Budgeting

mood

Hi Ladies,

I'm trying to work out a budget and need to stick to it! Any advice? Are there any online budget planner or something to keep track of income/spending?

pampootie

I use an excel spreadsheet. Income one column, regular bills next column, misc spending next, running total down the end. I actually get such a nerdy kick out of using it! Although I was slightly horrified to learn that about 100 of my money disappears each month without me ever being able to account for it, I'm obviously just buying nonsense with it!

mood

pampootie wrote: »

I use an excel spreadsheet. Income one column, regular bills next column, misc spending next, running total down the end. I actually get such a nerdy kick out of using it! Although I was slightly horrified to learn that about 100 of my money disappears each month without me ever being able to account for it, I'm obviously just buying nonsense with it!

Coffee/newspaper/magazine etc here and there might account for that! I tried the same before but always forgot one or two expenses! I found budgeting advice online once and they had a great breakdown of things but I can't remember where I saw it! I think it even calculated it online which was a great idea.

pampootie

Mabs website maybe? I've downloaded a couple of apps for my phone but didn't like them much, there's loads there though

Augmerson

I was trying to do some budgeting earlier on, no Excel though. Just calculator, pen and paper. Like Pampootie, it's frightening to realise that you can't account for large sums of money sometimes. I blame going out for beers and my addiction to Twister ice creams. I want to get my finances in order soon though because I want to save up for a new digital Camera.

southsiderosie

For me the best way to make a budget is in Excel - I have my monthly income, then I list out all of my monthly bills and transfers into savings, then whatever I have left is my discretionary income.

I've found that the best way to stick to a budget - i.e. the really hard part! - is to stick to using cash only for purchases. I pay all of my bills online, write my rent check, and make all of my transfers to savings on the last day of the month (when I get paid), so I never 'see' most of my income. From then on, I put $20 in a kitty for household expenses, and take out a set amount of money for the week every Thursday afternoon for groceries and pocket money. If I blow it all drinking on Friday night, well, I will be stuck eating ramen noodles for the week. And if I have some left over, I sock it away, or go crazy the next week,haha. But the best thing you can do is PUT YOUR DEBIT CARD AWAY; it makes it FAR too easy to spend money without thinking about it. Believe me, when your last twenty-dollar bill is sitting forlornly in your wallet on Tuesday afternoon, it becomes a lot easier to say no to that Starbucks latte!

I've also removed my billing information from online retailers, since - again - it is WAY too easy to spend money without thinking about it on Amazon or other sites with 'One Click' ordering.

pampootie

southsiderosie wrote: »

I've also removed my billing information from online retailers, since - again - it is WAY too easy to spend money without thinking about it on Amazon or other sites with 'One Click' ordering.

Amazon is my downfall. I'll go looking for something to bring the order up to 25 for free delivery and an hour later I'm placing an order for 90 quid worth of stuff!

Funny, i spend more when using cash than my laser. I was saving hard for something in June and July, used almost nothing but laser. I think it's because I can see exactly what I spent where on my online banking, whereas cash comes out of the atm and disappears into a black hole. The only time I prefer cash is when I go out, decide beforehand what I want to spend and only bring that with me

southsiderosie

pampootie wrote: »

The only time I prefer cash is when I go out, decide beforehand what I want to spend and only bring that with me

That's essentially what I do for the week: I only take out a set amount, and if I run out, then I run out. I do my grocery shopping when I withdraw funds, so I won't starve, and I pre-pay for my bus pass at the beginning of the month, so I can get around (although I usually cycle anyway). If I am going out, I try to only take part of my weekly allocation with me so I won't spend it all, and then I also try to take the bus or cycle home instead of spending $10 on a taxi.

I should add that I live on a student stipend, so I don't have much choice about being strict with my budget!

Dolbert

Quicken is what I use, very handy for budgeting.

Toast4532

After reading this thread I decided to calculate all the money I spent on food this week, just over E90. I am dumbfounded.

I honestly cannot believe the amount I have spent on food this week alone.

