Can I ask for budget help?

**mmy2grls** · 12-02-2007, 12:32 PM

I cannot figure out how to make a budget that works for me. I work at home and I work around my children so I don't have set hours but I can make as much as I want as long as I put the hours in to earn it. If I reply with my monthly expenses and pay dates would anyone be willing to help me figure out a budget?

Most of the time i'm scrambling to put in hours the last 3 days of the payperiod to pay bills/extra money.

**sunshine** · 12-02-2007, 01:16 PM

Do you have a record of recent income and expenses? I made my first budget by tracking EVERY SINGLE penny that came in our house and went out of our house. I tracked for one pay period, then budgeted according to that -- I also took into account some things that are irregular expenses, but known -- like my malpractice insurance, property taxes, etc. and I added them to the monthly budget.

**Kitten20** · 12-02-2007, 01:32 PM

I will help you out if I can.

**mmy2grls** · 12-02-2007, 02:29 PM

Great, my fixed expenses are
rent- 400
gas for heat- 77
cable/internet- 68
cell-32
phone-30
gas for car- 20 weekly
extras like diapers, school money- 75
garbage- 25
food- 100, I do recieve assistance

so thats 887 for expenses

One job pays bi-weekly and my other job pays twice a month. My twice a month job I make about $100 or a little over per check. Usually my first bi-weekly check of the month I make 750.

I do spend unecessary that i'm keeping track of to see how I spent it. I make enough to pay everything but with the unecessary spending like fast food, kids buying stuff at the store, etc. Just this last week I was short gas money and had to borrow from my mom.

**mmy2grls** · 12-02-2007, 02:34 PM

I forgot to add that this is the cheapest i'm able to get my fixed expenses. The phone and internet is needed for my work and the cable is an extra at $22 a month but my kids enjoy it so I will not cut that out. I have the cheapest cell phone plan and need that for emergencies and for the school to contact me anytime in case my daughter is sick.

**mmy2grls** · 12-02-2007, 02:45 PM

I can't seem to be able to edit my post. I do recieve about $300 a month in child support. I use that as extras for my kids like clothes, etc

I don't budget in child support because it may not happen every month and I won't depend on it happening every month.

**Momof4cats** · 12-03-2007, 12:42 PM

I work 2 jobs that pay like yours-one twice a month, the other every two weeks. And the every two week job is an hourly, so it fluctuates. But this is how I do it:

My salaried job is a set amount for each time period. I start with a minimum estimated amount for my hourly job, then I work my budget for the pay period down to zero using the minimum amount.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to figure what items I'm going to pay for that pay period. I put in the amount I got paid at each job, and it tells me what difference I have (hopefully over!). Then I play with it to get it down to zero. I work retail, so I allowed a minimum of $150 every two weeks from that job. But, since it’s the holiday season, I estimate my next check to be about $345. Since I zeroed my budget to my minimum, that’ll give me about $195 to do something with. Right now that ‘something’ is either snowballing a bill or putting it in savings.

So what you need to do is look at your cash flow and plan accordingly. I pay the bills that are due mid-month from my end of the month check (ahead, not behind, of course!) plus take out my set amounts for food and such and put it in envelopes. Also, I designate which pay period my every two week check goes toward. The one I was paid on Nov. 22 I held until the end of the month. Next payday is Dec. 6. I’ll hold that one to the 15th. Dec. 20, I’ll hold until Dec. 31. This way, those months I get 3 paychecks a month, it doesn’t just disappear. It’ll truly be an ‘extra’ and I can either put toward snowball or save. I've got Jan. 3 designated as the 'extra' because I'll get paid again on the 17th, which I'll put with the mid-January check from my other job.

So, what I suggest is using a good minimum estimate of your pay checks and doing a zero-based budget off of that. If you work a little extra from time to time, or you get the child support, that’s just gravy for snowballing or saving.

Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing.

**Missourimom** · 12-03-2007, 02:29 PM

I noticed you didn't budget in insurance for your car either.

**mmy2grls** · 12-03-2007, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by Missourimom

I noticed you didn't budget in insurance for your car either.

