Who here actually has a written monthly budget?

[Deleted]

I am just curious if I am the only one. I don't have a spreadsheet with my monthly budget on. I pay my bills every 2 weeks when DH's check comes in. I have money automatically deducted from checking and sent to our different savings accounts and to my Roth. Husband is military so he has a good retirement already set up. We will open another retirement account for him when I get a full time job.
With each check I just take a sheet of paper and my box of bills, I then write the amount of his pay and then just start to deduct the amount of the bills I am paying. When everything is paid for that pay period I then leave a certain amount in my checking and then send the majority of the money left over to savings or I will send in more on a SL or a cc or something.

I don't have a budget where I say I am allowed a certain amount of money for clothing, entertainment, groceries, eating out, gas, car maintenance..etc.
I have never had an actual written catagorized budget.
So...am I the only lazy person here?

[TrixAre4Kids]

Jan 19, 2011 18:22:11 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

I then write the amount of his pay and then just start to deduct the amount of the bills I am paying.

I do that...projected in advance for the entire year...one of my spreadsheets...

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:26:06 GMT -5 TrixAre4Kids said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:22:11 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

I then write the amount of his pay and then just start to deduct the amount of the bills I am paying.

I do that...projected in advance for the entire year...one of my spreadsheets...

Nope..I don't do that. I am just not that type I guess?
I wouldn't even know how to enter stuff on a spreadsheet. As Miss M said...just the thought of projecting and entering makes my hair hurt!

[Miss Tequila]

When I was younger and things were tighter, I had a very detailed Excel spreadsheet budget. Money is no longer tight so I gave up budgeting years ago. I do have investment goals that I keep track of, but not my cash inflows and outflows.

I know what I net after maxing out my 401(k) plan and I know what I have to pay each month so there is no spreadsheet required. However, if things ever get tight again I would have no problem going back to the spreadsheet budget.

[Deleted]

Currently we don't have a budget... DH just gets paid once a month (still trying to adjust to that b/c it's new!) and he just pays everything off as it's due, shuffles what needs to be shuffled to appropriate accounts and what's leftover is discretionary. However, I've spent a couple hours today trying to figure out where our money is going so that we can try to streamline some of our spending and sock a little more away. I doubt we'll do an itemized budget, but just get a handle on where we can cut some costs.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:28:30 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:26:06 GMT -5 TrixAre4Kids said:

I do that...projected in advance for the entire year...one of my spreadsheets...

Nope..I don't do that. I am just not that type I guess?
I wouldn't even know how to enter stuff on a spreadsheet. As Miss M said...just the thought of projecting and entering makes my hair hurt!

LOL! When we used to be highly leveraged (back when we owned rental properties jointly), I used to have a spreadsheet showing our net cashflow for the month, our outstanding debt, and the months to pay off each debt. I really dislike debt so my goal was always to pay it off as quickly as possible. I drove my husband crazy!

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:29:44 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

When I was younger and things were tighter, I had a very detailed Excel spreadsheet budget. Money is no longer tight so I gave up budgeting years ago. I do have investment goals that I keep track of, but not my cash inflows and outflows.

I know what I net after maxing out my 401(k) plan and I know what I have to pay each month so there is no spreadsheet required. However, if things ever get tight again I would have no problem going back to the spreadsheet budget.

I guess this is where we are at. I know what bills are do each month and their due dates. I just don't plug them into a spreadsheet or anything like that.
I just don't have catagories.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:31:19 GMT -5 @rosebaby said:

Currently we don't have a budget... DH just gets paid once a month (still trying to adjust to that b/c it's new!) and he just pays everything off as it's due, shuffles what needs to be shuffled to appropriate accounts and what's leftover is discretionary. However, I've spent a couple hours today trying to figure out where our money is going so that we can try to streamline some of our spending and sock a little more away. I doubt we'll do an itemized budget, but just get a handle on where we can cut some costs.

I charge just about everything I can charge (don't worry, I pay it off each month ). This really helps me see where my money is going. I am ok with my spending, but it is an eye opener to realize how much money I spend on stupid things like my Dunkin Donuts fix or my beloved Red Cat

[Sum Dum Gai]

We budget the same way you do Angel. The check comes in, the bills get paid, the rest becomes saving and play money. Retirement is already taken before we get the check.

