Balancing a budget
- Thread starter Marthy
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Biggest thing that is going to help is cutting out recurring monthly costs. Pay off the credit card, pay off a vehicle, cut down cable to lower tier/netflix, cut back on name brand groceries. Cut out fast food/expensive out to eat meals. Romantic home cooks are better anyways 
. Buy more whole natural foods instead of pre-packaged chemical by-product meals. Save left-overs for lunch. Dont buy bottled water... Combine trips to save gas. I am cutting off my garbage service since I can dump my garbage in my work dumpster. $16 a month saved, but hey... its money. Ride my bicycle as much as I can to work (1.5 mile away). Saves bunch of gas. + exercise makes you feel better.
Thats my list I am working to accomplish right now myself...
. Buy more whole natural foods instead of pre-packaged chemical by-product meals. Save left-overs for lunch. Dont buy bottled water... Combine trips to save gas. I am cutting off my garbage service since I can dump my garbage in my work dumpster. $16 a month saved, but hey... its money. Ride my bicycle as much as I can to work (1.5 mile away). Saves bunch of gas. + exercise makes you feel better. Thats my list I am working to accomplish right now myself...
alaskanflyboy
Premium Member
I use Quicken. It does a good job helping me track where my money goes, lets me set up reminders for paychecks and bills, and how much each is expected to be so I have an idea of what my available funds should look like on any given day. It also has a budgeting tool to help you figure out what your expendable income should be, a tool for predicting income tax, and one for making a debt reduction plan.
If you wan to go all out "cheap mtrfkr" like me, try this! There's few version of it on Youtube. I did mine over 2 years ago and I'm still using it. That thing work great... I get a dozen of channel with this.Biggest thing that is going to help is cutting out recurring monthly costs. Pay off the credit card, pay off a vehicle, cut down cable to lower tier/netflix, cut back on name brand groceries. Cut out fast food/expensive out to eat meals. Romantic home cooks are better anyways
Thats my list I am working to accomplish right now myself...
How to Build a 4-bay Bowtie Antenna part 1 - YouTube
I use Hulu plus and ITune movie when I want to watch a nice move with my wife on weekend.
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UselessPickles
New Member
When coming up with your budget, it's easy to forget various things that require money irregularly (or even regularly, but not monthly/weekly). You need to think of absolutely everything you spend money on, how much you spend over a certain amount of time, then figure out how much of each paycheck you should be setting aside to be prepared to pay when the time comes.
Examples:
1) Gifts. Figure out how much you spend on gifts for all people for all occasions in a year. Divide that amount by the number of paychecks per year, and set that aside in savings (and some how keep track of how much you've saved up for gifts so far: notebook, spreadsheet, whatever). Any time you spend money on gifts, subtract that amount from your "gift fund".
2) Oil changes, tires, and other types of maintenance. For each maintenance item, figure out how much $$$ it costs each time and how often it is necessary. Convert that to how much per paycheck to set aside.
For things that you pay monthly, but change throughout the year (gas, electric, water bills), add up the total you spend in a year and divide by paychecks per year. Consider building in a safety net by assuming that every month will cost as much (or nearly as much) as the most expensive month (you never know when there will be an excessively hot summer where you use A/C more often, etc).
Some other items that you might not think of:
- Insurance (if you pay once a year, or once every 6 months).
- Vehicle registration.
- Property taxes (if not included in an monthly escrow payment with a mortgage).
- Yearly clothing budget.
- Budget for unexpected vehicle/home repairs.
- Vacations, or concerts/events that you always plan to attend.
Once you really think of everything that you know that you plan to spend money on, and break it down into how much per paycheck needs to be set aside, you'll really see how much is left for saving or random fun, eating out, etc. You might even decide that you can cut out some of your non-essential spending (beer, cigarettes, going to the bar and getting drunk every Friday) so you can instead put that money to better use, now that you see how much of your paycheck it is eating.
