How do you track your finances?

Organgrinder

Alnat1 said:

Badly = me?. I have no spreadsheet. I don't have pension pots, spending pots, multiple savings accounts. I don't need to keep recalculating and jiggling money around. I just spend on what I fancy, when I feel like it.

From reading these threads it appears to me the more money you have, the more time you spend doing "maths" and the more you worry that you won't have enough 

Each unto their own. They say attitudes towards money are mostly developed in childhood. For me, that meant we never had much. We certainly could never spend on what we fancied. As my Dad said when I said I had my eye on a new bike....."you can have your eye on it, but you won't be getting your backside on it".

(I never had a new bike by the way - we couldn't afford them).

Doing the maths for me, takes minutes. If it means I can buy something I'd otherwise not be able to afford then great.

dreaming

Organgrinder said:

Alnat1 said:

Badly = me?. I have no spreadsheet. I don't have pension pots, spending pots, multiple savings accounts. I don't need to keep recalculating and jiggling money around. I just spend on what I fancy, when I feel like it.

From reading these threads it appears to me the more money you have, the more time you spend doing "maths" and the more you worry that you won't have enough 

Each unto their own. They say attitudes towards money are mostly developed in childhood. For me, that meant we never had much. We certainly could never spend on what we fancied. As my Dad said when I said I had my eye on a new bike....."you can have your eye on it, but you won't be getting your backside on it".

(I never had a new bike by the way - we couldn't afford them).

Doing the maths for me, takes minutes. If it means I can buy something I'd otherwise not be able to afford then great.

I often wonder where "attitudes towards money" come from. I come from a poorish background, and being the youngest of 3 rarely had anything new. My August birthday presents were often things for the coming school year, and Christmas also sa a lot of useful presents such as pyjamas, slippers, etc., although we did all get 1 main present each. My brother (the eldest) worked hard to build his own business and is fairly well-off now and lives according to his means with several holidays a year (both UK and abroad), and he loves really good clothes and wines. My sister was absolutely terrible with money, and lived paycheck to paycheck on her just-about minimum wage job until she sadly died with not a penny to her name. For me, after a bit of a false start by marrying a man who didn't seem to understand that the money in the bank was for bills and not for treating your friends to a curry after a Friday night out on the town, control is the key. I was fortunate to have a well-paid job (in finance) and after my divorce I put everything into paying off my mortgage early and then topping up pension contributions. I'm retired now and possibly better-off than I have ever been but I still keep my spreadsheets and various bank accounts and credit cards in order. It doesn't take more than a couple of hours a month as it quite streamlined and my outgoings tend to be quite routine now, although I do have a "mad-money" savings pot for the occasional splurge. My brother thinks I worry about money too much. I think I just like to control where my money is going so that I don't have to worry about it all the time as I did when I was much younger.

Alnat1

dreaming said:

Organgrinder said:

Alnat1 said:

Badly = me?. I have no spreadsheet. I don't have pension pots, spending pots, multiple savings accounts. I don't need to keep recalculating and jiggling money around. I just spend on what I fancy, when I feel like it.

From reading these threads it appears to me the more money you have, the more time you spend doing "maths" and the more you worry that you won't have enough 

Each unto their own. They say attitudes towards money are mostly developed in childhood. For me, that meant we never had much. We certainly could never spend on what we fancied. As my Dad said when I said I had my eye on a new bike....."you can have your eye on it, but you won't be getting your backside on it".

(I never had a new bike by the way - we couldn't afford them).

Doing the maths for me, takes minutes. If it means I can buy something I'd otherwise not be able to afford then great.

I often wonder where "attitudes towards money" come from. I come from a poorish background, and being the youngest of 3 rarely had anything new. My August birthday presents were often things for the coming school year, and Christmas also sa a lot of useful presents such as pyjamas, slippers, etc., although we did all get 1 main present each. My brother (the eldest) worked hard to build his own business and is fairly well-off now and lives according to his means with several holidays a year (both UK and abroad), and he loves really good clothes and wines. My sister was absolutely terrible with money, and lived paycheck to paycheck on her just-about minimum wage job until she sadly died with not a penny to her name. For me, after a bit of a false start by marrying a man who didn't seem to understand that the money in the bank was for bills and not for treating your friends to a curry after a Friday night out on the town, control is the key. I was fortunate to have a well-paid job (in finance) and after my divorce I put everything into paying off my mortgage early and then topping up pension contributions. I'm retired now and possibly better-off than I have ever been but I still keep my spreadsheets and various bank accounts and credit cards in order. It doesn't take more than a couple of hours a month as it quite streamlined and my outgoings tend to be quite routine now, although I do have a "mad-money" savings pot for the occasional splurge. My brother thinks I worry about money too much. I think I just like to control where my money is going so that I don't have to worry about it all the time as I did when I was much younger.

