Keeping a budget is not not not sexy. HOWEVER - living below one's means, practicing frugality and understanding the ebb and flow of your expenses in order to save and plan for the future is sexy.
I am a die hard frugalista, and a big saver. But the thought of having a budget for everything and tallying up how much I spent on groceries v. going out to eat v. going to the movies v. a soda at the corner store is more work than it's worth. It's like the book "In Defense of Food" where the mantra is something along the lines of "Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants" rather than crazy dieting and calorie counting. My personal finance mantra would have to be something similar: "Be frugal, save money, enjoy life".
They might be 'hot' but that doesn't mean that they will continue to be. Obviously with the recession people have got a wake up call. The Credit Card debt meter is actually going down and the savings rate is going up.
Unfortunately, I fear that it's only a matter of time before people look at the stock market going straight up and consumer confidence rising and start getting back into 'old habits.'
I'm actually pretty good at thinking this way about cars because I've made my monthly cash flow match my monthly cost. I always pay cash for my cars. Every month, I save $160 toward gas, insurance, maintenance and repairs and $53 toward my next car. Of course different amounts of money come back out of that account each month based on whether insurance came due or I bought a car that month, etc., but it's easy for me to see my monthly cost.
With a house, it's different. I'm only buying one (probably) and I have a loan. Looking at my cashflow, I've been spending about the same to own as to rent every year except the year I bought the house and the year I refinanced, when I spent more (closing costs). But I've been thinking that once it's paid off, my decision will feel much more wise.
Better would be to also notice the equity I am getting (even though I plan never to use it). That would matter if I were comparing getting a different house, remodeling, renting, or relocating.
But maybe you're saying that instead I could calculate all my expenses over the rest of my lifetime and divide by the number of months to get my real monthly cost. Hmm. The first thing I notice is that by the time I'm 77 my cash flow will be back to where it was when I first bought the house even though my house will be paid off because of inflation in the other costs. Maybe I should do it all in today's dollars. In today's dollars, if I live to be 100, my overall monthly cost will be only 60% of today's cost. If I live to be 80, the cost is 65%. But those numbers don't take my equity into account. If I subtract the total value in today's dollars, that brings my monthly cost down to about 33% of my current cash flow costs. This feels all very weird.
I think I'd rather just wait until I compare something. Like if I buy a different house, if it's worth 25% more, that will probably raise all my costs (repairs, taxes, insurance) by about 25%. And if renovating, I could compare that additional cost to the additional cost of buying a comparable house.
There's nothing wrong with having a budget in my opinion. If I didn't have one I wouldn't be sure where my money is going, which would seriously hinder meeting any future monetary goals. I'd rather do my own pedicures and save the money...believe me most guys aren't going to notice the difference. If one does, then I'm guessing that's not the type of guy I'd be dating anyway! When I do settle down with someone, I'd hope that he would be financially responsible. Making a lot of money does not necessarily indicate financial stability. I want a nice, long comfortable retirement.
Budgets just plain suck. There is no way around it. But it is a necessity for most. Think about it, wouldn't you like a HUGE piece(s) of dark chocolate truffle cake everyday? But you know you will eat yourself into Richard Simmons' spotlight. We save because we have too, not because we want to. The only joy comes when you are in the black and someone reminds you of how bad it is in the red.
I like saving up for a large, one-time goal in a separate account to motivate myself but otherwise I don't really budget. I think buying when food is on sale defeats budgeting- I might spend twice as much one week and nothing for the next two. It doesn't work for me- although I check my credit cards & bank accounts weekly to keep a finger on how much I'm spending & on what. Thanks!
For some reason my reply didn't go under matt's. Feel free to delete my second comment if need be and this one for the purpose of the giveaway.
I just thought it was interesting that two people could have similar life experiences and upbringing and get two entirely different perspectives from it as a result. Vive' la difference.
