Budgeting

[noxious.sunshine]

So one of my (our) new years resolutions is to really buckle down, watch our spending, and starting putting money in a savings account.

Do you budget? If so, are you really strict with it?

Jay is getting his Pell Grant soon, and what I've kind of decided is that half of it is going towards things that we need/want (laptop, ps4, New headlights for his car, gifts we still need to buy for people, New bedding, etc) & the other half is going into a new savings account that we're going to open with like Chase bank. And the rule is, neither one of us can touch it unless it's a big emergency. I've also decided that the money he gets from his wife ($300/mo) is gonna go in every month.

We're also going to sit down and figure out exactly how much we pay total for our bills and from there, I want labeled envelopes for groceries, entertainment/drinking/eating out/video games/whatever, and gas/metro cards. There will be a set amount of cash in them and that's what we have for those things. And whatever is leftover at the end of the month is going straight to the savings account.

Because it's really time for us to start buckling down. Even if we aren't able to buy a house as soon as we move back to Nashville, we'll have a good start. And there are a ton of other things I intend to save up for.....

So yeah. Are you a budgeter like that?

[Shiny]

Yep, I recently bought a Showbiz budgeting software but it's mostly for film production budgets. I'm thinking of getting the mint app. Ever since I was six I would save. I'm definitely more of a saver than spender.

[Ayen]

Nope. I always end up spending all my money even when I say I'm not going to.

[Pike]

Yes I budget. I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) and it's a lifesaver. Easily the best budgeting program I've tried.

This thread is about to be filled with a bunch of people saying "Nope, don't budget, don't need to." I was one of those people once. I have changed my tune. TLDR everyone should get YNAB. I will sing its praises forever.

[Psychotic]

Absolutely I do. Kind of my job to encourage people to do it so I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't :shobon: No matter what income situation you're in, budgeting will improve things immensely. That's not to say it's a magic cure all in each and every situation that'll make all your money problems go away (though it has been for many!) however. Once you've put in that initial time it doesn't take up a lot of time, it's simple and it'll help you feel in control of an area where many of us feel the exact opposite.

[Loony BoB]

Excel. It's all I need. I check my finances regularly, know what is due to come off and when, know how much money that means I have for the rest of the month and understand how much of that will be going to regular expenses such as food. I know when I'm ahead and I know when I'm behind and am very competent at saving. Yay for all that.

[Old Manus]

I'm always budgeting but I tend to keep most of it in my head. There is a quite nifty tool at https://www.moneydashboard.com/ which aggregates all your current, savings and credit accounts in real time and provides handy graphs to see where your money is going (as long as you don't mind letting it log into all your online banking accounts). I like to make sure I have a few hundred left over each month and pump as much money into my pitiful-as-standard private pension as I can so I don't have to work until I'm in my 80s.

[Freya]

I don't use a software I kind of do it all in my head. I get paid weekly and am aware when my bills come out. The ones that change dates, I do write those down on a calendar. I'm actually really good at it. Being poor but being a functioning adult living on your own was hard so I had to figure out how to budget. Now I don't know what to do with extra money. It's weird because I never had any extra money for the past 2 years.

Weiiirddd.

Now I have to worry about the boyfriends income and bills too and while I'm good about it, he's bad. I have to nag him a lot about spending money on stupid crap. He has a wants and needs issue. It's his first time on his own though so it's a learning process. He's getting better and has almost let me have full control over things because he missed a water bill and ended up having to pay an extra $85. So now I just handle it all when it comes to bills.

I should probably make an excel or something.

[escobert]

Nope. I always end up spending all my money even when I say I'm not going to.

[Shlup]

I had a complicated Excel spreadsheet, but I haven't used it in several years. I should though, especially since breeding is costly.

[Pumpkin]

Yes I budget. I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) and it's a lifesaver. Easily the best budgeting program I've tried.

This thread is about to be filled with a bunch of people saying "Nope, don't budget, don't need to." I was one of those people once. I have changed my tune. TLDR everyone should get YNAB. I will sing its praises forever.

So I'm trying out the umm trial mode. I'm confused because it says we have a surplus every month of basically an entire paycheck and I wouldn't have ever guessed so I feel like I'm forgetting something

[Freya]

Because of this thread I set up a spreadsheet and made the boyfriend give me all his bill info too. Hopefully this will help us save!

[MissH]

I am starting to freak out a little about the amount of money that is going to be needed this year.

Mine and Bubba's house purchase is almost done. The house is beautiful but will need at least furniture in, which in itself is mega expensive. Then there's all the baby stuff we'll need- prams,car seats,cots etc. Then there's looking after the baby's needs like nappies and food etc.

I've been sensible with my money and saved for years and years and managed to build up a good amount of money. The house deposit will take a big chunk of that and then the furniture for the house and baby will take up the rest. It's making me quite nervous thinking how much money is going to be spent!

[Loony BoB]

I wouldn't worry about furniture - you can get low cost stuff these days fairly easily through friends, family, gumtree or whatever. Then, depending on your budget, you can slowly upgrade the rest. We started out with very basic furniture in our flat and some of it is still stuff we "inherited" one way or another. Actually, the only furniture I recall us ever buying is the couch, computer desks and computer chairs. The TV stands came with the TVs, the bedroom furniture came from friends, family and the previous owner. If you have bought a place, feel free to mention that if there is any furniture they intend on throwing out to let you know first (if they want, of course) as you might be able to make use.

[Old Manus]

When it came to furniture I got hold of a credit card with 0% on purchases for 12 months.

[Shiny]

For furniture try freecycle.com.

[Dat Matt]

I don't. My budgeting process is:

Will I be poor before payday if I buy this?
If yes, don't buy it pay day if you need it or save for it if you don't.
If no, buy it.

Probably because I have a fortunate living arrangement just now but bills and food are about 25% of my income so about 25% goes towards fun and the rest goes to savings.