What methods do you use to keep on track?

[LuxLiving]

I know Broken Arrow uses his pda while out and about to keep up with his budget. I often use a sticky note on the checkbook register that looks something like this:

Sept Gas Budget
120.00
-29.00 car
_____
$91.00
-25.00 truck
_____
66.00 remaining

I do similarly for the grocery budget. I'm not an envelope budgeter but these (gas & grocery) are a couple of the monthly expenses that we spend down throughout the month.

I am wondering what markers/methods are used to keep yourself under budget while out and about?

[Bookie]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I carry a little notebook in which I jot my out-of-pocket expenditures. They are then transferred to my Excel spreadsheet, usually daily.

[JanH]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I just recently bought a little notebook to carry to keep track while I am out. I have also, in the last couple of days set up a spreadsheet in Excel with the help of Hubby cos I didn't know my way around it. Also, I have set a budget per day for Hubby and me to spend on those fluctuating costs like groceries and gas. There is a set amount per month in the spreadsheet, but by setting a daily amount for all spending outside of fixed bills, we tend to think twice. The leftover for the day is put into accounts at the end of the day to put on debt. If we go over, it comes out of the next day's amount and we don't spend the next day. So far, it seems to work. We've stayed within the budgeted amount. And saved some, too. We tend to use debit cards so the receipts really help, too. So I guess the answer really is: a notebook, a spreadsheet, and a fixed number in our head.

[Broken Arrow]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I've never tried this myself, but Google has a spreadsheet.

spreadsheets.google.com

I suppose it would be especially helpful for those who may want it online or don't already have Excel....

[amberfocus]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I use my blog to tally the little daily expenditures, and spreadsheets (Google and/or OpenOffice.org Calc) to sum up at the end of the month.

~mimi

[kealina]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

we haven't got a totally organized system yet as we have just started tracking our spending and want to observe our patterns first... basically we hang onto all receipts for the day... if there is no receipt we jot it down... and when i go home i note them down in a notepad (on the computer) and keep a running tally until the end of the month... we've only done one month so far...

[Ima saver]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

Well, I wish I knew how to use a computer!! I just have my weekly expenses written on a yellow legal pad. Every monday I get that legal pad, and my box of envelopes and divvy up the money. My allowance goes into my wallet and I give my husband his.
I use to write down what I spent in a little notebook every day. After you have done that for a while, you learn where you spend and how to "plug" the leaks.

[JanH]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

Ima: my mother was an office manager who kept books on paper then on computer. Paper does have its advantages--you can see the big picture all spread out at once! Seriously, my husband has to help me with simples tasks on the computer. My kids have to fix my problems when they come to visit. (My son told me that he found someone worse on the computer than me. His new mother in law kept asking how to turn it on. I HAVE mastered that one....) My Hubby said the best way to learn is just to poke around and have fun on it. But then I mess something up and have them fix it. But patience works...keep at it. Maybe I need a book for Dummies......

[Gruntina]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I get paid bi-weekly (every two weeks on Thursday). I write down all bills that have to be paid by next pay cycle in my check book even though they are officially not paid out that day. Then I pay myself by transferring the money to savings or etc. I know how much money is left and then use a post it sticker to know what my budget is allotted for each category such as groceries, gas, entertainment... any savings left over goes straight to my additional payments that I pay at the end of each month to my debts. I try to make it a game to see how much I can save for the additional payments.

I try to at least once a week to log in all of my spending in an Excel budget sheet that I extracted from online. By doing it once a week, it helps avoid spending too much time at one sitting to extract and verify all my finance spending.

Being single, it does make it easier to track all this so the post-it does work for me at the time being. I do need to come up with a better plan prior if marriage comes to play.

[jmjj215]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

Excel or Openoffice can do wonders. And they sky is truly the limit. Also, learning even rudimentary spreadsheet skills helps you in more ways than one.

[LuxLiving]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

okay Jesse I have your software (loving it), the question is how do people keep up with what we've allocated While we are OUT Shopping!?! We have x amount of dollars for the month for gas and groceries. How about while I'm in the store and may have forgotten to check the balance remaining for the month? The question is not while I'm at my desk or laptop, but in the streets w/a 'shop' on. How do folks keep on track while in the streets/shop/at gas pump?

[sarah]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I have a daily amount and I keep track in my head or on a sheet of paper. Also if I am going to buy somethiing that goes over the daily amount --like gas--I have to 'save' that amount out of other dally allowances. For example. I usually get gas on Thursdays so I have to make certain that I've saved the money out of the previous week's allownace. This is not usually a problem. I try and make certain that my daily allownace is big enough so I do not feel deprived. Then every night I try and discipline myself to enter the daily amounts into an excell spreadsheet.

[DivaJen]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

okay Jesse I have your software (loving it), the question is how do people keep up with what we've allocated While we are OUT Shopping!?! We have x amount of dollars for the month for gas and groceries. How about while I'm in the store and may have forgotten to check the balance remaining for the month? The question is not while I'm at my desk or laptop, but in the streets w/a 'shop' on. How do folks keep on track while in the streets/shop/at gas pump?

I am currently using YNAB. To keep numbers in mind, I enter receipts more than once a week. I probably look at the budget every couple of days, so it is fairly easy for me to know roughly what I have left in groceries, etc. If I thought I would forget the numbers, I would probably write the key ones down on a piece of paper and tuck it into my wallet.

[7thseer]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

I'm currently using just excel spreadsheet for each month.

[jmjj215]

Re: What methods do you use to keep on track?

Kind of like what Diva says -- after a while you kind of know what you have in there. Only a few times have I thought, "Oh, we can buy this." and then I come home and see that no, we cannot.

Keeping categories simple also helps -- like under 50 or so. But really there are only a few cats that get hit consistently anyway: eating out, groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous