Anyone else struggle with budgeting?

[KingRazor]

In the past few years I've tried every now and again to put a budget together (obviously I have not tried that hard...) but it never seems to work.

The problem is my expenses vary pretty widely from month to month.

I get paid bi-weekly. Out of every check I put aside $200 to help with rent (I live with my mom and pay 1/3rd of the rent).

I give 10% of every paycheck to my church (tithe).

$50 comes out once a month for a student loan (less than $1500, shouldn't take too long to pay off).

I spend about $80 a month on bus passes (I ride the train to work and back 5 days a week).

At one point I was spending about $300 on food every month (groceries, lunch at work, dinner with the fam, drive-throughs every once in a while, and soda/snacks, anything that could be considered "food"). Starting this month I've cut back quite a bit on that with a goal of spending $200 or less on food each month.

That doesn't really leave a whole lot left from each check (I get roughly $600 per check, it varies a little).

I'd like to try and set some money aside for things like a car, school, and stuff (basses, computer parts, fun stuff).

But I'm never sure how much to put aside. Too little and it would take way too long to buy anything. Too much and I wouldn't have enough for the other things.

So, how 'bout you?

[MatticusMania]

Ive been going through something similar, as my income and expenses have shifted a lot since the beginning of the year.

What I would suggest is to make a list of all your expenses for the month. List out any bills that you pay and all the important stuff first. See if there is anything there are you can cut out.

Next is to keep track of all your spending. Write everything down! EVERYTHING.
Soon enough you'll start to see where your money is going, why you dont have extra money, and areas in which you can cut spending to free up some funds.

Basically, balance a "checkbook"

[Lesfunk]

I'm terrible at budgeting. Usually cuz I'm working for money that's already spent

[fhm555]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

...Next is to keep track of all your spending. Write everything down! EVERYTHING...

Or get quicken. Not only does it let me keep track, but I can run my list against the bank's any time I want to see what's what.

I used to write it all down, but this is much less time consuming and much more accurate.

That said, it only works if you are diligent in recording what you spend and what it is used for.

[Longhair]

Living in the Netherlands have taught me how to create a budget and stick with it and here is why:

Paychecks only come once a month

Everybody in the country lives this way. If you run out of money before the end of the month, you need to change your spending habits real quick.

Now let's go down your expenses list.

• Rent - as long as it does not go up, do not touch.
• Church - 10% is a bit much of you are hurting for money. Drop it down to 5% until you are able to afford more.
• Student Loan - take 2.5% from the 5% not going to church and pay off the loan quicker. The faster you pay it off, the better off you will be sooner.
• Bus Passes - Do you ride the bus and train? How far is work? Better idea would be to ride a bicycle if it is not too far away. At least ride a bicycle from the train station to work and skip the bus fair.
• Food - avoid fast food, bring lunch to work, fill your own bottle with water, pop, etc from home instead of buying from the 7/11 or Circle K.
• Pocket Money - keep $25 to $50 from each check for impulse buys, dinner out, etc.
• Save and forget - put the rest in savings and forget it exists.

Hopefully this will give you ideas on how to make your money last longer.

[hrodbert696]

Look up Larry Burkett and get whichever of his books seems most appropriate -- looks like you're young and single. Great guide to start from. Really helped us, though we still struggle with all the unanticipatable expenses. The key thing to get on top of it is to have money you set aside each month that you won't need that month, like for automotive maintenance and repair or medical bills, and to keep it in reserve rather than spending it on something else. For instance if you're putting $50/month away for automotive expenses (beyond your monthly gas and insurance), and don't touch it for a year, when you have a fender-bender that will cost $500 in repairs you've got $600 in the car fund to cover it.

Food, by the way, you should be able to keep yourself to around $30/week. I feed a family of six on about $175/week. Go for generics in the grocery store and resist the impulse to eat out except for special occasions. By snack foods in bulk at the grocery store rather than getting them at convenience stores -- they'll cost a fraction as much, and it adds up.

If you only have to pay $200/month in rent and you're making (if I read you right) $1200/month, that should put you ahead of the game - housing normally runs 25-40% of most people's budgets. Do you also help with utilities?

