A Little Advice Please

brednall

I currently log all my spends on a spreadsheet, usually every other day and every month I say to myself 'look how much extras you've wasted cash on'.

For next month, I am wondering if it's better to keep only DD monies in my account and withdraw most of the rest then separate it into shopping, etc at home.

Does anyone else do that and do you find it works for you?

Thanks

Emma

monetxchange

Absolutely works for me. Except I move a set budgeted amount of money for spending on groceries, travel etc in a Monzo account, rather than withdrawing it. Anything not needed for DDs/bills gets swept across into a savings fund or paid towards my debt. It really helps having the money gone and paid at the beginning of the month, rather than it seeping away!

EssexHebridean

OP - no specific comment on your post, but just a suggestion that it might be an idea to be cautious about how much extremely personal information you're sharing in your signature. There's a reason that mostly folk on here refer to sons/daughters as "DD" or "DS" etc - and similarly sharing full dates of birth is possibly a little unwise. Just an observation - obviously we all have our own thresholds, but bear in mind that at some stage they will both be at an age when they will need to start using things like their dates of birth in security information for various things...

brednall

EssexHebridean wrote: »

OP - no specific comment on your post, but just a suggestion that it might be an idea to be cautious about how much extremely personal information you're sharing in your signature. There's a reason that mostly folk on here refer to sons/daughters as "DD" or "DS" etc - and similarly sharing full dates of birth is possibly a little unwise. Just an observation - obviously we all have our own thresholds, but bear in mind that at some stage they will both be at an age when they will need to start using things like their dates of birth in security information for various things...

Thank you. When I first joined the forum, everyone had signatures like that. All changed now and hopefully back to the topic

enthusiasticsaver

I don't have a separate account I put spending money in but I set budgets on my clear checkbook for food, fuel, eating out and entertainment, living expenses and direct debits and move money into spending envelopes (cars, house, holidays, gifts) so I can see at a glance how much of the budget I have used so far that month and how much I have in the envelopes at any one time.

The envelopes carry forward each month so some months I spend nothing and others they are hit hard. The budgets reset monthly though.

EssexHebridean

brednall wrote: »

Thank you. When I first joined the forum, everyone had signatures like that. All changed now and hopefully back to the topic

Yes - we've definitely got more security conscious over the years, haven't we!

As far as your spends go, does your current account allow you to open separate internet only savings accounts off it? nationwide has that facility, so I have loads of them and have automated transfers which go out at the beginning of each month for car maintenance, holiday expenses, clothing spends, emergency fund - all sorts of things. That ensures that we do budget for everything we need to, and also that the money for those things goes off out of the current account at the start of the month so we don't spend it accidentaly.

On the spending on extras thing - how about each time you think about spending on something outside of your budget you stop and question yourself - do you need it? Do you have anything else that will do the job instead? Do you really want to spend that money on that thing - whatever it may be. If there are regular things that you find you spend on repeatedly maybe add up how much they are costing you for a full year - for example if you buy a magazine weekly for £5 - then over a year that's costing you £260 - a daily workday coffee is likely to be in the region of £700 in a year. Seeing the total figure is a lot more powerful than the individual spends.

brednall

EssexHebridean wrote: »

As far as your spends go, does your current account allow you to open separate internet only savings accounts off it? nationwide has that facility, so I have loads of them and have automated transfers which go out at the beginning of each month for car maintenance, holiday expenses, clothing spends, emergency fund - all sorts of things. That ensures that we do budget for everything we need to, and also that the money for those things goes off out of the current account at the start of the month so we don't spend it accidentaly.

On the spending on extras thing - how about each time you think about spending on something outside of your budget you stop and question yourself - do you need it? Do you have anything else that will do the job instead? Do you really want to spend that money on that thing - whatever it may be. If there are regular things that you find you spend on repeatedly maybe add up how much they are costing you for a full year - for example if you buy a magazine weekly for £5 - then over a year that's costing you £260 - a daily workday coffee is likely to be in the region of £700 in a year. Seeing the total figure is a lot more powerful than the individual spends.

I am with nationwide and never thought of that. I think cash for shopping would work better for me though. I don't buy anything regularly like coffees or takeaways but it tends to be bits and bobs in places like home bargains and places like that which add up quick.

EssexHebridean

A set weekly budget for groceries can work really well used in cash - as long as you remember that you don't *have* to spend all of it!

brednall

EssexHebridean wrote: »

A set weekly budget for groceries can work really well used in cash - as long as you remember that you don't *have* to spend all of it!

I used to budget £40 but I tend to do a slightly bigger shop for rhat but then I pop in and out for pack up items and milk etc. I'm going to look at averages from the last few months

Hillwalker11

We have separate accounts as follows,
Main account. Income and DD only
Cash account. Miscellaneous spending over the month.
Housekeeping. Food shopping
Christmas and Birthdays.
Emergency savings. Drip fed monthly, kept to around £2000 Mark. Used for replacement/repairs washing machine, fridge etc.
Excess left over goes into a Building Society savings account.

It is much better keeping HK etc separate, as you can see exactly what you are spending.The same system can work with cash , just put the cash into separate envelopes and use accordingly.

EssexHebridean

brednall wrote: »

I used to budget £40 but I tend to do a slightly bigger shop for rhat but then I pop in and out for pack up items and milk etc. I'm going to look at averages from the last few months

Sit down before you go shopping. Evaluate what you already have in, and what meals you can make using those things as a basis. Establish what is good value in Aldi's Super 6 or Lidl's Pick of the Week - other supermarkets also have "loss leader" schemes on fruit and veg. Then write your meal plan. Then work through the meal plan and add to the shopping list all the stuff you don't currently have. Include for any meals that you're preparing at home - so packed lunches etc. Make use of your freezer assuming you have one for some milk & bread - this reduces the need to "just pop in" to the shop to top up. Go shopping, by only the items on your list. The aim is to have to spend as little time as possible in shops, as if you're not in the shop you can't spend money there. if you DO have to top up then treat it the same way - establish what you actually need, write a list, and buy accordingly. If you find taking others with you when you shop drives up costs, then shop alone. (Or be prepared to be really tough!)

Saves you time, saves you money.