Busy busy

[callistra]

F*cking papers! F*cking tax! Grr, arrrgh!
Yay rain!
WTFPOLARBEARBUDGET???

That's my last few days in a nutshell! *grin*

Yesterday - Paperchase! Despite Monday being allocated as Paperwork day and Tuesday being allocated as Medical Paperwork day, Paperwork Day itself covered two days, eventually incorporated budget and meal plans, and today is now "get money from medicare day." The plan was to go and do the paperwork for medicare straight after dropping john off at work and before the morning nap... except that the morning nap seems to have wanted to be immediately after dropping John off at work... so cleaning first I guess. I have a cheque for a medical invoice which it turns out I already paid, and the cheque is made out to the provider.... I hope I can get that cash back! It's my bloody money after all!!

I'm trying to wrestle with the B word again. I hate the B word. I found all these nifty spreadsheets I made last year for 2006, and it turns out I didn't use a single one. *sigh*. We're going to have to learn the N word. "No." :-) I am hitting up the government for our tax returns and FTB A and B, and wondering if I should squirrel that away again until I know that we're actually good people with money and not the bad people I sometimes think we are. Our biggest non-essential expenditure? Conventions. I'd argue that they are essential, but .... really.....? *sigh*
:-)

I think the biggest problem with budgeting is that it requires a plan, and then sticking to that plan for longer than it takes to make yourself a cup of coffee. I need to treat the home more like a business. While a part of me goes "Yay! Fun!" the other part of me goes "yeah, but home is supposed to be where we can relax and have family time." I need to balance them both. It would just be so much easier to go out and get a bloody job. Easier in terms of thinking, easier in terms of accomplishing random tasks, and easier as in boring (eventually). But hell, since when have I *ever* taken the easy path??

Should I change everything to a cash system where I actually move money into the cash account and we try and live off that? Problem: we only get limited transactions. Should I go cash only? Problem: Cash? WTF is that? Should I stay with the CC as the main method of payment and keep that being cleared once a month? problem: fucktard companies out there have started charging extra for me to use my CC. Fuck them and the grubby little greedy fingers they ride in on too. I don't give a sh*t about what costs more, it's called "business running costs" just fucking up all your prices for gods sake. (sorry, mini rant there.)

How do other people handle their money? And lucretia, if you DARE say "Just spend less than you earn" I shall spank you. :-) I know that bit! But I want to know how people keep control of how much they spend where. Do you just pay bills after they come in, safe and secure in the knowledge you have enough money for them? Do you budget your shopping money and then try to fit the shopping list? Or do you write the shopping list first and hope to god it's less than budgeted? What do you do when you want to save a pile of cash, but you only have the CC and the cash account and the houseloan? What systems do you use to keep yourself from spending every cent you have on D and D figurines?

I have another nifty little spreadsheet that shows you where various percentages of your monthly income should go. I've modified it and screwed with it and all that, it's much more fun now, and it says we should be saving hundreds of dollars. But I can never tell. I have a system once where I logged into the banking page on the first day of every month and got a balance, and recorded it into my spreadsheets, but it never seemed to show any sort of increase in anything. It was always confusing, and then if I got sick or confused or forgot, the data was out of order and out of date. And then with a new operating system, the six months worth of previous data disappeared. I guess the webpage uses cookies!

So, comments and stories please! How do you handle/track/control your money? What mental aids do you use to keep yourself good?

Comments

Money money money, its a rich mans world!

[sainted-aunt.livejournal.com]

it's called "business running costs" just fucking up all your prices for gods sake. (sorry, mini rant there.)
I'm not much good at handling the stuff either, BUT how is this for a complete rip off???
Hired a car from Avis, the "extras", after they give you a really cheap daily rate are:
$4.95 PER DAY registration fee, that equals $1806 a year for a Hyundai Getz!!!
9.22% tax for parking at the airport, as that space is now privatised
3% tax for I can't remeber what, oh yes, for paperwork/admin fees, and the the GST {grab,snatch & take - fucking Howard} ON TOP of all that!!!