From this week onward's I will be doing what you guys do, making a budget and sticking to it.

I have a very bad habit of doing the food shopping without a list and then forgetting things and going back in another day to get them and then getting more things I don't need, but just pick up anyway without thinking.

Little Acorn

I just find a pen, paper and calculator the best job. Quick and easy to edit.
Can be done weekly if necessary. When I'm doing a weekly budget, I usually use this time to also write a shopping list., and make a rough meal plan for the week.
If I'm tight on cash a certain week, I will carry a little notebook and write down every single purchase I make, be it a bag of crisps or a litre of milk or whatever. All these little things add up, and sometimes when I think I've lost money, a quick check of this list will show me that everything is in fact accounted for.

I have two student loans which I have to pay every week so they are instantly subtracted.
I divide the average esb bill by 8(weeks) then I half that amount as sharing with one other. This small amount then gets put aside each week.
Same goes for upc and sky. Bill divided by 4, then halved again and this is the amount put aside for these each week.

Will look up special offers online for food shopping. I am very lucky that Dunnes, Lidl, and Aldi are all extremely close together where I live so will often go to at least two of them in the one shop.

Stench Blossoms

I use Google Spreadsheets.

It keeps growing and growing and growing.

I've got the usual Income & Expenditure but expenditure is comprised of other sheets such as groceries, misc, credit card etc.

I update it every day and know exactly how much money I have.

Malari

I am so happy lots of people use spreadsheets to track their spending! I have used Excel to do it for years and thought I was weird and anal for doing it ;-)

I stick in all the direct debits and standing orders for every month, then my savings going out, and all the annual big spends like insurance, motor tax, etc. Then I split it into about 10 categories and can see what I'm spending on and how much I can afford to save each month.

ash23

If your main expense is food then you're the same as me. What I did was a menu for the week, deciding what we were eating for all meals for the whole week.
Then I did a shopping list getting exactly what was needed. No more and no less. Paid by laser card and then left my laser card at home. So I had no cash to speak of (a few euro just in case) and wouldn't touch my laser card or my bank account for the rest of the week.
It meant having to bring lunch with me to work and made me a bit more organised but it saved me a fair bit of money.

Toast4532

I've downloaded this tool to help me get started with my budgeting, but it's monthly rather than weekly which I need. Are there any tried and tested week budget downloads that you can recommend?

http://www.youneedabudget.com/

I downloaded Quicken, but I don't feel comfortable having to enter my bank details into it.

tatabubbly

Moneysavingexpert is a good website, its based for the uk but its a handy tool. the forums are great for handy hints and tips. i'm starting a jam jar set up at home. easiest way to save without knowing it.

phormium

I have been tracking my spending for 20yrs+, I like to know where my money is going. I do it the old fashioned way, I buy a diary every year and keep all my receipts and write in daily spending. I withdraw set amount of cash once a week only. As I have been doing this a long time I have a separate account for annual bills and lodge set amount monthly which covers all annual bills, have another account for holiday fund, another for Christmas. Sounds like a lot of accounts but I just happened to have several bog standard savings accounts with the same bank which are now online (not years ago when I started, little books!) so much easier to keep track of and manage.

It is very interesting to see trends in where money goes and increases in annual costs of things like electricity and fuel.

A daily spending diary is the first step to finding out where your money goes, even if you only do it for a month or do, it's usually an eye opener.

cdaly_

Toast4532 wrote: »

I downloaded Quicken, but I don't feel comfortable having to enter my bank details into it.

So don't enter your bank details. If it insists, give it random numbers, it's not as if it's connecting to your bank on your behalf or is it?

Toast4532

cdaly_ wrote: »

So don't enter your bank details. If it insists, give it random numbers, it's not as if it's connecting to your bank on your behalf or is it?

I'm not sure, I got the impression it would connect to my bank, but I'm not sure and didn't want to take the chance.

cdaly_

Toast4532 wrote: »

I'm not sure, I got the impression it would connect to my bank, but I'm not sure and didn't want to take the chance.

