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

For me, supermarket receipts fall under the category of groceries and personal care items. Whether there are a few socks or other miscellaneous things that have nothing to do with groceries, I don’t mind. What matters is whether there is any money left over in the end or not.
I know exactly that we are spending more at the supermarket now. With salary increases and having a child, our food consumption has also changed. We do buy somewhat higher-quality products. But I don’t need to keep a household budget for that.

ypg schrieb:
You don’t leave anything out – you group items together, as mentioned above!

Got it, understood! That’s how we’ll do it, grouping into categories (and there’s probably no one-size-fits-all solution here, although there are commonalities like “food” ).

f-pNo schrieb:
Waking up at 5:00 AM, leaving for work by 5:40 AM at the latest – returning around 7:40 PM absolutely starving.

Wow, either you work a lot or have a very long commute (or both)… those are really long days :-(.

ypg schrieb:
@f-pNo Those are typical "I don’t have time" excuses. I always wonder where others find the time.
I think it comes down to the priorities people set for themselves.

Exactly – the priorities are family and the house.
Without my job, we wouldn’t be able to afford the mortgage payments. Even though my wife has returned to work after parental leave (hooray) and earns better than before (double hooray). Surely, I could save about 30 minutes each way if I drove to work instead of taking the bus. But then I would have to budget an extra 450 euros (about $475) per month (not including additional car wear and tear), which would jeopardize our house financing. Similarly, if I looked for a job closer to home, that would reduce our income by 800 to 1,000 euros (roughly $845 to $1,060) per month.
Oh, and building a house near my workplace would have easily increased the total costs by 200,000 to 300,000 euros (about $210,000 to $315,000).
So, the clear priorities remain the job and the family.

ypg schrieb:

And regarding the quote: "you don’t have time for me" — that’s a typical sentence 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...

Well – if similar arguments were made once or twice before, they tend to stick in your mind.
Surely it was a bit of an exaggeration — the thread even took on a humorous tone at times.
Nevertheless, regardless of that, we discuss everything that comes up during the day in the evening (children and daycare, friends/family, upcoming tasks, what needs to be bought or taken care of, etc.). You could argue that some of this time could be avoided, but overall, the general life planning needs to be talked through (even though at that same time I’m also doing nice things like paying bills online, requesting quotes, handling important mail, researching construction/renovation topics, and so on).

Bieber0815 schrieb:

Wow, either you work a lot or you commute a lot (or both) ... those are really long days :-(.

Both.

Musketier schrieb:
For me, supermarket receipts fall under the category of groceries and drugstore items. Whether there are a few socks or other miscellaneous things included that have nothing to do with groceries doesn’t matter to me. What’s important is whether there is anything left over in the end or not.

I feel the same way. If we do happen to buy something bigger at the supermarket that isn’t groceries or drugstore items (although our spending on that category is admittedly very low), I can always separate that out later. What really matters is having an overview. And honestly, groceries are the things I want to save the least on. Since we only buy regular items and shop at a discount store, I don’t really mind whether I spend 10 or 20 € on cold cuts and meat. And if we want fresh bread rolls for the weekend, we get them. The potential savings, at least for us, lie in other categories.

Bauherren2014 schrieb:
I agree. When we actually buy something larger in the supermarket that isn’t related to food or toiletries (although admittedly this category is quite small for us), I can always account for it separately. In the end, having an overview is what counts. And honestly, food is the one area where I least want to save money. Since we only buy “normal” items and shop at discount stores, I don’t really mind whether I spend 10 or 20 € on cold cuts and meat. And if we want fresh rolls for the weekend, we get them. The real savings potential, at least for us, lies in other categories.

Exactly! A household budget should provide a clear overview. Much of it needs to be managed individually.
Where someone sees potential for savings for themselves or their family is also very personal.
But it does allow you to see, for example, that you spend 100 € per month on cold cuts and meat, and that diapers cost a certain amount.

Wishing you all a happy Easter (I would book my Metro shopping trip under Holidays/Gifts right away )

Best regards, Yvonne