Oh, and don't use a credit card or debit card for impulse purchases - choose a set amount of cash (maybe $20?) that you take out each week. When your wallet is empty, no more impulse purchases.

Let's see here...

Income: $1200/month

Expenses:
Housing: $200/month
Food: $150/month ($30/week in groceries and $30/month to eat out)
Transportation: $80/month.
Student loan: $50/month
Spending cash: $80/month
Church: $120/month (let's leave the tithe intact for the moment)

So far I've got you spending $680/month. That should leave you with $520/month. I would say set yourself a few accumulating "funds":

Medical expenses: $50/month. (are you insured, by the way?)
Music gear savings: $50/month. If you gig out, pick a proportion of that for any further new gear/strings/setups etc.
Retirement savings: $100/month. Start doing this when you're young and get it into a good mutual fund and you'll be a millionaire when you retire -- it compounds
Clothing/shoes: $75/month. (Allow yourself a $225 seasonal shopping spree four times a year. If you don't need $225to update your wardrobe, put this into another savings fund).
Vacation/party fund: $100/month. This is for whenever you want to travel, go camping, throw a birthday bash, whatever.
Gifts: $45/month. This is for birthday and Christmas presents for others, not yourself. That should give you $540/year to throw at friends and family.
Rainy day/emergency/school/whatever savings: $100/month.

Ultimately, you need to watch your receipts and balance your checkbook and see how much you are REALLY spending on things. EVERYTHING has to be accounted for in the budget. A lot of the time there are things we don't keep track of and don't realize how much we're spending.

[skwee]

I love the first part of what I just read above, but the $75/month for clothes and the 100 for party/vacation just destroyed me!

I'd have a hard time spending $75 on clothing over the course of 9 months. Saving up for vacation or an audition trip maybe, but 100 bucks a month would be hard.

[sandmangeck]

I'll second to ending the tithe. If your having a hard time supporting yourself. Don't get yourself in a situation where you would need help from the church.

[JTE]

OK, let's do some math here...

$600 every two weeks is $1300/month (26 paychecks a year, divided by 12). From that $1300 we subtract the $130 for tithe (as I believe we're commanded to do), $433 for rent (again, $200/check X 26 checks a year divided by 12), less $50/month for the loan and $80/month for transportation. That leaves you $607 per month. Even with $300/month for food, that still leaves you with $300 a month.

Now the way to budget it exactly what hotrodber69 says. The problem seems to be with where your money is going currently. And the only solution to that is to keep track of every penny you spend for a while. Take a month and write down (or use a spread-sheet, Quicken, something) to record every penny you spend. Then and only then will you have a way to create a solid plan for spending. And that's all a budget is- a plan for where your money's going to go.

Given the math of what you've put in your first post, there's no reason to stop the tithe (and I think good reasons to continue it). But there's a lot of money you are spending each month without knowing (at least based on the numbers in your first post) where it's going. You simply need to take the cold hard step of getting real and accurate data.

Look up Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University". Lot's of great stuff there including tools for establishing a spending plan, and advice and encouragement to make it happen. He's a bit hard-core (no debt at all, even for housing) but the principles are sound and successful. And given that you're tithing, he's scriptural basis for financial peace might help you too.

John

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by JTE

OK, let's do some math here...

$600 every two weeks is $1300/month (26 paychecks a year, divided by 12). From that $1300 we subtract the $130 for tithe (as I believe we're commanded to do), $433 for rent (again, $200/check X 26 checks a year divided by 12), less $50/month for the loan and $80/month for transportation. That leaves you $607 per month. Even with $300/month for food, that still leaves you with $300 a month.

Now the way to budget it exactly what hotrodber69 says. The problem seems to be with where your money is going currently. And the only solution to that is to keep track of every penny you spend for a while. Take a month and write down (or use a spread-sheet, Quicken, something) to record every penny you spend. Then and only then will you have a way to create a solid plan for spending. And that's all a budget is- a plan for where your money's going to go.

