We have been on one for 5 years and have not sucessfully stuck to it for a single month :rolleyes:

After dipping in savings for so long we HAVE to do something.

As of today cable TV is gone, land line phone is gone, we are selling the minivan and paying cash for a station wagon - cheaper insurance, less gas, no car payment.

Savings $400 a month.

We need to cut more. We have a very old dog that cost us $150 a month (food and medicine). Of course I really hate that expense but he has few more good months left in him and I love him dearly :)

What else am I not thinking about?

Also HOW do you stick to your budget?

We always have unaccounted for expenses that blow the budget. I feel like the budget we have must be too tight to be realistic - hence the cutting of expenses.

I'm not a real good example of sticking to budgets, but we're working on it steadily. One thing that seems to hlep around here, is painfully, to sit down with DH and let him see the bottom line - the red one. Give him the credit card statements and a list of the regular bills. My Dh was shocked at how much "extra" stuff was getting blown because he didn't realize how tight it is. He kinda knew, but it hadn't really struck him till he realized there is no extra money for ANYTHING off the list. depressing to face reality together, but keep telling him that you love him, you're there for each other, thank god you have what you do, what you have is enough, and somehow you'll make it through (especially if you can reverse the downward spiral of spending more than you have)

Good luck

Do you account for all your money? Have you tried writing it all down and seeing where it goes? If so, and the problem is just over-spending, have you tried going cash only, as in doling out cash to envelopes for the specified use, and placing the rest "way", in a separate harder to access account? One you can get to, but only, say, on a weekday or something? To make the money less "available"?

I likely should not talk.....:rolleyes: Lately I am way over budget and am not caring much. Til I see the bank statement and stress.....not a good feeling. I need to get real too.

And do NOT feel bad about the dog!!!!!! :heart: He's a member of your family and you'd do the same for anyone else in the family. The other options for the dog would not "feel" good or right, I would bet. Like recuding his meds or changing foods, etc. Kwim? It's a warranted expense imo. (o:

When I had a budget... ((which I have not for about 5 months because this job was not paying enough and so each month I have had to put things off or put things on credit UGH!)) I used cash.

Cash does something like that... you don't have any more, you don't have any more. There is no overdraft, no worring about weather this check is going to clear before your paycheck goes in. Not any of that. It simplifies the process quite a bit.

When we get a real paycheck again I am going to use cash. If you go this route, first find out what you are spending money on. Write it all down for a while (I can tell you now that since Canning season started, ours has been eating out. I just can't imagine cooking applesauce all day long, moving on to tomatoes and stopping in the middle to make dinner.) We are there right now... starting to write it all down. Then when Don gets a job we will know what needs to come out and what doesn't.

Oh and pay yourself first. If you want $400 in savings have that come before bills, before your cash, before anything else. If you got a smaller paycheck for whatever reason, still pay yourself first. When those are done, pay bills, and see what is left. It feels better to know that you have the choice to pay the bill, or to leave the money in savings until the next paycheck, which may be larger, and the bill is not going anywhere. You should be your priority.

Best of luck!

Love Val

I have to totally agree with Val! :thumbsup: Especially when grocery shopping, always go with CASH! You can't overspend that way!

we use quicken, and that seems to help us stay in budget. Dh has made cash accounts in quicken for gas and food, so we can see at a glance how much we have to spend in each of those categories.

It works for us. And quicken has an automatic budget report.

I am not one to talk BUT I have had a good budget idea for us floating around my head for a while it just has been hard to implament. DH is hard to convince. he has a bad habit of using the automated banking system to figure out his balance and basicly NEVER EVER uses the balance book thing. we have dealt with over 50 yes FIFTY overdrafts in the past 5 years. each costing between $25 and $50 (it starts low during each year but the more you have each year the high each one gets) I have done the math for him and it doesn't sink in for him.