Actually my parents pay for my car insurance because I take care of their dogs when they go on vacations, day trips, etc

Momof4cats that made perfect sense after I read that a couple of times lol
I'm going to follow your advice, thank you

**mrslickfold** · 12-03-2007, 05:27 PM

My husband's income fluctuates from month-to-month, so we have a difficult time 'budgeting' in advance.

I use quicken. I LOVE IT

It works so well for me, I am able to download my transactions right to it, it categorizes everything for me, and I can check on what I'm spending my money on. It will also alert me if I'm getting close to my 'limit' on each category.

It works very well for us.

**mommy4ever** · 12-04-2007, 11:12 AM

I assign certain payments to certain checks.

I do have to say, you are doing wonderful for keeping your expenses down, and creating something that allows you to be home for your girls as a single mom. Good for you!

I get paid from 2 families at the beginning of the month, one pays 1/2 on the 1st, and 1/2 on the 15th. LAst month they paid the full amount ont he 15 th and messed up my schedule..lol.. But that is ok. I also get money on the 20th from other things.

On the 1st:
utilities,
all cc's but one,
On the 15th, I snowball it.
an the 20th I pay the other CC and life insurance.

DH pay:
mortgage bi-weekly on pay day
1/2 of house and car insurance money banked
1/2 line of credit each check.
The rest is groceries and gas moneyand a Little spending and snowballed as well.

Dh is a spender, so it's really hard to be consistent with the snowball. And he gets ornery if I tell him no. He does earn the majority of our income, and works hard so I can be home with the kids, but as long as we're making progress, I can use less on the snowball, and keep it balanced.

**Daisygirl** · 12-06-2007, 05:47 AM

I use a free online budget website. I track every single penny there and it has made a world of difference. I is easy to use and very thorough.

Here is the link.
http://budgetsimple.com/index.html

**mmy2grls** · 12-06-2007, 09:56 AM

thank you, i'll try that also

**forHISglory** · 12-06-2007, 11:02 AM

The desire to budget is the first step, so I applaud you!

I would take a look at your yearly expenses first, and then work downward. Yearly expenses would be things like property and real estate taxes, income tax, and perhaps insurance (sometimes it is twice a year). Divide those expenses by 12, and save that amount each month to meet your yearly obligation.

Next, as we look downward, look at monthly expenses. You broke that down pretty well. But if you are running low (like having to borrow from folks), then look long and hard at what you can cut. As you sigh and cut, just remember that these can be added back when times get better. For example, you can cut cable. Although you enjoy it, the truth is that you can live without, and find other entertainment substitutes. I would also cut one of your phones. People lived for years without cell phones. But it would mean that you have to replan some things that you are accustomed to, such as how to reach you from school, etc. Also, if you are in a contract, you have to consider how that affects you. Consider cost averaging your utilities, if your companies let you do this. That way you have a set amount to pay each month.

Continuing to look downward are your weekly expenses. Some bills have to be paid weekly, for example, childcare (but I don't remember if that was a concern for you).

Finally the last section would be daily expenses. This is where one can really get bogged down, but it's also the easiest to fix. Daily expenses are those that become habitual, such as buying an expensive cup of coffee each day. But sometimes commuting expenses would fall into this, such as bus or train fare each day.

Now that you have grouped your expenses, decide where to pay them. You seem to have a very good grasp on when your income comes in. Just keep thinking of these groups as you place them on your calendar. Many years ago when I was in a similar fix, I set up a separate account at the bank for my yearly and twice-yearly obligations, just to make sure that I didn't touch it. I also set up a folder at home for my monthly and weekly obligations. I wrote out the checks ahead of time and put them into the folder.

I wish you the very best as you explore all your options and find the method that will work best for you.

**i.m.cheap** · 12-06-2007, 11:47 AM

It sounds like you are running a pretty "tight ship" already. The only thing I can recommend is getting a prepaid cellphone (no bills, no contracts). I have a Tracfone, and it costs me about $9-10 a month if I use less than 45 minutes a month, which is not hard, since I also have a home phone. The cell phone is used only for emergencies or very short calls to my husband or daughter if I am away from home. An example would be "Is everything OK there? Do I need to bring anything home? I'll see you in about half an hour." Click, end of call.