Budget?

**bamamomto4** · 07-01-2005, 08:47 PM

I couldn't figure out where to post this,so move if needed

How does everyone do their budget? I've heard some say on the computer...?? In Word..like a spreadsheet? or do you have to buy certain software?

**tbs727** · 07-01-2005, 08:57 PM

I have my budget on a spreadsheet. I have it divided by pay week. I also have all my bills and their due dates on a spreadsheet. I've been doing this for years.

**dolphin** · 07-02-2005, 01:44 AM

I don't have a budget and no I'm not proud of that fact. Trying to do one now but could use all the advice and information I can find so your post is very helpfull.

**Michelle** · 07-02-2005, 06:08 AM

I use Excel for ours

**Emerald_Mommy** · 07-02-2005, 10:26 AM

We also use Excel. We follow the same "pattern" every month and there's very little changing in our budget from month to month so sometimes we just rename it for the new month and we're done.

**britbunny** · 07-02-2005, 11:22 AM

We use pencil and paper for ours. Our fixed costs go out by direct debit so we just do our budget based on whatever's left after that.

We carry a copy around in our wallets so whenever we buy something it can just be deducted straight away, it works well for us as we can keep on top of it all the time. We tried using a spreadsheet we didn't get on well with that system.

**bamamomto4** · 07-02-2005, 08:16 PM

I tried the spreadsheet. I added all the bills but then couldnt figure out what to do with it.I got mad and closed it off lol

I know what all the bills are versus the income. We just tend to "blow" the rest...or a big part of it. Things are changing with the new van payment though...gotta tighten the belt.

**annieacid** · 07-03-2005, 03:09 PM

I do ours in an Excel spreadsheet. I have a main tab on the bottom where it lists all regular income, expenses, and projected expenses (fluctuating ones). I do it for a 4 week cycle. It's easier than actual monthly, because I'd have to do more dividing if it were monthly (you come out with 13 months instead of 12 I think). Then I do the calculating and come up with how much we have left after income minus expenses. I do change it slightly for every 4 week cycle depending on how much our utilities are and such for the month.

I also have another tab on the same spreadsheet where I have a little grid for entering optional expenses. We save all of our receipts, and then periodically I put them into the sheet to see where we are on our spending. It goes kind of like this:

"Disposable" income
minus expenditure
equals disposable income left for 4 week cycle

And I do this for every receipt. That way I can see at the end of the 4 week cycle whether we've come out over or under budget. We've only come out over budget a few times, and most of times there is money leftover, which then gets "saved" automatically in our checking accounts which makes our balance grow.

I know, sounds terribly tedious, and also confusing, right? It used to confuse me when I first did it, but I got so used to it, and it works beautifully now =)

Good Luck with yours !

**AmyBoz** · 07-03-2005, 03:28 PM

We don't have a budget. We use Microsoft Money to track our spending, but that's after the spending has been done.

We have been toying with the idea of a budget lately, but I'm not sure if we'll do it or not.

**sunshine** · 07-03-2005, 08:16 PM

We do a combo of paper/pencil and Quicken on the computer. I like the fact that Quicken lets me track my spending as well as keep the budget. Then at the end of the year, I just click on reports and can print out my charitable giving, medical expenses, other tax deductible items, etc.