I realized why he over spends besides not balancing his check book, He uses his ATM to make small purchases and basicly nickles and dimes us to death. he got charged $150 for over drawing his acount for a total of $10 in one day for making 3 different atm purchases. he just tells me don't worry about it.

the ATM/credit cardsare evil!!! it is just soooooo easy to swipe the card and say it's only $5 or $20 but when you don't actually see the money it doesn't connect to your head and you don't actually know the value of a dollar!!

so starting today DH is going to the bank and taking out most of the money (he got paid today) most of the money is going to the rent which we are late on and have to pay $50 in late fees. what ever money is left over will be put aside for food and bills.

here are some of my tips

Depending on how offten your DH get paid figure out how much per pay period your bills are
Example: my DH gets paid weekly and our electric is billed every 2 months the current charge is about $180 I have desided to use that one since it is the highest ever for us all the time so when it is bugeted in every week we wont miss the money lol. but $180 is alot of money when you bugeted it weekly it's only $22.50 which is WAY more doable and not a scary big number :D


go cash only! if you don't want to deal with money orders or driving to pay bills inperson in cash put the money for bills ONLY in to your checking account

my biggest issue is casual shopping just for the hell of it when I am bored. ( I live walking distance to a mall) so make a list and take cash only. always ask yourself is it a need or a want? if you think you need it put it in the cart and shop some more but near the end when you are about to pay ask yourself again.

Those are good ideas... it does seem simpler that way. I may try to split the bills into pay period sections again. I did it when we first got married.

Originally posted by cali_mama
I am not one to talk BUT I have had a good budget idea for us floating around my head for a while it just has been hard to implament. DH is hard to convince. he has a bad habit of using the automated banking system to figure out his balance and basicly NEVER EVER uses the balance book thing. we have dealt with over 50 yes FIFTY overdrafts in the past 5 years. each costing between $25 and $50 (it starts low during each year but the more you have each year the high each one gets) I have done the math for him and it doesn't sink in for him.

This is only to make you feel better, but we have delt with at least 30 in the last year... in the last two years I would say 50... probobly more. Don at one point racked up $900 in overdraft fees due to him not remembering to deposit his paycheck. That was 6 years ago and I took over finanaces soon after.

I figure when it is over, it is over. I look at those fees like I look at intrest. If he does not stop spending, they will not stop. And he gets it now... but it took SO long. Hang in there mama!!

Love Val

Oh, here's another way that plastic is bad, whether is credit or atm/debit...

say you go into the store to get, milk.

Little evil guy over your shoulder says, 'Oh, well, you know, if I'm gonna have to swipe my card I might as well pick up some cookies, crackers, cheese, candy, beer (whatever), wouldn't want to swipe the card for ONLY a mere $3 purchase, let's make it $10, no $20, why not?!"

But when you have to pull those little green dollars out of your pocket, there is a strong urge (little angel on other shoudler?) to keep as many of them as possible, and get only the $3 of milk and not all the extra stuff.

Oh SO true... cash is really the way to go. I can't wait to be back on track. *sigh*

Love Val

since i've been leaving my "old" wallet at home, and only taking my "new/budget friendly" wallet out with me shopping (or pretty much any time i leave home)~i've gone from spending my "extra" $50 a week in between paydays to $20 a week in cash.

cash only makes all the difference, imo :thumbsup:

Cash - that seems to be the secret.

Okay when we can get everyhting straightened out I am going to try it.

I haven't read the other posts, but I wanted to say that my secret for sticking with my budget is that I have a weekly budget. I used to do everything monthly, but the grocery money I would take out the first of the month would be gone by week two and then when our checks were deposited, I would pay as many bills as possible and end up not planning to have a little left over in the account. Then a "surprise" check would bounce, or we would be driving on fumes with our fingers crossed the day before payday.

So what I have is a four week schedule. My paycheck is directly deposited every other Thursday so weeks one and three are based on my check amount. DH's check comes in the mail every other week on Saturday (the same week as mine) but by the time it is deposited and in the bank, it is next Tuesday. So weeks two and four are based on DH's check amount. I then went through and split up all the bills and expenses and assigned each a week when it would be paid. For example, mortgage is due the first of the month so that comes from week one's budget. We have a car payment due the 10th so that is week two, etc. I also determined what bills can be a few days late and what can't. For example, I budgeted credit card payments well in advance orfwhen they are due because you don't have a grace period before you have a late fee. My water bill doesn't charge a late fee so even though it is due the 10th, I have it scheduled for week three because it fits better there and I don't have to worry about it being a few days late. I also figured a flat fee for all my utilities. Even though my electric bill can be anywhere from $50-$60, I budget for $65 to give me a cushion.

