The last time I talked about budgeting, I got a lot of great feedback and Holly was nice enough to email me a spreadsheet that her husband created, which has been SO helpful with my budgeting.
For the first time in my life I’m on salary so I know exactly how much money I am getting every two weeks. This makes it a hundred times easier to create a budget, sticking to it on the other hand, not so easy.
I have myself on a pretty tight budget because I’m trying to save money for, well, lots of things! Ha! Some of you will be happy to know I got myself an ING Direct Account for my savings. I’ve got the accounts split up into different things, for example, “Fun and Trips” is one of my accounts, “Car and Insurance” is another one, “Webster and Misc” is another one etc. This is working out well for me because I can’t just dip into the account whenever I want to since it takes a few days to transfer funds.
I’m also trying to do the taking cash out and ONLY spending that. I take X amount of money out every two weeks (I call it my ‘allowance’, hehe) and that’s supposed to cover my groceries/gas/fun for the two weeks. Somehow I always manage to spend the majority of it in the first 2-3 days after I take the money out, I don’t know how this happens but it does without fail!
I recently hid my credit card in a little drawer full of tacks so I would have to stop using it for random little purchases - and online shopping - until I paid off the balance on it. Yup, I’m one of those people that needs to hide their credit card, I don’t think I’d go as far as freezing it though.
Anyways, that’s where I’m at for budgeting right now. It’s a work-in process that’s for sure.
Who else budgets? Do you manage to stay on budget every month? Anyone else give themselves an ‘allowance’?
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t help answer that about where our money goes because I don’t even know either!!! It frustrates me sometimes because I swear we have money but then the next thing, poof it’s all gone. I don’t want to have to think about being on a budget all the time but if that’s what it takes to save money and not have money disappear then I guess so. My husband and I started budgeting not too long ago but this month is out of wack since we went on vacation and fell off the wagon once we got home.
Have you seen http://www.mrsjanuary.com’s blog? She saves a lot of money by couponing and other things. It’s inspiring to see other people do the same with doing budgets.
My credit card is hidden too && it’s time to make a budget!! Lol
Check out my website. Budget is my life! Bleck.
I’m actually in the process of making a budget spreadsheet of some sort. I thought it was probably time I got on that. I’m going to refer back to your last budget post!
I really need to actually sit down and create a real budget. Mine is in my head. And often not followed… :S
I’ve never been good with sticking to a budget. I’ve tried that taking a bit of cash out (though I did it weekly, and it was STRICTLY spending money - I could still spend stuff on groceries and bills etc. because I HAD to), but me and spreadsheets don’t seem to mix very well
I don’t budget but I should. The last few months I have struggled for money. I seem to value fun and pretty things over savings way more than I should. And between last night and today I managed to spend about 120 pounds on clothes and books online. I shouldn’t be allowed internet access really…
I don’t have a strict budget, I more so won’t let myself do things, like eat out very often or buy lattes or spend money on clothes, etc. I have really cut down on that kind of spending since changing jobs in April.
Oh, and ING is def a great saving solution. i love how you have to wait days for the money to be back in your acct. Keeps you from making stupid spending decisions!
I love ING I’m glad you joined it. I’ve tried making a budget a few different times and it made me crazy, so instead I just have a set amount that goes to savings every week (you can actually set it up automatically on ING, but I don’t because my tutoring money goes to savings and kids get sick etc and then I don’t have that money so I have to do it manually) and then I am able to spend the rest on bills, dinners out etc. When I find myself running out of money I have to be careful, but I’m pretty careful in general so it works out 99 percent of the time
Even though my husband and I are obsessed with neat and clean finances, we don’t exactly budget. We’re so strict with our spending we have more of a “general idea” budget because we know we’d never exceed those suggested amounts! We’re two cheapskates!
The cash allowance is an idea I’ve heard of but never tried. I prefer to charge all my purchases to a cash-rewards credit card (hey, they’re offering 5% back, why not make free money?) but that would be hard to budget strictly with. I have heard of cards that allow you to set your own monthly credit limit (I think they’re geared towards teenagers); however, I imagine you lose the visual aid of how much you have spent and how much money you have left.
