GR Managing your money
Dealing with money can be pretty stressful, there's bills to pay, groceries to buy, maybe you're even looking at moving out of home, trying to budget and make sure you're using your money wisely is a tough task.
There me are a few ways we can get caught out with our money like loans and getting behind on different repayments, or maybe you still live at home and work for some pocket money, either way it's important we know how to manage our money so that we know exactly what we're spending it on and don't get ourselves into too much strife. If you budget correctly you should be able to avoid the 7 day two minute noodle diet, I mean they're pretty good but not that good.
On Monday 14th we'll be having a Getting Real on this very important topic, join us live 8pm AEDT or jump on and say " hi" now!
I agree with @loves netball on having a savings account or limited cash in wallet because it limits how much you can spend, and means you have to put in more effort when you want to buy something. Say, you put a certain amount of money aside, and take out a certain amount you need for neccessities, then you have to put in more effort when you want to spend on something you don't really need because you've got it put away somewhere or don't have enough available.
Also, I'm eating my dinner now, so I'll probably drop off for a little while 😛
What are some of the things that help you manage your money better?
Having a budget and writing out shopping lists helps me to manage my money better. I find that when it is all written down I am more likely to be able to spend less and it helps me to be organised for things like Christmas because I start in August slowly shopping through out all of the sales and getting people checked off the list early so I don't have to drop $600 in one week.
What are some of the things that help you manage your money better?
When I first moved out of home, I tried to figure out a bit of a budget. It soon became too much effort for me to want to write down how much I spent on groceries which tbh is my biggest variable cost.
What are some of the things that help you manage your money better?
Well the first thing was realising that i wasn't managing my money very well at all (that took me like 10 years).
The next step was using a budget, thinking about my goals in life and also realising that i was probably going to get old one day and that i needed money to do some of the stuff i wanted to do before then.
Also i found some cool tricks along the way, like saving a little bit every week and more recently using apps to help me with that. My favourite one being an app which takes a bit of money out of every transaction i make. So like if i buy a coffee for 4.50 , it rounds that up to 5 and saves the 50 cent difference for me... if that makes sense
What are some of the things that help you manage your money better?
I honestly don't have many skills/stretegies for managing money, hoping to learn some here!
What app is this @Ben-RO? Sounds awesome.
One of the best things I did was a program SaversPlus program when I completed my diploma. I completed an online budgeting course that was really helped me learn how to budget properly. I was only saving 12.50 per week and at the end of 12 months I had $500 and I was matched another $500 which helped my start up costs for university considerably.
I now use an excel document where I log all my income and deductions. I find it helps me because I can see it all in black and white and what is left over after saving is some little play money for something fun.
@nc_reachout13 how do you track your expenses? Spreadsheet or some other way?
Just trying to get some ideas since this is the bit that always trips me up 😛
@Bay52VUSorry for the delay but I thought I should reply. I use a manually created excel document but I must say it isn't too difficult to set up once you know some basic excel formulas such as divide, sum and times.
I actually just use the Open Offices version of excel but it all works the same 🙂
I even make excel documents so I can plan for events or plan the cost of a shopping list where I cross reference with both the coles and woolworths online stores so I can budget what my expected costs are going to be. I have become a massive excel nerd obviously 🙂
Ohh man, i thought that there aren't so many people like me, that cannot manage correctly their own money. I don't even mention it sometimes, how i reach the end of the month and i got like only a couple of bucks in my wallet. However, i understand that i have always been a pretty great money waster. It is really stupdi, i know, i have to somehow become more organized regarding my spendings. I been looking for some side hustles, some things that i could from home, in very little time, so i finally gain financial freedom.
Managing money is super tough @GorLyman ! Sometimes I truly don't know where it all goes! We had another chat about money just last week, here is the link if you want to check it out 
@Bay52VU Sorry for the delay but I thought I should reply. I use a manually created excel document but I must say it isn't too difficult to set up once you know some basic excel formulas such as divide, sum and times.
I actually just use the Open Offices version of excel but it all works the same 🙂
I even make excel documents so I can plan for events or plan the cost of a shopping list where I cross reference with both the coles and woolworths online stores so I can budget what my expected costs are going to be. I have become a massive excel nerd obviously 🙂
@Bay52VU I track my expenses on paper! I kep receipts and write what comes in vs what goes out
How far into the future do you think about money?
Fairly far because one day I might want to buy a house or something (ha! unlikely). But it is important to look ahead, especially my goals and how I'll need a money to get them off the ground. But in saying that, I've been told I'm young and I should buy what I want while I can... hmm... that definitely is not looking into the future. Today I spent $19!!! on two peices of pana chocolate slice and I ate them both before I got to my car, that is not good but its a treat....
What are some of your budgeting tips?
Use apps! Look at your bank statement. Transfer money over to another account to save. Buy homebrand 😛
I think about money a lot, because any form of debt literally scares me half to death. I like having money because it gives me the flexibility to do the things I want.
My tips:
- don't spend more than you earn
- track your expenses
- don't agree to contracts or cards you can't afford to pay back
Thanks again for all the awesome tips guys! 🙂 I'll be sure to remember them when I start budgeting 🙂
Thank you for joing us and helping to run the show @Bay52VU!
P.s this meme i just found... for no reason