Examples:
1) Gifts. Figure out how much you spend on gifts for all people for all occasions in a year. Divide that amount by the number of paychecks per year, and set that aside in savings (and some how keep track of how much you've saved up for gifts so far: notebook, spreadsheet, whatever). Any time you spend money on gifts, subtract that amount from your "gift fund".
2) Oil changes, tires, and other types of maintenance. For each maintenance item, figure out how much $$$ it costs each time and how often it is necessary. Convert that to how much per paycheck to set aside.
For things that you pay monthly, but change throughout the year (gas, electric, water bills), add up the total you spend in a year and divide by paychecks per year. Consider building in a safety net by assuming that every month will cost as much (or nearly as much) as the most expensive month (you never know when there will be an excessively hot summer where you use A/C more often, etc).
Some other items that you might not think of:
- Insurance (if you pay once a year, or once every 6 months).
- Vehicle registration.
- Property taxes (if not included in an monthly escrow payment with a mortgage).
- Yearly clothing budget.
- Budget for unexpected vehicle/home repairs.
- Vacations, or concerts/events that you always plan to attend.
Once you really think of everything that you know that you plan to spend money on, and break it down into how much per paycheck needs to be set aside, you'll really see how much is left for saving or random fun, eating out, etc. You might even decide that you can cut out some of your non-essential spending (beer, cigarettes, going to the bar and getting drunk every Friday) so you can instead put that money to better use, now that you see how much of your paycheck it is eating.
Biggest money saver.......Ramen Noodles.
I always refused to eat them, I've always been more than comfortable money wise, but I decided to buy some ramen noodles one day. I think they are actually pretty good.
2 pkgs for dinner = 60 cents. :thumbup:
I don't smoke, or drink. My only bad habits are motorcycle parts and the craps tables. both are money pits!
I always refused to eat them, I've always been more than comfortable money wise, but I decided to buy some ramen noodles one day. I think they are actually pretty good.
2 pkgs for dinner = 60 cents. :thumbup:
I don't smoke, or drink. My only bad habits are motorcycle parts and the craps tables. both are money pits!
Oh $hit! Once I put everything on paper (spreadsheet) I have a much better understanding why I'm broke! I put all our expense together minus the "$hit it the fan moment" meaning if no bad luck happen, we are fine. That doesn't pay off my 3 CCards. Only one is a bit high, the other two are under control and I mostly pay them off at the end of the month. That that other one... still working on it!
I will show that to the wife tonight and nail it to the wall, so next time she complain we never do anything she knows why!
That part time job is there to stay until she finish school, 2 more years.
Ah well... thing will be good after that!
I will show that to the wife tonight and nail it to the wall, so next time she complain we never do anything she knows why!
That part time job is there to stay until she finish school, 2 more years.
Ah well... thing will be good after that!
I will be sending out the email in a few minutes. I put some dummy prices in the Monthly Bills chart to show how everything works. Let me know if you have any questions.
Haha my wife is going to school too thats why i am scraping together every bit of money i can to get the amount to purchase just the exhaust from you. That way it doesnt get spent on things like going out to dinner and movies and what not so much. Exhaust is a must for me since i commute to work almost 40 miles on way all highway people dont hear me and yeah you guys get the point
jamesgarfield
New Member
Check this service out...it gives you a great snapshot of your spending habits!
https://www.mint.com/
https://www.mint.com/
I know exactly where my money goes....
I have four kids
a wife
a house (less than a quarter of my take home pay payment)
a dog
two cars (paid off, but gas and maintenance, repairs, etc.)
the bike (not paid off, two years to go, but hoping to pay it off with tax return)
cable/phone/internet bundle
trash
road fees (not a real HOA, but similar)
electric
cell phones (X2)
food (did I mention I have four growing kids?)
a CC that is way out of control, but we usually pay off each month (long story here, it will take me a little while to get it under control, but it is also only at like 6-8% interest, so it's not killing us)
401(k)
short term savings
we go out maybe once every 3-4 months, we don't splurge on eating out often (did I mention.... )
I used to watch the money like a hawk... I also used to be very depressed and angry at every little penny that was spent (I am a born saver)... then I realized, I can't take it with me and I do not want to wait until I'm 60 to enjoy it... as long as I pay the bills, I try not to sweat it too much
I have four kids
a wife
a house (less than a quarter of my take home pay payment)
a dog
two cars (paid off, but gas and maintenance, repairs, etc.)