For a couple months I tried to budget, and it helped a lot, but since then I’ve fallen off the budget bandwagon. Erik and I actually figured out where most of our money was going towards and that really helped. For instance, most of our money is spent on the weekends, so when we opened up our joint account, we both contribute $75 a week. It’s a solid, predictable amount that I know I’ll be spending. I have also stopped by groceries as much because I have a tendency to buy a ton of food, and then go out to eat, thus spending money twice! I only buy what I know I can eat. I’ve also gotten in the habit of really looking at how much money I have in my account before I buy something, and say “If I bought this, is there enough money left?” Often times, I just decide not to buy something, which is great because usually in a few days there WILL be something I need to buy. I suppose if anything I am just a more conscious spender.
Oh, I also have the same problem with that whole “taking cash out” bit. I found that I spend cash way faster, because I’m more apt to spend it on little things, like diet soda, snacks, random things. I don’t use a debit card for small purchases (usually) so I feel like I’m less likely to use it often. I also like reviewing my debit account and seeing where all that money went. It’s a lot harder with paper receipts.
We also have ING accounts. My husband set up all of our accounts and set up all of the different ways money goes and our spreadsheets and our allowances. I threw some input in and just nodded and agreed. He is much more organized and cares more about it. Left to my own, I’d totally overspend. We get allowances every two weeks and have one account where all the bills come out of and yada yada.. It’s a pain but it’s nice to know we aren’t going broke anytime soon from our cheapskate ways.
My husband and I have a few little tricks that we follow to help us save. We have an automatic transfer of a couple hundered into our savings every two weeks. We’re also signed up for the keep the change program with our bank (for every purchase they round up to the dollar and tranfer the differnece into your savings - it adds up!). Any deposits we make throughout the month (aside from our actual paychecks) go directly into our savings acount as well. We also know which one of our credit cards has the lowest interest rate/highest miles returns ect and most everything we charge goes on that one!
isn’t ing awesome?! you can have several different ones. and you don’t get fined if you zero out an account! and a little interest can build up.
LOVE ING so far!!
my credit card is for emergencies only or a splurge every few months. I then turn around and pay it off so it’s kind of silly that I even use it.
Right now my budget consists of 50% of my monthly paycheck into savings for my down payment, pay all bills, and then the rest I allow myself for the month which is mostly gas and fun. I don’t use it all by any means and then “extra” money I throw into my savings account. The sooner I can get that house, the better! Lately it’s been hard to have a true budget as a result of family birthdays, baby showers and other special occasions, but I keep a check on it.
I’m glad the spreadsheet helped
We’re trying to re-do our budget now that we have a baby - they’re more expensive than we thought! Especially with only one income … these days, I’m all about coupons!
I don’t really budget … I know that I need a certain amount for bills, groceries, etc. and I take that out right away. I also will set aside money for gifts, incidentals, etc. and then I just spend or save the rest.
My best friend just introduced me to mint.com which is pretty great and shows you where you spend all of your money and creates a budget for you. check it out
I wish I could. Mint.com isn’t available in Canada
That’s awesome on the spread sheet. Do you have multiple ING accounts? How did you split them up like that?
I’ve been trying to create a budget for my mom and me, but it’s hard. She gets a salary at one job, and at her other job it can be $100 more or less every paycheck. And my paycheck is never the same. So it’s been hard to create a budget. Right now, I’m just focusing on paying bills first, then saving some money, and using the rest for fun. I do want to do the whole “taking cash out” and only using that money to spend. I like that idea!
I used to be on an amazing budget that helped me pay off all my debt, but lately I have fallen off the wagon. I have an ING direct account too…I opened it in the good old days of high interest rates
I’m not on a budget, but I really need to be. I need to save up for a few things that are happening in the near future. I may have to write about this soon!
Be proud of yourself for starting good spending habits (and correcting bad ones) at such a young age! Over the past decade, I’ve made small changes in my approach to money, but I’m still not all that great with it …