Budgeting with Monzo

Monzo Chat
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Hi all,

I can’t get my head around how to use the summary tab for my personal budget set up, hopefully if I explain it someone can enlighten me or create another option.

I can’t transfer my salary to monzo as I’m trying to get a mortgage and Hsbc offer a great rate for my longevity/salary.

My budget spreadsheet has my direct debits coming from hsbc (bills, council tax, rent, etc), my fuel goes to Monzo as well as one test direct debit. The rest is spending and goes to starling (:disappointed:). (I transfer groceries and the other half of spending money to Domestic Managements Monzo account)

I’d like it all in one place (ie Monzo) but when I think about “spending money” it’s the chunk of cash that I can be as careful or care free with as I like. I don’t want to think about the committed spending, that should happen invisibly. This way when I buy coffee or a night out, I don’t impede on the money I need and when the spending money is gone…well that’s it Mike no more beer for you this month and I’m shown a zero balance. Hence I split everything up.

To my mind, summary should show me when I’m out of beer money and should stop spending to ensure bills are met.Am I missing something?

The only way I can think to get my style of budgeting to work in one place (Monzo) is to have my money transferred in, then a pot for fuel and a pot for direct debits. Then my spending would be left available but it’s a faff to ensure I transfer money out of pots in time.

I hope this makes some sense and you’ve not fallen asleep reading it. Perhaps the ensuing chat could solve mine or someone else’s issue.

Many thanks for your time,

Mike

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I guess nobody has answered this because you’ve asked so much and there isn’t a simple answer to your question :exploding_head: Heck I don’t know where to start… :scream: but since you have your spending spread across multiple accounts you’ll never fully benefit from accurate budgeting or any of the features Monzo provide :slightly_frowning_face:

Secondly, it seems as though you’re wanting the app to be far cleverer than it is :nerd_face: Monzo doesn’t know if beer is part of your grocery shop or just as you mentioned “beer money” :beers: Just like it doesn’t know the characteristics of what a night out is because they all wildly vary for everyone :dancer:

This is where you need to be more involved with your finances instead of wanting it all to somehow be automated :crystal_ball: It is very dangerous not to be in touch with your finances by tweaking, checking in and generally keeping on top of everything :warning: It is by doing all of this that you will get Monzo to perform exactly how you want and avoid any nasty surprises :partying_face:

Set up budgets for bills, groceries etc. Check in and adjust them month after month so they’re more accurate and keep an eye on them for going over (alerts help with this too). If you want a beer fund or night out, setup a pot and withdraw it before you go out.

  • You can utilise IFTTT for moving things in and out of pots automatically based on certain conditions.
  • There is a committed spending pot in the works (have a search on here)
  • Custom categories are in the works too (again have a search)
  • Ring-fence money in pots and setup scheduled deposits and withdrawals
  • At the end of the month, decide what to do with the leftover. Move to a savings pot, treat yourself or reduce your budgets.

The list is endless :dizzy_face:

Anyway, I hope this sparks further discussion and allows us to target a specific issue instead of being so broad :slight_smile:

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Hiya,

Thank you so much for the detailed reply and such awesome use of emojis (whilst I’m stuck hoping autocorrect picks up my failings)

My budget has be honed over 35 years and is pretty accurate. I dont really need the automation, I’m simply asking how I can use modern tech to further improve on things. I want to embrace tech rather than be the guy that sticks his nose up.

I mention beer money in an attempt to be light hearted about anything that is someone’s choice spending outside of commitment. Beer is my choice (please don’t judge me for that :beers::face_with_raised_eyebrow:) but it could be car modifications, makeup, ice cream, music. It seems the summary tab is very clever and I’m just checking if I’m not using it correctly.

If there’s no solution here, I’m not out to criticise, just here to explore opportunities. I’m a Monzo investor as I appreciate the power of this community. Thank you for taking the time to engage.

Cheers :beers: :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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Haha no problem and you’re very welcome :blush:

Have you read up on IFTTT? You can do some pretty cool stuff by integrating it with your other tech?

Don’t worry about asking questions or criticising Monzo. As long as it’s constructive you’ll find everyone will be happy to help :sunglasses:

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I too have a budget ‘system’ that is not in Monzo and at present the limitations Monzo has around categories, income recognition, budgeting dates, etc mean I am ‘stuck’ using my own system still.

The advantage is that I now have better visibility over the cash (beer money!) part of my budget and have been able to set up a number of pots for lower priority things I hope to save for (but if I don’t its not a big deal). Putting a little away into a few pots now and then has definitely helped.

In short, Monzo is NOT a budgeting app, but a very modern take on day to day banking.

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I think that is a very fine way of putting it.

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