Dumping Debt and Building Wealth with Dave Ramsey ~ May - Page 16

[elizawill]

hello, i'm totally new here. i'm amy. my dh and i were on the verge of debt consolidation, but per the advice of the ladies here i purchased the dave ramsey book "total money makeover" instead. i'm almost done with the book, and then my dh promised he will read it too. i LOVE this book. i have for the first time in my life set up an actual budget for us. i know how much money we make now & i know what we are actually spending our money on. that in itself is liberating! we are still in the process of baby step 1, and i'm hoping to get that within the next 8 weeks completed. my question though is regarding my budget. my dh has 2 jobs. his first job he makes $3500 (or 2886.26 after taxes monthly). his second job fluctuates, but on the low end he usually makes about $900 monthly (usually a few hundred more but i'm playing it safe).

the thing is, he gets paid on the 15th and 30th of each month with his salaried income, & then with the second job he gets paid the first monday and wednesday of the month (he gives guitar lessons those nights but gets paid for the full month on the first lesson of the month). my budget is totally great (lol - i think???), but i'm honestly confusing myself with how to delegate the funds throughout the month. it would be so much easier if i had all of the $$$ at the beginning of the month, ykwim? how do others here budget. i'm trying spread the money out evenly if that makes sense. thanks for your help. i hope this makes sense.

[lalaland42]

Last night I took a look at how I am doing at BS2. Since January I have paid off $5000 in debt and next week I will probably hit $8000 paid. Of course I still have $38,000 left (almost all is student loans) but one of the two credit cards are paid off and I almost have the money to pay off the other one. :

I wasn't too into the gazelle intense thing because it seemed like my debt was so high but watching the numbers in my spreadsheet going down is pretty exciting. I would like to be debt free by the time we leave the hell-hole we live in (1-2 years).

[Mama Rana]

Originally Posted by elizawill

hello, i'm totally new here. i'm amy. my dh and i were on the verge of debt consolidation, but per the advice of the ladies here i purchased the dave ramsey book "total money makeover" instead. i'm almost done with the book, and then my dh promised he will read it too. i LOVE this book. i have for the first time in my life set up an actual budget for us. i know how much money we make now & i know what we are actually spending our money on. that in itself is liberating! we are still in the process of baby step 1, and i'm hoping to get that within the next 8 weeks completed. my question though is regarding my budget. my dh has 2 jobs. his first job he makes $3500 (or 2886.26 after taxes monthly). his second job fluctuates, but on the low end he usually makes about $900 monthly (usually a few hundred more but i'm playing it safe).

the thing is, he gets paid on the 15th and 30th of each month with his salaried income, & then with the second job he gets paid the first monday and wednesday of the month (he gives guitar lessons those nights but gets paid for the full month on the first lesson of the month). my budget is totally great (lol - i think???), but i'm honestly confusing myself with how to delegate the funds throughout the month. it would be so much easier if i had all of the $$$ at the beginning of the month, ykwim? how do others here budget. i'm trying spread the money out evenly if that makes sense. thanks for your help. i hope this makes sense.

The YNAB [You Need A Budget] software is great for incomes that vary like that because you work on last month's income. It takes a little time to "gather" one month's expenses in teh bank [almost like a BS1.5 or something], but then in June you'd be using the money you made in May, so you know exactly how much there is to spend. YNAB.com and no, I don't make any money off them

[MyTwoAs]

Originally Posted by Mama Rana

Jaime, I hope you're feeling a bit better. I wanted to clarify something I wrote, re the tutoring or other suggestions. You made a comment that you work 70 hours, and no one could expect you to do more, and I agree, and wanted to make sure you realized I meant the tutoring, etc. instead of the overtime [if that's possible].

Yes, that is also what I meant. Not expecting you to work 80 hours!

[FeelingBlessed]

Thanks to all for the laptop advice! Going to start checking around, figure out exactly what I do (and do not) need, and make a well-thought-out and rational decision. Wish waiting for the holiday deals was an option, but need to get something within the next few weeks for work purposes.

Kim

[FeelingBlessed]

[QUOTE=~*Jaime;11347896]I am doing the best that I can and I feel so bad right now I just feel so alone and miserable and depressed QUOTE]

Jaime!

[lauriem33]

Jaime, . Hope you're feeling better & I love the support everyone here gives. Y'all are really great.

Anyone up for starting the thread for the new month?

[HappyHelpmate]

Originally Posted by elizawill

my budget is totally great (lol - i think???), but i'm honestly confusing myself with how to delegate the funds throughout the month. it would be so much easier if i had all of the $$$ at the beginning of the month, ykwim? how do others here budget. i'm trying spread the money out evenly if that makes sense. thanks for your help. i hope this makes sense.

I definitely know what you mean. Right now our bills even out between the first and middle of the month, but what I've done in the past is subtract out of the checking account for 1/2 the rent (or whatever bill it is) with the payday that doesn't really have bills due at the time, and then when it's actually due I add it back in. So the money's there the whole time, but when I look at my checking account balance I don't see it, so I don't spend it. Kind of the same principle as saving monthly for annual expenses.

[althara]

June's Thread is here.