Budget tips

[SoreArms]

I've never succesfully implemented one but like to start

if you have a budget

What were the biggest obstacles you had to overcome when first following your budget?

What are some of the things that helped you follow your budget?

I get paid weekly, but most bills/expenses need to be factored monthly (and are usually due around the same time of the month). How do I create a weekly budget with the months expenses in mind?

Any other do's, don'ts, and tips in general would be greatly helpful.


Thanks in advance,

Financial Newb

 

[bran987]

I've never succesfully implemented one but like to start

if you have a budget

What were the biggest obstacles you had to overcome when first following your budget?

What are some of the things that helped you follow your budget?

I get paid weekly, but most bills/expenses need to be factored monthly (and are usually due around the same time of the month). How do I create a weekly budget with the months expenses in mind?

Any other do's, don'ts, and tips in general would be greatly helpful.


Thanks in advance,

Financial Newb

you've set up much more complicated spreadsheets for let's just say.. other purposes you've told me about?

just take your weekly check and multiply it by 4, that's a month

actually, it is easier to calculate a lot of items on a weekly basis, i.e.

food
gas
etc..

one of the hardest parts about making a budget is that you tend to delude yourself. just like when a person is starting to actually count calories for the first time, there are 150 calories in the little tiny bag of potato chips here, 300 calories in those 2 beers after work they forgot about...

you gotta think hard, for awhile I didn't realize I spend $50-100/month on books! things like haircuts for $10-20 there are lots of items like that.

be honest. figure out what you need to spend in order to enjoy your life within reason, and budget accordingly.

a lot of people say 'take 10% of your paycheck and put that towards paying off debt/investing, you can spend the rest'

I say screw that, if you figure out your budget and you can get by being happy on 70% on your paycheck, put the other 30% towards debt instead of spending it for spending's sake. you'll get out of debt 3x faster (actually more than 3x faster because every month you are slowly killing the compounding against you)

I am of course talking about bad debt like credit cards. mortgages/student debts are different because of tax deductions etc.

those are some suggestions

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

orb

step 1: write down every single thing you spend money on. You buys a soda for $1, add "Soda, $1" to your list.

Do this for a month.

 

[SoreArms]

orb

step 1: write down every single thing you spend money on. You buys a soda for $1, add "Soda, $1" to your list.

Do this for a month.

Yeah, I actually already started doign that this week

Similar to what Bran mentioned above, I remembered that when I first started watching my diet, I wrote everything I ate for a couple of weeks to see what I was consuming before I altered my diet. So I assumed it might be smart to do the same with my moneys.

I already see dry cleaning might have to get toned down a bit, so far $70 just this week!

Thanks to both of you guys for the responses

 

[Razorguns]

honestly..

i rarely concentrate or dwell on what i spend. For the concentration of "spending the money" winds up distracting you from the ultimate goal of "making the money".

Money is MEANT to be spent and enjoyed. Unless i'm freeballing WAY more than I earn, and getting myself in trouble -- i don't sit there and agonize over the fact that i spent $20 extra for better seats at a concert. I'd rather go home and agonize over why i can't afford it, and how i can change that reality.

Same problem -- different approach.

As long as you're "spending within your means" -- you should be okay. Of course many magazines encourage you to document every cent you spend, blah blah. That'll cut down on your monthly costs, and ultimately keep more money in your pocket -- but it has a inherent danger in it's implementation. That danger of removing your focus of how i can *make* more money so i can get the things that i want and enjoy merely than just forcing myself to live with the cheaper tv. A "quick-fix" as far as i'm concerned.

 

[bran987]

honestly..

i rarely concentrate or dwell on what i spend. For the concentration of "spending the money" winds up distracting you from the ultimate goal of "making the money".

Money is MEANT to be spent and enjoyed. Unless i'm freeballing WAY more than I earn, and getting myself in trouble -- i don't sit there and agonize over the fact that i spent $20 extra for better seats at a concert. I'd rather go home and agonize over why i can't afford it, and how i can change that reality.

Same problem -- different approach.

As long as you're "spending within your means" -- you should be okay. Of course many magazines encourage you to document every cent you spend, blah blah. That'll cut down on your monthly costs, and ultimately keep more money in your pocket -- but it has a inherent danger in it's implementation. That danger of removing your focus of how i can *make* more money so i can get the things that i want and enjoy merely than just forcing myself to live with the cheaper tv. A "quick-fix" as far as i'm concerned.

he lives paycheck to paycheck, has messed up his credit, and has credit card debt, this is bad advice IMO and the mindset that gets people into this situation.

if you ever checked the percentage of millionaires who use coupons, you would be surprised. there's nothing wrong with being frugal. it doesn't mean you can't order extra guacamole at Chipotle, but some people do need to keep a budget - at least for awhile.

 

[SoreArms]

Unless i'm freeballing WAY more than I earn, and getting myself in trouble

Unfortunately Bran is correct

I always seem to spend above my means.

 

[bran987]

I think he just got a little too philosophical about it all
just because you are aware of your budget and maybe even cut back on things
doesn't mean you can't dream/invest/start other ventures
nothing taken to an extreme is good, and that includes being a penny pincher but
it just means you're more aware of yourself and that's never bad

 

[Razorguns]

Yes. I agree.

Problem is -- TOO many people equate the motivation people get with "He was broke. $50k in debt. desolate. And had nothing to lose -- so he went ALL OUT and the made millions" with the type of motivation you can ONLY get when you hit rock bottom.

