do you have a budget and follow it...

Ok i raised this topic, because i have had one on and off,but it has been about three years since i bothered,to be honest i found it stressful and time consuming,some of you are probably thinking how on earth does one manage without a budget, but it can be done.

However i have decided to implement one again and see how we are doing, i know we are a tad in the over spend at the moment due to expenditures we were not expecting, so i think it is time i pulled the reigns in again.

It is looking a little on the bleak side, but i find it a challenge to try and stick to it.

So just wondering how you set up your budget,who does the budget, do you stick to it,and how you find it all????:)also if you have any tips to pass on about saving money, then please add them,or sticking to the budget, one we have is not to own any credit cards, except for one store card, but only use it when we are very strapped for cash that month and need something urgently,but always pay the full sum the next month, anyhow looking forward to reading your responses. cheers.

I'm in charge of the budgeting here. I do mine in the computer, but mine is rather complicated though. :eek: I have a quirk that everything has to be separated entirely so I had to convince my computer that I have something like 20 checking accounts to keep everything separate. In reality we have two checking accts and one savings acct but my cpu doesn't know that.

To start I figured out the avg for each utility, rent, car payments, cable etc per month then divide that by 2 which is when we get paid (bi-weekly). I then took the last year of our pay and averaged what we bring home per payday so I have a starting point to budget.

I have my cpu set up so each utility, expense, etc is a separate catagory (or as a checking acct so the computer thinks). That way I know if the electric bill is higher one month than what we've budgeted I'm not raiding from the heat bill to cover it without actively switching the money over in the cpu. This way I can track each individual expense vs the budget. Yes it's a huge pain in the butt, however I just can't reconcile myself to just lumping all utilities/expenses together, it's too easy to overspend money that was alloted for something else. This method is slow and complicated but it's worked for me for many, many years and it's much easier since I have the cpu (in the old days I had to write everything down on a tablet and keep updating the figures each payday).

I don't change my budgeted allowance for each bill every payday unless we have a shortage because of a missed workday or something drastic. So sometimes in the summer my heat fund shows in excess of $300, so I just let it build up, continuing to put away in that fund each payday, then when the winter heat bills come in I don't have to worry about being able to pay them or having to worry about being able to turn up my heat because of cost. Does that make sense? Same theory goes for all my utilities/expenses.

Because I figure my budget on a 4 week month, sometimes we come up with extra because some months have 5 weeks in them. We normally let that ride and use it for unexpected rate increases or if we have an unexpected expense we'll sometimes pull that extra out and use it for repairs, medical bills etc.

Some catagories only get $2.50 each pay period some go much higher, but each one is figured on it's own and put into the acct accordinly.

I pay our savings acct. first before anything else, then rent is next, and so on based on how necessary each catagory is in case of a pay shortage. Things on the top of my cheat sheet get paid first, things on the bottom (including our spending money) get paid last and may be shorted if funds are low that payday.

We each have an 'allowance' so to speak for spending money, both of us get the same amount. Sometimes it's a measly $15 to last two weeks sometimes as high as $35 each. Out of that spending money is what we use for things like video rentals, haircuts, clothes (barring a major need for new work clothes or something), most entertainment things (exception is our summer nights at the dirt racing track, that we actually figure into the budget as an expense);). If we run out of spending money before the next payday we're S.O.L. for personal things.

Household things are a different catagory and kept in the checking acct also accounted for in the budget. This catagory covers things like new faucet, rugs, new garbage can, home decor, garden/yard things, tools, etc. If we run out and absolutely have to have an item for repair that cannot wait then we make a joint decision before using from the emergency fund.

The emergency fund started out as a way to avoid bank fees. At that time our bank charged a service fee for any balance below $300, and at the time we had a very low balance most times. So we socked money away until we had $350 for a cushion and just forget about it. If we really need something we can use from that fund but it has to be put back first before going on with the rest of the budget, even in payments to ourselves, until the full $350 is back in there. This avoids us having to use the actual savings acct. for things like this.

Some of my money is not in the checking acct, it's in cash put into envelopes I keep in the safe. Grocery, Gas, Cats, and Dirt track money is all in envelopes. When the envelope is empty there's no more to spend until next payday. It's easier to keep from going over budget that way for us than if it was just numbers in a checking acct. Most of the time the checkbook is locked in the safe until we need it, we don't carry it on us when we go out unless we know we're making a purchase that has to come out of that book first. I do always carry a credit card though for emergencies.

We put all our change in a jar several times a week and when we get enough rolls we cash it in at the bank and put it in our 'mad money' fund. Mad money is for unexpected, sudden entertainment things (like last minute invitations for bowling, movies and whatnot with friends). Also anything we make at our garage sales, or finding money on the ground goes in this fund.

