Ugh. trying to build a budget I can understand

[alarosalpn]

Ok, I worked on a budget for days... I put bills in the dates that they are due first, then plugged in things I have to pay off, medications, and misc...
Here's where it gets tricky...
I have an amount that I have to pay every other week. That amount has to come out of the "leftover" balances that I have every week.. (money not used)
I need a system that I can look at and is easy to understand.

The budget is tight for a few months... After I pay off 3 things, I won't have to use the "leftover" balances. But until then, I need to make sure that this budget is fool proof.. (of course, if there's an emergency, I'm screwed. But lets think positive )

[beks37]

Good job on starting to budget. It's tough to do and tough to follow, but you'll find extra money you didn't know you had! Recently, I started a little different style of budgeting and it seems to be working for us. I budget by paycheck, because some months we'll each have 2 paychecks and some months 3 and some months we get paid the same day and other months it's more spread out....anyways.

I just take the bills and mark what bills I'm going to pay with which paycheck. I pay 1 big bill for each paycheck (house payment, car payment, student loan payment, and extra student loan payment) So every 1st paycheck of the month for me I pay the Student Loan payment. I then set aside some for groceries, gas, eating out, etc (what I call incidentals). I also set aside some for savings and some for extra debt repayment. Then I have an amount leftover each paycheck that goes towards extra debt repayment or savings.

Here's what it looks like: (One paycheck)
Paycheck $1300.00
Student Loan $416.11
Insurance, YMCA, cell phone, utilities $400
Gas, groceries, etc $200
Savings $50
Xtra Student Loan $50
Leftover $183.89 (either put towards savings or debt)

I like doing it this way because then I know when all the bills are being paid and I make sure I have enough money to pay all the bills. Our biggest downfall is those darn incidentals....when our $200 is gone, we usually just keep spending....gotta get that together!

[alarosalpn]

Beks- I too am budgeting by paycheck.. I am the sole provider (DH doesn't work, has been trying to find a PT job but there's nothing around)
If it's gone each week, then it's less likely to be frivorously (?sp) spent..
I'm hoping that this budget works for us..
I just went through my 2nd modification on my mortgage in 2 years so this time, I set up the mortgage payment to be direct debit, weekly... That's one less thing I have to worry about and I'll never be deliquent again. BIG stress reliever!
Because I never went by a budget, we got in over our heads.. Once I pay off 3 debts we'll have alot more "leftover" money so we can start saving and setting up old,less important bills with a payment plan.. I am thinking that once the 3 are paid, I will call one creditor and set up a direct debit payment of $10-$20 a week until it's paid off.. then call the next with the same payment plan... It will take some time but with this plan we should be clear of things hanging over our head after a while.
Will be a nice feeling.

[khaski]

Hhmmm...I budget out for the month, week by week (hubby gets paid weekly) and sometimes I have x amount being saved for y expense- the amount varies week to week, but the goal is to get up to the whole y expense by the time it's due...does that make sense? We may have $20, $45, $32 budgeted 3 weeks in a row for the electric bill instead of in one lump sum. Sometimes with the way/due dates other bills run we can't manage to budget all of a bill in one week. If you have 'leftover' week to week, why not earmark some for that every other week expense? One issue with our budget- hubby's paycheck #1 does not always cover all our monthly expenses, depends a lot on OT, BUT he has a small business he owns/manages...so every month at the bottom of the page we have the 'find $ for' column, with the bills I haven't been able to factor in...and when hubby gets paychecks for his own business, $ comes out to pay off those. A little confusing, took a lot of practice to get down apt, but no works well for us. Budgeting can be so much harder than you'd think, but with practice, you find the system and flow that works for you- just keep at it!

[alarosalpn]

Khaski- you sound like you have a confusing budget also...Thanks, while reading how you do it I realized that it doesn't matter what it looks like as long as I can understand my own system...
I rewrote all the expenses and dates onto a clean sheet. I figured out that as long as it all makes sense to me, it was good enough....(until it needs to be tweeked)
I have a set amount to work with every week, I plugged in all the "due dates" according to the closest due date. (I have a few things that are direct debited so those were the first to go in) I then worked in the "need to pay off by x date" expenses... I leave myself enough to "carry over" into the next week.. Every 3 weeks I subtract that 1 expense... then carry over the remainder.
I also have a 2nd account that gas, 1 bill and groceries.. both the bill and gas are a set amount.. what ever is left over, I buy groceries with for the week..
I'm pretty frugal and can put together meals pretty good with what I have..
Out of the grocery money, I have a list of weekly neccessities. some times we can only afford a few things to get thru the week. other times I can restock veggies and meats..

