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Money Management - Help and Advice

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Money Management - Help and Advice Empty Money Management - Help and Advice

Post by thebeardeddragon Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:52 am

I thought this might be a topic to cover as it's something I struggle with badly. What are the best strategies for managing money? I've always been terrible with this, missing bills and payments and regardless of how much I was earning running out of money at the end of the month and scraping by to get it to pay-day. When ever there was an unexpected bill (Car repair, emergency) I've had to take out payday loans to cover the cost.

Also I have a family who when me meet up ,like to go out for extravagant meals and I dare not say "That's not in my price range" as I will be bombarded with accusations of being a "Miser" and "Mean with my money". So if your maintaining a strict budget how do you deal with the peer pressure to avoid being tagged as a Scrooge?

Also would appreciate everyone's tips and suggestions.

Thanks.
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Post by reboot Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:13 am

One thing that is helpful is to take a week or two and record every single expenditure, from bills to the change you leave in a tip jar. Do not change your normal spending or try to budget, just observe your spending behavior. Make note of what spending is harder to keep track of (cash vs cards, little vs big purchases). This will help you see where you can make changes
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Post by Wondering Tue Oct 11, 2016 1:03 pm

What's always helped me pay my bills on time is having two specific dates in the month that I pay the bills. So I have one like the 22nd of the month where I always pay the end/start of the month bills, and then I have one like the 8th of the month where I always pay the middle of the month bills.

The exact dates are highly dependent on when I get paid, but they don't change for the duration of that job/pay schedule. That way, I'm not guesstimating when I need to pay bills every month. I always pay them on the exact same days. Because of the pattern established, I also know which bills get paid when, so it's easier to remember them all.

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Post by Werel Tue Oct 11, 2016 4:37 pm

You might consider checking out Mint, if it's available in the UK-- it's a free Intuit program that you link in to your credit cards and bank account, and it gives you handy little overviews of what you actually spend money on (you don't have to keep track yourself, just review your expenditures as it imports them and make sure they're tagged to the correct categories, like "restaurants" or "utilities"). It also has a bunch of flashy user interfaces for setting up and visualizing budgets, planning days to pay your bills/sending you reminders, alerting you if you overspend (e.g. you budgeted $60 for gas this month but you just spend your 61st dollar), etc. It's been hugely useful to me, because I am also terrible with money. Wink

thebeardeddragon wrote:Also I have a family who when me meet up ,like to go out for extravagant meals and I dare not say "That's not in my price range" as I will be bombarded with accusations of being a "Miser" and "Mean with my money". So if your maintaining a strict budget how do you deal with the peer pressure to avoid being tagged as a Scrooge?

1) "Cool, so that means you're paying for me, moneybags? Wink"
2) "That place is a little pricey for me right now, but how about [lower-cost suggestion]?"
3) "Can't make it to [extravagant restaurant], but I'll catch you guys for drinks afterwards?"
4) "Fuck you, you profligate materialist, I'm trying not to die in debtor's prison." (Not recommended except in emergencies)
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