Writing down every penny spent

[rentayenta]

Not sure if it will work but if its personal spending, lunch, drinks etc - what about giving him (and you) a weekly allowance - and once its gone, its gone?

If its household expenses, can you check your bank account to get the details instead?

I give myself an allowance, it occassionally varies such as if I have something I need but for the most part I think it keeps myself from spending on junk that I really don't need. I'm much more critical about my spending habits - a need vs a want

I pay all of the bills so that's easy. He is a and when he's on he is there for 48 hours. He averages about $25 for the two days but I am just wanting to know where the $25 goes and for no other reason than to plug our leaks. I want to make sure I am not coming across like some cheap spouse before I get flamed. The bold is not meant for you.

Checking the account is easy- he never has cash unless it's a reimbursement for dinner from the guys at the station.

I just started doing this is well. Sadly, most of my money goes to bills.

It costs me $50 every pay period just to park my car to go to work.

That stinks.

This is a great idea, but DON'T call it an allowance. Most hard working adults have very negative feelings about getting an "allowance".

When we decided on our weekly allowance or "blow money" as Dave Ramsey calls it, it was a mutal decision. We talked and decided how much money we would need for a week. We took that amount of money - in cash - and that was our allotment for the week. The kicker is you don't have to be accountable for that money. If you want to skip all your usual sodas, lunches, etc and save it for a bigger item, fine. Blow it on beer? That is fine too. You don't have to be accountable to anyone for that money, but when you are out of money, you don't go to the ATM for more. When it is gone, it is gone.

I like "blow money" and I hope the tag fairy is not reading this. Calling it an allowance might send him over the edge. I think not being accountable for say $25-$50 is a good idea!!!!

 

[rentayenta]

Had a much less expensive day today. I brought my lunch so I wouldn't have to write it down.

 

[TNKBELL]

This is a great idea!!

You know, I have to laugh because most of my wasteful spending happens when I come across a "good deal" on clearance, and I never even use it. Usually I think I can use it as a gift, I have a closet and a storage room full of these "good deals".

 

[timzagain]

I was at Target once and the girl ringing me up said "OH, I know who you are! I usually work in the cash office and I recognize your checks, very cute!" I don't think it's good that the girl from the cash office at Target recognized me by my checks

That reminds me of my grad school days. Sis, then an undergrad, and I were sharing an apartment. We were kind of overdoing the whole "let's order a pizza for dinner" thing.

First hint that just maybe there had been too much pizza orders to my house. I'm ordering the pizza when I heard, "Congratulations! You've ordered 12 pizzas in the last X weeks, this one's on the house!"

Second hint that I needed to start cooking - the pizza delivery guy greeted me on a first name basis as though we were long-time friends! I can laugh now but I was pretty embarassed at the time!

 

[rentayenta]

This is a great idea!!

You know, I have to laugh because most of my wasteful spending happens when I come across a "good deal" on clearance, and I never even use it. Usually I think I can use it as a gift, I have a closet and a storage room full of these "good deals".

The more the merrier and the more support, the better!!!


I did that last year. I bought a ton of gifts that I swore I would use. Guess what? I still can't find them.

That reminds me of my grad school days. Sis, then an undergrad, and I were sharing an apartment. We were kind of overdoing the whole "let's order a pizza for dinner" thing.

First hint that just maybe there had been too much pizza orders to my house. I'm ordering the pizza when I heard, "Congratulations! You've ordered 12 pizzas in the last X weeks, this one's on the house!"

Second hint that I needed to start cooking - the pizza delivery guy greeted me on a first name basis as though we were long-time friends! I can laugh now but I was pretty embarassed at the time!

 

[Shmily1]

The more the merrier and the more support, the better!!!


I did that last year. I bought a ton of gifts that I swore I would use. Guess what? I still can't find them.

Your gifts maybe with my savings bonds!!! I put them up years ago and have no clue what I did with them!!!

 

[rentayenta]

Your gifts maybe with my savings bonds!!! I put them up years ago and have no clue what I did with them!!!

It's so frustrating!

