restoring my financial stability

[Payn_it>>>]

I'm a member of other forums, and know how helpfull they can be, so i thought id join up and ask some questions...I'll try to keep this short

First, i have three credit cards, two of which saved me when i was laidoff two time in two months last year. now i'm struggling with balanceing my bi-weekly budget and paying down those cards two month before i get married.

Second, i am really good at lining out a budget. I stink at sticking to it. I don't like quickbooks, i forget my check book and register, so i usually forget to record my debit card purcahses. Then, before i know it i've blown my budget.

Do any one have any suggestions as to what i can do to keep track of where i am within my budget?

[arthurb999]

Cash basis... using envelops. At the beginning of the month... load up the evnelops with the budgeted amounts.

When there is no cash in the dining out envelop... you don't.

[zetta]

I really like YNAB for tracking a budget: Personal Budget Software - Free Home Budgeting Course for the Family

You really need to either save all your receipts or to download your transactions and update your budget on a periodic basis -- at least weekly until you're not struggling anymore, although some would say daily.

[creditcardfree]

Originally Posted by zetta

You really need to either save all your receipts or to download your transactions and update your budget on a periodic basis -- at least weekly until you're not struggling anymore, although some would say daily.

I would agree with daily, until you get a better handle on your spending and expenses.

[Payn_it>>>]

i usually update my budget every two weeks when i get paid.

I always request a reciept. the issue is i usually put it in my wallet, get home and forget to record it in the check register. I remember and say, "oh, i'll just do it later." before i know it i have 25 reciepts and i'm too lazy at that point. then i'm affraid to log on to my online banking because i'll have less in my account than i'd like to see.

I like the envelope idea. I may try that. problem i have is carrying around $300+ I'm affraid i'll spend it on something other than what its designated for.

[arthurb999]

Originally Posted by Payn_it>>>

I like the envelope idea. I may try that. problem i have is carrying around &300+ I'm affraid i'll spend it on something other than what its designated for.

Then you do without... if you spend your food money on clothes or booze... then you don't eat. It forces you to make a choice.

[Payn_it>>>]

True. ok some other ideas. I wanna explore my options and colaborate with the fiance. We make all decisions together. I know i-phone has some apps that are finance oriented. Any one use those?

[arthurb999]

My wife and I use the envelops together. I prepare a monthly budget in excel and we review it together. Then she goes to the bank and gets the cash for the month and divvies up into the envelops (food, gas, my spending, hers, household items, booze, dining out, etc).


You don't need fancy stuff... although i do use mint.com and online banking to prepare monthly financial statements... dump mint transactions into excel and doll it up. (I'm an accountant)

[Payn_it>>>]

nice. then do you just leave the envelopes at home and take the cash you need when you go out?

what about things like gas. I never know for sure where i'm gunna go.

[arthurb999]

Yep we leave them at home... I usually grab 100 of my personal spending and if I forget to grab gas money... use my cash and grab it when i get home out of gas envelop. It's basic but it works well...

also when you spend cash... you tend to spend less... hurts more to spend $85 cash on dinner... than to swipe a card.

[Payn_it>>>]

i feel that...how bout this...

If i budget say $120 for food for two weeks, and we only spend 75 that week because we have food left over..ie lunch meat and such...then, instead of saving it and have extra money of emergencies and such, we go out to dinner. i figure if we only took the cash we'd have to be more carefull.

[arthurb999]

that would be fine... it might take a few months to get the dollar amounts right too... I tend to spend my personal money on stuff like that too.... if i use all the booze money but want beer, etc.

[Payn_it>>>]

ok, see i haven't been budgeting in spending money. I've been paying down my credit cards. that was usually $75 or more each card. I'm paying my last payment on one of them next friday, so the money that would usually go twords that, i can shift to spending cash as a bumper.

[arthurb999]

It's not realistic to have zero spending money for the month... that is definately your problem.

[Payn_it>>>]

then that'll probably be my first step forward....

[Radiance]

Hello,

I don't like quicken and the such, too advanced for me.
I use xpenser because I can text or email my expenses right at the cashier and forget about the paper receipt.
It also allows me to do "virtual" envelop so I don't actually carry the money around.

Let's say I 'allocate' $150 for food. If I buy 15.78 in groceries, I sent a text message and xpenser deducts that from my food money.
I do check both my checking account and my xpenser every day I make a purchase, any purchase. This includes crdit card purchases, this I tag with the name of the card so I know it didn't come from my checkings. Envelops on xpenser don't care how you paid, only what specific envelop is the money coming from.
I check on my credit card transactions once a week to ensure there are no surprises.

I do allocations of money to each envelop every time I get paid which is twice a month.
I keep track of my recurrent bills in a spreadsheet in google docs.

Both xpenser and google docs are free..

My main advise is that if one method doesn't work, try to figure out why and try something else if you can not adapt it. I spent too much time kicking myself for not being able to stick to a budget when what I needed was a method that worked for ME All the best!!!

[Payn_it>>>]

how do i sign up for this xpenser?

[Payn_it>>>]

got it....wow this is gunna be cool.....thanks guysl\.

[Payn_it>>>]

ok problem two.

I have a car that was bought in my parents name back in 2005. when i turned 18 (two years ago) we transfered it into my name. Ford Motor Credit made a mistake and transposed a number on my SSN. So in January of this year i went to trade in my car and my score was down around a 540. then they tell me my car is not in my name. Long story short. It took me 7 months for Ford to properly add my car to my credit accounts. When we found the problem, i was assured by both Ford, FICO, Exerian and Equifax that not only would my history be fixed, but my score as well. This did not happen.

I got the car on the account showing all the way back to august of 05 with no lates at all. yet my score is still hovering around a 570. Any suggestions?

[boosami]

Originally Posted by Payn_it>>>

I got the car on the account showing all the way back to august of 05 with no lates at all. yet my score is still hovering around a 570. Any suggestions?

Any recovery after adding the missing account would have been immediate. Are there any other negative remarks on your credit report? What else is showing on your credit report? If you list the type of account, date of opening, balance, and limit we can help determine if that 570 is accurate and what you can do to improve it. It is possible that your account only recovered 30 points depending on what else is on your report. Given your age, this is actually the most likely scenario, because you have limited credit history.

Though, as I'm sure someone will add: Your credit score only really matters if you are going to apply for new credit somewhere like a car loan or mortgage. Many people obsess over it needlessly when they aren't planning on getting new credit any time soon. If that's the case, you should be focusing that energy toward getting your budget and spending under control, no improving your credit score.