How good are you with money?

[The Don]

Just wondering how good everyone here is with their money and how they manage their monthly spending. I've been saving up quite a lot recently and have finally put some money into my once empty savings account. Think I have the most money i've ever saved at the moment, although with Christmas coming a huge chunk of that will quickly disappear. I used to always impulse buy things without considering whether I actually needed it whereas now I wait for a few days before I purchase something big. I copied a system I saw on /r/personalfinance which I think helps out loads.

Direct Debits and Bills - I have all my bills coming out of this account throughout the month (phone, laptop, gym membership etc). I don't ever buy things from this account.
General Spending - Get paid into this account. I transfer £100 from this account to my bills account at the start of every month to cover the direct debits for the month. I carry the debit card with me and use it to buy small things like lunch, drinks etc but nothing big
Cash ISA (Savings Account) - Started depositing into it monthly, doesn't get touched besides the monthly deposit
Credit Card - Use this to buy petrol and anything expensive throughout the month. I pay this off at the end of the month from my General Spending Account. I do this to build up good credit.

Before I just had one account but with direct debits coming out at different times it made sense to split my accounts up so that I always know how much money I can afford to spend so that I don't miss any payments.

Do you have any money saved up? Have you got a savings account? How good are you at managing your money?

[Richie]

I don't think I'd be as terrible as I am if i didn't order takeaways or bet all the time lol but yeah pretty bad atm.

Doing pretty good atm saving up to pay off my overdraft, I feel I need to put all the money in my post office then just take all of it out at once to pay off my bank lol otherwise im gonna just spend it on stupid stuff, but ye if anyone is terrible at saving money id defo suggest throwing money into a separate account like a post office or something.

[Matt]

I'd like to think I'm good at saving my money :) I don't really like spending it as my interest in things dies down pretty quick. I have a saving account and an account linked to my card. I get paid on my card then move it into my savings. I'm hoping to change the type of saving account to a reward account that increases my interest. I always keep $100 on my card for food emergencies and unexpected McDonald stops.

[Empired]

I'm normally pretty good at saving money. I like to spend at Christmas and birthdays but other than that money normally stays in my bank. I used to be absolutely fantastic at not spending money but that's because I was so socially anxious I was unable to go into shops lol :( ! Now I can go into them without panicking, money doesn't stay with me as easily as it used to.

[scottish]

I'm good with managing it, I always know how much I have etc.

Although I only use one account, and don't use credit cards. I prefer taking cash out so I know how much money I have on me instead of constantly using card, so if I get petrol etc then just use cash. Then just go to bank and take another £300 out anytime I get <£100

[dbgtz]

I'm fairly good with money. I do sometimes overspend, but I will just cut my budget over x weeks to cover this so I get back to what I had planned. I check my bank every other day or so to make sure I haven't gone into the red. Saying this, I don't actually have huge amounts in either of my bank accounts (one sits at a few hundred from my student loan and the other at £1.07 or something), but I have a good chunk of money invested in multiple, urr, ventures I suppose of which when I get a ROI, will just see most of it either sit on a bank or be reinvested in some shape or form.

[Sharon]

I'm not that bad I guess. I do spend a lot but only because I know I will be able to replace what I spend weekly anyway. I'm in the mindset that u do only live once so why bother trying to scrimp and save when I can make myself happy with material items. I love to shop and get my nails done idc I'm not in a money situation atm so just keep spending as far as I'm concerned lol

[iSherlock]

I'm regularly good with money, I know how to save most of the time and plan before buying stuff.

I also use apps like spendful and mint, make use of a saving account from a trustworthy bank and don't laught but I tend to store emergency money (mostly coins and 100 MXN bills) on a very private place (like... under my bed).

BUUUT, when I visit Home Depot and Office Depot my money just flies away lol, no kidding, I just buy whatever I find cute and somehow usable. I end up regretting it most of the times I do it tho.

[Drewar]

I'm absolutely awful at spending money. I have to get this under control ASAP.

[Kyle]

I spend everything I can. I have a 2k 0% overdraft which I'm 1.8k into and have to budget until January.


~~from phone

[Re-Call]

Direct Debits and Bills - I have all my bills coming out of this account throughout the month (phone, laptop, gym membership etc). I don't ever buy things from this account.
General Spending - Get paid into this account. I transfer £100 from this account to my bills account at the start of every month to cover the direct debits for the month. I carry the debit card with me and use it to buy small things like lunch, drinks etc but nothing big
Cash ISA (Savings Account) - Started depositing into it monthly, doesn't get touched besides the monthly deposit
Credit Card - Use this to buy petrol and anything expensive throughout the month. I pay this off at the end of the month from my General Spending Account. I do this to build up good credit.