I've met girls who max out credit cards buying clothes and stuff to look pretty, and at the end of the night they say they want to meet a guy who is rich so they don't have to worry. I'm assuming that some day I will be the breadwinner, and I would want a wife who will be responsible and budget wisely. So in my search, a woman with a budget is definitely hot.
when you have two people with two entirely different life experiences. It's kind of funny reading about your wife because I grew up in a household that had very little and I am the planner in our relationship(I hate having a mortgage and car payment hanging over our heads). My husband grew up with a father that had some finanjcial means so it has been a journey to get him to understand budgeting.
My high school beau and I have been together for 8 years now, and despite all the ways we've changed over the years, we're both delighted and comforted to know that we have grown to have the same take on money, which is a huge hurdle for a lot of couples. When we sat down for the big post-engagement OUR-FUTURE-TOGETHER talk, we agreed on less house, no car, and waiting until we're financially ready before we start having kids. Done and done.
Money in the bank is a huge turn on, especially when you put it there together by keeping your financial wits about you (read: budgeting!).
We bought our stand mixer from Kitchenaid as a refurbished model; we saved around $200. It has held up for several years; we use it approx 3x per week for baking bread and making suet (I swear my husband feeds every wild bird in Lower Alabama).
What takes the longest for me is meal planning for The Three Bears -- my child hates anything spicy, my husband hates anything bland, and I don't care as long as it has nutritional value.
We find the made-from-scratch meals taste far better than any mass-produced processed meal, as it is geared to a more baseline flavor that most people find acceptable. We prefer the freshness and flavor of a meal we prepare (for the record we both work out of the home full time).
I refuse to purchase anything with high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, so we cook almost entirely from scratch. We do get some bread from a local bakery, because I know how it was prepared. I use the "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day" method and keep us stocked in fresh bread throughout the week.
We also spend a bit more time on the weekends and prep large amounts of food and freeze it (like the meat tip above). I'll make triple or quadruple batches of bolognese sauce and then not have to make it for an entire year. Instead, we pull a packet out of the freezer, cook some pasta, make a salad and we're done.
I could not live without my dishwasher, when it comes to cleaning up. And we definitely go at the cooking and cleaning as a team effort. It only takes 10-15 minutes when both of us are working at cleaning the kitchen.
One of the harder parts for us, when it comes to saving money, is avoiding the impulse buys at the grocery store: an extra bottle of wine, some organic treats for the kid, etc. We have found the best way to avoid these impulse purchases is to shop at the downtown market, where we purchase fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, etc., directly from farmers. There are fewer processed impulse purchases to be found, and the food is far fresher (and more affordable).
Do not buy/purchase/charge beyond your ability to pay like yesterday.
Pay off the whole balance, in full, immediately upon receipt of statement. Do not play games with the "payment window."
Never buy into the "cash advance" option. Exception ... in an emergency. And, then and only then, if all other options are "closed," i.e. your bank, your broker, etc.. In this day and age with 24 hour access to banks and accounts, the "cash advance' option should never be necessary ... however.
Maintain a savings/cash balance equal to your credit limits.
Credit cards v. debit cards leaves the credit card option a preference in terms of security.
Limit card "deck" to one Master Card, one Visa card, and one American Express card ... each with generous rewards, i.e. cash rebates on all purchases, travel/mileage rewards, and/or cash rewards.
A small annual fee on some travel/mile reward cards is cheap insurance for travel insurance (including medical/emergency transport if necessary) protection included within the card. Many travel reward cards also include concierge service which can also be very useful.
Use credit cards to pay utilities as a means of maintaining the card, i.e. cards that languish without use are often cancelled.
Use a WEB based credit card profile to select credit cards that work toward your advantage in terms of rewards and use patterns.
And keep in mind, credit cards are only as bad/evil as the consumer who makes use of the credit card. Money smart consumers, with wise and careful credit card use, can and do reap huge advantages in terms of rewards and cash rebates.
Talk about boring!!!! And check out the info at Vanguard about how much you save...study asset allocation and use dollar cost averaging and strategic rebalancing and start saving, seriously.
My ex was awesome with money. Saved a ton, had a budget, and always urged me to do the same. I tend to do well for a while, and then suddenly WHAM my credit card is back up to insane heights (why oh why did they have to raise my credit limit...) I always detested when he brought it up, it felt like he was my dad or something trying to lecture me about money, so I started hiding my purchases.
