Who Uses Budgets....?

[72Tiger]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

Call me a heretic, but I've never really enforced a budget. I've occasionally gone through periods when I track my spending as an FYI sort of thing.

When money was tight, I just didn't buy stuff unless I needed it, and if I needed it, I bought it as cheaply as possible. I was in tight-money mode for an extremely long time, and it is so deeply ingrained that I get anxious about spending money now, even though our income is quite comfortable. I've never had a problem with overspending--just underearning and, if such a thing were possible, underspending now.

Heretic! (kidding)

I was pretty similar for a long time, but just recently went to a budget. It feels like I got a raise.

[khorrell]

I don't stick to it as well as I should, but I do use a budget. The reminder that my expenses (including savings what seems like obscene amounts) are just below my income helps to keep the impulse spending in line. I need to improve, but I'm getting better every year.

[amandajane]

I've been using our local budgeting service for a while now. They are a govt funded organisation that helps people to draw up and maintain a budget whilst at the same time helping them plan debt reduction and negotiating with credit agencies to reduce interest rates etc.

[TexasOaks]

If you are looking for a budget... here's a great excel file for free:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/te...CT101172321033

[jkuo13]

We don't budget in our household either. I do religiously keep track of all our expenditures though. We just follow the spending model of asking if we need something before we buy it and then trying to buy as economically as possible. Unnecessary expenses will show up from tracking all our expenses and thus being able to see where our money is going. I think my fiancee once tried to have a grocery budget. But just having me in the house instantly broke her budget attempt since I spend enough time working out and have a high enough metabolism that I needed to eat a lot more than she had anticipated. After that, the budget idea mostly died.

[Rebecca]

I just started this past December. I'm using the budget program from Dave Ramsey's site and I use Mint. I really like them both, although I think Mint's is a lot easier to use.

[layla17]

^^ I'm the same way Kathryn. I plan out my budget for a few months and then I get off of it for awhile. It's an ongoing cycle, but I realize that I spend and save nearly the same.

[zorax]

I've kept a budget in excel for many years. I setup columns for each pay period of the month with rows for the bills that would be paid for each pay period. I've included columns for current interest rates, balances, purchases, estimated finance charges, etc. I've recently added a tab with an estimated payoff of all credit cards based on a highest interest rate first snowball payoff method. My biggest problem has been getting my wife to participate, but when I recently showed her just how far into credit card debt we've fallen using this budget, I believe she has finally woken up to the need to use it regularly!

[hermione]

Similar to Kathryn and layla17, we don't use a budget. We just don't spend money that we don't need to spend, and only buy things we really need at the time that we need them. Our only indulgence is an occasional DVD as it is our only form of entertainment and pastime here.

When shopping online (which we do for everything but groceries), I always spend some time looking for the best buy price- and quality-wise from the more established and reputable sources, and when grocery shopping I try to always buy store brand and items on sale.

Our goal is mainly to spend as little as possible, so in a way, we do have a budget: our budget is $0 and we try not to go over it too much.

[Jess]

I have lots of lovely spreadsheets on my computer that help me track my spending, only to lay waste in my Action Folder most of the week. I really need to find something that works a bit more.

Lately, though, I haven't been spending money that much (although I did splurge yesterday!). I haven't had much time to do anything other than go to classes and go to work. I'm hoping to look at my budget again this weekend and revise based on my split direct deposits and my new Roth IRA contributions.