Keep calm and carry on....

Cheery_Daff

Yes it pretty much is a paper spreadsheet 😂 but isn't a spreadsheet basically just an electronic accounts book? Mine are at any rate, I never do anything complicated with them!

I track everything but only because I use YNAB, and even then I confess I've got a bit slack about tracking cash, mostly don't use much these days anyway.

killerpeaty

How dare you point out my hipocracy!   

South_coast

I guess it is a paper spreadsheet 🤣! Except I triple-check my adding, rather than just assuming Excel has worked it out correctly for me!

greenbee

South_coast said:

greenbee said:

I find the best way to reduce grocery spending is to reduce the amount I eat… there are additional benefits to this!

LOL, love this 🤣!

I keep all my accounts by pen and paper in an A4 book, money in at the top of the page, money out below (much easier since I just do a monthly transfer to spending pots, rather than documenting every transaction as I used to 😮!) The books last years, so I have them going back to when I was at Uni - when my expenditure and creative accounting was hilarious 🤣! Now that I also track my monthly "Money Needed" figure (to FI and a liveable home) I have that on the facing page - money needed at the top, minus the money I already have below, with the balance at the bottom being the amount I still need. I do have a mild urge to create a Money Needed graph, but it's easily suppressed 🤣!

My dad kept accounts his entire life, and I still have them. In the couple of days before he died he got me to do a whole lot of banking for him - including transferring everything then left in his account to my mum's account the night before he died so she wouldn't be short while the NHS faffed about sorting out her pension. He knew how much I struggle with accounts (having tried to get me to keep them properly during my teens and 20s) so told me I needed to fill in the final transactions and close them. Which I did.

He did also suggest that I work out how much money he'd spent over his lifetime... I'm not sure I'll do that, but I will keep the books as they may be interesting at some point. 

greent

greenbee said:

My dad kept accounts his entire life, and I still have them. In the couple of days before he died he got me to do a whole lot of banking for him - including transferring everything then left in his account to my mum's account the night before he died so she wouldn't be short while the NHS faffed about sorting out her pension. He knew how much I struggle with accounts (having tried to get me to keep them properly during my teens and 20s) so told me I needed to fill in the final transactions and close them. Which I did.

He did also suggest that I work out how much money he'd spent over his lifetime... I'm not sure I'll do that, but I will keep the books as they may be interesting at some point. 

What a fab piece of social history! If you ever decided to pass them kn outside of family then a museum may be interested in them 

LadyWithAPlan

South_coast said:

I'm going to make a confession now, but very quietly as it might get me thrown out of MSE....I don't use spreadsheets at all outside of work 😳 (and I still became MF 🤣) So the grocery tracking was by way of keeping a draft email running with each item noted down from the receipts and then adding the new amounts on after each shop. It's the same way I track my free money every month. Everything was included, even the washing up brush and shower gel I didn't buy from the supermarket, because I would have counted them as groceries if I did, so thought I'd better count them even though I didn't 🤣!

Dear Lord, I had to lie down and have a cup of tea and a biscuit for the shock...

If we are in SA (Spreadsheet Anon)  I will admit I actually do a monthly paper budget, not a spreadsheet -  I really like to scribble things and cross them out.. I also have them going back a fair while.. However I never look back on them once all the money is allocated to the pots as I draw those down.

So in order though to push my house savings up I have however now built a very simple G sheet  for MFW with tabs for House savings, future mortgage  OP calculator and my freelance SOA &  a future SOA for my future mortgage payment with CT and Service charges.  I had to do this on a G sheet as I am freelance and looking at those expenses part covered by work eg part my rent and travel, the taxes ... was complicated.. I am planning to update the house savings pots from the TTs and the pension SIPPS though once a month as a round up.

This way I can look back each month and  be motivated by seeing how much I have saved for my house, how (so surveys, income, TTs, cashback,  sticking to my budgets and also how the balances on my SIPPs move monthly. 