Re: Money money money, its a rich mans world!

[callistra.livejournal.com]

wow, that is pretty rude!

I personally think the downfall started with WA Inc, and the "extra costs" attached to our licensing fees to cover that. We've paid it off now, but I think that surcharge is still there.

And the bloody GST. I think it's the biggest pain in the bum *ever*.
*sigh*
Especially for any one running a small business.

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

As many bills as possible we have on direct debit; for everything else, in theory we get cash out once a week.

I'm reasonably good at sticking to buying things with cash only, to the extent that I'll usually leave the trolly in the supermarket and dash out to an ATM if I realise I'm short rather than doing EFTPOS at the checkout. But you can see where the system falls down - it's hard to resist bringing the day forward. It's also very easy to rationalise that shiny new media drive, or that clothes shopping spree you've been putting off, or convention accommodation, or that weekend down south, or ...

It does help with the small things though. I won't buy a CD or a book if it's towards the end of the week and I can see my wallet's nearly empty.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Yeah, convention accomodation. I just couldn't go without a hotel room at Swancons, but it also pushes the cost of the weekend up up up! I like to budget about $1,000 for Swancon, two full tickets, accomodation, spare cash for food and drinks and then the books.

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

My first Swancon I deliberately booked no accommodation as I lived close by, I didn't know whether I would enjoy it, and I hadn't discovered room parties. The next two cons I got a room.

The Fandomedia just gone I didn't book accommodation for, partly because I was baulking at the cost, and partly because by the time I decided to book just the one night all the rooms were gone. Never again :)

[callistra.livejournal.com]

:-)
Hence booking the hotel at the end of the previous year's con...
:-)

[kaths.livejournal.com]

I find it's easier to spend money if I have it in cash, than if it's some unknown virtual number on a card.

On the other hand, I have been using cash more often recently, as it's quicker at a checkout than stuffing around with cards, signing the slip etc.

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

That was probably the case for me before I spent a few years in the UK earning enough money to stop bouncing off the overdraft.

Now I'm back in Aus trying to stretch out savings while getting a business off the ground, it's proving difficult to get back into good habits again.

[kaths.livejournal.com]

At the moment as my earnings aren't very high, I'm basically doing the 'spend as little as possible' thing. But it's just about time to get back into the budget thing (especially as I've made a few expensive purchases recently), and this is what I've done in the past:

Go over all the bills (the main ones that come in, ie utilities, rent/mortgage, loans, car servicing etc), and work out how much needs to be put aside each week for that.

If there are other things that need to have money put aside for them, make a note of them too (eg savings, a slush fund for unexpected costs eg appliance repairs, christmas fund).

The total of all of that goes into a specific account, and I know that there's always enough in there to cover the bills.

Work out the difference between income and the total of the above. What's left is how much I have to spend each week, and that goes into a 'spending' account. It's up to me whether I spend it all each week, or let it build up.

I don't worry about fitting groceries to a budget - food has to be bought, there's no point stressing about how much is spent on it. And it's worth spending more on fresh food where possible than scrimping on packaged stuff. I just include it in the 'spending' category.

After 3 months, it's all reassessed as to whether enough money is being put aside each week for the slush fund and bills.

When I used to do this with my husband, the 'spending' money was in a joint account, and just spent on basic living expenses for both of us.

At the end of each week I would tally up how much we'd actually spent. The difference between that and the amount allowed for would be split into two and put into our own separate accounts as personal spending money to do what we wanted with.

Anyway, that's how I've done things in the past!

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Do you have several bank accounts then?
At the moment, I have a cash account, a cc account, and a house loan all tied together, and a secret account with Unicredit.

I guess I need to get back into the habit of diverting money into the secret account, so that's real savings and I can see it build and get a feeling of accomplishment rather than just wailing about how confusing it all is. I rather liked the idea of the new mortgages that come with 8 or so transaction accounts. That would be very cool, but at the same time I would expect that there are fees on each one of those that get used.

