anyone else...?

[sonj]

Find it difficult to add gas, food, and savings into there monthly planning? And over come it....


I have a notebook I write all the household bills in, I have had this book for about 5 yrs use it faithfully, but I still can't seem to add gas, and food in.

[terry1156]

Re: anyone else...?

Gas has been a struggle to keep within budget due to the constantly rising prices. That is where our budget seems to break most often lately

[BAGAGT1]

Re: anyone else...?

I use Microsoft Money to track my spending/savings, so as long as remember to download my bank statements, I can't forget about entering gas, food, or anything else for that matter. The hard things to track, are things that we pay cash for, fortunately, we use the debit card for most purchases.

[jaksilee]

Re: anyone else...?

I have a long commute to my job so I know what you mean. Just as soon as I think I have it worked out the price of gas goes up!

[jmjj215]

Re: anyone else...?

We constantly go over in groceries - so we've implemented the cash system for that. $xx goes into the envelope at the beginning of the month, and when it's out it's out. Other than that we do all transactions w/o cash. It's our first month doing it - but for some reason it really has gotten us focused on sticking with our plan - I didn't think it would.

[tamip]

Re: anyone else...?

Oh, yeah, I've been using the cash envelope system for over a year now, and it really keeps me focused on what I have, what I need, and what I can do without-especially groceries. First I tracked our spending to see where we were at- then I did the budget and started our cash system.

Now I like to challenge myself, like, see how low I can go type of thing. What else can I make from scratch that will really save us money? How long can we go without using the "Entertainment" cash? I know, I'm weird, I just like to make it fun or I won't stick to it.

Tami

[PrincessPerky]

Re: anyone else...?

Right now I have gas and food pretty well, just isn't low enough for me. I would rather budget more and have leftover for the CC, than budget less and have to scrounge at the end of two weeks (we get paid every two weeks)

Saving is not happening, but any and all leftover goes to the CC.

[jmjj215]

Re: anyone else...?

It's amazing how cash makes you stick to the budget. When we used a DC for groceries, it was easier to go over. Cash has really made us get disciplined w/ groceries. I'm not convinced w/ other stuff yet though. I guess you pay for convenience too.

[robex]

Re: anyone else...?

Using cash to pay for things does make you really consider your purchases. I think I'll try the envelope system next month...maybe we'll be able to keep our grocery budget where I would like it to be. I sometimes pay with a debit card and find myself spending more than I plan to.