Another budget question

K&P414

Approx how much do you think you and DH spend monthly on misc. stuff?  i.e. not utilities, grocery, mortgage, bills, etc.

I finally got DH to sit down and start going over finances with me and I want to vomit at how out of control our spending is.  For no good reason other than we don't keep a close eye on it, with no goals or limits. 

ally-cat

I am with you.  I am so scared to sit down and check this out, because I just know our spending has been out of control lately.  But we NEED to since we are planning on #2.

I am guessing in the $3-400 range.  But hoping it's a lot lower.

K&P414

uh, yeah.  try that about x3.  I nearly died when I balanced the checkbook and my husband said "anything less that $1500 between pay checks is cutting it too close."  Are you friggin kidding me?!? Granted that does include gas but I probably spend $75/2 weeks on gas and he's probably double that.  So what in the eff you see kay happens to the other $1200?!? SURELY there is some major bill he knows about that I haven't factored in.  I don't even want to ask him because I'm ready to fist fight if he doesn't have a good answer.  I am so mad at myself for turning a blind eye and giving in to him being the one that handles the finances.  I have a degree in Accounting for Pete's Sake!!!!

That.Just.Happened

We each get an "allowance" of $100 a month, which goes into our personal checking accounts (which is separate from our main checking account which we pay all the bills out of).  We are allowed to use that money for whatever we want: dinner/drinks out with friends,  mani/pedi for me, golf for DH, etc.  If I want to save mine up all year and go on a week long girls trip, I can.  If DH wants to spend his every single day eating out for lunch rather than bringing lunch from home, he can.  If I want to buy a new $100 pair of shoes every month, I can. If he wants to blow his gambling, he can. And the other person can't say a word about it. If we want to go to the movies or on a date out to dinner, one of us pays for it out of this money.  I do kinda wish we had a single "date night" line item in our monthly budget that would cover dinner out once a month which was apart from our allowance, but we don't.

But that is the entirety of our "miscellaneous" category.  Every other dollar is accounted for and goes towards something (whether that is paying bills, buying groceries, retirement, savings, etc).  I will say we used to get $250 each every month and that made things a lot more comfortable.  But we are trying to save more money so we cut it back to $100 each and it definitely gets tight at the end of the month. 

ally-cat

 Okay, what are we talking misc?  I didn't factor in gas, and we are paying a pretty friggen penny these days for that.  You've got me scared. 

I hope you figure it out.  And take over from now on.  Seriously, if it just starting to get out of hand letting him continue could make it worse.  GL!  I'll be posting soon about my woe's I'm sure!

ally-cat

That.Just.Happened:

We each get an "allowance" of $100 a month, which goes into our personal checking accounts (which is separate from our main checking account which we pay all the bills out of).  We are allowed to use that money for whatever we want: dinner/drinks out with friends,  mani/pedi for me, golf for DH, etc.  If I want to save mine up all year and go on a week long girls trip, I can.  If DH wants to spend his every single day eating out for lunch rather than bringing lunch from home, he can.  If I want to buy a new $100 pair of shoes every month, I can. If he wants to blow his gambling, he can. And the other person can't say a word about it. If we want to go to the movies or on a date out to dinner, one of us pays for it out of this money.  I do kinda wish we had a single "date night" line item in our monthly budget that would cover dinner out once a month which was apart from our allowance, but we don't.

That is awesome.  I really need to pay attention to our finances more.  I love the idea of the allowance.  I think I need a reminder like this.  Would help save $$ so much easier.

But that is the entirety of our "miscellaneous" category.  Every other dollar is accounted for and goes towards something (whether that is paying bills, buying groceries, retirement, savings, etc).  I will say we used to get $250 each every month and that made things a lot more comfortable.  But we are trying to save more money so we cut it back to $100 each and it definitely gets tight at the end of the month. 

K&P414

I'm not talking just about entertainment, although I guess it is lumped into the same category.  I mean like gymnastics for the girls, new summer clothes for the kids, crap from the book fair, candles and hand soap I got from Target, a haircut for him, shampoo and conditioner for me, new soccer shorts/cleats DH ordered, lawn bags from Lowes, refilling the gas tank for the grill, etc.  Just 'stuff.'  From what I think my husband just said we spend close to $2,000 per month on that kind of stuff.  That's about oh, probably 5 times more than we ought to be spending and that's being generous. I don't even know where to begin above and beyond our fixed bills. 