the bike (not paid off, two years to go, but hoping to pay it off with tax return)
cable/phone/internet bundle
trash
road fees (not a real HOA, but similar)
electric
cell phones (X2)
food (did I mention I have four growing kids?)
a CC that is way out of control, but we usually pay off each month (long story here, it will take me a little while to get it under control, but it is also only at like 6-8% interest, so it's not killing us)
401(k)
short term savings
we go out maybe once every 3-4 months, we don't splurge on eating out often (did I mention....
)I used to watch the money like a hawk... I also used to be very depressed and angry at every little penny that was spent (I am a born saver)... then I realized, I can't take it with me and I do not want to wait until I'm 60 to enjoy it... as long as I pay the bills, I try not to sweat it too much
jamesgarfield
New Member
Like you said...You have to be responsible but enjoy life at the same time.
Do you live to work, or work to live?
I have an Excel spreadsheet I've been using for close to 15 years, and have modified it to suit me over time. There's only a single macro I run at the end of every month that moves all the figures up one month.
It has several worksheets: a main with monthly income/expenses; a yearly with annual expenses (insurance, property taxes, ad valorem, etc.; and one for each credit card, that transposes the total onto the main, when you make entries.
I use it religiously, and it's gotten me through some tough times. The key is making an entry *every* time you spend any money for *anything*, and deducting that amount from whatever outgo bucket is set up. It keeps me honest to myself...
Anyone that wants it, is welcome to it. PM me.
It has several worksheets: a main with monthly income/expenses; a yearly with annual expenses (insurance, property taxes, ad valorem, etc.; and one for each credit card, that transposes the total onto the main, when you make entries.
I use it religiously, and it's gotten me through some tough times. The key is making an entry *every* time you spend any money for *anything*, and deducting that amount from whatever outgo bucket is set up. It keeps me honest to myself...
Anyone that wants it, is welcome to it. PM me.
Take a look at Ooma. I paid $200 for the device (VOIP that plugs directly into your router), and now it's ~$3/mo.... forever... that's it... Works as well as any AT&T phone I've ever had... (of course, all bets are off if your net connection sucks... )
For some reason, I have never had any issues with money. It always seems to be there when I need it... I think growing up with very little has a lot to do with it, but then again I believe the biggest help is just simply not spending over what you "allow" yourself. Here is the way I work, it might not be the ideal solution but I've set up my gf (which is horrible with money) and some friends with this type of budget and they seem to be doing fine now.
The one rule that I go by is :
DO NOT earn money to pay what you have already spent. Only spend the money earned.
My way...
1- Figure out your monthly income.
2- Figure out your monthly NECESSARY expenses (i.e. Rent, car payments, utilities etc...)Then divide it by the number of pay checks you get monthly.
3- Get 1-2 another bank accounts!!!! This might seem silly but is actually a very important step for those who can't stop overspending.
#1 is your spending money
#2 is to pay your "Bills"
#3 is your savings account (not for buying "useless spur of the moment shit", this is for when you need to repair your car or something even more important like putting on a new TB exhauts... )
Once you have these 3 things set up, you should have a "balance" of money that is left over. This is your spending/savings money. Figure the amount to put aside as savings and the one that is needed to live a interesting and happy life.
If you don't have a "balance" then that is your problem! Find where to cut and adjust so you have some money left over.
Now the next step is where most of the people I know screw this up! The day you get your pay check, put that "Bills" money in your second bank account. Also transfer that "Savings" money if you have/want some.
Interestingly enough, most people will cut back on their spending quite a bit when they do this. For the simple reason that when you withdraw money you don't see this good amount of cash left. Because lets face it when you run out of money, unless you made some big purchases like say a set of clip ons, you can never figure out where it all went.
The main benefit of this method is that you will ALWAYS be able to pay your bills. Provided you dont cheat...
