HELP!!! Family Budgeting/Accounting - how do you do it?

[Cindy in C-ville]

Dh and I have been through a Crown class. We are on the "same page" in terms of not spending beyond our means, staying out of debt, etc. However, we are struggling with the day-to-day bookkeeping. Dh does it. He uses Quicken, has set up online payment of most of our bills, does our banking online, etc. We save all our receipts and he enters them into his Quicken categories. All this is great, but it takes him FOREVER and I'm not involved. I never really know how we're doing financially, how much I have to spend on groceries, household, etc. This means that I am always just trying to "keep it tight," rather than working off a real budget. And, if he gets behind on entering the receipts, it is a horrific process to get caught back up.

 

So ... how do you do it? Some things are so easy to categorize - gas, groceries, restaurants - but what about Target/Wal-Mart/Sam's receipts? Do you divide these out by categories?

 

TIA!

[GaHadley]

we use quicken as well, but ours are linked to our bank account and credit card, so we just have to go through and categorize them (rather than keep up and enter receipts).

 

DH normally does this (I usually have to ask him to), but I can do it I want to.

 

I think it's much easier, because most transactions pop up with the category already in them (Walgreens is almost always household, I just have to remember if I picked up a gift or whatnot while I was there). . .

[Dana]

So ... how do you do it? Some things are so easy to categorize - gas, groceries, restaurants - but what about Target/Wal-Mart/Sam's receipts? Do you divide these out by categories?

 

 

We do.

 

I pay bills and keep track of finances, but dh enters his own receipts and checks. We write very few checks and pay most bills automatically and on the credit card. We're very careful to pay off the card in full each month!

 

We update Quicken every Saturday (or every other). Sometimes one of us reads the receipts to the other who's doing the entering. The "split" feature works very well for dividing by categories. So the Target receipt can be split as $24.06 for clothing: son, $14.83 for clothing: Dana, and $1.83 for groceries (chocolate!).

 

We're much better able to see where we're spending our money and it has helped when we've needed to tighten up. To get the most out of the software, you've got to be good about entering and categorizing. It's also really neat to be able to compare and see how much we spent on groceries or eating out this month compared to last month, or this month compared to the same month last year. It also really helps with budgeting.

 

By entering receipts ourselves instead of downloading, we have caught errors - sometimes by a typo we made, but also errors by the company where the receipt doesn't match the charge.

 

Good luck in making the change. It was a transition for us when we were figuring out what worked best for us.

[Brigitte]

For us, the only solution ended up being separate bank accounts and separate responsibilities for bills. But, I have my own income from Usborne, which helps. SOme couples are very good at sitting down and talking about financial matters, but we are not one of those. We have are on the same page for the big picture and getting bills paid, but day to day stuff is our down fall.

 

Is it possible for you to enter your own receipts into Quicken? Or, open a "household" account for your to use for groceries, Walmart, etc. and have dh fund that account monthly with the amount budgeted for those things.

[mbeaser]

Have you considered using a cash envelope system? It is a bit easier for me (in some way :tongue_smilie:) because I only have me to worry about with spending (or to blame...), but I have my budget set up as an excel spreadsheet. I have mostly set bills, except for electricity (and it's stayed within a certain range), gas (heat/hot water, and it's been climbing since October) and the household budget (everything for food/gas/diaper/hba, etc comes out of the same small pot). I have a tab for each month and then I have a 2nd tab for the month that I am in (I hide the old tabs) to note whatever I spend. I budget weekly for grocery/gas/household, so I try to enter any spending on the same day it happens. I went grocery shopping yesterday for this coming week (I go when we go visit my parents so I can shop kidless) and last night I entered it in the spreadsheet. When I've paid a bill, I turn the date field green, so I just have to look for open fields. I have a substantial "debt snowball" right now, but I don't send it to the bill being targeted until the end of the month (in case something comes up).

