So, since this blog is about debt, budgeting, saving, etc., I thought would talk about our budget! To be honest, we struggle keeping our budget. Especially when it comes to groceries. I feel like every month our grocery budget goes straight out the window! It's very frustrating and discouraging. We have tried using cash, tracking receipts, tracking it online, but nothing works. I think PART of it is that when we actually do our budget, it's not a very organized process (the large part though is that we are undisciplined). We write out our budget, but forget to include certain things. Why? Well, we don't track passed budgets to help us out. It's very annoying. It's inevitable that something comes up we didn't plan for, our budget is busted, and then the rest of our budget goes down the toilet.
Well, we are determined to change that pattern. I actually enjoy doing our budget, but I'm not organized with it. However, this time I decided to put it all on an excel spreadsheet. Instead of waiting until the day before to do the budget, I started it about 2 weeks out. This allowed us to discuss it and think of things to add and subtract so that we can actually keep on track! Since our paychecks are different every month, I'm also tracking what we make a little closer. This may sound like common sense to you, but it's actually quite difficult to be disciplined in this area. I don't think we are alone either.
We also started a few different "Funds" so that we can save up for things later one. We have a "New Car Fund", "Baby Fund", "House Fund", and are going to start a "Vacation Fund" as well. The reason we are doing this is so that we can prepare ourselves for large expenses later on. Buying a car, having a baby, and putting a down payment on a house are all things that WILL happen in the future, so it seems stupid of us to not prepare for that. Now, we don't make a lot of money right now, so the deposits into these funds are very small, but you have to start somewhere! Being a mortgage loan officer, I get to see the benefit of actually saving up for a down payment and how much money people save on their monthly payment by doing that!
One more thing we did was start a "Yearly Budget" for 2014. The main reason we did this is so that we won't have to go back every month and do a new budget. This way, the whole year is mapped out. Sure, things will change and we will have to adjust, but that's a LOT easier to handle when you have things planned. This gives a huge piece of mind to us. We realized you don't need to make a lot of money every year to pay bills. In fact, I'm underestimating pretty heavily what our income is actually going to be. Since I'm commission based it makes more sense for us to budget based on a smaller income and if we make more, great!
I have to say, if you aren't doing a budget, you need to start right away. The bottom line is that the money we have is God's. If we aren't budgeting and using our money in a wise way, it shows how ungrateful we are. God wants us to be able to enjoy His gifts, not stress about them. No matter what the income is, we have to be conscious and aware of where our money is going. Some people view a budget as a type of bondage, but in fact it provides freedom! Knowing exactly where your money is freeing. No longer will you look at your bank account and say, "Where did all of our money go!?" You won't worry as much about spending money, because you already planned on spending it.
If you want ANY help with a budget or saving, please let me know! I understand it's a difficult process, but don't let that get in your way of doing something that will benefit you in the short and long term!
- Brian
Question about how you guys do your budget cus lately when I talk to people about their budgets it seems like they do it totally different than we do and I'm curious! We sit down every 2 weeks when we get paid and with the money we've made first take out tithe and 1/2 of major monthly bills (phone, insurance, rent etc, loan payment, etc), and with the remainder we allot percentages for more flexible areas of the budget ( 10% groceries, 20% gas, 5% gifts, 5% spending etc etc) This gives us a little flexibility whether we made less or more than expected to adjust the percentages and put a little extra in one category or take a cut from another. Once a week or so, I go into my bank account and reconcile all my purchases and subtract them from their different sections of the budget. Then I can see how much I have left over (or if it's bad and we've overspent and the section is in the negative). Those balances then carry over to the next pay period, when we add the other 1/2 of monthly bills and add percentages again to the previous balance. How different or similar is this to your budget? It seems that many people I know are budgeting based on estimates or goals ("we want to spend no more than $50 on grocery's each week") rather than actual numbers from their paychecks. Anyway sorry for the ridiculously long comment, I'm just really interested in how people are working their budgets!
ReplyDeleteHey! First, that's awesome you guys are doing a budget! Well, since I'm commission based, it's hard to do it based on a percentage. We base it on what we are "averaging" on income and then underguess what we will be making. We do it at the beginning of each month as well. We find, that if we underguess how much I will make, it allows for some flexibility! We budget for EVERYTHING too: christmas, birthday, doctor vists, vacations, hair cuts, etc. Those "extra" budget items are kind of like a savings account for us. We take that at put it in an envelope and set it aside. For me, I like to plan ahead in dollar amounts, that way we know exactly what to spend for the upcoming month. Also, I did the budget for the whole YEAR based on a modest income for us.
DeleteAlso, we have kind of moved away from the "all cash" system. We found that it was way too hard to keep track of all that cash. Instead, we use our debit card for almost everything and I just track it on an excel spreadsheet. It takes a little more time to do that, but it's easier to keep track of all we spend that way.
Does that answer your question? I think budgeting is all about what you feel comfortable with and what works for you! That's really awesome you guys are doing it :)
Thanks Brian, that really answers a lot of my questions! I thought about using cash for a while but I think because Starbucks tips are in cash I tend to see cash as "free money" which I think defeats the purpose of an all cash system! I think there are probably many ways to do a budget especially because I think a lot of it is about flexibility and accounting for the things you are saving for/ spending on. Anyways thank you for taking the time to respond. My mom had us doing a budget and learning biblical principles about money since we started earning an allowance (like 9 or 10???) and although I've strayed and made some foolish money choices it's stuck with me and I'm so thankful to have that early guidance since so many people don't learn hard money lessons until their late twenties or beyond! I'm super pumped that other people are working on their budgets and thank you for opening up about yours and allowing discussion!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool you mom made you do that when you were younger, I think that is SO important for learning how to budget! I love sharing our story with people, thanks for reading it! If you ever have a topic, let me know!
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