Do you budget?

Melisandre121 · 22-06-2016 01:14PM #1

Do you budget, or do you just spend as you go? If you do budget, do you use some sort of budgeting tool?

I tend to just spend as I go and always end up completely broke at the end of the month. Would love to be better at budgeting.

Xyzforsure · 22-06-2016 01:17PM

Melisandre121 wrote: »

Do you budget, or do you just spend as you go? If you do budget, do you use some sort of budgeting tool?

I tend to just spend as I go and always end up completely broke at the end of the month. Would love to be better at budgeting.

Yes I do

Excel ☺

aaronjumper · 22-06-2016 01:17PM

I spend as I go. It's a great system until it all falls apart.

failinis · 22-06-2016 01:19PM

Yeah, £9 a day after rent/travel so it needs managed

A notebook when out and about, then transfer that info to excel and its grand.

PandaPoo · 22-06-2016 01:19PM

We don't budget, we never have. Probably should with the amount of money we spend on pointless crap

mostly just me though...

howamidifferent · 22-06-2016 01:21PM

Melisandre121 wrote: »

Do you budget, or do you just spend as you go? If you do budget, do you use some sort of budgeting tool?

I tend to just spend as I go and always end up completely broke at the end of the month. Would love to be better at budgeting.

I do. I use an app called YNAB (You need a budget.) I use the YNAB classic desktop and mobile phone apps, not the new web based version.

http://classic.youneedabudget.com/

Can still be bought for once off $60 or pay $50 per year for the web based version.

Shenshen · 22-06-2016 01:23PM

I'm sort of half way - I do budget, but mostly in my head. I would know at all times what's in my account, I know how much to spend on groceries, I know what bills to expect.
I've tried to use excel for a while, but I'm not very disciplined in writing things down.

Duggy747 · 22-06-2016 01:23PM

As long as there's money for the animals, rent and bills........and beer............then it's Champagne Charlie all the way until there's nothing left and I turn into Binwater Barry. :pac:

me_irl · 22-06-2016 01:24PM

Xyzforsure wrote: »

Yes I do

Excel ☺

I do too...

Google Sheets.

bren2002 · 22-06-2016 01:26PM

Plus 1 for YNAB. Although I use the cloud version.

This Fat Girl Runs · 22-06-2016 01:28PM

Another Excel budgeter here. Am two months away from paying off over 30 grand in debt. Never would have crawled out of it without learning how to stick to a budget. Harsh lesson but one well learned!!

jameshayes · 22-06-2016 01:29PM

The easiest budgeting method is the percentage budget. You cant go wrong with it.

There are different variations but basically you split your take home pay into 3 brackets - Fixed costs, Financial Goals, Splurge/Flex spending

60% of your take home goes towards costs that are necessary to life - rent, transport, food (not eating out)
20% of your take home goes towards costs that build your financial base - paying off loans, cards, savings etc
20% of your take home goes towards random expenses, dinners, drinks, entertainment, clothes etc

draiochtanois · 22-06-2016 01:30PM

This post has been deleted.

Spanish Eyes · 22-06-2016 01:32PM

Kind of.

I have a sheet which shows the dates all the Direct Debits come out. Get paid twice monthly, so on each payday I deduct the bills, put aside money for petrol and travel. Automatic savings go to a deposit account, and what's left is mine to spend as I wish, happy days!

Works for me.

Although I do have to put aside a fund for car repairs, insurance, tax, VHI (pay in a lump once a year) and such things. That goes into a separate account each payday.

It's not scientific, but it works for me. I love having a ME fund to spend as I like, knowing all other bills have been taken care of.

It's whatever works for you.

MilesMorales1 · 22-06-2016 01:33PM

Absolutely. I have a little book I write down every single thing I buy in it, and my available finances, and I have a budget for stuff in general, and try to not deviate from it.

Gotta save them pennies you know.

draiochtanois · 22-06-2016 01:36PM

This post has been deleted.

intheclouds · 22-06-2016 01:41PM

I do waste a fair bit on pointless crap but only because I can.

