ᐅ How do you keep track of your household budget? Paper-based, software, or an app?

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Um, yes, of course every expense is recorded. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense, right? How do you distinguish between expenses that go into the household budget and those you leave out? Where do the small items add up?

I basically agree with you.
But: When we started keeping a household budget long before building the house, I really broke down every little item, right down to stamps and bread rolls, to be able to see exactly where the money was going. Nowadays, it’s mostly about getting an overview of monthly income and expenses, so I combine some costs. For example, at the beginning I also reviewed every receipt and individually categorized what was groceries, hygiene products, baby items (diapers, etc.), but now these are grouped together as groceries/hygiene. Likewise, there is now a cash category, meaning a certain amount is withdrawn from the account at the beginning of the month and used for things like bread rolls, daycare meal money, and small purchases. How much of that is actually spent on bread rolls and how much on other things is no longer so important; what matters is the overall overview. There is also no longer the time or inclination to break down every single item.

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Uhm, yes, of course every expense is recorded. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense, right? How do you distinguish between expenses that go into the household budget book and those you exclude? Where do the small items add up?

Anyway... treadmill and exercise bike are nonsense; real sport happens outdoors .

Nothing is left out – expenses are grouped together into categories, as mentioned above!

EveundGerd schrieb:
I can bring you our exercise bike, then I don’t have to use it myself

Sounds interesting – I’d gladly take it. The only downside is if I set it up in the living room in front of the TV, my two little troublemakers would have a new climbing frame with a risk of “ouch”. If I put it somewhere else (like the office), then we’re back to the point of “You’re not spending enough time with me.”

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Anyway... treadmills and exercise bikes are rubbish; real exercise happens outside.

Speaking from reality: getting up at 5:00 am, leaving work by 5:40 am at the latest, and coming home around 7:40 pm starving. At that point, you hardly feel like exercising right away. Plus, you have to put the little ones to bed, including the obligatory story and cuddles. Then I have to cook dinner (the only hot meal of the day). After dinner, it’s at least 9:00 pm. At that time, I really don’t feel like exercising outside. On weekends, the time belongs to the kids and the household, which needs to be brought back in order together after a week.

The doctor keeps nagging me to exercise again. But when he hears my daily routine, the answer is always: then you need to reorganize your schedule. Right, as if my employer would agree to that immediately. I have missed working out for a long time since I used to train up to six times a week. Back then, I had a V-shaped back – nowadays, it would be called a Christmas tree shape.

Enough whining. Either you have a job (unfortunately with a long commute) that lets you earn enough money to build your own home, or you have a job that doesn’t allow big leaps but does let you pursue hobbies.

Bieber0815 schrieb:
Um, yes, of course every expense is recorded. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make any sense, right? How do you differentiate between expenses that go into the household budget and those you leave out? Where do the small items add up?

@ypg suggested that items like bread rolls, bread, etc., can be grouped under “bakery” or sausage and meat under “butcher.”
However, this approach fails when you buy such items, for example, at a supermarket, where every single item is listed separately on the receipt. In that case, I find the category “Shopping at Market XY” too broad, but splitting it into categories like groceries, cleaning supplies, drugstore items, etc., and manually “extracting and totaling” is, in my view, too time-consuming again.

@f-pNo: No, that’s not what I mean. When you buy groceries, they are groceries. Extra luxury for the weekend would be the bakery... Okay, I admit: if I spend €30 (about $33) every weekend on meat and sausage in a package, I would make a separate category for that, but not for cold cuts during the week. If I occasionally buy a bottle of cola, it counts as groceries; if I buy two cases every week, it’s beverages.

By the way, I differentiate between groceries and cosmetics because I often spend nearly €50 (about $55) at a large drugstore chain—and I want to know that. Later, it’s about analyzing the numbers and seeing where you’re overspending.

That’s why I recommend keeping a jotter or notebook, which you fill out after shopping, so you keep track and can, for example, split the supermarket receipt into thirds. By the way @Bieber0815, you don’t write down pennies—you round up.

@f-pNo those are typical "I don’t have time" excuses. I’m always surprised where others find the time.
I think it’s really about the priorities people set for themselves.

And regarding the quote: "you don’t have time for me"—that’s a typical line, either coming from a woman who heard it from her mother (complaining without reason) or it’s just your own interpretation and imagination. Men often hear something different…