and I am realizing slowly that it is never going to be right... you just don't get a zero based budget "right"... becuase you always have a bit more here, or a bit less there, or you stocked up on groceries and actually LOOKED in the pantry and so you don't have to do much grocery shopping at all... etc. I keep wanting it to be "right" but it won't be. Like ever.

But I can keep shifting... every month. Is this the way you guys do it? Just shift it around and make it all work every single paycheck? That is about what I am doing. I have a budget, and then we don't do exactly what is on it (see above examples that ALL happened last month, lol) and then you have to adjust? Is that the way it works?

Val

ALL budgets are somewhat fluid. That's how a business budget works. You can only make honest, reasonable predictions. People have mandatory (typically fixed) expenses, and descretionary expenses. Those descretionary expenses tend to need tweaking nearly every month.

The bottom line is the end of the year, not necessarily month to month.

Val I wanted to do this too but it was way to hard, stressful and time consuming. In the end I just kept every recipet for the month and looked at where our money had gone for the month and after a few months I had a general idea of where we spent our $$ and where we needed to pull back a little. Now I am able to put more and more $$ towards our debt and still feel relaxed about our daily/monthly and ultimately our yearly bidget.

HTH!

Yes... and it sucks when you count on things coming in and then they don't. I was supposed to get a check from my ex for childsupport at the latest the 5th of this month. I haven't gotten it later than the 5th for three or four years. Well I counted on it when I took Alex out to lunch today after his surgury... and it wasn't there. We bounced... by $2.37.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... But it was my own fault. Fluid... that is exactly it. Becuase if you look yearly, he is always on time. lol... but not today. (It came through this afternoon. After I took Alex out to lunch... of course. That is another $25 late fee for us. Blech.... but once again. My fault.)

Val

My budgets are never the same. Some months have more overtime than others. I am constantly re doing the budgets. It's been that way for me , for years. I just have to make sure I can check them every now and then.

I haven't bounced a check but I have sent payments in late which always has a fee added.(I'd rather be whipped with a wet noddle though:o )

I don't know; I'm looking forward to our first "real" budget starting next month.

But I do think the bouncing b/c the check didn't come in when you planned is solved over time, because you build up a savings cushion that kicks in during such emergencies. You don't go down to $0 or even $500 between checks...you always have at least $1000 in the checking. That is our goal anyway - not nec right *in* the checking but in a linked savings w/overdraft protection. Even now, as tight as things have been, I have a couple hundred in there as a base, which dips down to $100 when necessary, then builds back up.

This is why it is key to use a budget in combo with the more important part in my opinion, a CASH FLOW.

What do you mean by cash flow? I need to know. :)

Val

What do you mean by cash flow? I need to know. :)

Val

Basically a ledger where you plan out how money comes in and goes out throughout the month. So (you put the amounts):

1/1 $paycheck
1/3 $mortgage
1/3 $electric
1/4 $grocery shop (based on what %age of your grocery budget for the month you think you'll spend)

and so on...then you can see - wow I hit a point on the 13th where I'm down to $10...how can I fix that?

We had cash flow problems where too many of our bills were on the 1st and too few on the 15th. So we'd see that chunk of $ in there after paying bills, say around the 20th, and think we were fine to spend most of it. Then the 1st would hit, we'd pay bills, and have like $100 left over till the 15th for everything.

Rearranging what bills were due when (some can be moved, when I switched auto ins I moved it to the 1st, for example) can help cash flow a lot. Or, taking say $300 from the paycheck on the 15th and setting it aside for the 1-15 period the next month so that you don't wind up short.

Basically looking at the ins and outs of how cash goes in and out of your bank account, and figuring out how never to get down to 0 or near it, at any given point.

I think, while I have a basic budget here, I am going to have to review it monthly according to our income. DH is on commission (he gets base pay too), and I teach, so I don't get paid every month. We don't have that emergency fund in place yet, but hope to once our tax refund comes....

I see that the emergency fund is going to be key for us because our funds could be limited some months. I have figured out how much, if our income tends to be the same as it was last year, we should be able to put on debt, but that's really going to vary month-to-month.

We basically do the cash flow. The first 2 checks of the month are house payment and weekly groceries. The 3rd is phone,electric,car insurance,groceries, and any past dues. The last check of the month pays health insurance and the left overs. Then it starts all over again. Dh's check vary each week so some weeks we have to play catch up. The months that have 5 checks and there is supposed to be an extra check it seems we just get caught up on the bills.

yk the $1 section at target is selling 13 pocket folders. i bought one to sort my receipts in as I purchase things (there are sticky tabe to label the pockets) but if you wanted to you could alos store cash in them for whatever---kind of like the envelope system. either one for cash and one for coupons OR use the same one for both - taking cash out and putting coupons in as needed wtc....

the "cash flow" thing is good to know too. we had to reorganize when bills were due too and once we did it made a big difference.

Oh yes. I have had a "cash flow" and not known what it was for about 12 years. lol... I pay half the bills on the 5th and the other half on the 20th. And the paychecks move (every two weeks) so this is sometimes a feat. lol... but I know when everything is due. Even in my head at this point considering we haven't added bills (except the Jetta) in two years. I do have to check the minimums every now and again to make sure I am not putting money where it shouldn't be (and where it would do more work on the snowball) but yep. I do that too.

The pocket thing is a great idea. I have to go out today anyhoo to pick up a couple things from JoAnns... Target is right next to that. Target used to be a disease for me... but no longer. I can brave it. ;)

Val

Oh Val I got such a visual of Olympia when you said that about Target...I can picture the parking lot and everything. :)

Target also, no longer a disease for me. :) I think that is awesome! (I wish I had one near me, but make do finding marked-down Mead pocket organizers at Big Lots for $3 every once in a while...I think I do still have an office stuff hoarding problem, LOL.)

We went. Picked up Oxiclean and three little $1 paper punch things for Cyan. That is it. :) I looked at the pocket folders in that section. I have one just like it though... it is less a book and more a folder type thing. I want a book... like a three ring (but half sized) thing, but never want to pay what they want for that type of thing. lol... So I will be looking until I find one the price I want.

Gosh... the sun is out today. The sun here always makes everything seem easier. I love/miss/sing praises to the sun. Glorious sunshine!

Val

I posted the exact link before, but my general store has kraft paper envelopes bound with a cardboard front and back with a spiral bind, says Budget Envelopes on the front in 1950sesque lettering, and is $2.99. I will pick them up for anyone who wants. Colors vary and sometimes there is only one color there. Plus tax and ship...but very reasonable. It has little lines on the front...I'll set up little cash "accounts" within there for each of our categories.

Hey, I'll take you up on that Lauren. :) Would you send me one? :D

Val

Hey, I'll take you up on that Lauren. :) Would you send me one? :D

Val

Absolutely! I will pick one up tomorrow when I'm there. :) PM me your addy again please?

Anyone else??

If you haven't gone yet, I'd love one!

I went already but will pick one up next time I'm there! :) I'm there a few times a week.