I budget in the sense that when we get paid I sit down with a pen and paper and we pay the mortgage, bills, credit cards, pay into savings, holiday fund, household fund, and apportion what we need to live on for the month. Anything left over goes into savings. If the above leaves a net negative then we adjust savings and credit card payments for that month.

The rule we try to stick to is never more than 500 on a credit card in 1 month - unless its for a specific large bill (like car insurance) that is intended on being cleared over a few months.

storker · 22-06-2016 01:50PM

My wife and I divide the costs proportionately with our income. We have a figure for all costs but it hasn't been updated for a while, so we should probably do that. We each deduct our contribution from our take-home and put it into a joint account that's used for fixed bill payments. Then there's a short-term savings account for variable bills and another for longer-term savings, e.g. holidays, new PC, car upgrade/repairs etc.

When we first started budgeting, probably the most eye-opening experience was tallying up the amount of money given to different retail outlets. We couldn't believe it when we saw the figure for Tesco in the first month. That was the start of properly-planned shopping for us, and probably the biggest ongoing saving we've ever made. On a related note, I'd recommend online grocery shopping to anyone looking to make savings. Shopping from your kitchen, where you can check exactly what you need before you buy it, makes a big difference, not to mention the lack of opportunity to be tempted by in-store specials.

RobertKK · 22-06-2016 01:56PM

I do budget but I do the maths in my head and know what I can and cannot afford.

22-06-2016 01:57PM

No not really. I always know my bank balance and I have a figure in mind that I aim to have left in my account at the end of the month to go into savings but aside from that I just spend as I feel like really.

Butters1979 · 22-06-2016 01:59PM

howamidifferent wrote: »

I do. I use an app called YNAB (You need a budget.) I use the YNAB classic desktop and mobile phone apps, not the new web based version.

http://classic.youneedabudget.com/

Can still be bought for once off $60 or pay $50 per year for the web based version.

I can't tell if serious

Anyone else find it ironic to pay €50 per year for a budgeting tool?

howamidifferent · 22-06-2016 02:08PM

Butters1979 wrote: »

I can't tell if serious

Anyone else find it ironic to pay €50 per year for a budgeting tool?

I do. Which is why I bought the desktop app for $54 with a referral link from another user, then posted my referral link in many places online and gained back 18 referrals which each gave me $6 so I spent $54 and received back $108 from others using my referral link. Software cost was zero. Would not pay the subscription model ever.

This Fat Girl Runs · 22-06-2016 02:11PM

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

In 2007/2008 I took out two loans (one for over €25,000 and the other for €4,000) and racked up a credit card to nearly €6000. Separated from my ex that year and he took off with all our savings. But before that, I had taken out a loan so I could move out of our house. Paid for a deposit, couple months of rent and some other stuff. Also had to pay him some money he claimed I owed him. Easier to pay than to fight it. Anyway, back then I was bad with money and didn't budget. Once I moved out, he refused to pay the mortgage or any bills associated with the property (still lived there though, until he took off and left the country for god knows where) so I was paying both a mortgage, rent and bills for two places. I tried renting out the first place but that was a disaster so I broke the lease on my new place and moved back in to the old one. I'm really not proud of myself for all this.

Moving back didn't help much with the recession on. Eventually I came to a deal with the bank re the credit card (close to €6000 on it, they kept upping my limit and I kept spending it! Wayhay! Free money, right?!). They transferred the credit card debt to my existing loan (I had one loan with this bank, another loan with a different bank) then cancelled the card. I hadn't a hope of paying it off with interest accruing all the time. We're talking paying max 10/20 euros a month.

Anyway, consolidated the card and loan, then sat down with the bank and worked out the maximum amount I could pay each month. It had to be done and was actually the kick in the rear I needed to sort myself out and get my finances together. With the other bank I arranged a small overdraft facility to cover me for when payments overlapped. If anyone takes anything away from what I'm saying I'd say this is the most important. If you're having difficulty, TALK to your bank! Both my banks were willing to sit down and talk with me and come up with a solution that worked for them and for me.

Anyway, the other loan was smaller, the payments were smaller too. I paid that one off last year and oh my god was that the best feeling. As soon as I paid that off I finally began paying into a pension. I've been fretting about not having a pension for 10 years so it's a relief to get that started! (I'm 40 this summer!).