[KS_]

We don't keep a running tab of our itemized spending anymore. We did for a few months until we had an idea of how much we were spending on things like groceries and how much we really needed to budget for that category. The other fixed categories (like mortgage, insurance, etc.) were just set at how much we needed to set aside each month to pay those bills when they came.

 

What we have now are budget categories that I divide the paycheck into - such as groceries, long term savings, MSA/HSA account, insurance, homeschooling, clothing - and the only money left in the checking account is for groceries and household supplies (so I know how much I have to spend). Our bank allows us to have many different "suffixes" on the account so I can make one for each category I want. If it didn't, I'd probably have a separate account for the majority of the fixed bills and savings and then one for groceries and household items. That way, when a bill comes, the money has been set aside, and I know how much I have to spend on groceries and don't have to worry that I may be spending too much.

 

For most things besides groceries, I pay with a credit card and then transfer the money out of the specific category when the credit card bill comes.

[cjzimmer1]

I've used Quicken for years, and while it was good for helping me keep track of what I've got in checking, it was pretty bad with helping see how much I spent of my budget each month. Since you have to upgrade every 3 years to be able to keep downloading things, I bought the new 2010 version. It is MUCH better about tracking your budget and how much you spent. It took me quite a while to figure out where things were because it was so different but I do like it much better.

 

As far as receipts etc, I used to wait and just download things but everything got lumped into household and I never really knew where I was spending things. So for the past 2 months I sit down as soon as I return from shopping and enter the reciepts. If I buy household and groceries at the same place I do split it out right away. It usually doesn't take more than 5-10 mintues a day and I have a much better pictures of where I'm spending my money as well as how much I have left for the month.

 

If you are running an older version of Quicken you might what to look into purchasing the 2010 version. Also it might be helpful if your hubby teaches you how to enter your transactions yourself. Even if he is still handling the rest of the finances, then you would be able to see in a timely manner how you have left for groceries that month (for example)

[Punks in Ontario]

I'll admit it. I'm a bookkeeping nerd who keeps track of all the receipts in Quicken. I've used it for over 10 years. I agree with pp who said Quicken 2010 has some added features that help with this, but you need to be motivated to learn how if you decide to use them.

 

I also encourage the Dave Ramsey budgeting method. I think it's quite similar to Crown, but has more detail (nuts and bolts) on how. He wants you to spend every dollar on paper BEFORE you spend a dime in real life.

 

I also make a budget in spreadsheet form and keep tabs on how much I can spend in each category. Some people like the envelope system, but I admit I do this on paper with a multicolumned page on my desk right under my keyboard. I try to keep it up to date each time I shop, but I'm not that disciplined. The first few months I did this I probably spent 4-5 hours/week tweeking my system and making sure the money was all going where I wanted it. Now it's likely only 4-8 hours per month.

 

Sounds tricky, but when you get used to it, it's okay. I figure the time I spend tracking and planning more than pays for itself in savings and better choices. I would think that we used to be good managers of our money, but when I started seriously using the budget, we changed our financial position each month by about $750. I don't have quite as many kids around to distract me, (or a new one). However, the more people's financial decisions you're making, the more important it is to make sure resources are properly used!

 

Best of luck! I know you're on the right track. It's great that you're both on the same page.

[Irene Lynn]

We have done a couple of different things. My dh always does the entry on Quicken, but he prints it out for me to see at least once a month. We have been on this budget thing all our 22 years of marriage, so I don't need much more than that to know where I am on any particular category. Sometimes I have taken out the grocery money at the beginning of the month and kept it separate from my own personal money. I keep my own receipts then so dh doesn't have to enter each one. A partial envelope system might be something that you could try. Just have a couple of categories that are primarily "your" areas and keep those in envelopes.

