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Currently I make enough that I have been just paying for everything with a credit card and paying that off every month. I have enough going into my account that I don't worry about it.
I live a fairly simple quiet life and don't shop for extraneous stuff much. I'm at the grocery store a lot though to buy fresh lettuce etc.
But I'm going to be transition to retirement soon and what I live on will be quite a bit less.
I need to budget and see if I can live on it and "practice" my retirement income.
Would a debit card help with that? I'm not that familiar with them.
I sort of miss the old write a check, substract it, and see exactly how much you have till next paycheck days. I had an auto deduction into checking and that's what I had. I didn't "BUDGET" then either but I knew what I had and adjusted accordingly.
Its so much harder to "see" and keep track of in this electronic age. Paying bills on line. The method is causing me problems in terms of keeping track of money somehow.
I sort of miss the old write a check, substract it, and see exactly how much you have till next paycheck days. I had an auto deduction into checking and that's what I had. I didn't "BUDGET" then either but I knew what I had and adjusted accordingly.
Its so much harder to "see" and keep track of in this electronic age. Paying bills on line. The method is causing me problems in terms of keeping track of money somehow.
Why not go back to the old ways? Get a check register, and write down your starting balance at the beginning of each month, then every purchase you make during the month in it (whether it's cash, online bill pay, debit card purchase, or credit card purchase). Then consult the check register to see exactly how much money you ACTUALLY have available.
Currently I make enough that I have been just paying for everything with a credit card and paying that off every month. I have enough going into my account that I don't worry about it.
I live a fairly simple quiet life and don't shop for extraneous stuff much. I'm at the grocery store a lot though to buy fresh lettuce etc.
But I'm going to be transition to retirement soon and what I live on will be quite a bit less.
I need to budget and see if I can live on it and "practice" my retirement income.
Would a debit card help with that? I'm not that familiar with them.
I sort of miss the old write a check, substract it, and see exactly how much you have till next paycheck days. I had an auto deduction into checking and that's what I had. I didn't "BUDGET" then either but I knew what I had and adjusted accordingly.
Its so much harder to "see" and keep track of in this electronic age. Paying bills on line. The method is causing me problems in terms of keeping track of money somehow.
If you have a smart phone you can simply log on your bank site and check and track your account. It's literally a online checkbook register. You can also pay and receive payments. From your smart phone. It's literally what you did before but faster and easier to track.
I suggest you give it a try. My wife hated online banking. She did it old school sent checks register the whole bit. After I slowly pushed her to pay the utility bills online (and saving quite a few bucks a month on stamps) she pays all the payments online.
Once you get the hang of it you'll slap yourself why didn't you do it sooner.
If you have a smart phone you can simply log on your bank site and check and track your account. It's literally a online checkbook register. You can also pay and receive payments. From your smart phone. It's literally what you did before but faster and easier to track.
And if you don't have a smartphone, you can do it on your computer - just log in and check your balance every day to keep track.
Of course, checking your account balance won't tell you how much you currently have charged on your credit cards. It's easier to keep track of debit card spending using online banking, since the card pulls directly from your bank account. But if you pay your credit card balances more than once a month, you'd probably still be able to keep a handle on things (especially if you don't charge a lot).
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I agree with the others. We have not used a check in many years. As long as you monitor your debit card transactions carefully it's no harder than balancing a check book. You can also set up alerts that go to your smartphone as text messages. I have them for any transaction over a certain dollar amount, and for when the balance drops below a certain amount. It also saves you time, and money for stamps. At the grocery store, the rare person that writes a check gets looks of scorn from those behind in line.
I think the best way to tighten your budget is to use cash. For some reason it just hurts more to hand over cold hard currency. Swiping a card is painless, especially a credit card.
When I decided to track my spending a couple of months ago, I would put $100 in an envelope and see if I could get it to last the week. Every dollar I spent, I would write it down on the outside of the envelope. Sure made me think twice about stopping at Starbucks when I was down to $17 with a couple of days still left.
Currently I make enough that I have been just paying for everything with a credit card and paying that off every month. I have enough going into my account that I don't worry about it.
I live a fairly simple quiet life and don't shop for extraneous stuff much. I'm at the grocery store a lot though to buy fresh lettuce etc.
But I'm going to be transition to retirement soon and what I live on will be quite a bit less.
I need to budget and see if I can live on it and "practice" my retirement income.
Would a debit card help with that? I'm not that familiar with them.
I sort of miss the old write a check, substract it, and see exactly how much you have till next paycheck days. I had an auto deduction into checking and that's what I had. I didn't "BUDGET" then either but I knew what I had and adjusted accordingly.
Its so much harder to "see" and keep track of in this electronic age. Paying bills on line. The method is causing me problems in terms of keeping track of money somehow.
i use mint.com. i have been using it for about 4 years now and i know what ive spent every month for the past 3 1/2 years on whatever category of expense i have. it takes a few minutes to link your credit cards/bank accounts to mint and then its very quick to categorize transactions on a regular basis. i wish i had been using it from to beginning of my earning days so i can see the development over time.
i use mint.com. i have been using it for about 4 years now and i know what ive spent every month for the past 3 1/2 years on whatever category of expense i have. it takes a few minutes to link your credit cards/bank accounts to mint and then its very quick to categorize transactions on a regular basis. i wish i had been using it from to beginning of my earning days so i can see the development over time.
Mint is a very useful tool, personally I just wish it had a better way to "report" your activity. As an example, I personally like to split my activity between "normal" expenses and "one time" expenses. Especially now with an upcoming wedding, my normal budget is completely shot. You have to put down a few deposits and things get thrown out of wack pretty easily. Those shouldn't be ignored, but when looking at trends, it's nice to see what my "base line" would be for things like food, utilities, eating out and other things without the big swings distorting stuff.
But as far as the OP goes, I think it could substantially help in that respect.
Why not go back to the old ways? Get a check register, and write down your starting balance at the beginning of each month, then every purchase you make during the month in it (whether it's cash, online bill pay, debit card purchase, or credit card purchase). Then consult the check register to see exactly how much money you ACTUALLY have available.
^^^ This! That's exactly what I am doing.
I go to my bank and ask to give me only register books. They work just perfect for balancing my budget.
Also a great way to follow up with big purchases - when, what and how much.
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