Given the math of what you've put in your first post, there's no reason to stop the tithe (and I think good reasons to continue it). But there's a lot of money you are spending each month without knowing (at least based on the numbers in your first post) where it's going. You simply need to take the cold hard step of getting real and accurate data.

Look up Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University". Lot's of great stuff there including tools for establishing a spending plan, and advice and encouragement to make it happen. He's a bit hard-core (no debt at all, even for housing) but the principles are sound and successful. And given that you're tithing, he's scriptural basis for financial peace might help you too.

John

Yeah, the tithe ain't going anywhere. As far as I'm concerned it's mandatory. I also give about $40 a month to my church's building fund and I'm not going to stop that either.

I have actually attended Financial Peace University. Dave knows his stuff. I just didn't do a very good job of implementing what I learned there.

[JTE]

Originally Posted by KingRazor

I have actually attended Financial Peace University. Dave knows his stuff. I just didn't do a very good job of implementing what I learned there.

Yeah, but Dave says that's the hard part. The concepts are dirt simple and easy, the math is basic. The FPU class takes as long as it does to help you build the habits of DOING it.

And I know- I've gotta go revisit our plans and have been lazy and not done it... but this struggle that you've shared has convicted me that it's something I gotta do!!!

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!

John

[mkandolf]

BIG second on anythign to do with Dave Ramsey, especially his Financial Peace University (better for getting started) and Total Money Makeover (more for when you total screwed your credit up) books and videos. See if you can find him on radio or cable and listen. He takes a real no nonsense approach and really tells it like it is and tells it in language we can all understand.

His books get you on the right track and have plans on how to deal with those whacked out incomes that seem to be a pain to plan around. I get paid once a month and my wife's income is very inconsistent due to her hours being changed all the time. we went through the Financial Peace University and our stress levels over that word budget went down immensely.

We had gone through Larry Burkett's stuff and his Crown Ministries years ago and never understood one bit of it. Dave Ramsey jsust makes more sense for my wife and I who had no clue on financial matters.

[mkandolf]

Yep, gotta actually DO the stuff. That's the HARD part. IOnce you do it, and start seeing the results, then you start smacking yourself in the head REALLY hard and wondering why you didn't start much sooner!

[turbo chicken]

I can make a budget ... sticking to it is another story.

Infact last night i went over the next couple paychecks... my wife could not believe that we would have the surplus of cash the budget was showing.

Her response: "That won't happen"
My response: "If we stick to what is budgeted it will"

I admit... we eat out waaaaaaay to flippin much. If i gave the percentage we spend eating out the past couple months ... lets just say it's a tad embarrasing.
Considering I have debt that could be paid down significantly in a matter of months.

Moral of the story...
-Make a Budget - budget everything you think you might spend this includes personal hygene items, hair cuts, dr visits, medication, the occasional shirt,pants, eating out etc...
-track your spending and stay within your budgets
-Re-evaluate your spending habits frequently and either adjust your spending or your
budget if you can justify it.

Sticking to the budget is a pain in the keister it takes dicipline!

[Quickie]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

I

Basically, balance a "checkbook"

Which has taken me finally to do, after 50 years.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Quickie

Which has taken me finally to do, after 50 years.

I used to be really bad with my old checking account. So much so that it was better for me to close the account. Eventually I got tired of paying bills with money orders and opened a new checking account in which I use my online bill pay. Ive been much better with my money since, having a track record of what bills get paid from which check. All thats been thrown to hell, however, as Ive recently taken on some new expenses, the last 2 weeks Ive been setting myself up with a new budget.

[sandmangeck]

So the tithe is before taxes are taken out? Hmmm.........

[-Kramer-]

Also, if you use a credit/debit card for all of your purchases Mint.com is a great resource.

It will take all of your purchases and automatically categorize them for you. Once you set up a budget, you can SEE exactly where you are in your budget by taking a quick trip to the website.

[Webtroll]

every time i browse the TB classifieds

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by Webtroll

every time i browse the TB classifieds

At least that one isn't a problem for me, can't afford it!

Just glad I don't have a credit card, at least right now. That way I can't spend money I don't have.