Our grocery money is probably the hardest one to corral expense wise. I don't separate the actual food from cleaning supplies, laundry soap, sponges, etc so it all comes out of the grocery money. We currently budget $160-170 per every two weeks for the two of us. It's way high and I've been actively working on getting that lower.

In saving money (particularly on grocery) I've been using more generic products, we stopped throwing away the plastic silverwear and rewash it instead until it breaks, (I draw the line at washing out ziplock bags and baggies though, I reuse them for cleaning the cat boxes instead). I water down the dishsoap in the bottle, and the liquid handsoap (which we are in the process of switching back to bar soap). We pretty much only buy on sale items if at all possible and stock up like crazy when there's a good sale. I have a membership with Sam's club which we go to about once every 3-5 months (yes I have a budget catagory for that $20 per payday). I have a price book where I write all our common purchases in it and it's in a binder that the grocery money/sam's club money is kept in. In that price book I have the date, store name, item, size, total price, and price per unit listed. That way if I'm at another store I'll KNOW if I'm actually getting a good deal or if the sizes are different (like bulk) I'll really know if it's a bargain or not.

For saving money on other expenses I just bought a new low flow showerhead with a pause button to help save water. You can put it on pause while soaping up and it uses far less water but you don't have to turn faucet on/off or reset your temp. It only cost $14 at Wally's World. It should save us significanly on the water bill and the hot water heating costs.

I also turned down the hot water tank a smidge, we don't run hot water for things like washing hands (takes forever for our faucet to finally get hot water up there). I wash my laundry on warm or cold water (all cold rinses) and when it's nice out I hang my laundry on the clothesline. I buy cheap dryer sheets and tear them in half when I need one.

We have several small power saving nite lights in the house so we don't have to keep turning lights on/off or leaving a light on to see when we walk around at night. The only exception is there is a small florescent light in the kitchen we leave on when we're awake at night so we don't step on cats who like to lounge in the walkway. We switched all our lights to the CFL bulbs that we could.

I constanly price check various expenses to see if switching companies is cheaper. Next week we are changing cable services to save $11 a month. We don't have movie channels, PPV or digital packages with our cable.

I switched internet services to a cheaper one with DSL and was able to ditch the home phone line and ADDED another cell phone to my package total savings with those switches was $20 per month.

We don't subscribe to magazines/newspapers/video places etc. If we want news we turn on the tv or look it up online. If we want videos we mostly get them free at the library (exception being for Christmas and Thanksgiving then we rent).

We each have a Christmas Club acct at the bank that we make payments to and get sent a check each year around Halloween for Christmas gifts so we don't overspend.

Sad to say the only area I still haven't sucessfully gotten budgeted in is vacations. We don't take very many and they're very skimpy cheap as it is (we rustic tent camp), but usually that has to come from a combo of spending money/mad money/some savings. But the most we've ever spent on a vacation even several states away for 12 days was $600, but much of that was used from a bonus hubby got from work. Our avg. vac. costs about $350 not counting gas because that's already budgeted.

Anyways I could go on all night, but I think that's more than plenty to answer your question. And just so ppl know I'm not 'green' I'm just cheap,:p but not so cheap that we don't have our luxuries, just downsized luxuries is all. lol I would be LOST without my budget and get into serious debt if not for it.

Actually that made very interesting reading, and i thank you for your input, it is always of interest to me to see how other's do it all, i used to do it on my computer too, but it was some horrible accounting programme i just could not get the hang of, mind you i was very new to the computer back then, i am much more efficient at it now, hubby suggests i use a spreadsheet, but for now i am using the old fashioned method of pen and paper.

I too will put any surplus left over from summer power bills towards the winter as i know i have not enough for then, but over estimated for the summer hopefully, and if we manage to get our heat pump this year that will hopefully keep the bills much lower.

Wow i think your grocery bill is fantastic, i hate to tell you how much mine is for three of us and four kitties, i could make some cuts i guess, but i am at the age where i like a little of life's comforts, sure i may have to do without in other areas, but it is worth it, i also think when you get to my age group you have to look after yourself healthwise, so i make sure we eat healthy foods, more expensive breads,milks etc,anyhow just my way of thinking.

Vacations, holiday, hmm what on earth are they? have not had one for over seven years,except for one night away, i think they are a luxury we just cannot afford,much as i would love to get a break from routine.,anyhow i am determined i am going to win a holiday yet, i sure enter enough competitions and i am somewhat lucky in that area, so here's hoping.

Well would be good to hear some more about how you all budget? so looking forward to them, keep them coming, thanks.

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Originally Posted by carole

Wow i think your grocery bill is fantastic, i hate to tell you how much mine is for three of us and four kitties.

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Just to clarify.

My cat budget is separate from the human groceries. My cat envelope gets about $50 every payday to last them for normal things (food, litter, vacc, medicine, toys). If something extra comes up (surgery, lab work, dentals etc) then I have to either gradually put more in that envelope or raid from somewhere else then pay it back to myself.