I'm getting better now though; while I don't have a budget, I've instituted rules about when/how much I go out and so forth. If I just keep it in the back of my mind, rather then forcing some kind of insanely tight budget, I do much better and have less tendency to splurge later.
Having been through some times when money was very tight, the one thing that got us through was having a budget. And even with the tightest budgets, it's possible, and even easy to have fun. How do I know this? Because in the not too distant past, I supported myself and my two daughters on a "below poverty level" income, and we not only survived, but thrived and had fun! Things have improved since those days, but the budget continues to be an important tool to ensure that there is always enough money to enjoy the wonderful things life has to offer!
I've never really had a budget, but I'm pretty careful with money. I save a set amount from each paycheck, pay bills first, and there's some left for spending.
If a guy is financially savvy, I think it makes him more attractive. I like a guy that is smart with money.
Budgets are sexy! I'm lucky in that most of my hobbies are free--going to public parks, using libraries, taking walks around the city, hiking and backpacking, dancing in my room (with the door closed). But I also make conscious decisions to save money and be responsible, too, especially on my teacher's salary. I would love to find a nice guy with a similar mindset. My ideal would be to find someone else with the dream of living frugally and hopefully retiring early.
A 19 year-old Chevy work van, and man is it boring! No AC, no radio (speakers fried long ago), and absolutely zero sex appeal. It's so boring, I didn't even waste money on a paint job when the roof started rusting - I sanded and sprayed it down with Rustoleum auto paint. My grandfather sold it to me for a handshake ten years ago and it's still going strong. I've probably saved $40,000 in car payments in that same time.
It also comes with a bare minimum tag fee (registration only) and the insurance is negigible. What can I say, I love boring vehicles!
If a girl was high maintenance, financially foolish, or wasteful, i wouldnt be interested in being with her long term.
so while my girl and i dont budget, she is good with money and so am I. There is no friction b/c our goals are aligned.
Keeping a budget is not not not sexy. HOWEVER - living below one's means, practicing frugality and understanding the ebb and flow of your expenses in order to save and plan for the future is sexy.
I am a die hard frugalista, and a big saver. But the thought of having a budget for everything and tallying up how much I spent on groceries v. going out to eat v. going to the movies v. a soda at the corner store is more work than it's worth. It's like the book "In Defense of Food" where the mantra is something along the lines of "Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants" rather than crazy dieting and calorie counting. My personal finance mantra would have to be something similar: "Be frugal, save money, enjoy life".
People need to learn that budgeting is the new trend. It's cool to save money. Because then you actually HAVE some.
They might be 'hot' but that doesn't mean that they will continue to be. Obviously with the recession people have got a wake up call. The Credit Card debt meter is actually going down and the savings rate is going up.
Unfortunately, I fear that it's only a matter of time before people look at the stock market going straight up and consumer confidence rising and start getting back into 'old habits.'
I'm actually pretty good at thinking this way about cars because I've made my monthly cash flow match my monthly cost. I always pay cash for my cars. Every month, I save $160 toward gas, insurance, maintenance and repairs and $53 toward my next car. Of course different amounts of money come back out of that account each month based on whether insurance came due or I bought a car that month, etc., but it's easy for me to see my monthly cost.
With a house, it's different. I'm only buying one (probably) and I have a loan. Looking at my cashflow, I've been spending about the same to own as to rent every year except the year I bought the house and the year I refinanced, when I spent more (closing costs). But I've been thinking that once it's paid off, my decision will feel much more wise.
Better would be to also notice the equity I am getting (even though I plan never to use it). That would matter if I were comparing getting a different house, remodeling, renting, or relocating.
But maybe you're saying that instead I could calculate all my expenses over the rest of my lifetime and divide by the number of months to get my real monthly cost. Hmm. The first thing I notice is that by the time I'm 77 my cash flow will be back to where it was when I first bought the house even though my house will be paid off because of inflation in the other costs. Maybe I should do it all in today's dollars. In today's dollars, if I live to be 100, my overall monthly cost will be only 60% of today's cost. If I live to be 80, the cost is 65%. But those numbers don't take my equity into account. If I subtract the total value in today's dollars, that brings my monthly cost down to about 33% of my current cash flow costs. This feels all very weird.
