HELP With Budgeting!

**JanH** · 10-18-2006, 04:24 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Have you tracked what you are buying on the credit cards to see if you are within your ideal budget guidelines? Perhaps you could get out your statements and see where your weak areas are. Until I got on the forum and made a detailed budget in excel and catalogued every purchase every day, I had no real idea of the money I was spending. I think they would tell you to start by examining what your expenditures actually are.

**JanH** · 10-18-2006, 04:26 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

By the way, it's awesome that you are already almost finished with student loans. That is a big issue for people your age.

**Gruntina** · 10-18-2006, 04:27 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Is there a way you can put lower limit on budget such as clothes, or other non bills budget that may not be crucial until your debts are paid off?

**richinspirits** · 10-18-2006, 05:03 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

I also think it is great that you are almost finished paying off the student loans, and good for you for trying to improve your situation!

I agree with JanH - I always thought this sounded like the most tedious, awful thing in the world, but I did it and I was so enlightened: writing down every single thing you spend money on for a month or two. I make a budget like yours, and I see that you have worked in Entertainment and Eating Out and things like that, but I found that there were just little things that I didn't think about that didn't really fit in a category of mine. Like picking up a couple of magazines, or coffee for you and a friend...maybe it's $10 a couple of times a week, but there, that's already almost $100 that month.

You could also try cutting back from a couple of categories if things are tight every month. In looking at your budget, I would think about trying this with food and clothes. These are both categories where the variety of items out there varies wildly in price, and you can get ahead by shopping around, waiting a little while to see if things you need or want go on sale, etc...

It looks like you are doing a great job in general with thinking about your debts and savings, and the big picture. Scrutinizing your spending might be the next step. Good luck!

**LuxLiving** · 10-18-2006, 06:23 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

You may work in fashion or need to dress nicely for work, but I have a family of four adults at home I shop for and I don't spend $200 A YEAR for all of our clothes and shoes, so that is one place I'd look at scaling way back.

**disneysteve** · 10-18-2006, 06:59 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

I definitely agree with the others that your clothing budget needs work. I know I don't spend $200/year for myself and I'm a physician who dresses professionally for work each day. Start looking at clearance racks, thrift and consignment shops, outlets, etc. to fill in whatever holes still exist in your wardrobe.

One thing I'm wondering is what things are missing from the "ideal" budget you listed. Does your rent include all utilities? Is your cell phone really $30, or is that just the plan price before taxes and fees get added in? What about auto maintenance? You mentioned gifts and "other unexpected expenses." How many of those were truly unexpected as opposed to just unplanned for?

Take a close look at those credit card bills and see what they are for. Are all the charges for things that are already accounted for in your budget or are there extras and things you've forgotten to include in the budget?

A budget is a flexible, changing thing. You need to add or subtract items and expenses and fine tune it until it most accurately matches your actual spending pattern.

If you really aren't sure where the money is going, then get a little notebook and carry it with you at all times, recording every purchase and payment you make for the next month. Then sit down and review that log and see where your money really went. That can be a very eye-opening exercise.

**Hypersion** · 10-18-2006, 07:15 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

What do you pay for Utilities?

**doodles44** · 10-18-2006, 07:20 PM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Hi everyone, thanks for your help on this. I currently don't pay utilities b/c I live with my b/f and part of my money paid to him every month covers utilities, cable, etc. That is a set cost with us that is non-negotiable.

I agree that I don't have to spend $200 a month for clothes. It just seems that I do. A lot of it is getting staples and stuff, and I work in an environment (PR) that focuses a lot on how people are perceived. I'll try and get figures from my credit card statements for everyone to critique and review.

Thanks again for your help! :-)

**lillyb** · 10-19-2006, 03:14 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Car insurance seems really high, maybe shop around for better rates. We cover a car full coverage and a jeep liability and it runs about $80 (if you averaged monthly).

Ditto what others have said on clothing. I doubt I spend $200 a year on clothing, but do not have your type of job. Definitely worth checking into consignment stores, thrift stores or garage sales. No one needs to know the silk blouse you wore that day was bought for $2.

Try spending cash, it hurts a little more than handing over plastic and people usually spend less when they have to hand over the green stuff. There's been studies done, I believe they estimated people spend on average 18% more on plastic than they would have with cash. It hurts more.