I'm sure if we sat down and tracked/projected everything out to the penny we could trim our expenses a little, but we'd just use the savings as fun money and blow it on something else so what's the point?

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:32:42 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:29:44 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

When I was younger and things were tighter, I had a very detailed Excel spreadsheet budget. Money is no longer tight so I gave up budgeting years ago. I do have investment goals that I keep track of, but not my cash inflows and outflows.

I know what I net after maxing out my 401(k) plan and I know what I have to pay each month so there is no spreadsheet required. However, if things ever get tight again I would have no problem going back to the spreadsheet budget.

I guess this is where we are at. I know what bills are do each month and their due dates. I just don't plug them into a spreadsheet or anything like that.
I just don't have catagories.

And honestly, I don't think you need to get that detailed. I've never lived paycheck to paycheck, but things were much tighter a few years ago. In that case, I felt more comfortable tracking everything and allocating a certain dollar amount each month just so I didn't get hit with any unexpected bills that I didn't have the cash to cover. That is no longer an issue so it would be a huge waste of time...dare I admit that I haven't balanced a checkbook in years I'm like the mechanic who doesn't take care of his care

[ihearyou2]

Yes we budget and it makes all the difference in the world on realizing how expenses inch up without you realizing it.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:33:13 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

We budget the same way you do Angel. The check comes in, the bills get paid, the rest becomes saving and play money. Retirement is already taken before we get the check.

I'm sure if we sat down and tracked/projected everything out to the penny we could trim our expenses a little, but we'd just use the savings as fun money and blow it on something else so what's the point?

Exactly....I want to cry when I read Pat's posts...she and her husband are doing well financially but she just cant' seem to live a little and spend some of the money. I don't want that to be me. I do tend to be very tight with a buck, but I'm trying to loosen up and live a little at the same time

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:31:47 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:28:30 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

Nope..I don't do that. I am just not that type I guess?
I wouldn't even know how to enter stuff on a spreadsheet. As Miss M said...just the thought of projecting and entering makes my hair hurt!

LOL! When we used to be highly leveraged (back when we owned rental properties jointly), I used to have a spreadsheet showing our net cashflow for the month, our outstanding debt, and the months to pay off each debt. I really dislike debt so my goal was always to pay it off as quickly as possible. I drove my husband crazy!

Holy hell woman...that makes my hair hurt just reading it.

I don't like debt either, but we do have some. I am currently making huge dents in it and will be paying off another card February 1st. I don't have it in a spreadsheet though. I know how much I owe and I know how much DH will have left over in his check. I know I have enough to pay it completely off. Then the next pay period I will pick another debt and send a huge chunk to them.
So I know I would get my ass handed to me on YM. My eyes just glaze over when I think of actually budgeting.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:37:23 GMT -5 ihearyou2 said:

Yes we budget and it makes all the difference in the world on realizing how expenses inch up without you realizing it.

But so what? If you are saving and investing what you should, who cares if you spend a little more? Once my bills are paid and my investments are made, what's left is mine to have fun with.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:38:23 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:31:47 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

LOL! When we used to be highly leveraged (back when we owned rental properties jointly), I used to have a spreadsheet showing our net cashflow for the month, our outstanding debt, and the months to pay off each debt. I really dislike debt so my goal was always to pay it off as quickly as possible. I drove my husband crazy!

Holy hell woman...that makes my hair hurt just reading it.

I don't like debt either, but we do have some. I am currently making huge dents in it and will be paying off another card February 1st. I don't have it in a spreadsheet though. I know how much I owe and I know how much DH will have left over in his check. I know I have enough to pay it completely off. Then the next pay period I will pick another debt and send a huge chunk to them.
So I know I would get my ass handed to me on YM. My eyes just glaze over when I think of actually budgeting.

