While I'm obsessing here...

[mousme]

Despite the fact that I'm no longer hurting for money, I get the impression that I need to be more on top of my finances than I currently am. I mean, all my bills get paid on time now, and everything gets filed away neatly, but I don't keep a close record of where my money goes: I only have a general idea.

I'm thinking of getting myself a ledger, or something. That way I could, if properly disciplined, keep track of all the money that goes in and out. I'd have to keep receipts more carefully, but it would help me to see where my money goes and identify potential spending problems (at a guess: books and DVDs, since they're my primary "leisure" expenditures). Not that I know how to use a proper accounting ledger or anything, but I bet I could learn.

So, dear flist ('cause I haven't asked enough questions lately :P), how do you manage your household finances?

Comments

[odheirre.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily recommend this method.

Don't use cash -- make sure everything is paid by one credit card and electronic bill pay. Then log in to my credit card and bank, and use that as my ledger. It says how much money was spent and the vendor, and from that I can usually tell what it was for.

Essentially, it's a poor man's Quicken. The trick for me is to not use cash, because that can't be tracked electronically.

[joane.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much how we do it, except with debit cards and online banking. And it's by default, since neither of us is in any way capable of keeping a checkbook or receipts straight for more than two or three transactions in a row.

[odheirre.livejournal.com]

Same here -- default option because I'm horribly flighty about keeping track of money and my wife usually doesn't want to deal with it.

[dizietsma.livejournal.com]

I withdraw at least a couple hundred in cash per month just for all those mini cash transactions that would cost me a fortune in bank fees if I went and put them all on the card.