[kaths.livejournal.com]

I'm with a credit union, and have two accounts. Each one has a savings account attached, so I can easily move money in between them, so I can see what exactly I have. At the moment I'm not really using a budgeting system, but I do have one of the savings accounts specifically to put the GST and PAYG tax amounts in there as I earn it, so I know that's not my money to spend!

Both the accounts have debit cards, so I basically have credit card facilities but no credit - I only spend my own money. (I don't have any loans or mortgages, which simplifies things). The cards can also be used as EFTPOS, it just depends on whether I select savings or credit on the machine.

One of the accounts also has a cheque book for paying people like the gardner, as I never have the right cash on me!

Actually the reason I went to the credit union was because at the time the banks couldn't give me a single account that had a credit/debit card attached to it as well as a cheque account.

When I was married, we had a joint account for spending on general stuff, and then a separate account each for our weekly spending money.

[hkneale.livejournal.com]

auto-deductions into a secret account that's not easily accessible is a great way to save up funds. His Grace and I do that. He's got a savings acct left over from when he imported me and I've got an acct in the States that handles all my Stateside writing cheques.

Rule is we don't touch 'em unless we need 'em, even if life's in a little bit of a crunch.

It sucks that Aussie banks charge all the fees they do. US banks don't.

Anyhow, the "living within your means" is a matter of determining whether or not a spenditure is a need or a want.

Bills, daycare, staple food are all needs. New tires on my car this week were a need, because the old ones weren't street-legal.

Books, fast food, and other luxuries are all wants. I can live without the wants if I have to, and will tell myself no.

Sometimes one must live as a pauper for several months until things (budget, habits) are under control. And while acquisition of nice things and retail therapy do make us feel good in the short-term, in the long term, do they really bring us happiness?

Odd little thing: I pay a religious tithing each paycheque. Every time I do, I *always* have enough money for my needs. Always. Don't always have it for my wants, but my needs are covered, even this week when those new tires took up every spare cent I had, leaving me with just seven dollars for petrol this week. Yet that seven dollars of petrol will be enough to see me through until next payday.

Okay, I'm rambling enough now.

Um... no I'm not.

I got significant money back on taxes this year and I earmarked it for a convention in 2008. So, how do I avoid spending it? I had His Grace stick it in his secret account where I can't touch it unless he accesses it for me. Nice little double-blind.

Okay, I'm done now. I will press "Post Comment" before I wax eloquent on a subject I actually know something about.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I think there's be a lot of people willing to listen to you being eloquent. :-)

I believe in charities and tithes, because it always seems that when you give some away to people who need it, you have more for yourself. However, I prefer to do rather than pay, hence things like Femmeconne and helping out with previous swancons. Plus the nice government gives you money back for tithing. I like that idea. :-)

I had a nest egg that lasted me through a number of loans and a houseloan, and it was only the beginning of this year that it all went away. (Into the floor. I think I didn't realise how much it would throw out entire lives out, since we weren't really allowed in the house for the time it took to do, and cooking was difficult and we ended up eating out a lot and etc.)

Now, we're a lot better at take away (I think... I need to do more tracking) in that we're down to less than once a week. I think I need to get back into the tracking bandwagon, or else the envelope situation....

[(Anonymous)]

Back when I was a student on limited means, I withdrew a fixed amount (I think it was $200) at the start of each week, never withdrew extra money, and used cash to pay for everything except once-a-year air fares. I didn't really keep track of what I spent my money on, but knowing I had a fixed amount in my pocket to last a week kept me within my means.

These days things are more complicated. My partner and I each allow ourselves a fixed amount of pocket-money ($60/week each, which we can spend or save) for non-essentials. Expenditures on non-essentials beyond that are by agreement between us. I have a Google spreadsheet for the mortgage, in which I have calculated how much should still be owing at the end of each month for the next 15-20 years under each of four different scenarios. A fifth column gets updated each month to show where we actually are, and a sixth column shows me the difference between that and our prefered scenario (pay it off in ten years) so I can see how much extra we have to play with.