LOL, well if I had credit card debt I would be back to my spreadsheet...but I'm anal and despise credit card debt (too expensive IMO)....but you are doing what works for you so stick with it.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:39:44 GMT -5 @daphne87 said:

I'm the weirdo three spreadsheets per month type. I know where it ALL goes and how much is left, how much we brought in, where we overspent, etc.

But we're really tight on funds these days, so it's kinda necessary to keep me "in line". Because I really, really want to spend money on something useless....

LOL, are you a CPA? Seriously, I was just as bad when we were in a different place. My husband's eyes would just glaze over

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:35:46 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:32:42 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

I guess this is where we are at. I know what bills are do each month and their due dates. I just don't plug them into a spreadsheet or anything like that.
I just don't have categories.

And honestly, I don't think you need to get that detailed. I've never lived paycheck to paycheck, but things were much tighter a few years ago. In that case, I felt more comfortable tracking everything and allocating a certain dollar amount each month just so I didn't get hit with any unexpected bills that I didn't have the cash to cover. That is no longer an issue so it would be a huge waste of time...dare I admit that I haven't balanced a checkbook in years I'm like the mechanic who doesn't take care of his care

WHAT?!? You are supposed to balance a checkbook? LOL. I actually haven't done it in years either. I just look on line and check to see if everything has cleared...and that is balanced to me.

I am sure if I actually budgeted I could cut a whole lot of unnecessary spending. I have cut back a lot on my shopping and stuff, but I am sure I could do better in other categories.
I could send more to savings....blah.

[ihearyou2]

Jan 19, 2011 18:39:16 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:37:23 GMT -5 ihearyou2 said:

Yes we budget and it makes all the difference in the world on realizing how expenses inch up without you realizing it.

But so what? If you are saving and investing what you should, who cares if you spend a little more? Once my bills are paid and my investments are made, what's left is mine to have fun with.

How do you know what discretionary spending you can do or if you're running out of money on your necessities without budgeting?

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:40:38 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:38:23 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

LOL, well if I had credit card debt I would be back to my spreadsheet...but I'm anal and despise credit card debt (too expensive IMO)....but you are doing what works for you so stick with it.

Yup...I am a YM failure. I have credit card debt. I am a recovering shopaholic. But I also know that if I ONLY tackle the debt and I don't give myself fun money or whatever that I will have a relapse and go crazy at the mall. So it works for me. It will be paid off. I am sure other people would pay it off sooner, but like I said...I am a recovering shopaholic and I need to give myself some funds to shop with or it will get ugly again.

[Sum Dum Gai]

But so what? If you are saving and investing what you should, who cares if you spend a little more? Once my bills are paid and my investments are made, what's left is mine to have fun with.

Exactly! If there's no bad debt (I'm not planning on pre-paying the mortgage), savings goals are on track, and the important stuff gets paid first, spend the rest on whatever the hell you want. I mean, that's like the point of working for cash in the first place right?

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:42:41 GMT -5 ihearyou2 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:39:16 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

But so what? If you are saving and investing what you should, who cares if you spend a little more? Once my bills are paid and my investments are made, what's left is mine to have fun with.

How do you know what discretionary spending you can do or if you're running out of money on your necessities without budgeting?

I make sure my necessities are paid for first. I don't do any discretionary spending until all the bills in my shoe box are paid for the month.
YES I keep my bills in a shoe box!!! I told you I was a YM failure!!!

[ihearyou2]

:Yup...I am a YM failure. I have credit card debt. I am a recovering shopaholic.:

See with a budget you can make logical decisions beforehand of how much you want to spend on discretionary and how long you want to take to pay off that debt and you'll be loved by all. It doesn't have to be either/or.

[Peace Of Mind]

I do that too, Angel. I have my bills listed each month and whatever is left is ours to spend. I started doing that when I didn't receive a bill from somebody and never noticed until I got a late notice (I was in my early 20's) and to make sure that never happened again I made a list and check it twice.

But I'm one of those weirdo types that balance their checkbook every month.

[Sum Dum Gai]

How do you know what discretionary spending you can do or if you're running out of money on your necessities without budgeting?

Pay the necessities first. Once they're all covered, everything left over is discretionary. Well almost. You have to pay all the bills, buy enough groceries to last until the next payday, then everything left is discretionary.

