How much left at end of month?
Discussion
Monkeylegend said:
All these spread sheets, wow, you guys really take it seriously.
I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
Its symptomatic of coming out of uni with a lot of debt many years ago and not being very good with money in the few years that followed, and trying to manage repayment of debt around other financial responsibilities.I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
If i earned £80k a year and was debt free, i wouldn't bother or need to budget and record spending so strictly... but when you are playing things close to the bone each month to try and improve your situation and pay down debt etc, then tracking spending very closely helps A LOT.
Monkeylegend said:
All these spread sheets, wow, you guys really take it seriously.
I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
It's a very easy way to end the man maths debate. Every time I convince myself I can just about afford an M car, I look at my sheet to see where I can cut some corners, realise I can't then go back to reality without signing up for a new car. Saved me many a relationship and meeting with my bank manager I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
toon10 said:
Monkeylegend said:
All these spread sheets, wow, you guys really take it seriously.
I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
It's a very easy way to end the man maths debate. Every time I convince myself I can just about afford an M car, I look at my sheet to see where I can cut some corners, realise I can't then go back to reality without signing up for a new car. Saved me many a relationship and meeting with my bank manager I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
designforlife said:
Monkeylegend said:
All these spread sheets, wow, you guys really take it seriously.
I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
Its symptomatic of coming out of uni with a lot of debt many years ago and not being very good with money in the few years that followed, and trying to manage repayment of debt around other financial responsibilities.I check my bank statement at the end of the month, works for me without all this palaver of writing everything down in intimate detail and constantly checking my bank balance.
If i earned £80k a year and was debt free, i wouldn't bother or need to budget and record spending so strictly... but when you are playing things close to the bone each month to try and improve your situation and pay down debt etc, then tracking spending very closely helps A LOT.
Monkeylegend said:
I'm not knocking it and can see it could be useful but to put it bluntly, I can't be arsed
I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
I kept a budget spreadsheet when finances were tighter and I had various debts etc. to pay off. Now I don't, I don't. It does mean I manage to spend a lot more than I should ... but that's fine. I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
Integroo said:
Monkeylegend said:
I'm not knocking it and can see it could be useful but to put it bluntly, I can't be arsed
I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
I kept a budget spreadsheet when finances were tighter and I had various debts etc. to pay off. Now I don't, I don't. It does mean I manage to spend a lot more than I should ... but that's fine. I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
Monkeylegend said:
I'm not knocking it and can see it could be useful but to put it bluntly, I can't be arsed
I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
To be fair, my other half feels the same. I'm a list person. It took me a long time to setup (as there's more detail than shown) but after refining it over the years, it takes 5 mins a day through the week when I'm at work to update. The last financial advisory review I had, the guy had every detail he needed with my sheet. He then spent another 2 hours waiting for the Mrs to hunt out old statements, bills and agreements in her various paperwork hiding spots. Now that's what I couldn't be arsed with! ;-)I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
t i dont need 
toon10 said:
Monkeylegend said:
I'm not knocking it and can see it could be useful but to put it bluntly, I can't be arsed
I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
To be fair, my other half feels the same. I'm a list person. It took me a long time to setup (as there's more detail than shown) but after refining it over the years, it takes 5 mins a day through the week when I'm at work to update. The last financial advisory review I had, the guy had every detail he needed with my sheet. He then spent another 2 hours waiting for the Mrs to hunt out old statements, bills and agreements in her various paperwork hiding spots. Now that's what I couldn't be arsed with! ;-)I have never been one for detail, leave that to somebody else. In this case my bank will do
I sometimes wish I could be as organised as you, but I can never quite bring myself to do it.
Never been overdrawn though, taught by my parents who never had a bank account, who kept all their money in tins marked for rent, electricity, food etc.
My father divided up his wage packet every week so I suppose in some respects all you are doing is an updated version of this.
Integroo said:
We save between 3 and 6 grand a month between us. Young DINKs. Don't yet own a home though - but in no rush.
