For the people who budget...

[telephus44]

I don't budget. I have enough money that I can pay my bills, all my savings/retirement/etc are set up as automatic, and the rest of my money is mine.

However, I've still always categorized my transactions in MS Money. I have the standard categories - groceries, utilities, etc. I am moving over to Quicken, and as long as I am learning a new program, I thought I might take a stab at actually budgeting a few things.

Here's my question, and I'm wondering how other people fit this into their budget categories. When my son was born, I just made a category with his name. That included daycare, diapers, formula, and anything baby related (new stroller) except for medical care, which I put under medical.

Now my son is 4 - so I no longer use diapers (thank god!), formula, and he's just moved out of daycare. I don't separate his groceries, but I still put his clothes into "his" category. I also have a few other expenses - like school pictures and 529 contributions - that I also consider "his."

Should I just abandon the "DS" category and divide the expenses up into my other categories? How do other people classify these expenses (if you budget)?

My other reason for doing this is that we are considering adding child #2 - and I don't know if s/he would get their own category, or if I should just keep a generic "kid" category.

[Deleted]

You have a budget. How else do you know how much you are putting in savings/retirement/etc?

[Gardening Grandma]

Well, it sure looks to me like you budget....

Should I just abandon the "DS" category and divide the expenses up into my other categories? How do other people classify these expenses (if you budget)?

That's what I'd do. There are just two of us, but I categorize clothing and personal care for both of us in one category.

[jk70]

I don't separate groceries and things like that for my kids but I have categories for these things:

-Healthcare -DS
-Healthcare -DD
-Development (DS has extra therapy)
-Education (preschool costs $$)
-Activities (soccer, gymnastics, etc.)
-Birthdays - kids (falls under my Gifts category)
-I do have a 529 Plan line but that's under my Savings category

[nalto]

Perhaps make a "baby" category? And maybe a 529 category? I'm assuming if you did have child #2, you would have a 529 for them as well.

[tundrated]

When our child was small, we just included the diapers and formula in our grocery budget and did not separate it out. A "Baby Products" category would probably work well for these items if you want them separate.

[telephus44]

I'll clarify that when I say "I don't budget" I mean that I don't have a budget. I track my spending, and I look at it occasionally to see trending, but I don't say "Well, I have $600 this month to spend on groceries, and I'm already at $512.87" or anything. I need groceries, I buy them. We have enough extra in the account that I'm not worried about buying extra groceries, gas, school pictures, or whathaveyou. I don't think that just because I categorize transactions that I have a budget.

I am considering setting up a budget though, as I am starting over with brand new software.

Right now I just have most of my savings on autopilot, so I do know how much I'm saving. It's like a fixed bill.

I actually like jk70's suggestions - although I'm not sure if that's more detail than I want to do.

[alsmez]

Telephus, I'm like you - I have my savings on autopilot and I just buy what I need when it comes to everything else. It works well for me because I'm not one to shop just to shop. However, I've tried a couple of times to make a real budget in Quicken to see if I could discipline myself a little further and save a bit more. Doesn't work for me - I'm not the type to stick religiously to arbitrary monthly numbers just because. Some months I hit Costco twice and therefore my grocery bill is $600, but the following month it will be $200. It averages out so I don't worry about it, and I know that if I really want to cut my grocery bill I have to change the way we shop and eat, not count every dime. I categorize expenses in Quicken so that I know where my money is going, but being a slave to a budget is NOT for me!

[The J]

Jan 21, 2011 13:05:25 GMT -5 @alsmez said:

Telephus, I'm like you - I have my savings on autopilot and I just buy what I need when it comes to everything else. It works well for me because I'm not one to shop just to shop. However, I've tried a couple of times to make a real budget in Quicken to see if I could discipline myself a little further and save a bit more. Doesn't work for me - I'm not the type to stick religiously to arbitrary monthly numbers just because. Some months I hit Costco twice and therefore my grocery bill is $600, but the following month it will be $200. It averages out so I don't worry about it, and I know that if I really want to cut my grocery bill I have to change the way we shop and eat, not count every dime. I categorize expenses in Quicken so that I know where my money is going, but being a slave to a budget is NOT for me!

Same here. It works for me, since it's just me. When it was me and my ex, we had to categorize more, since it was the only way to keep her spending within reason, and to ensure we had money to eat at the end of the month (without dipping into savings).

[Gardening Grandma]

We seem to mean different things by the term "budget". I track our spending, I have categories and amounts allocated to them. But if we need something, I don't look at the "budget" and say, "it's gotta wait til next month". We get it and the amount spent for the month is over the budgeted amount. Typically, we're under the target in another category so it comes out OK. I keep a record of a running average to determine whether the alloted amount is realistic.
Now, if there's something we WANT, but don't particularly NEED, and the alloted amount has been spent, we'll defer the purchase til the next month.
That's what "budget" means to me.

[motherto2]

I totally wish I had started keeping tabs on my 2 kids after my divorce. Realizing I'm coming from hindsight and a different place than you, but I really wish I had something I could show their father how much each one cost over the normal things. I also know that I would have had to figure out how much housing, food, electric, etc. would need to be allocated for a divorce situation that involved child support, but those kids were so involved in soooo many other things that I could easily have shown what they cost just for their extra curricular things that would have been much more than their child support. Now, having said that, I would do it all over again in a heart beat, but I wish I had a running tally to show how much I shelled out for it all.

[sunshinegal1981]

^^^ This.

Plus, don't you just have a sense of curiosity, as to how much $$ goes into each kid? I would continue doing what you're doing, and when kid #2 arrives, make a "Kid2" category, and continue. I dunno.... If it were me, I'd really enjoy looking at the trends over time... If kid2 ends up being a girl, you could compare/contrast the difference in cost based on gender.... or whatever. I think it would just be a fascinating exercise, even if you don't necessarily "do" anything with the information!

Plus, when they turn 16 and start screwing up, you can hold it over their heads. "I spent $237, 500 raising you, and THIS is how you turn out?!?"

Hee hee! ;-)

[suzwantstobefree]

I have a budget - but it is just to keep me on track. For example, I have a budgeted amount for groceries. If I go over it, I start raiding my pantry. I always have plenty of food in my pantry and it just takes me a little more time to figure out what to do with the items I have, but it is fun and challenging.

I wouldn't keep myself from getting something I need because of the budget, but sometimes it helps me to think about alternatives to going over the budget.

[Deleted]

I have 2 children and I use MS Money software. I have categories for Children-clothing, Children-allowance, Children- personal care (mostly for hair cuts and the like), and Children- other, for extra money I give them or spend specifically for them that doesn't fit the other categories. I also have an Education category, and the kids are the only ones currently getting an education lol.

When I enter the transactions, if it's plausible, I specify which child it was for. If nothing else, it has come in handy when they start whining that I NEVER spend any money on them or give them what they want. LOL

I don't track how much it costs to house them comfortably, feed them, and take care of their healthcare costs. Thinking of that on top of the costs I do track makes knowing the costs a double edged sword when I see how little (next to nothing) their Dad contributes to their care. Because that pisses me off, sometimes I'd rather not know.