stupid budget question

[meandk0610]

when you go over budget one month, do you carry that overage to the next month? i know the money is still gone either and that this doesn't apply uf you're living on the edge, as it were.

cus, uh, i'm looking at no groceries until january if i carry it all forward.

sarah

[dharmamama]

Originally Posted by sarahlyao

when you go over budget one month, do you carry that overage to the next month? i know the money is still gone either and that this doesn't apply uf you're living on the edge, as it were.

cus, uh, i'm looking at no groceries until january if i carry it all forward.

I do if I can, but sometimes I can't, so I don't. If it meant not having groceries, then no, I wouldn't, but I'd also do everything I could to trim the grocery budget that month.

dm

[mum4boys]

Well if I consistently went over budget I would figure out why or change the amount we were spending.
I also adjust the budget not carry forward. For example if I make $1,000 a month and have two things in the budget $500 and $500 and over spend in one category $600 instead of $500 that money has to come from some where. kwim. So the other category would have to be reduced from $500 to $400 to make up for the deficit.

[Thystle]

I think it would truly depend on if you had the actual cash to go over in a month and then if there was actual money to take it out of next month.


A person living paycheck to paycheck with no savings and no help can't pull money out their a$$ if something goes over. Going over usually means that something THIS month does not get paid. The classic, "do I want food or heat this month" dilema.



But if you have extra money and wiggle room... it can roll over if it's worth it. If not something else will need to be cut.


So it all depends.

[Paxjourney]

Think it totally depends. If it was our entertainment, clothing budget etc then yes I do roll it over. I'm looking at no new clothes for me for 3mo:
But as for food. I would only shop the essentials etc.
HTH

[CarrieMF]

Well if I consistently went over budget I would figure out why or change the amount we were spending.
I also adjust the budget not carry forward. For example if I make $1,000 a month and have two things in the budget $500 and $500 and over spend in one category $600 instead of $500 that money has to come from some where. kwim. So the other category would have to be reduced from $500 to $400 to make up for the deficit.

This is what I do too.

[meandk0610]

thanks. i think i'm going to try to pass it forward for motivation (it's literally eating our savings). i'm also going to try to stick with the pantry challenge for december instead of just reading everybody else's. i also need to kick myself into meal planning; i think that would help a lot.

sarah

[EmsMom]

I always roll it over to the next month. If it over a great deal it may take a couple or three months to make it up. I usually do this by reducing other budget categories (home improvement and entertainment often go first) and by reducing the expenses in the short category as well. Sometimes there is some kind of unexpected expense, then theoretically it would come out of meergency funds but this has never happened. I have always made it up from other categories instead (even when there was a true emergency like a new crown for a tooth or a big car repair).

[phathui5]

Do you have a written budget that puts each dollar you make and assigns it to a specific category, so money isn't being spent that isn't budgeted?

[LilMama23]

It depends. If I go over, I take it out of savings and try to trim that area of the budget the next month.
If it means no groceries, then obviously I just adjust.

[meandk0610]

that's a good idea about using several months to pay it back. since we have the biggest house, we get all the holiday meals here. combine that with me always wanting to stock the pantry (paranoid? me? , sales, and "we came to get bananas and pears but, look, they have plums and strawberries still! let's get some of those too!" and it kind of becomes a disaster.

sarah