I suspect it wouldn't as the banks don't have a grand unified connection api out there. I think it's more about doing stuff like preparing lodgements and tracking balances and you could get away with random account numbers instead.

IrishAm

Even when we budget, we need to enjoy our grub, right?

Maybe we should set up a recipe thread?

Filled with recipes that are cheap to make, but cost less than a pint?

If Wibbs gives me a green card, I shall set one up.

"Restaurant quality recipes, for the price of a pint."

Chazz Michael Michaels

PTSB used to have one, but it seems to be gone?

Stench Blossoms

IrishAm wrote: »

Even when we budget, we need to enjoy our grub, right?

Maybe we should set up a recipe thread?

Filled with recipes that are cheap to make, but cost less than a pint?

If Wibbs gives me a green card, I shall set one up.

"Restaurant quality recipes, for the price of a pint."

We've already got a forum for that. Cooking and Recipes

mood

IrishAm wrote: »

Even when we budget, we need to enjoy our grub, right?

Maybe we should set up a recipe thread?

Filled with recipes that are cheap to make, but cost less than a pint?

If Wibbs gives me a green card, I shall set one up.

"Restaurant quality recipes, for the price of a pint."

I was going to start on of those threads but didn't get around to it. As well as cheap meals I think they should be healthy.

TeletextPear

I'm really determined to start budgeting from the start of September and save for a nice long holiday next summer. For the OP, I think for the first month just keeping track of all your receipts and spending will make you aware of where your money is going and then from the second month onwards you can plan where spending cuts can be made.

As a general piece of advice to everyone trying to save money, I found I was spending sooo much money on breakfast and lunch while I was working in an office. I would buy a coffee and pastry/scone on my way in every day, buy a wrap and a drink on my lunch and then pick up something for dinner on the way home every day. I was easily spending €80 Monday to Friday over the course of years. Instead I started to leave a box of cereal in the office and eat breakfast there in the morning and then bring in my own lunch. It's amazing how much money was left in my wallet in the end of the week just by doing this simple change.

Daisy M

I find withdrawing a certain amount of money to last for the week is good, however there seems to be a lot of weeks where something unforeseen crops up and I go from having a fair bit of money in my purse to nothing and I need to take out more.

I was suprised that there is no forum on boards for discussions like these, so last month I put in a request in forum requests and it is getting quiet a bit of support so fingers crossed!!

JimmyCrackCorn

Use your bank account.....


1. Set up to two or three accounts....

a. Main account works with ATM
b. Bills account all direct debits come out of here
c. Savings account.


With internet banking it becomes very easy to control spending by leaving money in the savings and your budget in the main account..

I use it to save for quarterly bills also by lodging x in to the bills account as needed.....

swapple

I'd just like to thank the OP for creating this thread. I've been meaning to do something like this for a long time now and seeing this and all the replies gave me the little push I needed. I feel way more organised already!

stressed27

Hi All

Just want to say that this is a very good thread so thank you to the OP.

I find it impossible to budget my money, I get paid on the last day of every month and i dont think i have ever had money left over for the last week of the month. I have been living with my partner for the last years and he is brilliant at managing money and saving. I try to pay all my bills on time but some months im left with my account being overdrawn by €200 or €300 because i haven't budgeted properly. I am 27 now and i am sick of being broke and having to depend on my partner for money. After reading the thread i am going to start a spending diary when i get paid on friday and fingers crossed it will help cause i really do not know what to do and it is starting to worry me :mad: If anyone has any advice i would be delighted to hear.

OU812

For those with their own freezers (rather than living with parents).

Do a monthly or even fortnightly food audit. You'd be amazed at what's still in your freezer that you can make several days meals out of.

Also, check out what I like to call "Samonella corner". In the supearket, it's the chilled section where they pu stuff on the verge of just going off. It's all perfectly good & can be frozen that day.

mood

I started a thread looking for HEALTHY, CHEAP recipes suggestions. Hopefully there will be some good suggestions.


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056740559