 I don't know.  I just chugged 2 glasses of wine and I will re-address this in the morning.  xoxo

UGAbride

I honestly don't know, DH has been handling the finances for so long that I'm kinda clueless!!  Yet I spend the majority of our discretionary income on "stuff" as you put it...clothes, shoes and diapers for the kids, summer activities, haircuts for the kids/me, mani/pedi, lunches out, going to playplaces with the kids, drycleaning, plants for the front porch, preschool pictures, birth announcements (this is all this month, obviously).  So we've decided to make a change, since I was doing the spending but not really involved in our budgeting and keeping track.  He gives me all the money that does not go towards bills and savings, keeps a little for his own gas and haircut, and I put it in my personal checking account.  We just started this, but already I can tell it's going to be MUCH easier for me to track.  I can check my balance from my phone, and I don't have to worry about what's earmarked for bills, etc...it's all our discretionary stuff and it's all on my debit card (no more credit card). 

I'm making "my" budget right now, and clipping a few coupons while I'm at it  

UGAbride

BTW, does anyone have a good budget template you could share?  DH and I have very different organization styles (not saying his are wrong, they are incredibly detailed and I think we just think differently??), so I'm trying to create something that will work for me.

Kerrin

Hmmm.  It's hard to say.  i don't think it's that much.  But only b/c we each withhold $500 from our paychecks and this is our "do whatever you want with it money".  This includes anything we might need (clothes, haircuts, lunch money, GNO $$, girls trips, etc.  Basically anything he or I want for ourselves that's not "essential" comes out of our own allotment. 

The kids are a different story.  Anything the kids need or do or anything we do as a family comes out of the general household budget.  So their clothes, shoes, activities are covered by that as where mine would not be.  I had to call out DH the other month b/c he was putting his lunches on the household credit card.  That's a no-no b/c he has his own money for that.

So the extras should really only amount to gas, anytime the family goes out to eat (which is rare), dr. appts/prescriptions, kids clothes/shoes, and house maintenance stuff.  I try to budget $400 cash for groceries (some months we stay in budget, some we don't).  So that way since groceries shouldn't really be on the credit card, it's really the other stuff and it's easy to see what it is.

I think it helps b/c we don't have "personal" charges on the household credit card.  I'm not paying for his $900 suit just b/c he thinks he needs one, while I'm trying to save a buck getting $40 shoes at Marshalls, You know?  If he wants a $900 suit, then he pays for it himself.

K&P414

Kerrin:

Hmmm.  It's hard to say.  i don't think it's that much.  But only b/c we each withhold $500 from our paychecks and this is our "do whatever you want with it money".  This includes anything we might need (clothes, haircuts, lunch money, GNO $$, girls trips, etc.  Basically anything he or I want for ourselves that's not "essential" comes out of our own allotment. 

The kids are a different story.  Anything the kids need or do or anything we do as a family comes out of the general household budget.  So their clothes, shoes, activities are covered by that as where mine would not be.  I had to call out DH the other month b/c he was putting his lunches on the household credit card.  That's a no-no b/c he has his own money for that.

So the extras should really only amount to gas, anytime the family goes out to eat (which is rare), dr. appts/prescriptions, kids clothes/shoes, and house maintenance stuff.  I try to budget $400 cash for groceries (some months we stay in budget, some we don't).  So that way since groceries shouldn't really be on the credit card, it's really the other stuff and it's easy to see what it is.

I think it helps b/c we don't have "personal" charges on the household credit card.  I'm not paying for his $900 suit just b/c he thinks he needs one, while I'm trying to save a buck getting $40 shoes at Marshalls, You know?  If he wants a $900 suit, then he pays for it himself.

This seems like a pretty ideal setup for us.  Thanks for sharing!

Daisy22

We have everything together and I do keep track of it but we have discussions every other saturday about it. I also print out every day the budget we have on Quicken and it goes on the refrig so we can both see it.

 We have everything down to the penny budgeted out - we each get an allowance, we have a family entaintment fund, gift fund, charity fund, dog fund, dry cleaning fund and an extra fund. The extra fund goes towards if we need clothes, home improvements, etc. We discuss what to do with this money before it is used through. We also have the basics: mortgage, utitlies, groceries, gas, savings (emgerency, retirement and hoa dues), and daycare.

lindzed

I have tried to stick more to a budget lately becuase I will be taking 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and I want to make sure we had enough in savings to still have our normal life during that time (including I get to keep my nanny that comes in the mornings for a few hours when I ususally am working).  I budgeted $800/month for misc things.  Seems like my category was similar to yours.  Baby stuff we need, gas (we don't drive very much), food, hair cuts, clothes, wedding/baby shower gifts, etc.  We have gone over every month.  I thought $800 was plenty, but we have really struggled trying to stay in that.  I actually think $1200 is more realistic for us even though I know its crazy to spend that much money.