Work on planning for those 'unexpecteds'. When I write out a budget and I know mom's birthday falls this month I write it in the budget, even if it means I don't get to put as much into savings or pay extra onto debt. The best way to get out of a hole is to quit digging.

Congrats on almost having the student loan gone!! And 3k isn't too huge an obtacle. If it means a lot to you to get that gone (I would want it gone fast, too, if it were to my parents) then consider using what you are putting into savings. IF you've already have a bit saved (say, $1000 for emergencies). Knock that student loan out this month ($100 already paying plus $100 that was going to savings, gone). Then start using that amount plus what you were already sending, plus what was going to savings (this is short term just to get that paid to mom and dad) and you could see that gone in... ($100 already paying, $300 left over the first month that was going to savings =$400 the first month, $600 second month, $600 the third month, $600 the fourth month, $600 the fifth month, and $200 to finish it out the sixth month). Then you could use that amount to really start socking away some savings (or actually, start knocking out that car payment and get it gone, too, along with a reduction in car insurance).

Best of luck!!

**autoxer** · 10-19-2006, 04:34 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Originally posted by doodles44

Here's my "ideal" budget
Rent - $600
Car Payment- $225
Car Insurance- $170
Train (for work)- $100
Gas- $75
Food- $200
Cell phone- $30
Eating out- $100
Entertainment- $100
Clothes- $200
Personal care/other $100
Parental debt- $100 (couches, mostly)
Student debt- $100
Savings- $400

I have no revolving balance on my credit cards - I like to use them because I get rewards and don't have to worry about bouncing my debit cards. The problem is I am paying almost all of my pay each paycheck on each of my credit cards. On Nov. 3, I owe $800 and on Nov. 24 I owe $500. I can't stick to my budget at all with these payments.

If you put all of your expenses (that I put in bold) on your credit card, then it would add up to $905. But you owe $1300, so your charging outside of your ideal budget. I would review the CC statements & put all of the expenses into categories to see the difference between ideal budget & actual budget. That will help you determine where you want to focus.

Originally posted by lillyb

Try spending cash, it hurts a little more than handing over plastic and people usually spend less when they have to hand over the green stuff. There's been studies done, I believe they estimated people spend on average 18% more on plastic than they would have with cash. It hurts more.

I agree, I switched to cash for a couple months and it helped tremendously. I would withdrawal enough to cover gas, food & entertainment for the week, and when it was gone, I would stop spending till the next paycheck came. I always knew how much more I could spend, because it was right there in my pocket. I even took the credit cards out of my wallet so that I couldn't cheat.

**tabbycat31** · 10-19-2006, 05:18 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

eating out and food are also areas that you can cut back at. Of course you have to be prepared to do more cooking at home, less conveninece foods, etc. And if you live by yourself, you should make meals that are good for at least 3-4 sittings (I cook family sized meals, then freeze them in individual portions).

**tinapbeana** · 10-19-2006, 05:31 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Train (for work)- $100
Gas- $75
Eating out- $100
Entertainment- $100
Clothes- $200

= $675

What worked for me & my spouse was to take expenses like the ones above and give ourselves a weekly allowance in cash. Maybe try $150 per week ($600/mo is less than currently budgeted) and tell yourself you have to pay cash for any of the above every week. When you're out of cash, wait till next week.

I found it works well b/c a week isn't a horribly long time to wait for something like a movie or a dinner out, or even a birthday gift. It keeps us focused on what we spend without feeling we have to wait till next month for the budget to renew itself.

It's all in the strategery *grin*

**disneysteve** · 10-19-2006, 05:31 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

Originally posted by lillyb

Car insurance seems really high, maybe shop around for better rates. We cover a car full coverage and a jeep liability and it runs about $80 (if you averaged monthly).

Clearly, you don't live in NJ, or Philadelphia, or lots of other major metropolitan areas. For a 98 Camry and a 00 Sienna, we pay over $200/month with clean driving records. When we lived in Philly, we paid nearly twice as much!

**lgslgs** · 10-19-2006, 07:05 AM

Re: HELP With Budgeting!

You pay $570 per month for transportation. If you take the train to work, are you really getting your money's worth out of your car expenses?

Perhaps it is worth doing a calculation to see what your budget wourl be like if you got rid of the car, but allowed for an occasional taxi or car rental if you need it. How much are you actually paying right now for every hour or mile of car driving? Be sure to include repairs, oil change, etc.

I'd seriously consider getting rid of the car for a few years.

Lynda

HELP With Budgeting!