I know I am going to blow my $100 a week grocery idea out of the water. Tomorrow is my FIL's bday and he has requested my chicken enchiladas. Dinner is his gift so I guess I should put it under gifts, not groceries.



I was thinking, I love the way Albertson's breaks down your receipt into categories but too bad they are SO expensive.

 

[wall*e2008]

This is a great idea!!

You know, I have to laugh because most of my wasteful spending happens when I come across a "good deal" on clearance, and I never even use it. Usually I think I can use it as a gift, I have a closet and a storage room full of these "good deals".

This is one reason I only buy if it is perfect for a gift I will ge needing. If I find a good deal that has nobody particular in mind I plan to give it to the local mission for Christmas presents. We always buy for them anyway.

I know I am going to blow my $100 a week grocery idea out of the water. Tomorrow is my FIL's bday and he has requested my chicken enchiladas. Dinner is his gift so I guess I should put it under gifts, not groceries.

Technically it is a gift!!!

Really how expensive are chicken enchiladas? Seems like an inexpensive meal to me.

 

[Cynt]

Count me in. I way over spent for Christmas. Good thing is I only spent cash but I dipped into my savings account. I had the family Christmas dinner at my house so that was the extra I think I spent. But it's ok I'm going to get back on track and replace the money I took out of my savings.

Thanks for all the detailed spreadsheets. Love them!

My goal is to simply spend less and save more but still go on my two vacations this year. I save pretty good during the winter months because I don't like being outside when it's cold so I stay at home. But once the sun is out and it's nice outside I spend money like crazy. DISCIPLINE is the key word in 2009.

 

[rentayenta]

Technically it is a gift!!!

Really how expensive are chicken enchiladas? Seems like an inexpensive meal to me.

Not too spendy but they like to take a pan home and then DH likes some for work so I end up making 3 pans. Plus Spanish rice, guacamole, salad, chips, and salsa.

Count me in. I way over spent for Christmas. Good thing is I only spent cash but I dipped into my savings account. I had the family Christmas dinner at my house so that was the extra I think I spent. But it's ok I'm going to get back on track and replace the money I took out of my savings.

Thanks for all the detailed spreadsheets. Love them!

My goal is to simply spend less and save more but still go on my two vacations this year. I save pretty good during the winter months because I don't like being outside when it's cold so I stay at home. But once the sun is out and it's nice outside I spend money like crazy. DISCIPLINE is the key word in 2009.

And discipline is the key word!

 

[smiller]

This is one reason I only buy if it is perfect for a gift I will ge needing. If I find a good deal that has nobody particular in mind I plan to give it to the local mission for Christmas presents. We always buy for them anyway.

Technically it is a gift!!!

Really how expensive are chicken enchiladas? Seems like an inexpensive meal to me.

I know where all my "good deal gifts" are yet I never seem to gift them - think I will try to sell on Craigslist this year or just donate next Christmas - I like that idea! More room in my closet for me...

And the enchiladas? They totally go in the gift budget - if I had categorized even just my purchases at the meat market under groceries instead of Christmas for this year's meal, I would have been way over!

 

[wall*e2008]

Not too spendy but they like to take a pan home and then DH likes some for work so I end up making 3 pans. Plus Spanish rice, guacamole, salad, chips, and salsa.

While your at it make a fourth pan and I will be buy to pick it up!!!

 

[rentayenta]

I know where all my "good deal gifts" are yet I never seem to gift them - think I will try to sell on Craigslist this year or just donate next Christmas - I like that idea! More room in my closet for me...

Be careful with Criagslist. I have read some horror stories. I guess you get that anywhere though.

And the enchiladas? They totally go in the gift budget - if I had categorized even just my purchases at the meat market under groceries instead of Christmas for this year's meal, I would have been way over!

Good advice. Then the cake and ice cream are going there too. Or maybe I need a celebration category?

While your at it make a fourth pan and I will be buy to pick it up!!!

Come on over. I'm in Utah.

 

[sunnyday123]

I'm a little late to the game, but I seriously need to join this!!!

It's always such a suprise at the end of the year when I see what I make...and wonder why I had to negoiate with the cable company again to keep my beloved Showtime...( can't miss The Tudors!)