You can EASILY (and more important, more successfully) have that same motivation get you that reward of millions while NOT at rock bottom. Granted, you may still have your day/job -- but you can use your present financial resources, and leisuire of available time to carefully and accurately plan out your business, venture and define it accordingly. You can do all that, WITHOUT having to go broke first.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

if you ever checked the percentage of millionaires who use coupons, you would be surprised.

word. Someone very close to me is a nine-figure guy, ($100M+) and absolutely HAMMERS people on everything he buys. He bought a car a while back, and he hammered the dealer for like 3 hours. I think he saved $4,000. He wanted a rental house out of town and hammered the owner of the house for an hour to save $750/month.

I asked him about it - I said, "In the time you spent meating up the dealer, you made enough money to buy 5 cars. Why did you hammer him so bad?"

And he said "I guess I have always been that way". It was just second nature to him.

There is a lesson there...and no, he is not hammering these peons to amuse himself.

 

[bran987]

word. Someone very close to me is a nine-figure guy, ($100M+) and absolutely HAMMERS people on everything he buys. He bought a car a while back, and he hammered the dealer for like 3 hours. I think he saved $4,000. He wanted a rental house out of town and hammered the owner of the house for an hour to save $750/month.

I asked him about it - I said, "In the time you spent meating up the dealer, you made enough money to buy 5 cars. Why did you hammer him so bad?"

And he said "I guess I have always been that way". It was just second nature to him.

There is a lesson there...and no, he is not hammering these peons to amuse himself.

this is hilarious, I have seen very wealthy businessmen do the exact same thing. The lesson for me is clear: you don't get rich by overpaying, and it's a mindset, not just a means to an end!

 

[Razorguns]

The reason they do this...

is to install "self-discipline". A commendable personality trait which can be manifested, to THEIR BENEFIT, in many other areas of their ways of doing business.

Someone who always splurges all the time, is careless with their money, never thinks twice -- is setting themselves up to make the SAME mistakes in their business life. It's hard to just "flip a switch" and get into conversative mode from liberal mode.

 

[gregory]

Simple.

Do money coming in for the month.
Then, fixed expenses. (subtract)rent, car note etc..
Then, flex expenses (subtract) food, gas,CC payment, you can make min or max payment.
Then you are left with MISC. These are things like haircuts, beer.

So just keep it simple. It will take 2-3 months for you to have it down like a pro.

 

[easy]

Simple.

Do money coming in for the month.
Then, fixed expenses. (subtract)rent, car note etc..
Then, flex expenses (subtract) food, gas,CC payment, you can make min or max payment.
Then you are left with MISC. These are things like haircuts, beer.

So just keep it simple. It will take 2-3 months for you to have it down like a pro.

I like this approach. When I got married my wife was still in school waiting tables and I made like $150.00 a week. We managed to rack up 27 creditcards between us and were paying cards with cards. It took us a LONG time to dig ourselves out of that mess but it tought us a valuable lesson. I WILL NEVER LIVE LIKE THAT AGAIN. We set ourselves up on a budget based on how much we could save a month. We would save enough to pay off a high interest card and then cut the check. Next month that payment went to savings to pay off the next card. It was long and painful but now we have no creditcards and put back $2000 a month. We spend alot of money but we still live within our means. It also helps that we make alot more then we did back then.

 

[gregory]

I like this approach. When I got married my wife was still in school waiting tables and I made like $150.00 a week. We managed to rack up 27 creditcards between us and were paying cards with cards. It took us a LONG time to dig ourselves out of that mess but it tought us a valuable lesson. I WILL NEVER LIVE LIKE THAT AGAIN. We set ourselves up on a budget based on how much we could save a month. We would save enough to pay off a high interest card and then cut the check. Next month that payment went to savings to pay off the next card. It was long and painful but now we have no creditcards and put back $2000 a month. We spend alot of money but we still live within our means. It also helps that we make alot more then we did back then.

Congratulations on getting yourself out of that mess. Planning a budget is pretty easy and yet VERY essential to having any kind of success in your financial future. I have been budgeting since i was about 12-13 years old.

 

[Ish]

I have started to use Quicken all the time now and it has helped me to keep track of my spending alot better. I think I bought it for $10. I also always round up to the next highest dollar amount when entering in stuff to quicken to give myself a little cushion. I don't know if this is a great idea, but it helps me to avoid screwing up.

 

[Synpax]

Break out excell and do for money and expensis what you probably do for your diet, workout cycle, anabolic cylcle, etc.

 

[Witold]

IF you have a modicum of self discipline, use ONLY your credit card. Use the credit card web site to pay it all off at the end of the month, and download the spreadsheet for that billing cycle. The downloaded data will categorize your purchases into general categories like "Auto/Gas", "Retail", "Lodging", "Restaurants" and so on. You can monitor your expenses, and decide where you can cut back. Depending on your self restraint, this method has the added benefit of stopping you from wasting money on 'convenience'... vending machines, for example.

In addition to being a good way of keeping your budget, using a credit card for all purchases has several other benefits. You can easily dispute charges, you generally get extended warranty, etc...

 

[SoreArms]

I've procastinated long enough!

I finally made an excel spread sheet for my pocket PC so I can enter every single thing I spend my money on. I made fields for dates, category (made a list of possible categories; this will allow me to sort by category), 4 different accounts (checking, rent, savings and pocket) and notes for adding extra notes about the purchase. I made fields at the top that will add the cells from each account and display the balance as I add things. This will atleast give me visibility of how much money I have and at the end of a month I'll be able to analyze what the hell I've been spending my money on.

One small step at a time!

 

[georgie24]

start saving recipts