I also, for the last few years, have let out my spare room to students. I don't charge much so it's an attractive deal as I live close to town. But the extra bit helps immensely.

For budgeting, I learned very quickly what worked for me. Excel spreadsheet calculated by the month. I have one sheet that tracks my outgoings, linked to a second sheet where I track my 'free' spending. This includes my grocery budget.

Main spreadsheet lists all outgoings: loan payments first, mortgage, direct debits, expected bills, grocery budget by the week, savings (when possible). Every single penny I will need to spend that month is accounted for.

Anything left over is mine to spend on whatever I want. I never live by the amount that's actually IN my account, instead I live by the amount that's left over. Things have been better for me the last two years but there were times I had nothing left over. But I was fortunate I had enough to pay the loans and mortgage. I never went into arrears on either of these. I count my blessings!

And now, in two months time that other, bigger loan will finally be paid off. The first thing I'm going to do is increase my pension payments. Then I'll have a bottle of Prosecco with friends.

It was a very harsh lesson to learn, but I got through it and I'm counting down the days to when I'll finally be free of that debt. It crippled me at times and I'm not proud of myself for having racked it up, but I AM proud of having gotten out of it. I've learned my lesson well and now budgeting (and sticking to it!) is second nature to me.

Butters1979 · 22-06-2016 02:34PM

howamidifferent wrote: »

I do. Which is why I bought the desktop app for $54 with a referral link from another user, then posted my referral link in many places online and gained back 18 referrals which each gave me $6 so I spent $54 and received back $108 from others using my referral link. Software cost was zero. Would not pay the subscription model ever.

Hmm, that sounds like a pyramid scheme.

draiochtanois · 22-06-2016 02:39PM

This post has been deleted.

howamidifferent · 22-06-2016 02:40PM

Butters1979 wrote: »

Hmm, that sounds like a pyramid scheme.

Call it what you will, they had a referral scheme whereby users would get a $6 discount by using your code and you got $6 back also.
Software works great so it was easy to get people to use the referral links.
They no longer offer this with the web based software but it worked well when it was available. Paid to use the software!

22-06-2016 02:43PM

I do budget, because I'm currently in a position where my outgoings are minimal and can save a large proportion of my salary, so that's what I'm doing while I have the chance.

I make sure I don't do without, and sometimes I have a bit of a spree on nonsense, but apart from that I have a plan and I stick to it for the sake of my future.

I use a spreadsheet, and I'm always aware of my balance and outgoings.

quickbeam · 22-06-2016 02:44PM

I don't budget as such, but I do record (in Excel) everything I spend and earn, down to the cent.

I'm not a natural spender, so would tend to have a healthy enough balance in the account in case there is anything I do want to spend money on, or it gives me the luxury, and peace of mind, of not worrying about the future, should I be made redundant or something.

I can then see year-on-year whether my spending on different aspects of my life (utilities, entertainment, car, etc) is going up or going down. Though unless I see a massive increase, I wouldn't worry too much as I know I'm not reckless in what I spend.

But to actually budget - as in, calculate what expenses and income are upcoming, and making sure I have enough of the latter to cover the former ... no, I don't do that.

bren2002 · 22-06-2016 02:48PM

Butters1979 wrote: »

I can't tell if serious

Anyone else find it ironic to pay €50 per year for a budgeting tool?

Completely disagree with you, why wouldn't you pay for a quality piece of software? It has apps for my phone, iPad & home PC.
It's always available to me, using YNAB is more than just the software it's a whole mindset shift when it comes to budgeting.

hairyslug · 22-06-2016 02:51PM

Yeah have to budget and be quite strict now, mortgage has just gone up and I've taken a fair chunk of a pay cut so everything needs to be worked out. The frequency of my wages have changed as well. The majority of bills come out in the first 7 days of the month so once I'm through that I have to start preparing for the next month.

storker · 22-06-2016 02:52PM

Butters1979 wrote: »

I can't tell if serious

Anyone else find it ironic to pay €50 per year for a budgeting tool?

Yes if the buyer hands over the money but doesn't do anything with the tool; no if using the tool saves multiples of that €50.

Do you budget?

Comments