Housekeeping money - am I stuck in a time warp ?

YorksLass

I wouldn't worry about what your work colleagues think, it's what works for you that counts.  As things are going, I can see more people moving over to cash or at least using cash more often and cards less.  I'm of an age that grew up without plastic money - you had physical cash and it was easy to see when to apply the spending brakes.

I'm not against progress and we do have DDs for things like rent, CT etc - so much easier than queueing to pay bills.  I budget a set amount each month for "housekeeping" ie groceries and other odds and ends.  Out of that, I have two online grocery deliveries per month paid for with my credit card that gets re-paid a couple of days after delivery (so no getting behind) and a small cash amount for in-between top-up shops.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

jings, used to be when men got paid cash on a Friday night, went to pub on way home, squared up their tab, few more pints, then home to wife, sometimes a fish supper on way home for the weans to share, then after keeping a few quid back to see himself over the weekend, the wife had to eek out whatever she got to feed family for rest of week.

Hard times then, but folks survived.

Fionatritton

Oh I'm not worried about what they think; they are always coming to me for money saving tips and I've already converted lots of them to TgTG, yellow stickers and recycled kitchens 😆 
I was just a bit surprised that apparently people just buy what they feel like without any concern to the cost

florianatwobob

Living with a couple of siblings we’ve adapted the housekeeping set up slightly we grew up with. 

Our mum used to deal in cash mostly (although I managed to her around to some direct debits as the 21st century progressed). We now have one account that I have sole control of (ooooh the power 😂 really must get round to changing it to a joint account some day - not that the others are bothered). All the online food shopping and bills come out of it, when we get paid our share of housekeeping goes in. I give the budget a once over periodically and housekeeping is adjusted accordingly. 

There’s a float in there of about £500 and a savings account attached to it for quick access in case of emergencies. It’s virtual but it’s effectively a housekeeping purse. 

mandy47

We've always had a housekeeping pot, well it's a jug actually. I've always found it easier to control.
A number of work colleagues have returned to this way wit the rise in costs.   

tooldle

I have a virtual pot. I am limited by what I can physically carry, unless the goods are delivered. Quite easy to stay within budget.

YoungBlueEyes

Where I used to live I drove to Lidl and did a full shop, but where I am now I can walk to Aldi. Sure cuts down the impulse buys when you’ve to carry it home!

JIL

I think everyone finds what works for them. 
I despair of my daughter sometimes when she thinks nothing of phoning a takeaway pizza for herself and friends, rather than cooking one which means the last week of the month she wouldn't need to borrow money from me for petrol to get to work.

I also watch colleagues I work with buying sandwiches every day and then struggling to pay bills. 

Although I probably did the same things myself in the past.

joedenise

JIL said:

I think everyone finds what works for them. 
I despair of my daughter sometimes when she thinks nothing of phoning a takeaway pizza for herself and friends, rather than cooking one which means the last week of the month she wouldn't need to borrow money from me for petrol to get to work.

I also watch colleagues I work with buying sandwiches every day and then struggling to pay bills. 

Although I probably did the same things myself in the past.

I think that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind @JIL - my DD1 used to do this many moons ago and in the end I had to tell her that she needed to stop borrowing from me because she couldn't get through the month on her money.  I did it over a period of a few months.  She started off borrowing £50 a month which I reduced by £10 a month over the next few months.

She eventually started budgeting to make sure she could still get to work.

I think sometimes we make things too easy for our children not to budget.

JIL

joedenise said:

JIL said:

I think everyone finds what works for them. 
I despair of my daughter sometimes when she thinks nothing of phoning a takeaway pizza for herself and friends, rather than cooking one which means the last week of the month she wouldn't need to borrow money from me for petrol to get to work.

I also watch colleagues I work with buying sandwiches every day and then struggling to pay bills. 

Although I probably did the same things myself in the past.

I think that sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind @JIL - my DD1 used to do this many moons ago and in the end I had to tell her that she needed to stop borrowing from me because she couldn't get through the month on her money.  I did it over a period of a few months.  She started off borrowing £50 a month which I reduced by £10 a month over the next few months.

She eventually started budgeting to make sure she could still get to work.

I think sometimes we make things too easy for our children not to budget.

I think my first line of my post gives my feelings, we all do what works for us.