Budget

Maddimom

Who has one? How do you start one?

We have always just paid the bills and spent whatever we want. This needs to stop ASAP!! Anyone have any tips or tricks for me?  

JDCSKF

We have ended up doing the same. Even though we have a 'budget' we were not accounting for anything that was left. I signed up for mint.com to analyze our spending for 1 month. Then I made a budget based on our spending, except I wanted to spend less in certain categories, mint helps me keep track of the spending. So far it's working really well. I'm weening ourselves on certain categories (eating out, groceries, home improvement, clothing) so I'm taking a little off the top each month to make it easier for us to adapt.

IdahoGirl

I'm currently trying to learn more about our investments to help us better in our budgeting...so I'll be curious about other responses.

People/Books you might want to check out:

Smart Couples Finish Rich - it will help you determine your goals, which will help you determine your budget.  https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Couples-Finish-Rich-Creating/dp/0767904842/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305669570&sr=8-1

 Dave Ramsey - I have friends that swear by him: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Money-Makeover-Financial-Fitness/dp/159555078X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305669631&sr=1-1

Alli923

We do.  I used to use Mint.com, but I just didn't find it to be very easy to navigate or work with multiple accounts.  So now, I have everything in Excel.  I may be a dork, but...

I have 1 excel document with multiple tabs.  

Tab 1: Budget (the ideal budget)

Tab 2: Actualized Budget (what really gets spent and what the difference is between planned vs. actual)

Tab 3: Is a Pivot Table that I can manipulate to show spend by month and category

Tab 4: Data Source - this is where I pull all of the transactions from our online checking/savings/cc accounts/loans and it is what feeds Tab 3.

I told you I was a dork.  We plan based on our income and goals.  Sometimes we go over, sometimes we have more left to save.  But, we always establish the goals together.  I am also the keeper of the Budget and the payer of all bills.

dawnies79

I basically started with a spreadsheet will all our "monthly" set in stone bills like car payments, utilities, rent, insurance and so on. Then using online banking statements I looked back at 2-3 months of other expenses i.e. groceries, gas, extras (starbucks, etc) and I averaged them out to get our monthly spending. I did really think about the different categories quite a bit and picked just a few so I didn't feel too overwhelmed. For me trying to break it down too much it's overwhelming. I basically did monthly bills (ie car payment, utilities, rent) in one category; then gas, groceries, and extras. From there I put in our monthly income and ta da!...I saw what we have left over monthly. After I figured that number we sat down and looked really hard at everything and set ourselves an amount to go into savings every paycheck(s) and what we could use as "fun" money for extras each month.

Warning: There are probably easier ways to do this like Mint.com, but I loves me some spreadsheets so I did it that way. I'm sure some of the other ladies will hae a more efficient ideas.  

IdahoGirl

Another idea for you -

Quicken is awesome about being able to pull in multiple accounts, track spending, track investments, etc.

I've been tracking our spending over the last couple of months so I can see where our money *really* goes - and baseline a budget from there.

blueLu25

We do and I couldnt live without it. 

Next time you come over I'll show you my spreadsheet.

Lol, that sounds like nerd sexy-talk.  

Kathzoo

I currently use Mint.com to keep track, but used to use Excel. Essentially all you need to do is track what goes in and what goes out. Do it for at least 3 months to start seeing patterns. Then you can make a plan for how much you want to spend on various things. The girls on MM are really helpful once you get something drafted. I too am a budget nerd and derive great satisfaction from playing with the tables and graphs on Mint.

Maddimom

Thanks girls! I am scared to look at our spending but it must be done!! 

one2andnow3

I have been using mint.com. At first it can't show spending habbits but after time you can see all of your trends and where most of your money goes. I also like that I get emails to remind me when I exceeded my budget for the month.

Zista

Alli923:

We do.  I used to use Mint.com, but I just didn't find it to be very easy to navigate or work with multiple accounts.  So now, I have everything in Excel.  I may be a dork, but...

I have 1 excel document with multiple tabs.  

Tab 1: Budget (the ideal budget)

Tab 2: Actualized Budget (what really gets spent and what the difference is between planned vs. actual)

Tab 3: Is a Pivot Table that I can manipulate to show spend by month and category

Tab 4: Data Source - this is where I pull all of the transactions from our online checking/savings/cc accounts/loans and it is what feeds Tab 3.

I told you I was a dork.  We plan based on our income and goals.  Sometimes we go over, sometimes we have more left to save.  But, we always establish the goals together.  I am also the keeper of the Budget and the payer of all bills.

Tee hee, I have the same. 

nykola

We use mint and while it sounds like some folks didn't like it, I really enjoy it's capabilities.  I think it helps too if both you and DH have the app on your phones.  What I like most is how as soon as a line item shows up in our account, I can properly categorize it or re-categorize it right from my phone. I also like how it aggregates all my external login accounts for mortgage, school loans, etc. and tracks major savings goals for me as well as updates us on the progress in adhering to the budget.  It also alerts us when we've gone over the budget in certain areas.

I think one of the coolest things about mint when you first sign up is that it will take all your spending over the last few months and show you a sample budget of what you're already spending. That is quite telling, let me just say. Downside to mint = complete transparency. DH now see EVERYTHING which can be both good and bad. :-)