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This year I'd like to work out where all my money goes. It's a mystery to me and the wife where it all disappears to! Is there a simple piece of software (for a Mac) that you can upload your bank statements to and it categorises your spending habits?
Spreadsheet.
Can't be bothered with a spreadsheet. If it isn't automated then I'll soon lose interest.
If you're spending too much money, be a little more canny and don't rely on some piece of software. After all mortgage, bills etc and savings are sorted each month, I budget myself £100 a week for living money, and what's left at the end of the month is saved as well.
Leave the cards at home if you're spending too much.
If you're serious, then GnuCash is the way to go.
You can set up ten categories / weekly spending targets then just track your spending through the website or smartphone apps. It remembers previous entries so after a few weeks of use just takes seconds to add a new entry.
I've got the following weekly budgets set up - each gets a budgeted amount added each week and once I've spent the budget amount I try to avoid spending any more. Underspends roll over which means you don't have to worry too much about cash as long as you're not overspending on the category.
House / Car - used for all household and car expenses
Food - used for weekly shops and any snacks
Work Food - food at work
Entertainment / Eating Out
Misc - used for odds and sods and "big purchases" for home
Bike (always shows a deficit)
Sell / Gifts - used to track income from stuff I sell and how much I spend on presents etc.
Holidays
Clothes
Mobile
This system works really well for me and meant that for the last 2 years I actually managed to save something.
[url= http://www.youneedabudget.com ]you need a budget [/url] is excellent.
Syncs across Mac and IOS devices.
My bank already does this for me but its fairly useless as there are big holes it can't categorise eg. Cash or credit card spending. It's been a few years since I did it but an app is a great idea as you just do it at the point you spend. It only took a couple of months to get an idea of what was going on
Another vote for Gnucash. Easily imports your statements and lets you assign the cash into groups so you know where your money goes. Then you can make charts and graphs and the like, good/bad for showing how much money you spend/waste on hobbies like mountain biking.
I have a Mrs Sandwich and her "spreadsheet of doom" AKA "the fun restrictor".
I am an airhead with money, ooh new and shiney, must have. What was I talking about?
chipsngravy - Member
you need a budget is excellent.Syncs across Mac and IOS devices.
Thanks for the tip. Just trying it out now. Does it learn the categories you put your transactions against? I'm doing it one at a time right, and I'm sure I'd give up on that soon enough.