We've made our budget for 2012(together). We've got our new 2012 diary next to the phone in the kitchen ready to start recording all our spending. But we had these 2 tools in 2011 as well. So why do we feel that we didn't make any real headway in 2011?
If we are to be honest it is the delay it takes to actually transfer from diary to spreadsheet. Sometimes I could be recording 2 months later. NOT helpful I guess. If we went over budget with groceries(our biggest overspend) in May I would not really know till end of June. And June may not have been on track either.
We use our credit card for all grocery purchases. We do this for convenience and the extra 4cent off petrol vouchers on top of the supermarket 4cent off. I'm starting to see the value of using cash. I see lots of bloggers use 'the envelope' system where if there is a certain amount left it is very visible. That extra $20-30 this week(that might push us over budget) isn't noticed with a credit card.
So I think that the 2 biggest changes we should make in 2012 are:
- Keep up-to-date with recording in the spreadsheet(makes it easier to analyze)
- Start using cash for groceries - withdraw the amount needed and stick to it. It will mean missing out on the extra 4cent voucher but the savings could be more than worth it.
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