|
Post by dtesposito on Jul 13, 2010 22:21:36 GMT -5
MiSC, since you're getting financial advice, I'll chime in here too--you know I always have an opinion! Yes, carrying cash will limit what you spend. If you think you can go that route and it will help you, then go for it. If you can't, FORCE YOURSELF to do this. Have a basket, or a bulletin board, or something right out in the open dedicated only to receipts. When you come home from anywhere, part of walking back into the house is putting your receipts in that spot. Your husband too. EVERY night before going to bed subtract those receipts from your checkbook balance. They will all be in the same place, so once you make this a habit, it should take less than 5 minutes to record one day's receipts. You will always know exactly how much money you have, no overdraft fees, no bounced checks, and if you do this every day, you'll see the paycheck deposited, and you'll see how fast the money is going. If you get half way through the pay period and most of the money is gone, you'll know right at that point that you have to stop spending until the next paycheck comes in. If you think you'll forget to do this every night set a reminder on your computer for a time that you're still online, but is late enough in the evening that no one is still shopping. Believe me, you can make yourself get in this habit and it will make a world of difference. Having to pay fees to banks is just evil--your family can use that money! With all the physical clutter and mess I've had in my life, my checking account is always balanced--there is no way a bank is getting any of my money in unnecessary fees! Diane
|
|
MiSC
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,611
|
Post by MiSC on Jul 13, 2010 22:43:50 GMT -5
Okay, I had us $720 down. Now we're at $135 up, but the bank is still saying we have $255. How the *%^# I got so messed up I'll probably never know. But I'm going to leave the account alone for a while and let it just sit. I want everything cleared before I start paying bills on Monday. I'd normally do bills on Friday, but I want some down time in the account before I start having to use it again.
About the spending -- I never leave this house. Colin does the grocery shopping. I take Sean to taekwondo, but I stay in the car. I don't like to be seen. So everything I buy is online. And hiding the card (or freezing it in a block of ice, as someone once suggested) doesn't work. I've got the number memorized.
I just have to try to make saving a sort of a game. To see how high I can get it, or something like that. I have to try to outsmart myself.
|
|
beeble
New Member
Joined: September 2009
Posts: 9
|
Post by beeble on Jul 13, 2010 23:28:56 GMT -5
You've told about going to Target, so at least sometimes, you do shop in brick and mortar stores, and stuff like the dollar debit purchase doesn't sound like it'd be online. Are online purchases what ran up the overdraft fees?
As for buying online, well, first, if your husband buys the groceries, what you actually NEED online should be very, very little.
Second, you can do the same controlled thing there - erase the records of your credit and debit cards on the sites you shop on, and buy a limited credit card at the beginning of each month - the kind you can load with $ and then that's all the money on it, that you activate and then toss or reload when you've spent it, like a gift card but they're usable anyplace.
Then you can load it with $50 or $100 or whatever money for the month for the stuff you NEED to buy online and then when it's done, it's done, same as cash.
|
|
|
Post by dtesposito on Jul 13, 2010 23:49:23 GMT -5
But you won't even know how high you're getting it if you don't keep accurate records! If you're shopping online with a debit card, you can still make up a "receipt" for everything you purchase so that at the end of the day you are deducting the amounts you spend and keeping track of how much you have left.
MiSC, you will never get the spending under control if you have no idea how much you're spending as you spend it--it's impossible! People are so resistant to the idea of actually balancing their checkbooks but until you can do that on a regular basis your financial situation will always seem out of your grasp because you won't know what's going on with it. It's easier these days to balance a checking account because you can access it on line and check as often as you need to to make sure your balance matches. Here's one of those "no excuses" issues--you will never stop your spending if you don't keep careful track of it!
Diane
|
|
|
Post by Chris on Jul 14, 2010 10:30:48 GMT -5
I agree cash is the way to go if at all possible. It sure helps with limits and boundaries and I use it for everything except the bills I mail. Sometimes I'm freaked out by carrying too much cash when grocery shopping but if I'm on a tight budget say I have $50 and that has to be it -- I carry it in cash and it immediately makes me stick within that -- I simply can't debit for more and then have to try and figure out what other category or (savings) to rob.
Also, I benefit greatly from online access to my checking account so that I can always pull up as much of the record as I need to so a "bank statement/balancing" at any time not just waiting for the paper statement.
|
|
|
Post by dtesposito on Jul 14, 2010 14:40:14 GMT -5
So how are the bank accounts looking this afternoon MiSC? Are you going to be able to get your bills paid?
Diane
|
|
MiSC
Banned
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,611
|
Post by MiSC on Jul 14, 2010 17:17:51 GMT -5
So how are the bank accounts looking this afternoon MiSC? Are you going to be able to get your bills paid? Diane I'm still no further along than I was this morning, which was/is that the bank thinks we have money, and I think we don't. However, I just deposited $295 in misc. checks that I've found in the paperwork (!), so we're covered. Payday is Friday. I have a tiny little checking account that I can use for the next two weeks, just so the main account can sit and catch up with itself. I'll put the paycheck into the little account, and then I can breathe a little more easily. Oh, and ladies and gents, word to the wise: Check your bills closely. I just got $450 taken off a medical bill. The hospital had messed up. They ended up owing us $25.Yup. A pretty good money day, even if I still don't have a grip on the main checking account. That'll come.
|
|
|
Post by dtesposito on Jul 14, 2010 17:52:12 GMT -5
Excellent day's work, I wish I could find $300 worth of checks lying around! Hell, I wish I could find $10 worth of checks lying around!
My sister is receiving tons of hospital bills for her 5 visits since February, and she is seeing some things on them that she doesn't think are right--I'm hoping she finds the energy to call about them because I think errors are very common. She only has to pay copays but she should questiong the errors anyway, if only because they count towards whatever lifetime benefit she has.
Now, how about seeing how much of the coming paycheck you can keep in the bank? Why don't you consider the small account your "Christmas Club"? Then when your main account is figured out you can start putting money away for the holidays. (In only 5 months it'll be December 15th!)
Diane
|
|
|
Post by messymimi on Jul 14, 2010 18:28:47 GMT -5
Yes, MiSC, that day will come.
Nothing can withstand the power of persistence, and you will persist.
I have had to leave the checking account alone to "cook" a couple of times, and let everything clear, and then take the bank's word for it as to how much is in there.
It helps.
messymimi
|
|