 

[Chicago526]

I'm a little late to the game, but I seriously need to join this!!!

It's always such a suprise at the end of the year when I see what I make...and wonder why I had to negoiate with the cable company again to keep my beloved Showtime...( can't miss The Tudors!)

If you have netflix, you can rent most, if not all, of the premium cable's tv shows once they are released on DVD. I just got done with Rome, and I think The Tudor's S1 is next up in my queue, in fact! If your only reason to keep the premium cable channels is for the dramas, it may be worth canceling and getting Netflix instead.

I've been tracking our spending down to the penny for a few years now, using Quicken. We buy almost everything on debit or credit cards, so it's just a matter of downloading our purchases into Quicken, we can then run reports to see where our spending is at. We also budget month to month, that is, we write a new budget for each month based on that month's anticipated expenses. For example, I buy groceries on Saturdays. There are five Saturdays in January, so I need to budget for 5 weeks worth of food, not 4 weeks like we do for most months. In February, our Costco membership is due, plus I increase the eating out budget to accomadate Valintines Day (DH and I always eat out at a nicer -ie more expensive- restaurant for V-Day). In winter months, I budget more for natural gas and less for electric, and vice versa in the summer. Our water/sewage is billed every other month, so for January it's $0 and February it's $60 and in March it's $0 again. In Nov. and Dec. I increase the grocery budget to accomadate the extra grocery spending for holiday cooking. I tried making a "one-size-fits-all" budget to use each month, and found it never worked, I was always off and was winding up short quite a bit. I've only just started budgeting month-to-month but so far I think it's working much better.

Whatever is left over at the end of the month, gets added to our CC payment so we can pay down our CC debt faster (I just make the minimum payment and then a second extra payment at the end of the month with the left over funds).

 

[wall*e2008]

If you have netflix, you can rent most, if not all, of the premium cable's tv shows once they are released on DVD. I just got done with Rome, and I think The Tudor's S1 is next up in my queue, in fact! If your only reason to keep the premium cable channels is for the dramas, it may be worth canceling and getting Netflix instead.

I've been tracking our spending down to the penny for a few years now, using Quicken. We buy almost everything on debit or credit cards, so it's just a matter of downloading our purchases into Quicken, we can then run reports to see where our spending is at. We also budget month to month, that is, we write a new budget for each month based on that month's anticipated expenses. For example, I buy groceries on Saturdays. There are five Saturdays in January, so I need to budget for 5 weeks worth of food, not 4 weeks like we do for most months. In February, our Costco membership is due, plus I increase the eating out budget to accomadate Valintines Day (DH and I always eat out at a nicer -ie more expensive- restaurant for V-Day). In winter months, I budget more for natural gas and less for electric, and vice versa in the summer. Our water/sewage is billed every other month, so for January it's $0 and February it's $60 and in March it's $0 again. In Nov. and Dec. I increase the grocery budget to accomadate the extra grocery spending for holiday cooking. I tried making a "one-size-fits-all" budget to use each month, and found it never worked, I was always off and was winding up short quite a bit. I've only just started budgeting month-to-month but so far I think it's working much better.

Whatever is left over at the end of the month, gets added to our CC payment so we can pay down our CC debt faster (I just make the minimum payment and then a second extra payment at the end of the month with the left over funds).

Funny but I tried the do each month ultilies based on what we normally spend and found it did not work for us.

Now I go the whole year divided by 12. Works better for me. I check at the end of the year to see how far over or under we are. For utilities it seems to always be slightly under.

 

[Chicago526]

Funny but I tried the do each month ultilies based on what we normally spend and found it did not work for us.

Now I go the whole year divided by 12. Works better for me. I check at the end of the year to see how far over or under we are. For utilities it seems to always be slightly under.

Yeah, that's how I tried it at first and it didn't work at all, the bills were either way under or way over. I've been in the house 3 years now so I have a pretty good sense of what the bills are like month to month. I just take last years bill, add $15 just to be safe, and that's what I budget for the month. Only doing it a few months but so far it's worked out fine!

This just goes to show, that there is no one "right" way to budget. Whatever makes most sense to someone is what they should do, as long as they are tracking all the spending and being honest with themselves.