 

I often try to spend less than the budget for 2-3 months so that I build up a little extra money for those just-in-case situations, like unexpected guests who need more food, etc. Ex. Earlier this year I decided to spend far less than our budget on food. I built up quite a bit of excess, BUT then we decided to host a foreign exchange student and now we also have a college student guest with us for three weeks. That has used up all the extra that I saved without throwing us into any sort of trouble at all. I used the envelope system, but I did not withdraw the whole monthly amount. I chose a smaller amount, then tried to stick with that. That way I always knew that if we DID need to spend more, it was no trouble for me to use a debit card or withdraw a little more and I knew how much that was. That really helped me to save. I didn't want to pull out the card for a small purchase, so I would put it back most of the time.

 

Try different things. Each person is different and needs to find their own groove. We have done a few different things through the years, but they have all been living on the budget.

[BritAnnia]

Dh and I split what we're responsible for. I cover groceries (food/household/pets/etc), gifts, clothing, and also budget a small amount of ready money for myself. Dh covers everything else, bills, vehicle expenses, eating out, etc.

We set this system up years ago by averaging out how much we spent on each of my categories and now he 'pays' me an amount each paycheck which I then assign to each category. It's similar to the Dave Ramsey method I suppose, though we don't use envelopes or cash only. I don't spend over what I have assigned in each category.

[nd293]

but what about Target/Wal-Mart/Sam's receipts? Do you divide these out by categories?

 

I occasionally want to do this. Mine is a simple separation of "weekly" items from a big once-a-month shops for staple items. I bring a box, put it at one end of the trolley and fill it with the weekly items. If you have more categories, place re-usable bags in the trolley, and fill each with items from a particular category (fruit and veg, luxuries, toiletries, etc). When you get to the check-out, ask for a subtotal at the end of each bag (on the printed slip, or just write it down yourself).

 

HTHs

[CalicoKat]

Dh and I split what we're responsible for. I cover groceries (food/household/pets/etc), gifts, clothing, and also budget a small amount of ready money for myself. Dh covers everything else, bills, vehicle expenses, eating out, etc.

We set this system up years ago by averaging out how much we spent on each of my categories and now he 'pays' me an amount each paycheck which I then assign to each category. It's similar to the Dave Ramsey method I suppose, though we don't use envelopes or cash only. I don't spend over what I have assigned in each category.

This is what we do too. DH set up an autopayment from his paycheck into my household account. I have a debit card for this account and a checkbook. I keep track on the checkbook register of debits and deposits.

 

I do also carry a checkbook for our main account. All school expenses are paid for by check so that they can get tracked and there's a record of them. Piano lessons, field trip expenses, co-op payments, etc. come out of that account.

 

All these accounts (and our investment portfolio) are linked to our Quicken. DH updates (downloads) all the statements frequently.

 

Bottom line - my responsiblity is the household account.

[Cindy in C-ville]

I REALLY like the idea of me being in charge of a household account and having dh keep up with everything else. Here's what I see in this category - groceries, pharmaceuticals, clothing, school, eating out, recreation & leisure. What else do you have in this category? Do you consider these sub-categories and budget specifically? Y'all are the best!

[CalicoKat]

I REALLY like the idea of me being in charge of a household account and having dh keep up with everything else. Here's what I see in this category - groceries, pharmaceuticals, clothing, school, eating out, recreation & leisure. What else do you have in this category? Do you consider these sub-categories and budget specifically? Y'all are the best!

technically they are sub categories. But it's mostly for the purpose of identifying who's picking up the bill if we're out together. :) On the budget spreadsheet there's a specific dollar amount identified. But some months more is spent in the individual categories so I spend less in other areas as needed to make it all work out.

 

groceries

clothing

pet care & food

Walmart/Sam's/Target Purchases (toiletries, food, paper products, soaps, OTC meds & vitamins etc.)

personal services (haircuts, nail, etc.)

entertainment & eating out

my personal allowance & any gift checks to me get deposited here too.

 

I get my bi-monthly deposit and from there I get to choose when and where the actual $$ are spent. When the statement from this account is downloaded to our Quicken some of these purchases are automatically categorized (something that was set up by DH) so we don't have to do that each time.

