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Originally Posted by mommyonamission
Dh and I are starting a budget so we can pay off some debt. I know what we have to do and I have actually made a really good broken out budget in excel. Dh gets paid weekly and I get paid bi weekly. I have figured that his paycheck will cover the weekly expenses like daycare, gas, groceries, etc but my question is this.
How do you first start off. I have it (on paper) to where I can say okay, dh's first paycheck of the month will pay bill 1,2,and 3. My first paycheck pays bills 7,8,9 and so on and so on according to their due dates. but as of right now we are never "caught up" we pay as they come and when we can afford to pay them. I know if we stick to our budget and reduce our spending we have the money to pay them, but if it is the middle of the month I cant necissarily say okay I will hold off on paying anything until the beginning of the month to start fresh and say okay paycheck #1 pays this. I guess I just feel like if we could have extra money in the bank with all of our bills being paid then I could start. I have had this budget in mind for months now but feel like I can never start it because as soon as we get a paycheck it is gone trying to catch up on bills that were due a week ago. Am I making any since? I guess I am just confused on how you initially started to budget.
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Hi mommyonamission, welcome to the boards.
It looks like you have a great start on getting the budget going! YEAH YOU!!! You've also gotten some great pointers here from folks, most are suggestions you should look at following up on and at least checking out the viability for your family.
I'd suggest you go over to read the information on a guy's website who used to post on here quite regularly, it's Jesse Meacham's You Need A Budget.com
Personal budget software, or Excel template, free personal finance spreadsheets
On there he'll help you get an idea of cash flow which is where it appears you're really stuck at right now. I love his software program which I think sells for about $20. It was well worth the expense to me. BUT, it's nothing you couldn't do on your own w/a pencil and piece of paper (I did for years) or with your own excel spreadsheets. Since I didn't know beans about Excel I just paid the $20.
At anyrate he has a way of helping you get ahead of the bills and then to the point of always being a month ahead. Well worth your time to take a look even if you don't purchase, it will give you an idea of what your cash flow procedure should look like.
Everybody here knows I'm a big fan of this software. Anyway, if you look at it and think it doesn't fit the bill for you then keep tweaking your budget and looking for ways to make your budget work for your family. Other budget software may be available that fits your style better.
Important to remember is that a budget isn't necessarily one of those 'set it and forget it' deals. It should likely be tweaked & tinkered w/on a relatively consistent basis.