I take out cash for gas money each week and cash for groceries every two weeks. I use a bill pay service from our bank so that the money is taken out of the account when I make a payment. I find that when we start writing checks and using the debit card, we start bouncing checks. So I try to keep it to cash and bill pay only.

But the weekly planning is really what has been a lifesaver. I don't stress anymore thinking 'well, I really should use that last $50 to pay the water bill' because I know that the water bill is figured into next week's budget, kwim? Anyways, HTH a little!

Okay, the first step is to write down everything you spend. Don't judge, guilt or hide. Just write it down.

Do this for a month, or two. Feel appreciation and love. Squireelly habits need love, too. They don't feel loved, so they hide.

Now. take all those spendings, and put them in categories. Your categories. Not the computers. I budget Starbucks seperate from STarbucks at Barnes and Noble. I'm buying coffee at one, and a few hours of play at the other.

Now, are there things that you really want to be smaller, or not? Can you change them? A budget is a mirror of what you do, not a stick to beat yourself up with.

When you change, change one thing a month. Only one. See how you feel. You were doing specific things for good reasons. The act might be foolish, but he intentions are usually good- you want to feel rich, cared for, powerful, beautiful, fulfilled, not hungry. Think about what the need being filled is. Can it be done another way?

This is the part where you start using all the strategies available to yoru particular situation. It's obscene to tell someone on a non- existent budget ot cut out scertain things, for instance. Like, I've had a job for three months now. I'm buying all sorts of things DH doesn't understand- makeup, yarn, and so on. He buys DVDs. I don't get that. I get them at the library.

Right now, this month, the question is the food budget. We've been eating out a great deal, or using frozen food, b/c I thought certain ingredients were "too expensive"- dried mustard, olive oil, for example. I'm shooting myself in the foot by not getting these, for instance.

So, treat yourself gently. You aren't spending or saving an abstract budget. You are spending your own.

I'm struggling with tithing right now. I might have enough. I don't know. I grew up in the church of Name it and claim it. It has the feel of protection money, or a mafia hustle. OTOH, maybe it is how I affect the world as the divine- for good. It's not an easy answer. My not easiness is a good portrait of where I am right now- frozen and afraid, yet asking questions. It links to other parts. So, I can pcik on this, or sit with it, and let it grow into the light.

ari

Ari that was a great post! I love it... good information, great little tips... and I really like the part about Starbucks and the Starbucks at Barns and Noble being different... SO TRUE!

Thank you my sister... I may print this out and put it on my fridge for a while. :D

:heart:

Love Val

If I may make a suggestion.... Check out the book "Your Money or Your Life" from the library.

Like Ari was saying, look at what you are actually buying with your money - where your dollars are going - and then decide if YOU are okay with that. That's similar to what YMOYL says.

That book really opened my mind. Before I read it, I would feel guilty if I spent "too much" at the grocery store b/c that money could go elsewhere. After I read the book, I realized that I don't WANT to pay less at the grocery store b/c what I'm buying (organic and natural foods) are important to me and to my family's health. Would I rather buy organic foods or a new pair of shoes every month? Organic foods, of course!

Also, I agree that it's important to make your budget for YOU. If you need your weekly yoga class to keep sane and healthy, then budget it in and don't feel guilty about it! If you think about it and decide that the yoga isn't that important (you'd do just as well with a DVD at home and an hour to yourself every week), then you can put that money elsewhere without feeling deprived.


Am I rolling in money since I read YMOYL? Good grief, no! lol But we don't go over our budget anymore, since we've re-evaluated and made a budget to fit our lives, instead of trying to make our lives fit into Quicken's anony-budget, yk?

Okay, I'm sounding a bit like a Mooney, I think, lol. I just wish everyone who has "money issues" (and wouldn't that be nearly everyone?) could read that book. It completely changed my mindset and thinking about money.

Kinsey