I try to make our monthly budget process as simple as possible, ie; one that requires little work. This is my current process, which I do once a month, in or around the eighteenth.
The first thing I do is allocate every penny of the money that is automatically transferred the joint account; I do this on a piece of paper.
I then manually transfer budget savings amounts to ING sub funds; Christmas fund, NY fund, Holiday fund {this money transfers immediately from our checking account and shows up in the ING fund}
And finally I go and withdraw cash for groceries, social, personal spending and miss mtp’s expenses and separate this into named jars; any money left in the jars at the end of our budget month goes into the NY fund {that’s a big incentive not to spend anything!}
That’s it really. Our house bills, apart from two *annual ones, are on all on monthly Direct Debit and get taken automatically from our account between 25th and 1st monthly; I moved them all between these dates as I didn’t like money leaving our account a different times of the month. *The two annual bills, contents and buildings insurance, are paid for out of an annual bills e-saver account which we automatically fund every month.
Do you do something similar? Do you use an online tools to help you budget?
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{photo credit: Jeff Belmonte}
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Hi Laura,
I also use online tools to help me manage my monthly budget. I use a direct debit system for a few services and for the rest I use home-banking.
After receiving my paycheck in one bank account, I use a bit of paper to do my math and then make the necessary fund transfers between different accounts. Currently I have two debit accounts and two savings accounts.
I´m glad I have this online system because it saves me time and allows me to run my finances from my office chair.
I´ve been reading all your updates from my e-mail. Your practical spirit is an inspiration to me
Hugs, Mizé.
.-= Mizé´s last blog ..Renting & Journey Obstacles =-.
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Right now, I’ll confess, that we don’t have a budget. : (
But my husband and I have discussed that once we move to our new place (first it will be a rental) we are going to come up with a solid budget. We need to know where our money is going, and we need to be smarter about money.
I’ll be coming back to all of these posts to get advice! {thanks}
.-= kirwin´s last blog ..House Tour =-.
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Hi Kirwin and thank you for dropping by during your very busy week! Are you renting to give yourselves time to look for the right place?
Mize, hello. here’s to running accounts from home and not having to do it all at a bank
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I don’t have separate online budgets for yearly expenses but am increasingly convinced that it’s a good idea–we could use one for taxes (paid yearly here in France!!) and other yearly costs like insurance. It would help make my budgeting more accurate.
.-= Simple in France´s last blog ..Where would you pinch pennies if you had to? =-.
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