It's really not that complicated. Online bill pay, a quick look at the account balance after everything clears and the shopping is done, and you know down to the penny how much slush money you have left until the next paycheck. No spreadsheet required.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:42:41 GMT -5 ihearyou2 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:39:16 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

But so what? If you are saving and investing what you should, who cares if you spend a little more? Once my bills are paid and my investments are made, what's left is mine to have fun with.

How do you know what discretionary spending you can do or if you're running out of money on your necessities without budgeting?

I'm good, what can I say

[ihearyou2]

Jan 19, 2011 18:49:01 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

How do you know what discretionary spending you can do or if you're running out of money on your necessities without budgeting?

Pay the necessities first. Once they're all covered, everything left over is discretionary.

How about that trip you have planned does it fit into your discretionary budget, how much needs to be saved over how long and taking into account your other discretionary expenses? I can't imagine living without a framework to clarify those types of questions and with software it takes so little work.

[Miss Tequila]

Jan 19, 2011 18:45:32 GMT -5 @angel33 said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:40:38 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

LOL, well if I had credit card debt I would be back to my spreadsheet...but I'm anal and despise credit card debt (too expensive IMO)....but you are doing what works for you so stick with it.

Yup...I am a YM failure. I have credit card debt. I am a recovering shopaholic. But I also know that if I ONLY tackle the debt and I don't give myself fun money or whatever that I will have a relapse and go crazy at the mall. So it works for me. It will be paid off. I am sure other people would pay it off sooner, but like I said...I am a recovering shopaholic and I need to give myself some funds to shop with or it will get ugly again.

I wasn't judging...I'm actually at the other end of the spectrum. Being raised piss poor like I was and remembering what it's like to have the electricity turned off, run out of oil in the dead of winter, etc., I am really afraid to spend money...I am getting better, but that is one of the main reasons DH and I have separate finances. I have a hard time parting with money. When we were highly leveraged, I would actually have heart palpatations just thinking about it. Keep in mind, we were more than able to cover the payments...just the thought of all that debt would literally keep me up at night.

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2011 18:33:07 GMT -5 Miss Tequila said:

Jan 19, 2011 18:31:19 GMT -5 @rosebaby said:

Currently we don't have a budget... DH just gets paid once a month (still trying to adjust to that b/c it's new!) and he just pays everything off as it's due, shuffles what needs to be shuffled to appropriate accounts and what's leftover is discretionary. However, I've spent a couple hours today trying to figure out where our money is going so that we can try to streamline some of our spending and sock a little more away. I doubt we'll do an itemized budget, but just get a handle on where we can cut some costs.

I charge just about everything I can charge (don't worry, I pay it off each month ). This really helps me see where my money is going. I am ok with my spending, but it is an eye opener to realize how much money I spend on stupid things like my Dunkin Donuts fix or my beloved Red Cat

We actually use CC for everything and pay off at the end of the month, too (love those rewards!). But since I'm not working and we've got a new baby and the past several months we've had "surprise" expenses our discretionary money has been non-existent. On top of that, the getting paid once monthly is kind of a hard adjustment, we have lots of fun the first couple weeks, then it's a couple more until we get paid again!

I'm looking at stuff like our cell phones are $125 for the internet, etc but we just use them for the phone capabilities. And we have a landline (gasp). I don't mind having one just for emergencies, but we don't need caller ID, VM and call waiting! Also didn't really realize how much running through subway for lunch or ordering pizza for dinner really adds up until looking at it all in a spreadsheet!

[ihearyou2]

Tina you are good, I do find it funny how many accountants I know that can take care of their clients but they don't follow the same advice for themselves. I know lots of people in professions that give the advice but don't live by it. I was and am still guilty of that on many levels.

[ihearyou2]

:Also didn't really realize how much running through subway for lunch or ordering pizza for dinner really adds up until looking at it all in a spreadsheet:

Bingo you get control over your spending, we used to eat out way too much and it was stupid stuff, laziness and nothing more. Now we are conscious of our dining and how often a month we should go out.