I'm getting naff all from HSBC so providing I can open an additional current account without winding them up think I might partake, cheers
Soldato
You can have as many current accounts as you can manage. And chase only do an ID check, no credit check so it's pretty straightforward.
Caporegime
i dont budget on anything. Too rich.
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Jun 2004
- Posts
- 6,489
tobe fair you dont even need excel, plenty of free options out there like libraoffice
To get that little bit of extra interest (and I mean little!) if you arranged all your bills so they were paid at the end of the month instead of at the beginning, then that money could be sat earning interest for those 20 or so days in whatever account you see fit. For example, that £774 could earn you about £2 a month in interest just for a little switching and careful automation.
Makes sense, it's smart moves like that I've had more comfort doing with collective visibility I've gained through using tooling.
Soldato
It's threads like these that make me realise.
We are all truly ******.
We are all truly ******.
A better education system that covers the important stuff like this early on in life would help many, can't lie about that.
Soldato
I've been thinking about logging all spend, just for insight, not because I'm struggling.
Was thinking about using a spreadsheet, but having a play with Actual Budget in a Docker container. Seems ok... looks like i need to categorise nearly 400 different transaction types and thats just with my salary account and joint account... yet to add chase (spending, saving), tesco (saving) into the mix!
Will see if I can be bothered more over the coming days.
Oh and £10 subscription seems crazy, if its useful I understand... but £10 for budgeting. Maybe a wee nominal £2-3 quid, £10 is quite a lot in the grand scheme of things!
Was thinking about using a spreadsheet, but having a play with Actual Budget in a Docker container. Seems ok... looks like i need to categorise nearly 400 different transaction types and thats just with my salary account and joint account... yet to add chase (spending, saving), tesco (saving) into the mix!
Will see if I can be bothered more over the coming days.
Oh and £10 subscription seems crazy, if its useful I understand... but £10 for budgeting. Maybe a wee nominal £2-3 quid, £10 is quite a lot in the grand scheme of things!
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Caporegime
Will have a look at that too @Azza thanks , I'm not a huge subscriber in general, physical media is still (unfortunately!) my bag ...get your pitchforks!
Not sure where the £10 a month came from either, it's $108 per annum, was $90 when we took it out so it's closer to £7 between 2-3 people.
Soldato
I've been doing the same over the last couple of years. I think my main take away from the analysis is that my food and drink spend is far too high! It works out that my average spends per day is just under 17quid! This does include meals out and takeaways but I think the volume of booze bought over the year certainly boosted that spend amount! I this will be one of the main areas I'll be looking to reduce this year.
Soldato
A bank statement does that for you in one handy place and you don’t need to do anything either. I’ve never found the need to bother with spreadsheets etc.
Soldato
One of the bits of advice that I'd seen when budgeting / prioritising saviings is to ask yourself these three questions :-
1. Can i cut this out or cancel it completely?
2. Can i live with less of it?
3. Can i get the same thing cheaper somewhere else?
This year, my gas and electricity direct debits are reducing by approx £30 a month, I'm cutting out the Postcode Lottery so that's an extra £12 a month so from those two things alone I'll be saving £500 a year. Not a huge amount but somethings better than nothing and as stated above I'll be looking to save around £700 - 1500 off the food and drink over the course of the year as well!
1. Can i cut this out or cancel it completely?
2. Can i live with less of it?
3. Can i get the same thing cheaper somewhere else?
This year, my gas and electricity direct debits are reducing by approx £30 a month, I'm cutting out the Postcode Lottery so that's an extra £12 a month so from those two things alone I'll be saving £500 a year. Not a huge amount but somethings better than nothing and as stated above I'll be looking to save around £700 - 1500 off the food and drink over the course of the year as well!
Soldato
Not really got the granularity that I’m thinking about.
A £100 spend in Asda could be food, drink, maybe clothing, etc.
Get a bank account like Starling / Monzo and you can categorise your spend and see where your money goes.
Caporegime
I was gonna say this all my banks already do all this for me.
Once a year it'll do it wrong but just correct it in app it's done.
If you use a decent bank, like Starling, you can categorise everything in the app and very easily see where your spending is.
If you don't have the discipline to reign in your spending, another subscription service ain't gonna fix it.
Soldato
I would if I could but rent & council tax is due the first and that is 85% of those bills
Man of Honour
I mean tools like YNAB and Moneyhub are quite good as they can connect all your accounts/savings/pensions/mortgages/loans etc.. into 1 platform to help you manage your finances better, especially with open banking now that allows apps to connect to your banks. Easier than doing a monthly spreadsheet - I used to use YNAB a good dozen years ago or something.
If you only have 1 bank account then you don't really need an app, spreadsheet is fine. It depends how much effort you want to put into it I guess.
I personally use Moneyhub to manage my finances but I have a few accounts, and bits and pieces, and it just aggregates everything together. I set my budget and it alerts me if I go over, or get near to going over based on various categories.
If you only have 1 bank account then you don't really need an app, spreadsheet is fine. It depends how much effort you want to put into it I guess.
I personally use Moneyhub to manage my finances but I have a few accounts, and bits and pieces, and it just aggregates everything together. I set my budget and it alerts me if I go over, or get near to going over based on various categories.