 

School - is out of another account. It's for piano, homeschool co-op payments. Initially this was from another account because I didn't have a checkbook tied to the household account and by writing checks we can have a physical record of payments. But I have a checkbook now for the household account so I'll probaby be getting an increase. :D It also helped initially for dh to realistically see what was being spent for the schooling and to add that expense into the budget.

 

Pharmaceuticals - come out of the healthcare account from dh's health insurance.

 

&& for gifts - is saved through another monthly automatic payment to another account.

 

Anything that is a predictable payment (monthly or yearly) goes into another account automatically from dh's paycheck. Funds for stuff like home owners insurance, taxes, charitible giving, kid's college funds,--that can be broken out into a monthly payment to ourselves--are kept here until we need to make a payment. We've also stuff like saving for car repairs & family vacations.

Edited January 1, 2010 by CalicoKat

[msjones]

Take a look at the mvelopes budgeting software. www.mvelopes.com

Costs a little each month, but is an excellent tracking system.

[BritAnnia]

I do sub categorize and budget each amount accordingly but that's what works for me, it wouldn't be necessary for the system to work if you didn't want to do it that way. The hardest part is starting out. We needed a bit of a boost for that first month, and since then it's run very smoothly.

My dh keeps up with the overall outgoing expenses in whatever money program he uses, but I am the one who knows how much I have for groceries or clothing at any given time. He looooves that it's as simple as saying "I need a new pair of jeans" and the money is budgeted and already saved for that moment. He is able to focus on other outgoings such as mortgage, power bill, etc.

[AngelaNYC]

So ... how do you do it?

 

We have a set payout amount allotted for each paycheck.

We don't save receipts (I'm so not good at that).

We love using envelopes.

 

Bills are paid 2x a month (rent, bills, and debt are lumped together and all done online). We designated dh's paychecks for that. (Gasoline is always done on the same card, so we pay it with the bills).

 

My weekly paycheck goes to groceries (food & household). I do 2 regular supermarkets one week and Costco on the alternate weeks.

 

My monthly sales check gets broken into the envelopes. We have categories for:

 

 

• Gifts

• Dance tuition

• Dance competitions

• Clothes/Shoes

• Homeschool group classes/trips

• $40/week to keep on me ($160 in the envelope to take from each week to use on myself and the kids)

• $30/week for dh to keep on him (morning paper, coffee, lunch out, etc)

• Copays (medical, dental, vision, prescrip)

• Miscellaneous

 

The categories change around sometimes. Every now and then when I want to do shopping, movies, restaurant, etc, I take from the Misc. envelope. We also always leave a cushion in the checking account, just in case. It works great because we can always see what's available in the envelopes so we plan accordingly. I used Quicken a long time ago. All it did for me was categorize my spending, which wasn't worth the time it took. I already know what we have to cut out (dh and I talk about how we're so bad with the "friv").

 

This is the best system we've used in almost 17 years of marriage. We're both in charge of it (ok, me mostly, shhh, lol) and both always know where we stand.

[Carin' For Seven]

We have seperate accounts. This helps because we can see what each of us is spending and on what. I use my account mostly for homeschooling trips and extras. My husbands account is mostly for paying bills.

[jail warden]

Crown and Dave Ramsey mesh quite well in what they believe. Ramsey has often said Crown is the "why" while Ramsey is the "how"

 

I do our checkbook in Microsoft Money, but have found the easiest way to know if we're on track is if I use Dave Ramsey's financial worksheets from the back of The Total Money Makeover. We do our monthly budget (some sheets from the back) and take cash out for groceries, gas, eating out, blow money, and the like. I pay bills out of the checkbook. I also put money into our savings and use his worksheet for breakdown of savings so that I can know what everything in savings is for. Such as Christmas, taxes, & insurance.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I have such a passion about this subject as you can probably tell!:tongue_smilie: