I live on SSI because I’m disabled, so I live on a very tight budget. I try to spend only about 35 dollars a week on food max and don’t go to movies or out to eat. Even with all the cost cutting measures I use, I usually have about 5 dollars left in my account at the end of the month!
I do budget, but for me it's more about tracking my spending. I dont follow my budget exactly, but at the end of every week I tally up my spending in "grocery", "dining out", and "entertainment" because those are the categories that vary most and it keeps me aware of where my money is going. At the end of every month I enter everything into a budget spreadsheet with a "projected" and an "actual spending" column.
I was in pretty deep credit card debt, and at the beginning of the year I turned it all around and enrolled in a DMP and started my strict budgeting. It's been tough, but rewarding as well. Along with making automatic contributions to different savings accounts, it has changed the way I value my money.
I need it! I've been doing an adequate job at budgeting, but we're making some major life changes right now (I am pregnant and quit my job, so we're living on only one salary now instead of two!) and things are going to be pretty tight! I could use whatever help and advice I can get!
I'd love to win this book because I don't make much money but have big expenses in the next couple of years (my wedding/honeymoon and moving). I'd like to learn how to put a decent amount of money away for these things and my emergency fund without living on canned veggies. ;)
We have a general budget that we do follow, but we don't consider it something that must be "followed". Things like entertainment we do try to stick pretty close to the number in our budget, but other things, like utility bills, vary and it's no big deal. As long as we meet our savings goals, we don't worry about it much.
Our family actually follows our budget. We're not tied to it like it's set in stone, but we use it to know when we've overdone it on a category (oops, spent too much on groceries must cut back or what, we spent what on electricity last month) and it helps us to know, hm... can we really afford this at this time. It's crucial we use our budget as money is tight and it's too easy to let our expenses bleed out without watching it closely. So I guess we use our budget more for planning, designating funds to certain expenses and then as a indicator on how we're doing. Of course, our current financial situation is very tight, so this is absolutely necessary. If we had a little extra, I could see some loosening on sticking to the budget just a little (or maybe just a larger "Fun" category).
My wife and I absolutely have a budget -- and have done so for the last five years. Not only do we budget, but we do an annual "kick off" weekend where we discuss financial goals for the coming year such as how much to put in the girls' college plans, what type of vacations we want to take and how many (week-long, weekends, staycations), home projects we want to take on, how much we want to give away above tithing, and how much extra we can contribute to pay down the mortgage. In addition, we do quarterly reviews to determine where we stand based on our plan.
Does following a budget involve more than just not overspending on your budgetary categories? Yes...and no. A budget is a plan to stay within your budget categories, but it also has an overall income number that is not to be exceeded to avoid debt. The budget allows you to know that you are ahead YTD by 6 weeks in the food/toiletries category so that you are OK to go over in the automotive category to get that alternator replaced -- without hitting savings.
Before budgeting, we were always "OK" but had a lot of leakage in our spending. With budgets, we are amazed at the surplus we seem to have every year that allows for extra saving, giving or spending on something special.
We don't have a budget, which is probably why our finances are in the state they are in. We are working on paying off unsecured debt and just about everything we have extra goes toward that, and we will have a working budget in place so we can keep track of what we are spending and where exactly we are spending our money.
We also are involving our kids (teens) in the process so they do not run into the situation we have now and are better educated about personal finances.
We keep our budget on a simple spreadsheet and try to stick with it. But frankly, even when we veer off, having the budget makes it harder to justify those extra tiny purchases and keeps our spending in check.
I try really hard to follow my budget and not go over the general categories every month. I've made it into a "frugal/necessity" game so it's fun and not drudgery.
I'm 25 and as many of us in my generation, I'm finding the old assurance that we can be whatever we want to be rings a bit hollow in today's job market.
That being said, I can live a happy and fulfilling life just by spending less than I earn at whatever job I end up at.
Not that that's easy.
Hence the need for the book. :)
My husband and I have living very loosely off of a budget for quite a few years. But just in the last few months, we have really cracked down. We're both on the same page now and working through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. We're working on a cash envelope system and still working out the kinks, but I'm loving it!
I don't have a budget! I seem to manage my money okay, but I'm sure I could be doing better. Every time I've tried to put a budget together, I wound up adding catagories everytime I wanted to spend money! I've gotten my best financial tips reading sites like this.
I don't really have to budget per say, I know all of my monthly expenses in my head (there aren't that many). The only thing I try to keep track of is spending about $75 a weekend max. I know that this number, which will encompass most of my "soft expenses" will allow me to save 50% of my net.
So I kind of budget, by being conscious of all expenses and making decisions to meet my goal.
Is a budget just trying not to overspend in your categories? yes, in basic Level 1 budgeting. Becoming conscious that all the dollars in and out are related, not just relative to their category, comes in Level 2. Keeping expenses minimal to increase free cash flow is the ultimate goal, where you go from there is your choice.
For me a budget is a general guideline of how I plan to spend my money. It's a best guess and sometimes it can be off or some unforseen event pops up. No, we don't always follow our budget exactly, but if we make the conscious decision to take $x from one fund to spend it on something else, then I am ok with that.
