Keeping an eye on finances... Here to help

a very good way of tracking spending is http://www.yodlee.com . it does require you to trust the website as you do need to give it your account logins, but I've been using it for 4-5 months without any hickups!

It categorises all your spending automatically and does a reasonable job, but you can then set up rules and change things if it gets it wrong. It then produces charts etc and stats on how much you've spent on x (say petrol) in any period, warn you of credit cards nearing limits etc. Really good system!
 
I've been using Money Manager Ex, I think someone recommended it on here so I gave it a try, seems to work pretty well and you can apply different currencies to different accounts which is handy for me having accounts in the UK and CZ.
http://www.codelathe.com/mmex/
 
Thanks for that, agnes (and platypus for hosting it). Looks simple but easy to use and hopefully, with a bit of tweaking, will work for me. I'll start using it this month. :D
 
It looks good Chris, thanks for sharing it with us. I'm a big fan of people taking responsibility for their finances, hopefully this will help some people get started :).
 
platypus said:
It looks good Chris, thanks for sharing it with us. I'm a big fan of people taking responsibility for their finances, hopefully this will help some people get started :).
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Thanks for hosting mate.

Yea, as said a few times, it's nothing ground breaking. Far from it. But it has helped me get on top of my finances and has shown me how easy it is with a bit of effort.

ags
 
That's really good of you ag :)

I've been using a budget/forecasting/balance tracking sheet for years now, couldn't live without it now! Wish I had started it at university.
 
This is a good idea and it really does work because for the last 4 months I have been doing something similar. We hardly "see" our money. Its all 1s and 0s moved around with credit cards, debit cards and online banking.

Once about 4-5 weeks have passed you will be quite shocked to see where all your money has been going and how much. And with Excels graphing function its makes it all much more apparent when you see those trend lines ascending/descending.

Ive stopped buying lunch at work and stopped eating out completely...I was really shocked as to how much this was costing. Suddenly...I have more money for games (hee hee) and also to save.

In the meantime mates of mine who drink and even more shocked when they look at the amount of hard-earned money they fling at pubs every weekend. Ok this aint a big deal if youre a power-earner but Im talkin people workin at grocery stores and admin jobs in boring offices here. The money to be saved is staggering.

Some other tips:

1. Shop through Quidco - its free and I have made £200 already. The offers are insane. Make it your homepage
2. Register to do free government surveys, money goes right into your bank account
3. Keep an eye on Money Saving Expert website.
4. Look out for voucher codes when shopping online
5. Tunr your central heating down a couple of notches...just enought to keep the bite out of the chill...wear jumpers etc.
6. Make your own lunch for work
7. Make your own food to eat at home. Sure get a pizza now and then (heck u gotta live a little!)


Will be interested to see how you have designed your spreadsheet!
Again...none of this is relevant to someone who makes like £2k - £3K+ /month but for the rest of us who dont have a massive income it really really makes a diff.
 
KatanaDV20 said:
This is a good idea and it really does work because for the last 4 months I have been doing something similar. We hardly "see" our money. Its all 1s and 0s moved around with credit cards, debit cards and online banking.

Once about 4-5 weeks have passed you will be quite shocked to see where all your money has been going and how much. And with Excels graphing function its makes it all much more apparent when you see those trend lines ascending/descending.

Ive stopped buying lunch at work and stopped eating out completely...I was really shocked as to how much this was costing. Suddenly...I have more money for games (hee hee) and also to save.

In the meantime mates of mine who drink and even more shocked when they look at the amount of hard-earned money they fling at pubs every weekend. Ok this aint a big deal if youre a power-earner but Im talkin people workin at grocery stores and admin jobs in boring offices here. The money to be saved is staggering.

Some other tips:

1. Shop through Quidco - its free and I have made £200 already. The offers are insane. Make it your homepage
2. Register to do free government surveys, money goes right into your bank account
3. Keep an eye on Money Saving Expert website.
4. Look out for voucher codes when shopping online
5. Tunr your central heating down a couple of notches...just enought to keep the bite out of the chill...wear jumpers etc.
6. Make your own lunch for work
7. Make your own food to eat at home. Sure get a pizza now and then (heck u gotta live a little!)


Will be interested to see how you have designed your spreadsheet!
Again...none of this is relevant to someone who makes like £2k - £3K+ /month but for the rest of us who dont have a massive income it really really makes a diff.
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Good tips even for those that make £2k-£3k a month.

My tips are to go and see your bank and get them to open a "Basic Bank Account". They won't advertise them, and might get a bit snotty about opening it so be persistent. These accounts have no fees attached, and offer basic hole in the wall banking.

I leave my regular credit card / debit card at home and just carry the debit card from this account with me. I keep a float of say £200 in the basic account, and just use that. It really helps me understand how i'm spending, and is a minor pain in the arse to transfer money across when it's empty; so that's a good thing.

The other tip is on payday account for your bills, think about how much you need for the month and invest whatever is left over, ideally in something that has a fixed duration. Use the credit card for EMERGENCIES only.
 
Great idea and something my gf did for me when I was in a bit of a pickle - 10k worth of debt, no savings, spending more than my income each month.

Within 2 years I had paid off all the debt, a year later we have moved into our new home.

Amazing how quickly you can turn your finances around which in turn changes your whole life.
 
Just had a look at your sheet - very nice, but it is basic.

I have another sheet that splits up expenses into sections- eg; Entertainment, Financial, Car, House, Food - that sort of thing. Then over a period of a year, it works out monthly averages on each section that you're spending on.

Has saved me lots of money now! :cool:

If anyone wants a look at this sheet - I can upload a raw copy of it, too?
 
Ice On Fire said:
Just had a look at your sheet - very nice, but it is basic.

I have another sheet that splits up expenses into sections- eg; Entertainment, Financial, Car, House, Food - that sort of thing. Then over a period of a year, it works out monthly averages on each section that you're spending on.

Has saved me lots of money now! :cool:

If anyone wants a look at this sheet - I can upload a raw copy of it, too?
Click to expand...

Yes please. :)
 
Hmmm - can't find a decent place to upload too..

Send me an email to: Robert(dot)clegg(at)gmail(dot)com and I will email you a copy. :cool:
 
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