Page 1 of 1
Is there an Everyday System related to Money and Spending?
Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:16 pm
by Pewari
Having just received my VISA bill for last month, I think I've just found my May resolution...
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:51 pm
by reinhard
Hi Pewari,
Nothing very polished yet, but here are a few old threads/systems on the subject:
http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2052
http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=23
http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=22
It's certainly a subject that's been very much on my mind lately so expect to see some more polish soon!
Reinhard
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:27 am
by Pewari
Thanks! Lots of food for thought in those threads and looking forward to seeing your polished system when you launch it.
I was giving this some thought yesterday and may well use this as my May resolution (May is a big spending month as I have my 2 sons' birthdays and my husband's birthday in quick succession, and this year we're also due to go away camping for 4 days).
HabitCal is helping me have much more willpower (so far!) than just simply having the rule. The problem is, I hardly ever use cash and most of my spending is online.
So for next month I am going to:
- draw out savings as soon as money hits my account and consider that untouchable.
- estimate food costs and take them out in my account software in advance for the whole month, rather than "budget" - in reality I never look at budgets, and I can always adjust the figure when I get the receipt. Gives me a goal to aim for.
- if I spend on Visa, immediately transfer the money over from my checking account.
- green day if the only spending I do was pre-checked with my accounts to see that I actually have a positive balance BEFORE I spend the money and immediately account for it. This will mean checking the balance before I go into town and knowing exactly what I have left.
- red day if I don't.
- no exemption days.
Potential pitfalls - lots of red days at the end of the month if I judge it badly and then have necessary expenditure (like out-of-the blue school trips). May have to write in something about drawing out money from savings if this happens, but at the moment I'd like to keep that untouchable.