So totaling human grocery for two and 7 cats is about $210 per every two weeks. Granted I do get discounts on all the kitties medical stuff from work, and when I order the special food Jack needs.

that is still fantastic,we do have one extra person, my teenage daughter so that does make quite a difference, but you have three more kitties than me, i am still thinking WOW, wish i could have such a low food bill.:)

It is all about robbing peter to pay paul isn't it? yes my phone bill was ten dollars over my budget, so i pinched from the clothing allowance, boo hoo,anyhow i don't really start the proper budget till beginning of Oct, just toying with it a bit at the moment.

These are my outgoings.

Mortgage
Rates
Insurances, house, contents and car
Power
phone.
Internet provider.
Clothing
cats
schooling fees etc
haircuts
vets
medical insurance
Petrol
Car maintainence
house mantainence including buying things for home, sheets, towels etc etc.
Bk fee and any interest owing
Life insurance policy with bank
Life insurance
Doctors
Hire purchase accts, only one at the moment.keep to a minimum.
Food
Buses for my daughter to get home from school.
My prescription costs
Entertainment
Holidays
Savings.
Gifts.
hair and makeup for me,very small budget for that. Infact from entertainment down there is very little left, they are the luxuries, some we cannot afford,the others are necessities.

My husband pays all the bills, and writes all of the checks.

I must admit, I am a compulsive shopper, and I overspend GROSSLY! Rickie gets so mad at me.. I buy things that we DONT need, will NEVER use... My closet probably is 60% unworn and new with tags clothes.

The kitties and dogs have over 200 outfits, most never even tried on... And if tried on, only worn for pictures. Exception is Joeys tshirts, he gets cold easily.

I want to budget, really. I just spend, and then feel guilty on the drive home.

I am going to try to not do this anymore. I am so embarrased to even admit this on a public forum... *goes to the corner to hide face*


Catlady, MY GOSH! Dont you get a headache will all of that thinkingabout and moving funds? I could not do that. Good for you!

I just have a very small budget, so it doesn't happen very often that I'm spending money on things I do not need. I created an excel file in which I'm listing each Cent I make, or spent, and it shows me exactly how much is left for the rest of the month. So far, I always managed to stay under the limit, but sometimes it's difficult when there are bills for insurances, or when I have to get my car fixed.

The excel file I'm working with is listing my expenses in different categories, like food, personal hygiene, cats, meds, clothes, leisure etc...

Kirsten

Wow, Catlady, thanks for sharing. :) I am a budget-holic too and found your accounting system so interesting.

I use Quicken to manage our accounts...sometimes I find it a bit tedious to enter every receipt but it is so worth it to be able to look at a chart and see where we are at. I enter all of our receipts on a weekly basis, and at that time reconcile all of our accounts to online statements. That way if there is any funky business going on, I will know about it within a week. And also, it keeps me aware of where we spend our money, and whether or not we can afford things. I never buy things that I don't already have the money set aside for, and I hate seeing negative numbers so that keeps spending in check.

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Originally Posted by Cookiebaker

Wow, Catlady, thanks for sharing. :) I am a budget-holic too and found your accounting system so interesting.

I use Quicken to manage our accounts

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I don't have Quicken, I use the Microsoft Money program that came with my cpu. After all these years I'd be reluctant to try and fool a new program into doing what I want it to do.

I list the checks in an imaginary acct called 'temporary'. From there I do 'transfers' to each catagory going by my cheat sheet. That way I can pull up one page and see where every penny went for that pay period, and it automatically updates the amounts in the separate catagories.

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Originally Posted by kt_luvs_kitties

Catlady, MY GOSH! Dont you get a headache will all of that thinkingabout and moving funds? I could not do that. Good for you!

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I used to get a headache when I first got it set up until I figured out how to fool the cpu into doing what I wanted it to do. The only time it's really a pain now is if I have a check mid payweek or cash I have to deposit. I hate making extra trips to the bank and it messes up my brain trying to figure out how to do it all together in one transaction. In actuality I hate math and am very bad at it. That's probably why I have to have everything accounted for separately and have to accout for every penny.

The biggest headache I get is trying to balance the actual checking/savings books. I do have a 'reports' section in the cpu that will add up the individual funds in a particular book which helps alot. When I click the report it should match what the book has, if not then something didn't get added to one or the other, which does sometimes happen. Once in a while if I'm in a hurry I'll add the deposit on one but forget to add it on the other. oops!:eek:

Um, no and no. :D;)

God takes care of drunks and babies so I MUST fit in there somewhere because I'm still here.

