Hooray!
For the first time ever I have kept a budget!
I am not a numbers person so this must be proof anyone can do it.
Those of you who always record expenses and balance totals won't be too impressed with my methods, but for newbies who are still overwhelmed--I totally failed last month because I made it too complicated. And I failed for a decade because I didn't try at all!
This month, I subtracted fixed expenses from our income (insurance payments, car payment etc.). I divided what was left of our income by 4. That is our budget per week.
I put a folder on the table that says "Got Receipts?". Inside is a pen, pocket calculator, and two sheets of grid paper. Across the top of one sheet I printed the days of the week. Across the top of the second sheet I printed the categories "Gas, Groceries, Dining Out, Pet Supplies, Items/Repairs, Coffee & Entertainment".
Each day I saved all receipts. Every night, I took out the sheet with the days of the week, and wrote down the total of each purchase and the location, so my entries looked like "Kroger 8.43" or "Gas Station 16.02" or "Movie Rental 3.95". That was all I did on a daily basis. I saved the receipts in the folder, just in case I needed them later.
At the end of the week I got out the second piece of paper, the one with categories. Now it was very easy to go through the first sheet and put each purchase in the right category. That took less than 5 minutes. Once I was done, I tossed the receipts.
I can add the categories to see what we spent each week. I know if I am over or under the weekly budget.
So far this is working. Very easy!
The hard part is not panicking if I miss an item. I'm sure we've missed some small items here and there when a receipt is forgotten. I double check our entires with an online banking website, but if a few don't add up, I balance the entries I do have. I say this because I think it's easy to get overwhelmed and confused if it isn't exactly perfect. Don't let that stop you. That is the most important step--balance what you do have, and keep going, and it's easier the next week.
For the first time ever I have kept a budget!
I am not a numbers person so this must be proof anyone can do it.
Those of you who always record expenses and balance totals won't be too impressed with my methods, but for newbies who are still overwhelmed--I totally failed last month because I made it too complicated. And I failed for a decade because I didn't try at all!
This month, I subtracted fixed expenses from our income (insurance payments, car payment etc.). I divided what was left of our income by 4. That is our budget per week.
I put a folder on the table that says "Got Receipts?". Inside is a pen, pocket calculator, and two sheets of grid paper. Across the top of one sheet I printed the days of the week. Across the top of the second sheet I printed the categories "Gas, Groceries, Dining Out, Pet Supplies, Items/Repairs, Coffee & Entertainment".
Each day I saved all receipts. Every night, I took out the sheet with the days of the week, and wrote down the total of each purchase and the location, so my entries looked like "Kroger 8.43" or "Gas Station 16.02" or "Movie Rental 3.95". That was all I did on a daily basis. I saved the receipts in the folder, just in case I needed them later.
At the end of the week I got out the second piece of paper, the one with categories. Now it was very easy to go through the first sheet and put each purchase in the right category. That took less than 5 minutes. Once I was done, I tossed the receipts.
I can add the categories to see what we spent each week. I know if I am over or under the weekly budget.
So far this is working. Very easy!
The hard part is not panicking if I miss an item. I'm sure we've missed some small items here and there when a receipt is forgotten. I double check our entires with an online banking website, but if a few don't add up, I balance the entries I do have. I say this because I think it's easy to get overwhelmed and confused if it isn't exactly perfect. Don't let that stop you. That is the most important step--balance what you do have, and keep going, and it's easier the next week.
