I find our money leaks away in little drips - $5 here, $7 there, drip, drip, drip. Just popping into the shop for extra milk, getting a round of ice-creams etc seems to stack up.
What we did to analyse the budget was to draw out in actual cash the budgeted amount for a week of spending money, petrol and food and see how it lasted. It turned out we were making internet purchases that were not being counted in any budget and then we were coming up short at the end of the month (paid monthly). The other thing was hitting the supermarket mid-week for one or two things and spending an extra $50.
My only tip (because we struggle with this) is to have cash in hand. It is too easy to swipe everything away on EFTPOS but seeing the actual cash seems to make spending more real and makes the budget very clear - when the money jar is getting low you are running out of cash!
I agree with Artechim - our money disappears in drips too. We have started budgeting and writing down whenever we spend anything. We were amazed to find that extra trips to the store each week for bread, milk, extra fruit, nappies was adding up to as much as $200 a week (not always that much but some weeks it was). We thought we were living really well on $250 a week on groceries but it turns out we were spending a whole lot extra and it was a shock. We have found that we can't avoid going shopping for some items midweek entirely because we simply can't keep enough bread and milk in our house (we don't have the fridge and freezer space) but we have started writing out a list for things to get from the grocery store when we go and not buying anything extra. It does make a HUGE difference. We were doing so much impulse buying without even realising it and throwing so much away.
I have also found avoiding shops and online shopping altogether unless I am looking for something specific and have budgetted for it. I get sucked into good sales and even though something is a real bargain for $5 it is still just eating away at our money.
Everybody would be different in what their money drips away on, but it might be worth itemising every time you spend money for a month and having a look at where you think you are overspending that way. Listing it out for us was a real eye opener (also considering everytime we use EFTPOS it was costing us more money - only an extra $5 to $10 a month but it all adds up).
I'm horrible at spending money, I can never account for it. Doesn't matter if its cash or EFTPOS - the only difference is, with EFTPOS I can go back through the listings and figure out what I bought
Something we did was buy Mortgage Watchdog software. You can use it for all your bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages; then you just do some basic data entry when you get your statements, and it uses the same interest calculating formula that the banks use, to figure out if you're being overcharged. We haven't got heaps back, maybe $500 over everything, but it makes a difference y'know?
I know this will sound painful but when we first got together my husband and I we catergorised everything in a notebook
even if it was a 50c freddo frog, every cent was written down on the day we spent it, then at the end of the week we added up what we spent food, bills etc
then end of month worked out how much we were spending versu how much was comign in, its a real eye opener...we also do it now if we go on extended holidays...so we can keep track of how much we have spent etc
after a few months you will see where those leaks are coming from
I hate doing the writing everything down, but mostly because then I have to be accountable for all the dribs and drabs. It does work though.
The other place we lose $$ is Bunnings atm Things like replacing lightbulbs, buying mulch etc. It really adds up. Also we've bought a couple of items that we never budgeted for, like a lawnmower. Repairs, petrol going up, increased utility bills all eat up the extra cash.
We now have a few bank accounts (all free) to separate various things. With the joint accounts, we have 1 for day to day transactions. If the cash runs out we can't spend any more. We also have an account for direct debits to come out of - all the rent, bills etc come out of that. Our phone, electricity and gas is a set amount each month so there's no surprises. We've stoppped using the credit card and once it's paid off we're closing it.
A big tip is the first thing you do is put $ into saving (10% recommended) and work your expenses in with what's left over.
I would recommend downloading your last 3 months of account history and categorising them, it will give you a very clear idea about your $$$. My black hole was DF's ATM transactions, he was taking out $60-$80 every 2-3 days just so he could have money in his wallet, then because it was there he was spending it! Nothing sinister, but a couple of coffee's at work, a takeaway lunch, stop to pick up a few beers on the way home or some extra groceries that he thought we might need and all of sudden its gone and he needs more cash... Aaargghh! He spends more than our annual childcare bill from when we were both working full time!
If anyone has any idea how to get him to stop this i would love to hear them! I am hoping when we swap roles and he is at home that this ends for a bit!
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(not always that much but some weeks it was). We thought we were living really well on $250 a week on groceries but it turns out we were spending a whole lot extra and it was a shock. We have found that we can't avoid going shopping for some items midweek entirely because we simply can't keep enough bread and milk in our house (we don't have the fridge and freezer space) but we have started writing out a list for things to get from the grocery store when we go and not buying anything extra. It does make a HUGE difference. We were doing so much impulse buying without even realising it and throwing so much away.
Things like replacing lightbulbs, buying mulch etc. It really adds up. Also we've bought a couple of items that we never budgeted for, like a lawnmower. Repairs, petrol going up, increased utility bills all eat up the extra cash.
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