End of month balance in checking

[MamaBird06]

I have read a lot on the dave ramsey financial peace and one thing that he stresses is to have 0 balance at the end of the month, to tell every dime where to go. My monthly support from ex usually come a few days after the 1st so I always have to have extra in the checking to cover 1st of the month bills and expenses. Should I just fudge the theory to meet my needs and say instead of taking the extra balance to pay of the credit/loan debt or put in savings, just do it on the 10th? I am having a hard time because I have to keep transferring money to checking for the rent then back to savings when the support comes in, or should I just always have the 895 for rent in checking and stop transferring the money? Or open a new account solely for rent so it doesn't get entangled with all the other money?

Thoughts?

[disneysteve]

You don't need to have a zero balance. You just need to account for all of the money. In fact, if your account has a minimum balance requirement, you don't want to have a zero balance as it would cost you money.

I never go anywhere near zero in our account. We have a $1,500 minimum but I rarely even come close to that. I try to keep $2,500-3,000 miniimum in the account. I consider that to be part of our emergency fund. I don't follow Dave Ramsey's plan but I'm very familiar with it and I can't see how that would go against what he teaches. It doesn't make sense for you to have to keep transferring money back and forth. Just keep the money wherever you actually need it to be.

[Petunia 100]

I don't follow Dave Ramsey's plan, but I have read two of his books and his website. He recommends a zero-based budget. I have never read (or heard) that he recommends keeping a zero balance in your checking account. Is it possible you are confusing the two?

I suggest you set a minimum amount which works for you. If you have more than that amount after everything is paid, transfer it to savings (or pay towards debt, or whatever goal you are currently working towards).

[TheKayla]

I don't think he means to have literally $0 in your account at the end of the month, but rather stresses knowing where every last dime goes. I always like to keep a minimum of $1000 in my account, and that's based off of a similar situation with my student loans needing to come out at the end of each month.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

You need a budget helps you work a month ahead. I've always worked a month ahead because I used to get paid 1x a month which meant all bills were paid on the 2nd no matter when they were due so I needed to have money to cover it a month ahead.

DR says zero based budget but not checking. So spend every penny you make and account for it.

[Petunia 100]

Just to clarify "zero-based budget", that means every single dollar is assigned to a line item in the buget. Not every line item is money to be spent, there should also be line items for savings and investing.

[KTP]

That would be quite horrible (keeping a zero balance in the bank account). What if there is some fee they sneak by that you don't plan for and you get a cascade of bounced checks?