Well this is my 2cents. Hope it helps.
Cheers!
The one rule that I go by is :
DO NOT earn money to pay what you have already spent. Only spend the money earned.
My way...
1- Figure out your monthly income.
2- Figure out your monthly NECESSARY expenses (i.e. Rent, car payments, utilities etc...)Then divide it by the number of pay checks you get monthly.
3- Get 1-2 another bank accounts!!!! This might seem silly but is actually a very important step for those who can't stop overspending.
#1 is your spending money
#2 is to pay your "Bills"
#3 is your savings account (not for buying "useless spur of the moment shit", this is for when you need to repair your car or something even more important like putting on a new TB exhauts...
)Once you have these 3 things set up, you should have a "balance" of money that is left over. This is your spending/savings money. Figure the amount to put aside as savings and the one that is needed to live a interesting and happy life.
If you don't have a "balance" then that is your problem! Find where to cut and adjust so you have some money left over.
Now the next step is where most of the people I know screw this up! The day you get your pay check, put that "Bills" money in your second bank account. Also transfer that "Savings" money if you have/want some.
Interestingly enough, most people will cut back on their spending quite a bit when they do this. For the simple reason that when you withdraw money you don't see this good amount of cash left. Because lets face it when you run out of money, unless you made some big purchases like say a set of clip ons, you can never figure out where it all went.
The main benefit of this method is that you will ALWAYS be able to pay your bills. Provided you dont cheat...
Well this is my 2cents. Hope it helps.
Cheers!
I like that a lot!For some reason, I have never had any issues with money. It always seems to be there when I need it... I think growing up with very little has a lot to do with it, but then again I believe the biggest help is just simply not spending over what you "allow" yourself. Here is the way I work, it might not be the ideal solution but I've set up my gf (which is horrible with money) and some friends with this type of budget and they seem to be doing fine now.
The one rule that I go by is :
DO NOT earn money to pay what you have already spent. Only spend the money earned.
My way...
1- Figure out your monthly income.
2- Figure out your monthly NECESSARY expenses (i.e. Rent, car payments, utilities etc...)Then divide it by the number of pay checks you get monthly.
3- Get 1-2 another bank accounts!!!! This might seem silly but is actually a very important step for those who can't stop overspending.
#1 is your spending money
#2 is to pay your "Bills"
#3 is your savings account (not for buying "useless spur of the moment shit", this is for when you need to repair your car or something even more important like putting on a new TB exhauts...
Once you have these 3 things set up, you should have a "balance" of money that is left over. This is your spending/savings money. Figure the amount to put aside as savings and the one that is needed to live a interesting and happy life.
If you don't have a "balance" then that is your problem! Find where to cut and adjust so you have some money left over.
Now the next step is where most of the people I know screw this up! The day you get your pay check, put that "Bills" money in your second bank account. Also transfer that "Savings" money if you have/want some.
Interestingly enough, most people will cut back on their spending quite a bit when they do this. For the simple reason that when you withdraw money you don't see this good amount of cash left. Because lets face it when you run out of money, unless you made some big purchases like say a set of clip ons, you can never figure out where it all went.
The main benefit of this method is that you will ALWAYS be able to pay your bills. Provided you dont cheat...
Well this is my 2cents. Hope it helps.
Cheers!
I finally set up ING to deposit savings automatically a day after payday... it does two things; one, makes sure the money is going into savings, and two, it locks that money up for 5 days (cuts back on impulse buys). I just write my paycheck into my balance, write the savings right back out like a bill.
I know ING is not always the highest interest account, but any type of automatic saving would work. Oh, and if you don't have one and want to do it, let me know. I can refer you, you get $25, I get $10 if you open it with at least $250... I'd be willing to donate half to the site for anyone who does it. All I need is a name and an email, just pm me
just another little tip
For some reason, I have never had any issues with money. It always seems to be there when I need it... I think growing up with very little has a lot to do with it, but then again I believe the biggest help is just simply not spending over what you "allow" yourself. Here is the way I work, it might not be the ideal solution but I've set up my gf (which is horrible with money) and some friends with this type of budget and they seem to be doing fine now.