This is great advice for people as its a good system to have as it gets you thinking about what money you have for bills and making sure you have enough to cover direct debits. I too use this as I used to have a bad habit of spending money on stupid things that I didn't actually need... You know those purchases where you get it then after a few days you forget about it.. I still have slight issues where I think "OMG I NEED THAT" but like you said.... I now wait a few days before I decide if I have enough money to buy it or more importantly if I actually need it?
The credit card bit is deff 1 to do... Ive only these past few months done what you've wrote but I only pay for petrol (usually £50 a month) on my credit card and then pay it off all when its paying off each time as it really does help your credit rating.

Good advice

[Cerys]

Not too bad really, my first pay I got last month went within 2 days on Christmas presents for one person...think 300 quid was a little bit over the top really but ah well too late now ;)
So far haven't spent any of this month's pay and im not planning to, don't have anything to spend it on really.
Don't have anything in my savings however, probably would be best to start putting some in there every month.
So overall not toooo bad..kinda xD

[Brad]

I had split my banking into three separate things;

Chequing; I use this to pay for my bills; Each paycheck a lump sum gets taken out and put into this. I pay for my car loan, school loan, cell phone, and other small bills out of here.
Savings; I use this as my personal savings. The rest of my paycheck gets put into here, and I pay my car insurance out of it. The rest will be saved for fuel, and savings.
Cash; Each paycheck I take out a certain amount out, usually $40-$60, and with that- That's the limit of my extra spending. Things that would be included in this is Take out, coffee, etc. Once it's gone- it's gone.

Now I do have a Credit Card, but I use it only for emergencies, so I don't count it as a money source.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'm alright, I am never skint and have savings in silver.

[karter]

now that i'm in uni i stay broke 100% of the time so whenever i get money i try to save it up and i'm quite good at that

[The Don]

I'm alright, I am never skint and have savings in silver.

Why? Where are they stored? How does one even going about buying bars of silver?

[Matthew]

I think I'm pretty good with money. I know I don't spend what I earn (I can tell by just a quick look down at the balances before my monthly payday and how they're going up) so I don't really bother doing budgeting. I used to get a little worried when my account dropped a little low, but can often do that when I haven't been able to claim expenses (mainly for fuel). Like last week I was driving nearly 180 miles a day to and from the client I was on (which despite the stupidly early mornings I was okay with as I profit about 30p for every mile I drive to and from clients (A)).

I have a company credit card but I don't think I can build a credit score with that so I think I'll do what you're doing The Don; and get a credit card to build up some good credit history

[Shar]

A lot of my money disappears because of direct debit and oyster top ups. The rest is because I spend too much on food. Sushi doesn't come cheap :(

[-:Undertaker:-]

Why? Where are they stored? How does one even going about buying bars of silver?

Because silver can't be printed and devalued by a government, so it never loses value (which is ideal for savings). It's real money.

I store them in hidden places wrapped up (in case of a break in), and you can buy bars/mini bars or coins here: http://www.bullionrock.com/. I mainly have the pure silver coins (Britannias, US Eagles and others) but have one or two small bars. Depends how much you're saving away. Myself atm: about 1,000 GBP.

[dbgtz]

I spend everything I can. I have a 2k 0% overdraft which I'm 1.8k into and have to budget until January.


~~from phone

That's pretty bad and you should probably learn to live on less :P

[buttons]

i am very stingy with money and make sure i get my monies worth!
ive got a savings account that usually my birthday/xmas money goes into every year and any bursary left over at the end of the month goes there too
plus inheritance
but tbf i was brought up to save n my mum kept my bank cards so i couldn't take any out which im thankful for, once my friend got access to her savings it was gone within a year, spent on alcohol

[OldLoveSong]

I am a spender but im tryin rly hard to make sure my savings account doesnt go under 1k so thts my goal for this monthh

[Samantha]

I'm pretty good with money, I generally only buy stuff I need and it's rare I want something. The last few things I've bought have mainly been for Christmas presents though so I've spent a bit more than usual.

[Bloop]

I forever overspend and suck at money management :(. Ill probably end up in debt in the future lol I have like zero savings never able to control myself cri

[welshcake]

I think I'm alright with money. I hate spending my own money but I love buying things. ;lll

[e5]

I say in between somewhere haha. Some months I'm great but then an iPhone will come out and all sensible-ness
goes out the window :P

[Sho]

i'm terrible at saving. if i have money i want to spend it, even if it's on silly things that i don't need
i'm doing well atm in saving for my trip next year though woo