on your CC.

You're in hock up to your neck, and until you re-adjust your attitude you'll stay that way.

Others have offered advice on how to trim your spending, but only you can stop the spending. You need to know the difference between needing and wanting, which I'm sure you already know.