Similar position except we own a home (with a mortgage). We spend all of our spare money on travelling and eating/drinking. I don’t keep a spreadsheet because it would reveal just how much we spend on holidays and I suspect it would be enough to see off our mortgage in a third of its term. I don’t save as such but I do have an excellent pension.Monkeylegend said:
Me and your lady have a lot in common
I sometimes wish I could be as organised as you, but I can never quite bring myself to do it.
Never been overdrawn though, taught by my parents who never had a bank account, who kept all their money in tins marked for rent, electricity, food etc.
My father divided up his wage packet every week so I suppose in some respects all you are doing is an updated version of this.
Two types of people in the world! My Dad was a civil servant and very organised, especially with his finances. I suppose I'm a product of that. I sometimes wish I could be as organised as you, but I can never quite bring myself to do it.
Never been overdrawn though, taught by my parents who never had a bank account, who kept all their money in tins marked for rent, electricity, food etc.
My father divided up his wage packet every week so I suppose in some respects all you are doing is an updated version of this.
I do a lot of city breaks every year. I'm the guy who spends ages researching bars, places of interest and what to see. I even refine it to logging it into Google maps so I open up on my phone, go to my city and all the places I want to see are there so I can get directions at the touch of a screen. My other half just shows up and hopes for the best while telling me how anal I am.
We did do a break without any of this once and she moaned the whole way through because we didn't find the nice bars, weren't sure where to go and ended up wasting a lot of time looking around on spec. We both agree that there are pros and cons to each personality type but it works well, ying and yang and all that.
djc206 said:
Similar position except we own a home (with a mortgage). We spend all of our spare money on travelling and eating/drinking. I don’t keep a spreadsheet because it would reveal just how much we spend on holidays and I suspect it would be enough to see off our mortgage in a third of its term. I don’t save as such but I do have an excellent pension.
We are saving for a home - we were saving quite hard, but having recently moved to London I am no longer in a rush as I don't know how long we will stay in London or whether we want to buy centrally or further out. We don't see the point in rushing to buy a two bed flat in Zone 2 if we think we will eventually want to live elsewhere - stamp duty and costs will likely wipe out any equity gains if we move within a few years. So instead we are saving moderately and spending money on holidays and nice things (like the TVR Chimaera I may buy!).
Integroo said:
We are saving for a home - we were saving quite hard, but having recently moved to London I am no longer in a rush as I don't know how long we will stay in London or whether we want to buy centrally or further out. We don't see the point in rushing to buy a two bed flat in Zone 2 if we think we will eventually want to live elsewhere - stamp duty and costs will likely wipe out any equity gains if we move within a few years.
So instead we are saving moderately and spending money on holidays and nice things (like the TVR Chimaera I may buy!).
May? Should!So instead we are saving moderately and spending money on holidays and nice things (like the TVR Chimaera I may buy!).
Much less than I used to have, but I'm better off overall. Less months where we have none left even though we've had a child and my wife went part time
The thing that helped was piggybanking. Now when big bills come in e.g. Car insurance, we've got the money sitting there waiting to pay it. Go on money saving expert and look at piggybanking would be my advice, it's made us lots more financially stable.
Still no idea how my friends down South afford their mortgages mind!
The thing that helped was piggybanking. Now when big bills come in e.g. Car insurance, we've got the money sitting there waiting to pay it. Go on money saving expert and look at piggybanking would be my advice, it's made us lots more financially stable.
Still no idea how my friends down South afford their mortgages mind!
Benrad said:
Much less than I used to have, but I'm better off overall. Less months where we have none left even though we've had a child and my wife went part time
The thing that helped was piggybanking. Now when big bills come in e.g. Car insurance, we've got the money sitting there waiting to pay it. Go on money saving expert and look at piggybanking would be my advice, it's made us lots more financially stable.
Still no idea how my friends down South afford their mortgages mind!
Better pay and longer terms mostly! I’m one of the weird ones who only took out a 25 yr mortgage down here, most of my mates have 30+ year mortgages.The thing that helped was piggybanking. Now when big bills come in e.g. Car insurance, we've got the money sitting there waiting to pay it. Go on money saving expert and look at piggybanking would be my advice, it's made us lots more financially stable.
Still no idea how my friends down South afford their mortgages mind!
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