Just to say, we live on around 25K a year, so when I say we spend on what we fancy, we aren't the sort to fancy a month in the Maldives at an all inclusive 5 star resort! 

We prefer a good home cooked meal to takeaways, a nice long walk to a night at the pub. We're not the type to want branded goods, the latest gadgets etc. We do however have several holidays a year, UK and abroad. 

We've always lived within our means (32 years of marriage) so it's habit , we don't need lists, pots and spreadsheets to know how much we can spend.

BrilliantButScary

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

Organgrinder

Absolutely fabulous post .... And scarily accurate.

dreaming

BrilliantButScary said:

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

Very interesting and true, although we weren't even lower middle class - more lower working class, and unfortunately my dad wasn't that good with money. Although he always worked we would often run out of food by Thursday (payday was Friday) and I would be sent round the shop to get some stuff "on tick". Sadly my mum died when I was little which added to the problem as my dad was not a cook by any means, and from what I do remember of her, she was the money manager. I can remember her sorting my dad's wages into a divided tin - rent/gas/electric/food etc. - and as I was the youngest and not started school then I sat with her and learned to count. Maybe that had as much bearing on my attitude as the lack of money.

Alnat1

dreaming said:

BrilliantButScary said:

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

Very interesting and true, although we weren't even lower middle class - more lower working class, and unfortunately my dad wasn't that good with money. Although he always worked we would often run out of food by Thursday (payday was Friday) and I would be sent round the shop to get some stuff "on tick". Sadly my mum died when I was little which added to the problem as my dad was not a cook by any means, and from what I do remember of her, she was the money manager. I can remember her sorting my dad's wages into a divided tin - rent/gas/electric/food etc. - and as I was the youngest and not started school then I sat with her and learned to count. Maybe that had as much bearing on my attitude as the lack of money.

My brother is the total opposite to me, he's always earned plenty but spends it as fast as it comes in. Never has any savings, borrows to fund expensive 5 star holidays, brand new cars, gadgets etc. He's self employed and hasn't put any money in a pension. Only 2 years between us and we were brought up in a stable 2 parent household with fairly low income.

I would say the main thing that influenced him was his peers during his teens. He had a couple of mates from well off families and wanted that lifestyle. He's what we call a "ten bob millionaire".

dreaming

Alnat1 said:

dreaming said:

BrilliantButScary said:

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

Very interesting and true, although we weren't even lower middle class - more lower working class, and unfortunately my dad wasn't that good with money. Although he always worked we would often run out of food by Thursday (payday was Friday) and I would be sent round the shop to get some stuff "on tick". Sadly my mum died when I was little which added to the problem as my dad was not a cook by any means, and from what I do remember of her, she was the money manager. I can remember her sorting my dad's wages into a divided tin - rent/gas/electric/food etc. - and as I was the youngest and not started school then I sat with her and learned to count. Maybe that had as much bearing on my attitude as the lack of money.

My brother is the total opposite to me, he's always earned plenty but spends it as fast as it comes in. Never has any savings, borrows to fund expensive 5 star holidays, brand new cars, gadgets etc. He's self employed and hasn't put any money in a pension. Only 2 years between us and we were brought up in a stable 2 parent household with fairly low income.

I would say the main thing that influenced him was his peers during his teens. He had a couple of mates from well off families and wanted that lifestyle. He's what we call a "ten bob millionaire".

My brother has worked hard for his money (still works part-time at 76) and apart from enjoying it himself is actually very generous with both money and his time. The funny thing is that one minute he is wondering why I don't book a cruise, or go on holiday with him and his wife but then the other day I was saying that I was getting a quote for new kitchen flooring and he thinks I shouldn't waste my money even though I have lived with mismatched, uneven flooring for some years since I had some work done, and have a savings pot specifically for this. I always say it's big brother/little sister dynamics even though we are both in our 70s! I will get the flooring replaced regardless as it's (hopefully) the last major job required on the house and will make cleaning etc. easier as well as looking nice.

mummytummy

BrilliantButScary said:

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

My childhood to a tee!

middlewife

mummytummy said:

BrilliantButScary said:

'Because financial insecurity leaves an imprint that you never forget' (quote from the article below)

https://vegoutmag.com/lifestyle/k-8-things-lower-middle-class-boomers-never-got-to-experience-as-kids/

My childhood to a tee!

Me too! I enjoyed reading that, my husband nodding vigorously as I read it out....