It's funny though... All these years, I've never done a budget like I did this time...knowing everytime I tried to get it right and not get behind of things, that paying weekly is the best way for me... I see money, I spend money...so for me, seeing on paper what's due that week is best because I won't spend what I don't have because I realized this time (by doing it the way I did it) that by January, we'll be caught up on all the monthly bills and will have quite a bit of extra to save and set up direct debit payment plans with older misc bills..

Ugh, sorry, I'm rambling. I'm just nervous that I won't be able to stick to it....
Thanks for reading it.

[Russ]

I'm just nervous that I won't be able to stick to it....

Wrong attitude. You WILL stick to it.

[angelbumpkin]

You have to think positive or you are setting yourself up for failure.You can do anything you set your mind too.

You can do this.

[ladykemma2]

do you get paid on first and fifteenth, or every two weeks?

[tervsforme]

You can do it. You are the only one who needs to understand it!

I do my budgeting in QuickBooks. I usually do it 3 months at a time. I enter all my paychecks, then I enter all of the fixed expenses every month. What is left, goes for gas and groceries. Not the best system, but I need to see the cash flow of money in and out. It helps me save for future bills, etc.

[mek42]

... of course, if there's an emergency, I'm screwed. ...

Do you have an emergency fund set up at all?

[khaski]

You CAN do it...took me quite a while to get our system 'tweeked' so that it runs pretty smoothly- and even then, adjustments must be made here and there.

It sometimes feel like budgeting and sticking to it is so easy and simple...but as funny as it sounds, like everything else, it takes practice to become good at it. Don't make excuses fro not sticking to it, but forgive yourself if things go awry and try, try again. A few months or so down the line, once you find one that works, you'll be amazed how easy it really can be, once you find the 'way' that works for you and your budget/payment schedules.

[ladytoysdream]

Maybe you need a different way to view the dates due for the bills.

Was thinking maybe one of those big desk calenders.
And if not available, take a big sheet of paper, make squares and put the dates in place.
Then put each bill on the date it is due.
Then each paycheck on the date it comes in.

Then you can SEE how much of that paycheck you will need for the bills in that pay period.

If you have a big bill to pay, example house payment / rent, then maybe you need 2 pay checks before it is time to pay it in full, so set aside so much each week ahead of it.

Currently, we have a cushion in the bank equal to about 3 weeks of his net pay. I leave that money there and just go ahead now and write a bill when it comes due. It makes for a lot less stress. I only balance the checkbook now like once every other week, sometimes once a month. His paycheck is direct deposit every other week through his job. Only the house bills and his gas money come out of this account. Our grocery money is separate. Our little system and it works for us.

[alarosalpn]

do you get paid on first and fifteenth, or every two weeks?

No,I get paid every Thursday...

[alarosalpn]

Here is an example of this month:

5th:
(600 in)
out:
$75 car ins
$130 David
$225 St. Marshall
$50 medication
------------
$480 (balance) $120
-$50(moved to acct 2 for
------- groceries/gas)
$70

12th:
$200 lights
$ 89 karate
$300 YG
---------
$589 (balance)$11


19th:
$330mortgage
$ 21 PF
$170 charter
------------
$521 (balance) $79
-------
$160(balance
-$130 total)
-------
$30

26th:
$330 mortgage
$200 YG
$ 30 Stacy
------------
$560 (balance)$40



August endingbalance $70


That is mostly how it looks on paper..
Ihave another account that has $170/wk in it. That account is for a weekly payment of $75,groceries and gas....
We will definately have to cut way back on what we spend on groceries and do some creative/frugal meals but by December we should be caught up and the budget will be less tight.
Any insight/opinions on my setup?

[kita]

I use pretty colors on a spreadsheet to create a cohesive unit for paycheck and bills that are attached to that check...look at background colors for the cells.