Really, a budget is a way for hubby and I to work to together to make conscious decisions of how to spend our money.
We are TRYING to get to a working budget. We have honestly slipped this summer, though. September is back-on-track with the cash envelopes and TRYING to control the insane pregnancy cravings that are not good on the "eating out" department! Here's to developing the strength to get it under control! Communication with your spouse is super-crucial to a working budget, and I'm blessed that my hubby understands that this too will pass.
I've tried a few different budgeting tactics and nothing has really stuck with me yet! I'd love to here a general discussion on budgets rather that "this is the best way to do it"
I'd like to win a copy of this book because our finances have gotten out of control. I was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in April. Getting my diagnosis was very expensive, which created havoc with our finances. I coupon. I watch for sales. I snatch up freebies. But I know I can do better, and I think this book will help me.
My hubby and I were having a 'rough patch' and when we went to see someone, she said we needed to start a budget. Who knew!? So far I've set us up with bill pay online through our bank, lowered some of our monthly payments and wrote down what comes in ($) vs. what goes out (bills, etc.) on paper. But now I'm stuck. How do we decide how much to allocate towards groceries vs. fun stuff vs. saving? And how do I keep my hands out of the various 'pots' when my 'pot' is empty? I think this book would be great for me and my husband at this point in our lives and I've never read an e-book so that would be cool. Thanks! I love this site; tons of great info in a nice format. But Lindsey- I miss the Dealista podcast! What happened?!
laschertz at gmail dot com
I need it! I need it to give to my 27-year-old son who is living at home. He moved back in a year ago "for a couple of months." He works a contract job with variable hours and when he gets a paycheck, he is so happy, he spends it right away. With this kind of thinking he'll never move on. Please, let me give him a copy!
I would love to read this book. I am a bid advocate of living within my means and saving, but sometimes struggle (I like deals online =D ). I just graduated from College and my wife and I both agree that our goal is to pay off the small amount of student loans we have before going out and buying a new car or something. We do have a house (which I would like to pay off before buying the car, but we'll see how that goes), but have been able to pay off both her and my used cars early. We both just got new jobs, so getting a new budget going with our new jobs would be great. I think this book would provide some helpful guidance..
PS did you know your blog wont let you post in Firefox 4.0 or Google Chrome?
This seems to be a popular story. Just saw this covered elsewhere. Counterfeiting is a very real threat that not many of us (myself included) think about. The easiest way I've seen so far is using a counterfeit pen.
I live on SSI because I’m disabled, so I live on a very tight budget. I try to spend only about 35 dollars a week on food max and don’t go to movies or out to eat. Even with all the cost cutting measures I use, I usually have about 5 dollars left in my account at the end of the month!
I do budget, but for me it's more about tracking my spending. I dont follow my budget exactly, but at the end of every week I tally up my spending in "grocery", "dining out", and "entertainment" because those are the categories that vary most and it keeps me aware of where my money is going. At the end of every month I enter everything into a budget spreadsheet with a "projected" and an "actual spending" column.
I was in pretty deep credit card debt, and at the beginning of the year I turned it all around and enrolled in a DMP and started my strict budgeting. It's been tough, but rewarding as well. Along with making automatic contributions to different savings accounts, it has changed the way I value my money.
I need it! I've been doing an adequate job at budgeting, but we're making some major life changes right now (I am pregnant and quit my job, so we're living on only one salary now instead of two!) and things are going to be pretty tight! I could use whatever help and advice I can get!
I'd love to win this book because I don't make much money but have big expenses in the next couple of years (my wedding/honeymoon and moving). I'd like to learn how to put a decent amount of money away for these things and my emergency fund without living on canned veggies. ;)
We have a general budget that we do follow, but we don't consider it something that must be "followed". Things like entertainment we do try to stick pretty close to the number in our budget, but other things, like utility bills, vary and it's no big deal. As long as we meet our savings goals, we don't worry about it much.
Our family actually follows our budget. We're not tied to it like it's set in stone, but we use it to know when we've overdone it on a category (oops, spent too much on groceries must cut back or what, we spent what on electricity last month) and it helps us to know, hm... can we really afford this at this time. It's crucial we use our budget as money is tight and it's too easy to let our expenses bleed out without watching it closely. So I guess we use our budget more for planning, designating funds to certain expenses and then as a indicator on how we're doing. Of course, our current financial situation is very tight, so this is absolutely necessary. If we had a little extra, I could see some loosening on sticking to the budget just a little (or maybe just a larger "Fun" category).
My wife and I absolutely have a budget -- and have done so for the last five years. Not only do we budget, but we do an annual "kick off" weekend where we discuss financial goals for the coming year such as how much to put in the girls' college plans, what type of vacations we want to take and how many (week-long, weekends, staycations), home projects we want to take on, how much we want to give away above tithing, and how much extra we can contribute to pay down the mortgage. In addition, we do quarterly reviews to determine where we stand based on our plan.
Does following a budget involve more than just not overspending on your budgetary categories? Yes...and no. A budget is a plan to stay within your budget categories, but it also has an overall income number that is not to be exceeded to avoid debt. The budget allows you to know that you are ahead YTD by 6 weeks in the food/toiletries category so that you are OK to go over in the automotive category to get that alternator replaced -- without hitting savings.