The one rule that I go by is :
DO NOT earn money to pay what you have already spent. Only spend the money earned.
My way...
1- Figure out your monthly income.
2- Figure out your monthly NECESSARY expenses (i.e. Rent, car payments, utilities etc...)Then divide it by the number of pay checks you get monthly.
3- Get 1-2 another bank accounts!!!! This might seem silly but is actually a very important step for those who can't stop overspending.
#1 is your spending money
#2 is to pay your "Bills"
#3 is your savings account (not for buying "useless spur of the moment shit", this is for when you need to repair your car or something even more important like putting on a new TB exhauts...
Once you have these 3 things set up, you should have a "balance" of money that is left over. This is your spending/savings money. Figure the amount to put aside as savings and the one that is needed to live a interesting and happy life.
If you don't have a "balance" then that is your problem! Find where to cut and adjust so you have some money left over.
Now the next step is where most of the people I know screw this up! The day you get your pay check, put that "Bills" money in your second bank account. Also transfer that "Savings" money if you have/want some.
Interestingly enough, most people will cut back on their spending quite a bit when they do this. For the simple reason that when you withdraw money you don't see this good amount of cash left. Because lets face it when you run out of money, unless you made some big purchases like say a set of clip ons, you can never figure out where it all went.
The main benefit of this method is that you will ALWAYS be able to pay your bills. Provided you dont cheat...
Well this is my 2cents. Hope it helps.
Cheers!
This method is really good. I do the same thing with just a few adjustments. I use a zero based budget. What that means is that when all is said and done I can account for all of the money I earn...this includes spending saving and paying bills. I learned this from Dave Ramsey. You can get his budget spread sheets off his website. I have been using them since I was 19 and it works.
You start by figuring out your total monthly income. Then plan how much you need to put into savings and how much you need for you monthly necessities, i.e. housing, power, gas food, etc. Now instead of just splitting whatever is left between savings and spending, decide how much you want to save. I recommend a percentage say 10-20% of your income. Now don't worry if you can't do that at this point because it takes time to work up to this. The reason you want to plan how much you are going to spend is that way you know how much you are saving every month. The finally thing you plan for in your budget is how much you want to just spend on whatever. Decide before hand how much you are ok with spending going out to eat, buying random things, going to the movies and such. Again this is so that you know what is going on with your money. This random spending money keep in cash and only cash. That way you always know how much you have to spend on whatever you want.
Now to fill out the spread sheet put your monthly income at the top. Subtract everything from it one at a time and it should equal zero. If you still have money left over go back and adjust some of the numbers. Do you want to add a section for a vacation or maybe you like to buy clothes? If so make sure it is on the plan. If you come in under zero you are spending more than you make and need to go back and adjust some numbers down...Do you need to spend that much at the movies or eating out? Priorities should be cost of living, savings and paying off debt. Debt is a budget killer. I recommend fill it out so it balances and use the same budget each month for the next six months. That should give you time to get used to it and learn what parts you were able to stay on plan and what parts you need to work on. After six months review the budget. Did you manage to pay off a credit card and now you have extra money? You need to plan what that is going to be used for. When you look at a budget this way you will be able to direct your money to where you want to go instead of the other way around.
Here are just a few more suggestions...ok really strong suggestions. Make your budget. Set up an emergency fund for just that EMERGENCIES and nothing else. Get about a thousand dollars in there for now. Pay off all of you credit card debt and any debt like it. Pretty much the only debt that is acceptable is a house payment and maybe a car payment. Once all the debt is gone trust me your budget life will be much easier. After that get back to putting together that emergency fund. Think 6 to 12 months worth of income in there. And don't feel like it all has to happen right now. It is a process that you have to follow and it will work it. It did for me.
Give this a whirl:
Gail Vaz-Oxlade|Debt-Free Forever|Resources|Budget|Worksheet
Specifically - Guide to Building a Budget
Gail’s Guide to Building a Budget
Interactive Worksheet
Build a Budget that Works