I will join you on the food tracking next month, though expect much anguish when I look at my monthly sweets and crisps purchases. I may have to ruin my NSD tomorrow to get a pack in upfront!

South_coast

The sweets and crisps could end up like your other spending has done though - you can't bear to declare it, so don't do the spending in the first place 🤣!

South_coast

Right, time for an August round-up....

Free money - target £79.21

£0.23 bank account interest
£2.00 Storewards 
£2.75 cashed-in Boots points
£5.00 Online forum about savings
£5.00 Huyu
£5.00 cashed-in Nectar points
£10.00 Shop & Scan
£10.00 Consumer Pulse
£20.00 i-Say
£25.00 One Poll
£26.54 Prolific

Total £111.52

September target = £71.14

South_coast

Monthly goals: 

South_coast said:

Money....
* Save up £4k to transfer into the LISA at the start of the new tax year - This will earn me the maximum bonus of £1k for The Future and the overall "money needed" figure - Achieved 🧚‍♀️
* Once I have the £4k ready, pile all money into the mortgage - Simples! - Achieved 🧚‍♀️
* No clothes purchases, except for work clothes, underwear and tights - I don't have loads of clothes, but I definitely have enough and they're all in decent enough condition. The exceptions are to a) make sure I look professional and b) ensure public decency, so are sensible enough omissions! - I bought two pairs of jeans 😮! In my defence, this is entirely ruby_eskimo's fault for mentioning Oasis, as I thought I'd have a little browse and found they had a massive sale on 🤣 Most of it got sent back, so I ended up with £9.00 + £11.70 + £3.99 delivery = not too dreadful. Can't actually remember the last time I bought jeans either (got to be at least 5-6 years, plus I'm still wearing a pair I got in my last year of Uni - so 2005/2006 - so they were probably needed 🤣!) On the downside, I have now spent several weeks finding sequins on the floor which came off the tops I sent back 🙄 And I didn't get refunded for two items in the parcel again, so I'm locked back in an email battle 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Online shopping was much easier before Boohoo bought everyone 🙁!
* 1% of monthly salary to be donated to local homeless charity - Rolled over from 2020, as not yet a habit - Diarised for when I get paid tomorrow

2021, the year of health....
* Buy a 12-month prescription pre-payment certificate - I have been guilty of not using my inhalers at the prescribed dose to save on prescription charges in the past, so this feels sensible and grown-up. It will also save me money overall - Yep, done
* Act promptly on health concerns - No more ignoring back/chest pain for two weeks and telling myself it's down to sleeping on a lumpy mattress (although this did at least prompt me to buy a loooovely mattress topper 🤣!) - None to act on, but I did get a clean bill of health from the dentist 👍
* Continue to minimise alcohol consumption - No explanation needed here, I think! - I bought two bottles of wine, and there's a good glass left in each. I'll finish the red today though as that won't keep. I've also had two glasses of wine in pubs/restaurants. Happy with that for a month
* Avoid all processed sugar - I'm not going to refuse birthday cake if someone has taken the time to bake it, but I'm not going to go looking for it either. The same goes for biscuits, chocolate etc - I had to substitute tomato ketchup for tomato puree when I'd run out and was making a pizza. Nothing other than that - including ignoring chocolates at work 😀
* Take steps to minimise processed food - A bit tricky as I'm veggie (I do eat fish, but not at home - mostly to make it easier for other people catering for me), so I can't just base meals round a piece of meat, but some of the meat-alternative products don't feel very natural so I'm trying to cut those out as much as possible. Just need to make sure I leave myself something to eat! - Nothing at all this month
* Exercise outdoors once a week and indoors once a week - I know this will sound really lame to you fit lot, but I have to start somewhere and also try and keep it achievable - I think I'm a week or two ahead on outdoors now 😀😀😀 Indoors retired during July

Pretty happy with that. A- for August, I think 😀

South_coast

And an inspirational quote (courtesy of Afford Anything)