Before budgeting, we were always "OK" but had a lot of leakage in our spending. With budgets, we are amazed at the surplus we seem to have every year that allows for extra saving, giving or spending on something special.
We don't have a budget, which is probably why our finances are in the state they are in. We are working on paying off unsecured debt and just about everything we have extra goes toward that, and we will have a working budget in place so we can keep track of what we are spending and where exactly we are spending our money.
We also are involving our kids (teens) in the process so they do not run into the situation we have now and are better educated about personal finances.
We keep our budget on a simple spreadsheet and try to stick with it. But frankly, even when we veer off, having the budget makes it harder to justify those extra tiny purchases and keeps our spending in check.
I try really hard to follow my budget and not go over the general categories every month. I've made it into a "frugal/necessity" game so it's fun and not drudgery.
Thanks for the opportunity to win the gift card!
I'm 25 and as many of us in my generation, I'm finding the old assurance that we can be whatever we want to be rings a bit hollow in today's job market.
That being said, I can live a happy and fulfilling life just by spending less than I earn at whatever job I end up at.
Not that that's easy.
Hence the need for the book. :)
I've tried to budget and failed. I could really use the help.
My husband and I have living very loosely off of a budget for quite a few years. But just in the last few months, we have really cracked down. We're both on the same page now and working through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. We're working on a cash envelope system and still working out the kinks, but I'm loving it!
I don't have a budget! I seem to manage my money okay, but I'm sure I could be doing better. Every time I've tried to put a budget together, I wound up adding catagories everytime I wanted to spend money! I've gotten my best financial tips reading sites like this.
I don't really have to budget per say, I know all of my monthly expenses in my head (there aren't that many). The only thing I try to keep track of is spending about $75 a weekend max. I know that this number, which will encompass most of my "soft expenses" will allow me to save 50% of my net.
So I kind of budget, by being conscious of all expenses and making decisions to meet my goal.
Is a budget just trying not to overspend in your categories? yes, in basic Level 1 budgeting. Becoming conscious that all the dollars in and out are related, not just relative to their category, comes in Level 2. Keeping expenses minimal to increase free cash flow is the ultimate goal, where you go from there is your choice.
Would really like to read this book!
For me a budget is a general guideline of how I plan to spend my money. It's a best guess and sometimes it can be off or some unforseen event pops up. No, we don't always follow our budget exactly, but if we make the conscious decision to take $x from one fund to spend it on something else, then I am ok with that.
Really, a budget is a way for hubby and I to work to together to make conscious decisions of how to spend our money.
We are TRYING to get to a working budget. We have honestly slipped this summer, though. September is back-on-track with the cash envelopes and TRYING to control the insane pregnancy cravings that are not good on the "eating out" department! Here's to developing the strength to get it under control! Communication with your spouse is super-crucial to a working budget, and I'm blessed that my hubby understands that this too will pass.
I've tried a few different budgeting tactics and nothing has really stuck with me yet! I'd love to here a general discussion on budgets rather that "this is the best way to do it"
I'd like to win a copy of this book because our finances have gotten out of control. I was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in April. Getting my diagnosis was very expensive, which created havoc with our finances. I coupon. I watch for sales. I snatch up freebies. But I know I can do better, and I think this book will help me.
My hubby and I were having a 'rough patch' and when we went to see someone, she said we needed to start a budget. Who knew!? So far I've set us up with bill pay online through our bank, lowered some of our monthly payments and wrote down what comes in ($) vs. what goes out (bills, etc.) on paper. But now I'm stuck. How do we decide how much to allocate towards groceries vs. fun stuff vs. saving? And how do I keep my hands out of the various 'pots' when my 'pot' is empty? I think this book would be great for me and my husband at this point in our lives and I've never read an e-book so that would be cool. Thanks! I love this site; tons of great info in a nice format. But Lindsey- I miss the Dealista podcast! What happened?!
laschertz at gmail dot com
I need it! I need it to give to my 27-year-old son who is living at home. He moved back in a year ago "for a couple of months." He works a contract job with variable hours and when he gets a paycheck, he is so happy, he spends it right away. With this kind of thinking he'll never move on. Please, let me give him a copy!
I would love to read this book. I am a bid advocate of living within my means and saving, but sometimes struggle (I like deals online =D ). I just graduated from College and my wife and I both agree that our goal is to pay off the small amount of student loans we have before going out and buying a new car or something. We do have a house (which I would like to pay off before buying the car, but we'll see how that goes), but have been able to pay off both her and my used cars early. We both just got new jobs, so getting a new budget going with our new jobs would be great. I think this book would provide some helpful guidance..
PS did you know your blog wont let you post in Firefox 4.0 or Google Chrome?
I need it because I'm clueless when it comes to budgeting, and considering the uncertain economy, something that I need to change and fast.
This seems to be a popular story. Just saw this covered elsewhere. Counterfeiting is a very real threat that not many of us (myself included) think about. The easiest way I've seen so far is using a counterfeit pen.