I did a budget some time ago while I was saving the deposit so I could see where my money was actually going, and that helped me see where to cut back (books!).

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Yeah... books!

I have been considering the withdrawing of XX amount of money and whenit runs out, it runs out, but we haven't worked with cash in ages. We give ourselves $50 madmoney a month, my household shopping is about $125 a week, and yet we still seem to end up with little or no money. *weirded* That includes formula and nappies for the Vinnster.

John usually comes home for lunch, so he has very little need to buy himself lunch, we don't buy CDs or Books (unless at con) or anything like that, I'm on a huge decluttering thing still so if someone tries to bring junk into my house they get nasty looks... :-) I don't buy clothes every 5 seconds like my mum does (to buy clothes is a very specific shopping expedition. I'd rather go swimming instead.)

However, I must also point out that we had no debts from going to melbourne for a weekend, and we have just come through funding Femmeconne, plus been to Fandomedia...

I do like the idea of the google spreadsheet, but that's a level of maths that takes me hours to fool around with, and then to actually upate.... I think that's one of my problems. :-)

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

I chuck a lump onto the credit card, a lump into a savings account and spend the rest. Sizes of various lumps depends on what bills I know I have coming up.

Previously, I've lived on the bones of my ass from week to week and had to seriously save to buy new work clothes. I resolved this by saving enough money to move somewhere cheaper, which saved me $150/fortnight. I've been pretty much right since then.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of money to save. I am so glad we bought when we did. Our houseloan is less than $600 a month. I should arrange to pay off a grand a month or something, make things harder for us.
:-)

[purrdence.livejournal.com]

I've also seen, and for a time used, a system where you work out what you need to pay for each thing (mortage/rent, power etc). You get a display folder and label each pocket with the name of a thing. Then at the begining of you pay week you take a large chunk of cash out of your account (if the pay is put into your account directly) and put each predetermined amount into it's respective pocket in the folder (eg, if you budget $10 for power, it goes into the power pocket). Then when it comes to pay that bill, you have the cash then and there. If you have to pay extra, hopefully the difference should be small - because you've put most of the money away already. If the amount you have to pay is less than what you saved, you just keep the difference for the next bill... When it's done properly, I found it really handy, though you have to make sure no one dips into other pockets ie. no taking money out of the water pocket if you need an extra 10 dollars for the power bill... I founded it easier then leaving it in the bank, because it lessened the chance of the money being accidently spent on something else using the keycard.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Yep, I call that the envelope system, and I agree that it works beautifully. Problems with that in my household is that all the bills are paid online using CC (in theory so the money stays in the houseloan for longer before the cc is paid out) and actually going down to thebank to get the money out can also be a pain. Plus I'd have to go to a teller to get the requisite 20s and 50s and 10s.

[purrdence.livejournal.com]

I would usually get the money out using eftpos, when doing other shopping.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I hate shopping, and rarely go to shops without a specific reason whichI have put off for as long as I could!!
:-)

My vegies are delivered, and I aim for a monthly shop at woolies, and I buy a half or quarter of a cow at a time. Hate shopping!
:-)

[purrdence.livejournal.com]

you must have a very big freezer!

[callistra.livejournal.com]

We have a stand alone freezer inthe laundry, and a little one on top of the fridge. It's amazing how much or how little space a half a cow can take.
:-)
A half a cow is usually yearling, and also is about 60 - 80 ks before the carcass is dressed, bones removed, and the meat butchered. Once that's all done, you end up with a bit less.
:-)

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

Apart from the really big items (like mortgages) I have a rule - don't buy it unless you've got the money for it, actual money, not credit. I have a credit card but I always keep it in +ve. (It doesn't have an interest free period, but on the upside it also doesn't have any annual fees, so as long as I keep an eye on it to make sure I don't go into the -ve I don't actually pay any interest or fees on it at all, and by keeping that up I rarely go over my 8 free transactions a month thing on my normal account grrr Usually I'll whack on it what I think I'll be spending in the month near the start)

I also do the need/want thing. Is it a need? Yes? Then I buy it. If it's a want then usually, unless it's on sale or for a good cause and I really want it, then I don't get it. (Money from Xmas/birthday does not count, that I can spend on anything I like)

I've also got an ING direct savings account which is linked to my normal bank account that's paying somewhere close to 6% interest (certainly more than my normal bank has ever paid). It's online only and you can only put stuff in and out of a more conventional bank but there are no fees, no minimum deposits etc. Although that's mostly just sitting there accruing interest because any extra money I have in the month usually goes straight into the mortgage. - Reduce the capital, don't pay tax on interest.

