ᐅ How do you keep track of your household budget? Paper-based, software, or an app?
Created on: 31 Mar 2015 15:08
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starnight
Hello everyone,
I’m new here, although I’ve been reading occasionally for a while.
My husband and I are planning to buy a house within the next 1-2 years. We have equity saved, and we are currently putting aside a certain amount each month while still living comfortably. So right now, it seems quite feasible. However, we are actively planning a family at the moment... which means that eventually one income will be lost (fortunately the significantly lower one) and additional expenses will arise.
Now we would at least like to get a clear picture of our current monthly expenses. This would help us roughly estimate whether, with one income, there would still be enough left for mortgage payments, especially with an additional family member to support.
So my question is: how do you keep track of your household budget? Paper? Software? App? Online? What experiences have you had with the different methods?
Maybe your insights can save me from unnecessary trial and error.
Thanks in advance for your answers,
starnight
I’m new here, although I’ve been reading occasionally for a while.
My husband and I are planning to buy a house within the next 1-2 years. We have equity saved, and we are currently putting aside a certain amount each month while still living comfortably. So right now, it seems quite feasible. However, we are actively planning a family at the moment... which means that eventually one income will be lost (fortunately the significantly lower one) and additional expenses will arise.
Now we would at least like to get a clear picture of our current monthly expenses. This would help us roughly estimate whether, with one income, there would still be enough left for mortgage payments, especially with an additional family member to support.
So my question is: how do you keep track of your household budget? Paper? Software? App? Online? What experiences have you had with the different methods?
Maybe your insights can save me from unnecessary trial and error.
Thanks in advance for your answers,
starnight
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Bauherren20142 Apr 2015 11:09Since the term has come up a few times here, I have to ask a very basic question: What exactly is a Kladdebuch?
Bauherren2014 schrieb:
Since the term has come up a few times now, I have to ask very simply:
What exactly is a Kladdebuch?This is from me: like artists have a sketchbook, other people have a Kladdebuch.
A Kladdebuch contains handwritten notes, abbreviations, cross-outs, cheat sheets, and jotting—not written in neat handwriting, but sometimes with clippings glued or stapled in... I now have different Kladdebücher in various colors for recipes, miscellaneous items, work notes, Mac notes, programming steps, and gardening. I have stopped keeping a household ledger.
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Bauherren20142 Apr 2015 11:18ypg schrieb:
This comes from me: like artists have sketchbooks, other people have notebooks.
Notebooks contain handwritten records, abbreviations, corrections, cheat sheets, notes, not necessarily written neatly, but sometimes with clippings glued or stapled in... I now have several notebooks in different colors for recipes, miscellaneous, work notes, Mac notes, programming steps, and gardening. I discontinued using a household ledger.Ah ok, thanks. Learned something new again. I had never heard of that before.
...is still from the time before smartphones and digital cameras.
Advantage: you tend to look through it more often and can see the personal touch through different handwriting styles or pens.
Digital advantage: you can quickly copy something, save it with a link, and look it up if needed.
Advantage: you tend to look through it more often and can see the personal touch through different handwriting styles or pens.
Digital advantage: you can quickly copy something, save it with a link, and look it up if needed.
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Bauherren20142 Apr 2015 11:36I tend to be more of a "sketch person," even though, age-wise, I belong more to the "smartphone" generation.