Shortly after hubby and I got married it was determined that I was the better one to handle the checkbook ;) and I have been doing it for decades. In our early years I, too, worked with "imaginary numbers" in the checkbook. I didn't know that anyone else did that! LOL! Back in the days when I was a stay-at-home mom with no income of my own, and hubby only got paid twice a month, I would deduct one half of the mortgage payment and one half of the car payment from all of his checks, even though those bills were paid only once a month. We never had two car payments at a time but, rather, took turns getting new cars. The "imaginery money" helped me to insure that the money would be there when needed. :) That little system used to drive hubby crazy because he never knew our real balance. LOL! He would never be able to understand your system Catlady! :)

As we have gotten older, and our expenses have gone down, we don't really operate on a budget. If we want to buy a "big ticket" item we discuss it first. Other than that we pretty much just spend carefully. Almost forgot.... hubby does put everything in Quicken though.

I don't have an official budget or accounting system, I keep a running total in my head of what I have and how much I spend and I always keep a certain amount of float in my account just on case I miscalculate something. I have however over the last 2 years, been changing my spending habits. The horrendous shape our economy is in, has me worried about ever being able to retire, so I figure I need to be saving, saving, like mad.

Here's my list of spending changes:

1.) Pay off my credit card every month - ~$50 savings a month in interest
2.) Paid off my car and that money goes to savings automatically every month - ~$400 a month
3.) No more eating/drinking from vending machines or fast food - ~$350 savings a month on food
4.) No more going home for lunch every day - ~$100 savings a month on gas
5.) Converted over all my phone/cable/internet services to where I pay less, but actually have more services now - ~$150 savings a month
6.) Refinanced my mortage at a really low interest rate, so my house payment is essentially the same, but with a 15 yr vs 30 yr loan. Amazing amount of equity in my house in just 5 yrs now vs what piddling amount there would be if I still had that 30 yr loan.

So that's approx. $1000 savings a month. Next on my list is seeing if I can widdle down my electric bill. I could still cut back on entertainment, but that's a last resort. I'm sure Suze Orman would have me cutting back on that too, but one has to live a lil'.

Par...

I am finding this really interesting to read, thanks for responding, and Donna you always make me laugh, i too was just like you and still want to be, no budget suits me fine, but i have to at the moment otherwise we might be in the pooh,but it is so tedious and no fun is it?

I agree you have to live a little you only have one life to live, and it should not be miserable all the time, so sometimes we indulge a little where we should not, but i always keep it at a minimum.

Today i am going for a look around at the shops in the mall, i will have to curb my spending,but i am going to pick up my new shoes on layby, you call it layaway i think over there,but it does fit within this months budget for clothing,i just bet today i will find the perfect top or something and blow the budget lol.

I have not read fully what catlady posted.. but I had to reply or I´d forget :p

I have a similar thing.. haha.. I "have" a basic account (in my head of course).. but I actually have like 20 others which I have to have in mind to split money into..

I have added a couple more to that since I joined here.. hehe

I usually divide them for:
dog/bird food
insurance
school
one store credit of my own.
debts (which actually are for me but that way I make sure to pay me LOL)
extras (emergencies of any kind)
savings (this has 3 subaccounts :P)
and what I get from vacations and savings from work (which usually are for christmas gifts)

newly added ;)
swaps
camera fund

the rest hubby pays LOL... but I too try help every now and then specially with electric, water, gas, gasoline..

I would love to get a computer program to get all my "accounts" sorted.. because I´m thinking of getting paid by debit card.. and I KNOW if I have the money there..well... it´ll be as good as spent.. :p

I'd be embarrased to post the way I keep track of our spending.:o Catlady, I am amazed at your budgeting! Good for you! I will have to reread all of these posts and take some hints.;)

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Originally Posted by Pam

Shortly after hubby and I got married it was determined that I was the better one to handle the checkbook ;) and I have been doing it for decades. In our early years I, too, worked with "imaginary numbers" in the checkbook. That little system used to drive hubby crazy because he never knew our real balance. LOL! He would never be able to understand your system Catlady! :)

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Well to be fair to hubby, the amount written in the checkbook register is actually the correct amount. It's just that to figure out what is alloted for each catagory you have to check the computer or one of the post it notes in the checkbook. I don't know that anyone could sit down at my cpu with the paychecks and figure out how to do the budget the way I do and that does worry me at times. If I could just figure out a simpler way that would satify my need to have every catagory separate and still be understood by everyone it would be better, but so far this is working.

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Originally Posted by chocolatepuppy

Catlady, I am amazed at your budgeting! Good for you!

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Thank you!:) Now if only my hubby would agree with that. lol

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Originally Posted by ParNone

Next on my list is seeing if I can widdle down my electric bill. I could still cut back on entertainment, but that's a last resort.

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I can't say all of these ideas work or are a good thing even (some are kinda whacked at times), but the majority of stuff on this website are great money savers. http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-d.htm#energy