CP: Do you follow a budget?

[GotWine]

We save some money and spend the rest every month. I just make sure that the credit card statement doesn't have any fraudulent charges on it before paying it off every month. I don't have a break down of individual charges.

Every time we try to track our spending and stick to a budget we get sidetracked and forget after a few months.

[formerlyllizzyb]

No

[redpenmama]

We have always had a budget that we roughly adhere to. If we go drastically over in one category, we make some changes.

Just this month, I developed a more detailed budget and started tracking everything more closely. We are building a house and want to reign in unnecessary spending (we are pretty frugal, so we don't have a lot of it) so we can meet our savings goals and adjust to a higher mortgage payment without any issues.

[Deleted]

Not really?  We have a budget in Mint and DH is pretty obsessed with it but I just look at it sporadically or consult it when he tells me we are nearing the budget in a certain category.  We don't do anything over $200 without consulting each other so yes in a way but there's a lot of leeway too.

[imojoebunny]

If by budget, you mean do you save what you choose to save and spend what you choose to spend, yes. I don't track everything, but I generally know what we are spending in any category. We save first, then with what's left over, we do what needs to be done first, then do what we want to do second. I defy anyone to explain how they don't have a budget. You have x money coming in and Y money going out. It doesn't matter how you account for it, or don't, it is still X amount of money, no matter if you pay attention to it or not.

[rt2008]

We voted yes. We have a budget and know what our fixed expenses are and about how much we can spend in certain areas, but if we go over a certain area, it's not going to break us.

[pinkdutchtulips]

i have a budget, i try to stick to it ... not always done

[laurenh]

No. I handle all financials and we are both aware of being responsible with spending. If H is interested in a large purchase he lets me know first, but in general all of what used to be extras goes to daycare.

[jewel]

Yes, we are like a 9.5 on the 1-10 budget scale.

I have charts that I created in Excel, and our budget basically runs on a monthly average, but yearly total. We have a decent cushion, so sometimes we spend a good chunk in one category towards the beginning of the year, and much less in other months, to meet the monthly average. I also tweak the monthly allotments throughout the year, as unexpected things come up, or if we are spending less than I had anticipated. At the end of the calendar year, every category is zeroed out. If there is any money left over in a category, it might go into savings, or it might carry over to the next year. I kind of make up the rules as I go along, but I do keep track of all of our spending. My husband isn't really involved, other than to say things like - Do we have room in the budget for a new TV/yard work/whatever.

Strangely, budgeting categories like this has helped me spend more money. I used to be obsessed with just saving as much as I could, and never wanted to spend money on anything that seemed frivolous. Now that I have a savings category and can feel comfortable with that amount, I feel better about spending the rest of it.

[boxerdog]

Yes, but we have trouble sticking to it sometimes!