 

[tonilea]

Yeah, that's how I tried it at first and it didn't work at all, the bills were either way under or way over. I've been in the house 3 years now so I have a pretty good sense of what the bills are like month to month. I just take last years bill, add $15 just to be safe, and that's what I budget for the month. Only doing it a few months but so far it's worked out fine!

This just goes to show, that there is no one "right" way to budget. Whatever makes most sense to someone is what they should do, as long as they are tracking all the spending and being honest with themselves.

I budget for the highest. Top electric bill for us is $150, so I budget $150 year round. Then when I put in the actual numbers, that money is free to move to savings or something else.

 

[rentayenta]

I'm a little late to the game, but I seriously need to join this!!!

It's always such a suprise at the end of the year when I see what I make...and wonder why I had to negoiate with the cable company again to keep my beloved Showtime...( can't miss The Tudors!)

It's NEVER too late to join.

Will the cable folks negotiate?

I've been tracking our spending down to the penny for a few years now, using Quicken. We buy almost everything on debit or credit cards, so it's just a matter of downloading our purchases into Quicken, we can then run reports to see where our spending is at. We also budget month to month, that is, we write a new budget for each month based on that month's anticipated expenses. For example, I buy groceries on Saturdays. There are five Saturdays in January, so I need to budget for 5 weeks worth of food, not 4 weeks like we do for most months. In February, our Costco membership is due, plus I increase the eating out budget to accomadate Valintines Day (DH and I always eat out at a nicer -ie more expensive- restaurant for V-Day). In winter months, I budget more for natural gas and less for electric, and vice versa in the summer. Our water/sewage is billed every other month, so for January it's $0 and February it's $60 and in March it's $0 again. In Nov. and Dec. I increase the grocery budget to accomadate the extra grocery spending for holiday cooking. I tried making a "one-size-fits-all" budget to use each month, and found it never worked, I was always off and was winding up short quite a bit. I've only just started budgeting month-to-month but so far I think it's working much better.

Whatever is left over at the end of the month, gets added to our CC payment so we can pay down our CC debt faster (I just make the minimum payment and then a second extra payment at the end of the month with the left over funds).

I always forget about the extra weeks in the month. for the tips.

I like the idea of increasing the grocery budget around the holidays. Our Thanksgiving dinner cost an additional $300 on top of the normal weekly amount. I wondered where that $$$ went.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

I have been tracking what we spend since DHs first deployment.

Scrap the little books you forget about them so easily if they're shoved into your purse or in a desk drawer etc Plus you're trying to keep track of the same info twice or three times depending on how you look at it---Him to his book,You to your book and then getting together and calculating them together

I buy a calendar,more specifically the weekly/monthly calendar and this is used for all household purchases so no worrying if hubby input his information or if I put mine into a little notebook

On the month page the first thing I do is write down all the bills and on what day they have to be paid----I have mine set up so I pay bills on 2 days,the first and the fifteenth

At the beginning of the month I write down the bill that has to be paid and the amount next to it,I pay it and when it clears my bank account I put a check mark next to it

We keep our receipts---DH will come home and put whatever receipts he received right onto my desk////I will take the receipt and write down the store and the amount onto the date it was spent and when it clears the bank it gets a check mark

To give you an example this is our entries for the 3rd week of January 2008

13th Chinese 10.00 +

14th DH 21.00 +

15th Star 80.00 +
Cell 66.33 +
Directv 66.08 +
Internet 39.95 +
Netflix 18.06 +
DH 81.00 +
Commissary 56.25 +

16th School Lunch 20.00 +

17th Papa Johns 24.10 +

18th Pharmacy 14.31 +
Family Dollar 23.80 +
Commissary 39.76 +

I like keeping track of everything that goes out,it helps to keep us grounded and makes us truly understand the amount of money that can be spent if you're not paying attention

Something else we do is when DH gets paid on the 1st and the 15th we take any money that's left over in the account from the previous paycheck and put it into a seperate savings account and just watch it add up and use it for vacation or a night out for the two of us...something we haven't already budgeted for.