How do you keep track of your money?

4ofus

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 10:12 am

So, I'm about to take over the family finances and I'm nervous I'll mess it up. We need every penny we earn for basic living expenses and I need to be able to budget properly. How do YOU budget? Do you use computer programs, write down everything you make and spend..... Please help me!

Tamiri

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 10:21 am

I've been using Quicken since 1997 or so.
I have a register for every single bank account. Every single credit card. A "cash" register for (almost) every cent in cash that comes in and goes out. In 2 currencies (I live in Israel but have some U.S. things going on).
Bli neder just about every single expenditure is written down, so I can see where the money is going. We don't have a budget per-se but Quicken allows me to track my expenses. I know the amount I'd like to spend per month on groceries, and I can check and see how much I've spent so far in a month.
Quicken allows you to set up a budget.
It's a great program and has been working well for me for years.

Mrs Bissli

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 10:53 am

I just use simple Excel workbook with several spreadsheets. In order to budget, you first need to gather data on how much you're spending on things monthly. I divide them into different categories, like foods, clothing, rent/mortgage, car/transportation, children-related, tzedaka, entertainment. For example, if I spend £25 on groceries, I would just enter as 27-July Groceries £25.00 and tally up at the end of the week or more frequently if you want. I won't itemise like, chicken £8.25, carrots £1.00, juice £3.00 etc. because it's too time consuming. If £25 bill above (as an example) includes £4.50 of non-food items like tissue rolls, I'll enter as a separate entry.

Once you gathered rough idea of how much you're spending on each category, then you can do budgeting for following months--make sure you adjust it for yomtovs (eg higher food costs, more tzedaka etc) or one-off things like travelling for simchas. Then you can match your spends vs budget--let's say it's 15th of the month, your food budget is £300 and you've already spent £200, you'd better tighten your purse.

I have a separate sheet within the file that keeps track of bank accounts. Basically you need to balance how much you have in the account vs any cash withdrawal AND cheques written or debit card transactions.

Tamiri

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 11:24 am

Banana wrote:

Does it cost money or can I download it for free? Also, do you write down little things like a cofee or whatever?

We bought it as a computer program it but I think you pay online to get it too. Bli neder I try and write everything, ESPECIALLY things like coffee that can slip through unnoticed so easily. money I give my kids gets written down, bus money, etc. We aren't 100% at registering but probably pretty close.

Tamiri

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 12:23 pm

I got creeped out by MINT when they started asking for too much info. I follow a financial blogger who used them and was very excited about them, but recently (I can't remember why) she dropped them for some reason. I found their questions too invasive for my comfort.

ora_43

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 3:49 pm

For things that we go out and buy, as opposed to payments taken directly from our account, I find it easiest to just use cash. When I tried to keep receipts and record everything (using google docs) I kept losing receipts, or forgetting. Now it's simple - whatever is left in the "groceries" cash pile is what we can spend on groceries. When all the money is gone, it's clear how much we spent.

4ofus

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 7:31 pm

ora_43 wrote:

So you just divide up your money into envelopes and spend until there is nothing left?

Shalshelet

Tue, Jul 27 2010, 7:45 pm

We've been using moneydance (moneydance.com) since 2007. It's cheaper and does pretty well compared to Quicken and Microsoft Money. I love it. You can see one of many reviews on it by doing a google search. Also, what is great is that it works on PC, Mac and Linux!