Approaches to Budgeting

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annR

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We are 2 adults and three kids (7,5,1). I'm not looking for advice on our own finances but am interested in how other people in similar set up are budgeting and tracking their money. I've spent ages coming up with my own system but I think it's interesting how people's minds work differently and everyone seems to have their own way. I've looked through a fair few posts but a sticky summarising different budget / tracking methods might be useful.

Personally, writing everything down in a notebook does not work for me or my husband. My approach is to pay for as much as possible by card(s) and then download the statements, analyse what we are spending on what (also look at chequebook). Any significant cash spend I make a note of. I try to just estimate the rest of the cash (husband work canteen) and hope it adds up to ATM withdrawals . . . but main strategy is to do everything by card. It also means I don't have to be asking my husband about what he spent. The spending I then analyse regularly to track things, and then slot into bigger sheet where all the fixed income and expenses are so that I can see it all totted up and whether we are living within our means.
It's all quite laborious but the best I've come up it. I was just in Switzerland visiting a friend and she told me that there, you can categorise your spend on the banks website - that would be good. Nothing like that here.
 
annR said:
t. I was just in Switzerland visiting a friend and she told me that there, you can categorise your spend on the banks website - that would be good. Nothing like that here.
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AIB Online banking have a similar tool called My Money Manager where spending is categorised
 
Kramer said:
AIB Online banking have a similar tool called My Money Manager where spending is categorised
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Similar tool on BOI online banking. I have used it and it is quite good though they seem to have a few teething problems :)
 
AIB are offering this too but currently only at an aggregated level e.g. if I buy groceries, booze and motor oil in LIDL, it all goes into the same category of spend at the transaction level.

sorry already posted above
 
annR said:
I was just in Switzerland visiting a friend and she told me that there, you can categorise your spend on the banks website - that would be good. Nothing like that here.
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What we have is not much, did you actually see it? If you spend 50 francs in Coop or Micgro, it just says groceries - despite the fact that you could have bought stuff from their hardware store etc.... about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Of course if you are a true Swiss you'll have bought one of the standard notebooks designed special for the purpose and you write it up each night :)
 
Unless Lidl start sending AIB and BOI your shopping receipt I don't see it getting any more granular than the value of the transaction at point of sale :)
 
Joint credit card on which everything goes (added bonus with Tesco of earning points but that could be under threat soon if they change their T&C's) Record everything on a spreadsheet into various categories.
Very rarely use the ATM's and when we do, it's usually for nights out or school expenses.

Being doing this for 10+ years and have 1 hell of a large spreadsheet file by now
 
Budgeting should be taught in schools...in fact, general personal financial management should be taught in schools.

I received no education regarding budgeting (either at home or at school) and struggled with it as a result.
 
It most definitely should, I thought MABS did something like that, community education and all that, maybe in transition year.
 
You're wasting your time trying to for example track what your partner spends in the canteen. Better that he takes out a set amount every week for his coffee, newspaper, lunch, taxi, pint. I analyse all our spending on my self created excel so I know how much we spend on food, petrol, car, mortgage, insurance etc. I can tell from an analysis I do what everything costs weekly, monthly and yearly. That helps me to see where the biggest spend is and where we need to reign it in. Like heating bills, like using my car instead of his as his is bigger etc. Like bringing the grocery bill down by shopping wisely. The bank here does an analysis but too many things are lumped together.

The worst habit I've seen in Ireland is people queuing at the bank machine to take out a tenner here and a tenner there, and unlike other countries there always seems to be a queue.
 
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Bronte said:
The worst habit I've seen in Ireland is people queuing at the bank machine to taek out a tenner here and a tenner there, and unlike other countries there always seems to be a queue.
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Not any more. They now queue at the bars or the shop tills and if you're lucky ask for a tenner cashback. They are the bane of my life ! If you're going out for the night why pay by card (and possibly ask for a tenner back) and then go up again an hour later having spent it and pay by card again.
 
elcato said:
Not any more. They now queue at the bars or the shop tills and if you're lucky ask for a tenner cashback. They are the bane of my life ! If you're going out for the night why pay by card (and possibly ask for a tenner back) and then go up again an hour later having spent it and pay by card again.
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I think it's wrong to have machines in bars. But then again if I'm in a restaurant I'm generally going to pay by card. It just seems a bad way for young people to manage money spending it like that. And a tenner doesn't buy you much in an Irish pub ! I have seen machines in Irish shops come to think of it. It's all to get people hooked on credit I would imagine. Overdrafts and the like.
 
It's not just an Irish thing. Most europeans and visitors to Ireland quite often buy their sole glass of guinness by card. Hopefully soon there will be barmen/maids wearing a 'Cash Only' teeshirt. A certain well known quick food chain in London started a few years ago calling at customers 'who's next and paying by cash'. I was very impressed but it hasn't spread.
 
I dont think we are ready for a cashless society yet. Using cards makes budgeting impossible for me - how much have I spent? how much have I left? oops forgot about that bill coming out tomorrow. Online banking is good for an overview though.

I'm old skool - take out X amount per week from ATM (even though we pay 12c now), and when its gone its gone. Bigger ticket items are saved for, and I've an amount put away per month to cover annual costs like insurance.
 
I'm very old school too, take out a set amount of cash every week and keep every receipt and actually write them into a diary every week then. I don't really need to at this stage but it's a habit now and I like to have a record. I pay all big items with credit card and put away weekly amount for annual bills, Christmas, car repairs and gas bills. I don't even have a debit card despite working in banking all my life, I prefer straightforward atm card and cc.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Budgeting should be taught in schools...in fact, general personal financial management should be taught in schools.

I received no education regarding budgeting (either at home or at school) and struggled with it as a result.
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Money is the most important thing everyone uses in their lifetime, most people spend 13-14 years in school and are never taught about managing money. Home economics does but there are too many other things in that subject to teach money management properly.
 
Thanks for all the replies

We're with PTSB so wasn't aware that AIB and BOI have this. If I buy something and it won't be obvious from the bank statement what it was for I scribble a note on the receipt and chuck it in a back and revisit when I categorize everything. That wouldn't be very often . . . but it does add up and takes time. Unless you can digitally do this on the go I don't see another way.

>>You're wasting your time trying to for example track what your partner spends in the canteen. Better that he takes out a set amount every week for his coffee, newspaper, lunch, taxi, pint.<<

Yeah that's why I don't track it . . .I just estimate it and hope it roughly adds up. Set amount for cash purchases per week good idea, would be easier with the budgeting.

Stephnyc and Monbretia - what if you have a partner who doesn't want to write everything down, or there are so many varied outgoings that you can't keep up with it all.

Jackswift I agree about the budgeting education. Our world is so ruled by money now and everywhere you look there are opportunities to spend. There's no education to counteract this to help resist the emotional pull of shopping and spending and also calculating budgets etc. Such an essential life skill. I guess it's left down to parents.
 
Well I don't have a partner to worry about but they wouldn't have to write it down, I could do that, all they have to do is keep their receipts. You get a receipt for everything if you ask, I know some shops automatically either bin it or don't print it but I ask for it. I deal in all cash other than online purchases or bigger items and have tons of receipts every week but it doesn't take that long to do them, Friday night on front of the telly with a cup of tea and they are done.

I sent my daughter off to college with a notebook and told her write down everything she spent for a month and we would then know what she needed to live on, now I'm sure her Dad threw her a few extra bob for socialising but I was just dealing with the day to day necessary spend.
 
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