Talk to me about budgeting

[texaswildflower]

Everytime I think about working on a budget, I get this very overwhelming feeling. There are so many different methods. I don't even know where to start.

Please break it down for me like I'm 5. I need something that's simple and easy to stick with.

[amaristella]

I start with a simple spreadsheet. I make two columns. In column one I list all my known monthly expenses. I use one font color for expenses that cannot be avoided (rent, electric bill) and a different color font for avoidable expenses (monthly video game subscription) and next to each item I list the associated amount.

Then I total the expenses column. Directly beneath the total line I input the total amount of money coming into the household each month and subtract the expenses from the income to see how much money is left over. That then allows be to tweak the avoidable expenses until I come up with a plan that I am comfortable with.

Also, because it helps me personally, for whatever "fun money" is left over I multiply that amount by 12 and divide by 52 to figure out how much fun money we should be spending per week. That's more helpful to me than a giant monthly number.

I don't include annual expenses as separate line items. Things like insurance that I pay once a year generally get paid from the savings account so I just have to make sure that the amount of money going into savings each month is great enough to add up to the estimated annual expense. So that's kind of a separate calculation on the side for me. It could easily be done differently.

[ilovelamp]

Take my advice with a grain of salt because we are just starting our budget this month. Last time I tried doing a budget, I greatly underestimated how much we were spending. So this month we are doing a spreadsheet. Basically just write down any and all purchases (we are going to keep it in put wallets so we don't forget). Then based on this month's spending, we can start cutting back and managing better.

[brandienee]

Aug 31, 2012 12:51:32 GMT -5 Stan said:

I also do it by H's pay periods, so my columns are September 1st, September 15th, October 1st, etc. It's so much easier than trying to do it by month. Then you know exactly what goes where with each pay period.

This is what my spreadsheet looks like. I do a bi-weekly budget, vs a budget based on a whole month.

However, we are in serious debt payoff mode right now, so all of my living expenses come out in cash. Anything that hasn't been budgeted for debt or life, goes into our e-fund.

[twoslicehilly]

Are there websites with these spreadsheets where you can plug in your own info? I feel like there has to be. I just can not, for the life of me, remember how to make my own.

[suertesiete]

Sept 2, 2012 7:03:00 GMT -5 twoslicehilly said:

Are there websites with these spreadsheets where you can plug in your own info? I feel like there has to be. I just can not, for the life of me, remember how to make my own.

Coming out of lurking! Hi everyone!

Mint.com and Quicken online both produce various charts. It's been a while since I used them, but they were extremely helpful when I was getting the hang of budgeting and paying off a huge amount of debt.

[cizzle]

Lurker here... I think the easiest way to do it if you don't want to be super anal is figure out your take home pay. Subtract all of your expenses. Then you should be able to figure out how much you should save each pay period and the rest you're free to spend as you like. That's what we do and it works for us.