I'm also my mother's daughter when it comes to shopping. If I want something I'm not a brand snob for most things. It'll usually be what's on special (after checking that it's really cheaper than buying its competitor) I wish australian shops would introduce the price per unit thing the UK did Would make comparison shopping a lot easier. Ditto clothing, I'll rarely buy clothing that's not on sale. (Not that I buy clothes that often anyway).

I usually schedule the bills as soon as they come in. Usually bpay using the CC (except for electricity which for some reason will only accept my normal account when bpaying)

I'm lucky that with my foresight in buying a reasonably good place in terms of solar passive design I've got no heating or cooling bills at all. My electricity usage is usually 4 units per day or less. Are there any savings you can make there? (Reducing appliance use, lights left on, tv on when noone there, etc. How efficient are your appliances? - though this is just to think about when they do wear out, not advocating immediate replacement)

Of course some of my ability to save comes from my wowserness (don't drink, don't smoke, only buy fizzy drinks on special) Try and see how much of your money goes into essentials and how much really ends up in those little luxuries (and I'm sorry if booze is an essential then you have a different problem)

If you can manage to save enough to have a reasonable amount on hand or easily accessible but gaining interest, then there are a number of things you can save money on long term by paying a lump up front sum. (Multiriders if you use public transport, some rates, sometimes even quality equipment) Sure it's a big outlay initially, but frequently over time you spend less.

I think that's about it. I do have a little financial software package that I try to keep up to date (I'm doing better now I'm flyladying) and that can tell me how much I'm spending on different things provided I'm not paying cash (and it technically could if I wanted to treat my cash as another account but I can't as yet be bothered)
Whew, that was longer than I meant to post. Whoops. back to work.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Power: Johnthinks it is funny when I suggest we find ways to turn things off at the power point when they go into standby. We've already done the switch any lights we can to less power using ones, and we just got rid of a pool. Our heating was higher this year quite simply because of Vinnie, and my body getting back on track after the pregnancy. So I do expect the bills to drop since we got rid of the pool. However every one around here has been chopping down trees! I think we just lost about a third of our shade, maybe even as high as a half. We'll see.

John and I thought we spend a lot of money on alcohol, and when we decided to cut back, we discovered we were averaging $20 month. We just laughed and don't worry about alcohol so much any more.

My pantry is a poster child for Black and Gold and Bi-Lo. It's good to see the bi-lo stuff coming back through IGA because they really were the cheapest! We're planning a trip to FAL this month too, so I amhoping to do a quarterly shop for things that last that long.

[baby-elvis.livejournal.com]

Did you know that your income calcuation for Family Tax benefit includes your salary sacrifice fringe benefits? We didn't until last night. Guess we'll be paying back to Centrelink then.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Salary sacrifice fringe benefits?
Bless you?

As in: a pc or car that _big_jobbies_ has sacrificed for, the money for that is included in the income calculation?

We don't need to worry about that - no salary sacrificing around here. I can't imagine John's workplace being good enough with paperwork to ever consider it.

[valeskah1.livejournal.com]

I have two CC's, a transactional and a savings account. One CC is just for direct debit bills, the other gets paid off each month and is living money (groceries, petrol, extra bills, spending money). The savings account is difficult to spend since I don;t have a card for it (but is increasingly easy to access via net banking) and the transaction account has any extra cash for spending.

How well it works depends on the month (damn monthly pay and five week months!). I usually manage to save something.