I think I'd rather just wait until I compare something. Like if I buy a different house, if it's worth 25% more, that will probably raise all my costs (repairs, taxes, insurance) by about 25%. And if renovating, I could compare that additional cost to the additional cost of buying a comparable house.
afterwards that I hate doing. I love to cook but I hate doing dishes.
But then again it makes me look for "One Dish Meals" recipes. Surprising what people have concocted that is quite delicious.
There's nothing wrong with having a budget in my opinion. If I didn't have one I wouldn't be sure where my money is going, which would seriously hinder meeting any future monetary goals. I'd rather do my own pedicures and save the money...believe me most guys aren't going to notice the difference. If one does, then I'm guessing that's not the type of guy I'd be dating anyway! When I do settle down with someone, I'd hope that he would be financially responsible. Making a lot of money does not necessarily indicate financial stability. I want a nice, long comfortable retirement.
I LOVE DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE
Budgets just plain suck. There is no way around it. But it is a necessity for most. Think about it, wouldn't you like a HUGE piece(s) of dark chocolate truffle cake everyday? But you know you will eat yourself into Richard Simmons' spotlight. We save because we have too, not because we want to. The only joy comes when you are in the black and someone reminds you of how bad it is in the red.
I like saving up for a large, one-time goal in a separate account to motivate myself but otherwise I don't really budget. I think buying when food is on sale defeats budgeting- I might spend twice as much one week and nothing for the next two. It doesn't work for me- although I check my credit cards & bank accounts weekly to keep a finger on how much I'm spending & on what. Thanks!
Lindsey,
For some reason my reply didn't go under matt's. Feel free to delete my second comment if need be and this one for the purpose of the giveaway.
I just thought it was interesting that two people could have similar life experiences and upbringing and get two entirely different perspectives from it as a result. Vive' la difference.
I've met girls who max out credit cards buying clothes and stuff to look pretty, and at the end of the night they say they want to meet a guy who is rich so they don't have to worry. I'm assuming that some day I will be the breadwinner, and I would want a wife who will be responsible and budget wisely. So in my search, a woman with a budget is definitely hot.
when you have two people with two entirely different life experiences. It's kind of funny reading about your wife because I grew up in a household that had very little and I am the planner in our relationship(I hate having a mortgage and car payment hanging over our heads). My husband grew up with a father that had some finanjcial means so it has been a journey to get him to understand budgeting.
Definitely hot.
My high school beau and I have been together for 8 years now, and despite all the ways we've changed over the years, we're both delighted and comforted to know that we have grown to have the same take on money, which is a huge hurdle for a lot of couples. When we sat down for the big post-engagement OUR-FUTURE-TOGETHER talk, we agreed on less house, no car, and waiting until we're financially ready before we start having kids. Done and done.
Money in the bank is a huge turn on, especially when you put it there together by keeping your financial wits about you (read: budgeting!).
We bought our stand mixer from Kitchenaid as a refurbished model; we saved around $200. It has held up for several years; we use it approx 3x per week for baking bread and making suet (I swear my husband feeds every wild bird in Lower Alabama).
What takes the longest for me is meal planning for The Three Bears -- my child hates anything spicy, my husband hates anything bland, and I don't care as long as it has nutritional value.
We find the made-from-scratch meals taste far better than any mass-produced processed meal, as it is geared to a more baseline flavor that most people find acceptable. We prefer the freshness and flavor of a meal we prepare (for the record we both work out of the home full time).
I refuse to purchase anything with high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, so we cook almost entirely from scratch. We do get some bread from a local bakery, because I know how it was prepared. I use the "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day" method and keep us stocked in fresh bread throughout the week.
We also spend a bit more time on the weekends and prep large amounts of food and freeze it (like the meat tip above). I'll make triple or quadruple batches of bolognese sauce and then not have to make it for an entire year. Instead, we pull a packet out of the freezer, cook some pasta, make a salad and we're done.
