The Money Book. | #JANBLOG 14
Regular readers of my blog will probably know that a little spending ban is coming up (two days till it starts). This isn’t out of the blue, I’ve been wanting to start managing my incoming and outgoings for a while, but never actually sat down and thought about how to do so. Some people are fantastic with money, saving every penny and only spending when they absolutely need too. Other’s like to treat themselves and others, buy nice things and get tempted by ‘free delivery if you spend £X* offers. Can you guess which category I fall into?
At the end of last year I picked up this ridiculously cute notebook from ebay, knowing that without a dedicated book I wouldn’t stick to tracking my money. In here I write my monthly income, and then what I HAVE to spend on. Currently I have three bank accounts open, two of them being savings. The first is for my day-to-day expenditure (mainly train tickets and sweets). The second is ‘long-term’ so if I want to invest in anything I get the money out from there (one of the main reason’s I was able to invest in a DSLR!). Finally is my ‘Car Fund’ because I need to be prepared for spending quite a large sum of £££ on insurance, petrol, MOT…you get the gist. Not to mention lessons… not a cheap life skill to learn I tell ya! I’m now considering opening a savings account that is JUST for the long-term future and even if I pop £15 a month, it’ll be satisfying watching it build up and then in a couple of years time knowing I have a sum of money on the side should I need it.
I also have a double page spread for things that I BUY. Almost everything gets written here (other than food because I am liable to forgetting what I ate and losing food receipts in the excitement of buying the food) and it’s working a treat at making me realise how much I spend already. Whilst I LOVE online shopping, it’s a huge weakness of mine, I must admit it is a little TOO easy to spend a lot of cash online when all you have to do is give your long number and password. I know for a fact that when I take out a sum of money and then go shopping with a friend, I’m less likely to pick anything up than if I just have my card. Perhaps holding money in one’s hand and remembering how hard you worked for that is what stops you from splurging on stuff you don’t really need?! I’ll no doubt dedicate a whole post to my spending ban and loose ‘plan’, but for now I wanted to leave you guys with this!
What money/saving tips do YOU have? 🙂
P.S THANKYOU FOR ALL THE COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS JANBLOGS, I’VE READ ALL OF THEM AND I’M SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE SUCH LOVELY FOLLOWERS <3 I WILL DO A MASSIVE REPLY ALL IN ONE SWEEP ONCE MY ESSAYS ARE ALL HANDED IN ^_^