Budgeting..what's YOUR goal?

**Thevail** · 03-03-2009, 01:23 AM

I have a budget, and I stick to it..well mostly.
But when I don't it's usually for a good reason, like stockpiling during a great sale, or a truly unbeatable, once in a lifetime bargain.

On the other hand I have a really specific goal for my budget. I'm always trying to buy myself a few weeks of "lead time" on the bills. And trying to fill that EF.

So I try to arrange things so that I can get ahead and pay the bills the day they arrive and then pay extra on them. I then go ahead and pay the budgeted amount anyway the next bill cycle, and a little more if I can.

That way if DH gets laid off (he's a construction worker so it does happen about twice a year), that first month all the bills are lower than normal or non-existent. And the stockpile means I only have to buy the truly perishables (eggs, milk, fresh veggies) for a month or so.

How do you budget, and why?

**phoeny_moonstar** · 03-03-2009, 01:59 AM

I budget because I have very little room for error when it comes to paying my bills, buying groceries, or having money for "entertainment." If I didn't budget something wouldn't get paid and then i'd be even more in the hole.

**thesightofoneself** · 03-03-2009, 05:22 AM

i'm trying to use as little as possible <- my budget strategy
i "budget" to prepare myself for the real world since at the moment all of my bills are being paid for.

**nadine64** · 03-03-2009, 05:39 AM

To "thesightofoneself" I just wanted to say that I love your line "kindness is unlimited".

**Judi Dial** · 03-03-2009, 07:05 AM

I budget because DH and I would spend all of his money and have nothing to show for it otherwise. Also, because in doing that we have like no retirement and too much cc debt!

Hence, the budget. Doing otherwise did NOT work!

btw, the goal is to eliminate our debt and build our retirement.

Judi

**DJ1972** · 03-03-2009, 07:42 AM

My goal = debt free. Our only debt (other than mortgage) is auto debt, about $3,800 on my car and $12,600 on his truck. I will have them both PIF by the end of the year. Our DD will be going to college in 3 years, I want that to be as stress free as possible for everyone.

**lmbaker520** · 03-03-2009, 07:58 AM

I budget so that I can eliminate unneeded expenses like going out to eat, shopping, etc. It helps for me to set aside a certain amount for things each month. I am somewhat comfortable with my EF at this point so I am concentrating on paying off debt. Budgeting helps for me to find every little bit that I can to put towards debt. Once I get that paid down I will continue to put all of the extra away for savings.

**ladytoysdream** · 03-03-2009, 08:02 AM

I keep a tight budget going to keep our bills paid on time.
We only have a house payment and a truck payment.
The other payments are utilities, vehicle & house insurance.
We are low income. He won't be trying for a different job because
this one he likes, it's 3 miles from our house, and it does give us
health insurance.
So I pinch pennies on the groceries. Keep errand running down as much as possible. Keep a eye on the electric meter. And always looking for any ideas to cuts costs.

**Momto2Boyz** · 03-03-2009, 08:29 AM

I budget, becuase if I don't we tend to live AT our means instead of BELOW it. When I don't have planned money to pay over to savings, then it stays in checking as a cushion, and somehow miraculously dissappears!

So, when I budget every penny, then set amounts go to savings every week, and I am confident that I still have enough left in the checking.

We give our selves $500 of miscellaneous expenses this month, and are allowed to spend that however we want. But this month, our goal is to put at least half of that into savings as well. So our big challange for March is NO EATING OUT at all! Which for us, really is a challange. We usually eat out at least a few times, so it'll take some planning and some will power, but DH is on board, so that helps! And so far so good, let's hope we get through the rest of the month!

**mombottoo** · 03-03-2009, 08:55 AM

How do you budget, and why?

When I started out it was to keep our heads above water, but that was when we were raising 4 kids, paying a mortgage, etc.. Now, I budget so that I am able to "blow" money when I feel like it...sounds horrible doesn't it. I also budget so that I know my dh & I will not ever have to depend on our kids financially when we get older and so that we can help our adult children now while they are raising their kids and may not have the funds to do all they need to do.

**Grainlady** · 03-03-2009, 09:34 AM

I budget because we'll need every penny we can put together for retirement (we're 56 & 57) and we were $THERE$ until the recent financial debacle. So now hubby will have to put off retirement until we get THERE again.

We also save for things we want/need and pay cash for everything. People rarely figure out how much money they pay in interest... That's money we could have had for other uses if we would have been a little more patient.

