I need a budget

[Ms Ladybug]

Dh says I can work part time if we can afford it. I've done the math on my sturdy calculator, and YEP we can afford it. NOW, dh wants a budget to prove it. Budget? I hate the word! And the thought of all that work, but I want out of the full-time rat race...so...how do I do a budget? I have Microsoft Money, but it's just too involved, and doesn't connect with my little local credit union.
There's a part time position that I want to apply for, so I need this fast.

[CityChic]

Try this to get you started! Good Luck!

http://www.crown.org/Tools/budgetguide.asp?aid=

[AprilDaisy]

I really hate the word budget! I realized just this morning how limiting it is....and how it is another word that should be thrown out of my vocabulary...so...there it goes...no more... lol

Good Thoughts in talking to him about it!!! I hope you succeed!!!

[root*children]

We just do it with paper and pencil!

Here's what we did:
Just make a list of all our monthly costs (round up on things like utilities to be on the safe side).
I sorted them in two columns - bills & classes.
Ours is like this (hope you don't mind me sharing):
Bills:
rent 700
phone 30
cell 55
water 50
power 60
credit card (has some things automatically billed to it like internet) 30
Total Bills: 915

Classes:
Gymnastics 44
Yoga 44
Other 50
(we homeschool, so there are various unplanned classes to attend)
Total Classes: 138

Then we made a list of our costs for the month on everything we need/want (the "want" things had to be a little flexible obviously, as did the food)
Bills 1000 (rounded up to make sure there's enough to fill the oil tank in the winter, etc.)
DH's Gas 360
DH's Kayaking Gear 80
My Gas 120
Classes 138
Food 160

Then just divide that down by week (or however often y'all get paid). We have envelopes for most things. There is always extra money past paying those essentials. We just split that up, and it's our personal spending money for the week. DH just deposits the $250 for bills straight into the checking account when he cashes his check.
I pay savings with money I make from childcare. And I do ebay for travel money.
Hope that helps!

[lmonter]

Call it a spending plan. It's a tool so you know exactly where every single penny of yours is going, not necessarily depriving yourself of anything.

Our budget sheet is basically a very tweaked copy straight from the back of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book. I had fun in Excel with a blank template and printing a few copies out. Then for every month I fill in the blanks with our allocated amounts for everything. With a pencil, eraser and calculater in hand. Works great for us. If you want to see mine, just pm me and I'll dig up a photo of it.

[phathui5]

What we're doing this month is participating in the No-Spend challenge for April (found in this forum), writing down everything we have to spend in a month, and basing our budget around that. Plus, we need to add in saving money for our annual homeschooling supplies order and some sort of vacation.

[GoddessKristie]

I love budgeting! :
It does take some time but it's well worth it, and not really difficult. I suggest sitting down with all of your bills from last month. Write them all down and for bills the fluctuate write in the absolute max you ever pay for that bill. Then start filling in things you have to buy like household items, groceries, gas, that type of thing. Don't forget to include automatic deductions if you have them (health insurance, 401K)
Once all those are done start thinking about things that you pay for only a few times a year like Christmas, birthday gifts, vacation, school, license plates for cars, car/homeowner's insurance, etc. Write them all separately and for items that vary create a reasonable number for them. Add them up and divide by 12. List this money as savings in your budget and be sure to put that money aside every month, otherwise you'll blow your budget and it can be hard to get back on track.
Anything that you can get budget billing for call and set it up while you're doing your budget (we do electricity on budget billing). It can make a real difference.
Once all of this is done figure out the smallest amount of money you will make in a month. For us it's March because DH get's paid on the 5th for the previous two weeks, and with Feb being a short month he made the smallest amount he'll make all year. This is important to do because even though you can assume four weeks in a month you will not always have 20 working days in a month (21 in April, 23 in May), and if you're an hourly employee your wages will vary every month.
Use that number for your income and add and subtract to find out how much money is left in your budget.
Now, think about your savings. Realistically how much would you like to be putting aside every month (do you have an emergency fund of 3-6 months inocome?)? From what is left you can create an entertainment budget, or just agree to blow that amount every month if that's what makes you happy!
Hope that helps!

[Denvergirlie]

I have a budget worked out in excel, did it myself.

Categories:
Don't forget to make allowance for for spending money. Everyone needs mad money for whatever, don't be too stingy.

Other yearly expenses I forgot over the years have been magazine/ newspaper subscriptions, gifts for friends/ family, property taxes, registerations, park district fees for yearly pass, etc.

Try and add in other categories like vacation savings, furniture savings, , home manintance, short term and long term savings as well.

Also like a pp, don't use the word budget, because it really should be called a spending plan. Plan where your money is going, what is it doing?

I found it helpful to look back over my check registers to see where my money went. That was a lot more telling than what I think I spend my money. I found out that I needed a thrift store/ yard sale fund....



A bit of a drift thread, but I highly recommend the book "Your money or your life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. It really helped me look at money in a new way. It has some budget stuff, but also makes you consider many other aspects of my life and how I deal with money.
Here is a link to about the book http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/
I was able to check it out at the libaray but am toying with the idea of purchasing a copy to own.

[Jennisee]

Instead of keeping track of our accounts in the checkbook ledger, we keep track in Excel accounts that DH made. Because he's a bit of an Excel nerd, he even took our past checkbook ledgers and entered them too, so that we have literally years of information. It is a bit of work to set up the spreadsheets, but once that is done, it's no more work than entering things in a checkbook ledger. But, because you can sort things in Excel (date, category, store name, etc.), it's easy to see how much money you average on certain things, and we build our budget by looking at those figures. DH also takes it a step further and makes a 12-month budget, which accounts for things like fluctuations in energy bills, quarterly payments like insurance, etc.

[ZippyGirl]

I agree with Jennissee. A 12-month "running balance" budget is a great tool. It will help you see if any quarterly or lumpy expenses (e.g., taxes or insurance) will put you in the red.

And don't forget to pay yourself first!!! Include a line for savings in the budget.

[papschmitty]

I was just about to post this exact post! DH and I both work full time. He makes better money but I have awesome benefits. We depend on his income and my benefits a lot but my employer is becoming dreadfully antifamily. We're trying to figure out how we can afford for me to stop working. I was doing some searching after reading all the great suggestions and found this:
http://www.consumercredit.com/budget-sheet.htm
It's an excel spreadsheet and all the math is done for you. You just need to plug in your income and expenses. DH and I keep our finances separate (a relic from our "shackin' up" days ) so I have my work cut out for me!

Good luck!

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by papschmitty

I was doing some searching after reading all the great suggestions and found this:
http://www.consumercredit.com/budget-sheet.htm
It's an excel spreadsheet and all the math is done for you. You just need to plug in your income and expenses.

That's interesting. I had to fudge a bit with things we save up for (like furniture replacement and home repairs - they didn't have categories for those among a few other things we do), but it is kinda neat.