I could not live without my dishwasher, when it comes to cleaning up. And we definitely go at the cooking and cleaning as a team effort. It only takes 10-15 minutes when both of us are working at cleaning the kitchen.
One of the harder parts for us, when it comes to saving money, is avoiding the impulse buys at the grocery store: an extra bottle of wine, some organic treats for the kid, etc. We have found the best way to avoid these impulse purchases is to shop at the downtown market, where we purchase fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, etc., directly from farmers. There are fewer processed impulse purchases to be found, and the food is far fresher (and more affordable).
Budgets are hot, but we never before discussed it. However, we do now. We have become very frugal and budget wisely.
I find Twitter distracting. Too much noise.
Credit Card Rules:
Do not buy/purchase/charge beyond your ability to pay like yesterday.
Pay off the whole balance, in full, immediately upon receipt of statement. Do not play games with the "payment window."
Never buy into the "cash advance" option. Exception ... in an emergency. And, then and only then, if all other options are "closed," i.e. your bank, your broker, etc.. In this day and age with 24 hour access to banks and accounts, the "cash advance' option should never be necessary ... however.
Maintain a savings/cash balance equal to your credit limits.
Credit cards v. debit cards leaves the credit card option a preference in terms of security.
Limit card "deck" to one Master Card, one Visa card, and one American Express card ... each with generous rewards, i.e. cash rebates on all purchases, travel/mileage rewards, and/or cash rewards.
A small annual fee on some travel/mile reward cards is cheap insurance for travel insurance (including medical/emergency transport if necessary) protection included within the card. Many travel reward cards also include concierge service which can also be very useful.
Use credit cards to pay utilities as a means of maintaining the card, i.e. cards that languish without use are often cancelled.
Use a WEB based credit card profile to select credit cards that work toward your advantage in terms of rewards and use patterns.
And keep in mind, credit cards are only as bad/evil as the consumer who makes use of the credit card. Money smart consumers, with wise and careful credit card use, can and do reap huge advantages in terms of rewards and cash rebates.
Talk about boring!!!! And check out the info at Vanguard about how much you save...study asset allocation and use dollar cost averaging and strategic rebalancing and start saving, seriously.
My ex was awesome with money. Saved a ton, had a budget, and always urged me to do the same. I tend to do well for a while, and then suddenly WHAM my credit card is back up to insane heights (why oh why did they have to raise my credit limit...) I always detested when he brought it up, it felt like he was my dad or something trying to lecture me about money, so I started hiding my purchases.
I'm getting better now though; while I don't have a budget, I've instituted rules about when/how much I go out and so forth. If I just keep it in the back of my mind, rather then forcing some kind of insanely tight budget, I do much better and have less tendency to splurge later.
Having been through some times when money was very tight, the one thing that got us through was having a budget. And even with the tightest budgets, it's possible, and even easy to have fun. How do I know this? Because in the not too distant past, I supported myself and my two daughters on a "below poverty level" income, and we not only survived, but thrived and had fun! Things have improved since those days, but the budget continues to be an important tool to ensure that there is always enough money to enjoy the wonderful things life has to offer!
I've never really had a budget, but I'm pretty careful with money. I save a set amount from each paycheck, pay bills first, and there's some left for spending.
If a guy is financially savvy, I think it makes him more attractive. I like a guy that is smart with money.
Budgets are sexy! I'm lucky in that most of my hobbies are free--going to public parks, using libraries, taking walks around the city, hiking and backpacking, dancing in my room (with the door closed). But I also make conscious decisions to save money and be responsible, too, especially on my teacher's salary. I would love to find a nice guy with a similar mindset. My ideal would be to find someone else with the dream of living frugally and hopefully retiring early.
Good luck everyone!
A 19 year-old Chevy work van, and man is it boring! No AC, no radio (speakers fried long ago), and absolutely zero sex appeal. It's so boring, I didn't even waste money on a paint job when the roof started rusting - I sanded and sprayed it down with Rustoleum auto paint. My grandfather sold it to me for a handshake ten years ago and it's still going strong. I've probably saved $40,000 in car payments in that same time.
It also comes with a bare minimum tag fee (registration only) and the insurance is negigible. What can I say, I love boring vehicles!