There aren't even any bargains that I would go over my food budget for. There's nearly always unspent money in the food budget for that - as well as large purchases I make several times a year. Right now I have $177.14 unspent in my food budget - since the first of the year based on $50/week - plus quite a bit left from last year. I also have a stockpile with 6-12-months (and some things even more than that) built-up over the years on this budget.

In an emergency I wouldn't have to buy milk (we use Morning Moo's Whey-based Milk Substitute and keep enough for 3-years in storage), eggs (I keep several cans of powdered whole eggs and smaller amounts of egg whites and egg yolks in storage, as well as things I can use as an egg substitute - such as "goop" made from flax), and fresh veggies (those would take the form of homemade sprouts from a variety of beans/seeds/grains in storage, as well as herbs and homegrown lettuce and spinach in my window garden, Aero Garden, or cold frame outside and eventually the garden). We could subsist on frozen, canned, dehydrated and freeze-dried produce for quite a long while.

We track our spending (via a budget) to see if we've been realistic or need to alter our spending or adjust something else. We now live off 2/3 of what hubby makes and automatically bank the other 1/3. That is soon to be adjusted to 50/50 and we'll discuss that at our next budget meeting.

**mommy4ever** · 03-03-2009, 09:47 AM

In a few weeks, we'll be at debt free except mortgage. No because we paid it all off

but refinancing.

Dh and I will be budgetting to live on my income, and save his. We have goals. Right now the goal is to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

Now if the current times pass us by unscathed we will have our EF built. Our eldests college fund nearly complete and nice prepayment on the mortgage for this year. If we do end up with a layoff, we'll be able to continue living decently with that EF, and he'll be able to not rush in to just "any" job, but find one he'd be happy to work at, and not have to work from home. We don't want him to be in a cr@ppy job and have to work from home to make ends meet. So we're doing some careful budgetting.

**forHISglory** · 03-03-2009, 10:19 AM

We budget because we want to be in control, to be the master of our money and not the slave. We began budgeting to keep our heads above water and to begin realizing our dreams and goals. Now it has become a lifestyle.

We budget because we want a clean and honest name in our community and for our family. We want a good reputation financially. We want to leave the legacy of a good name to our children.

We budget because we don't want to be a burden to others. We don't want to run to the government for help, and don't want to be whining to family and friends for help. Don't get me wrong; we have wonderful family and friends who wouldn't blink an eye about helping us. But we prefer to NOT have to ask. Rather, we want to be in the position of being able to help others in need.

We budget because our religious faith tells us it is the right thing to do. We seek wisdom and discernment in the use of our money, and want to be good stewards of what God has given to us.

We budget to enable dreams to come true. This mindset of balance and sacrifice has enabled us to be debt free, to own our home, to travel, etc. A budget allowed us to sort the chaff from the grain, and then to enjoy the grain!

For most of our working lives, we were paid once a month, and our pension still comes once a month. Since most bills are monthly, this made the budget fairly easy. Our budget is set up ONLY on that once a month payment. Hubby has a second odd job that pays at sporadic times, and our night school jobs pay every two months. That's our savings/emergency money. We don't plan to do anything with it except save. All fixed expenses come from the regular monthly payment.

If you don't budget, I highly encourage you to try. Be flexible. The idea is to let this give you a grip on your finances, and that might take some experimentation.

**Kaos Kitty** · 03-03-2009, 10:47 AM

Like many others, I budget because otherwise I wouldn't have any money left! I would constantly be juggling and reacting to expenses, and not reaching any goals. I wouldn't know when to say no, and when I could say yes!

Instead I keep track of what we spend on an excel spreadsheet. I track how much, in what category (there's 34) and when I spend. Also how much over/under budget I am for each category. I like the detail, and I like being on the computer. I'm trying to minimize our expenses so that we can live on one income and achieve our goals with the other.

To make sure I'm on track all my expenses are expressed as a percent of total income. The Goal is what I'm working towards, Budget is what I have budgeted for the month, and Actual is what I actually spent. The following is from February 2009.

Goal: 100%
Budget: 97%
Actual: 110%

Housing: Goal 25% Budget: 23.68% Actual:20.75%
Food/Other: Goal 15% Budget: 15.41 Actual: 21.44% - dental expenses I am waiting for rebate and I was over on groceries
Savings: Goal 40% Budget: 37.89% Actual: 42.25% - trying to save that $5000!
Transportation:Goal 6% Budget: 6% Actual: 5.63%
Entertainment/Gifts: Goal 10% Budget:10.10% Actual: 19.62% - I need to work on this!
Education:Goal 4% Budget: 4.21% Actual: 0% - saving the 4% until needed