Budget - Where to start?

[sarahsays]

Does anyone have a budget spreadsheet they would be willing to share with me?

I've recently decided to get divorced and will be moving into an apartment. I've never really had to budget before so I would appreciate any advice on where to start.

[mccallister84]

I really love Every Dollar. It’s a free app you can download. You Need A Budget also comes highly recommended but you have to pay for it - but the principle of living on last month’s income really helped me when I started.

Personally, when I started our budget I combed through the last 3 months of credit card statements (we put everything on the card and pay it off every month). I needed to know what we were spending before I could set guidelines. Like if you’re currently spending $1000 on groceries it’s probably not super realistic to cut it back to $500. And it was really eye opening to me. I was honestly shocked by what we were spending on groceries (and how many times a month I was going to the grocery store!). Once I knew where our money was going it was easier to set up a budget.

[macmars45]

When we bought our TH in 2015 we started using YNAB. We've been very pleased with it.

[flygirl]

I don’t use a budget app to track everything, only everyday spending so I can see how much is left at any point in time during the month (I created a envelope type system thru the Fudget app-for eating out, gas, general household-basically things that fluctuate or are at random times during the month).

[Mrs.flang]

I have an excel spreadsheet that I use. I have a blank template of it that I shared with my SIL if you want to PM me your email I'd be happy to share it!

[hocus2]

Have you tried something simpler like a notebook? I use to use a small spiral notebook with a page for each month when I started keeping track. I wrote out all the fixed costs -- rent, car, utilities (and I always did the plan where it was the same all year), basic groceries etc. I tried to annualized anything annual or quarterly so I would put in say $50 into savings to pay the car insurance every 3 months.

At the time my income was variable so each month was a little different and I tried to save even just a little if I earned more to cover lean months. I also used the envelop system though I didn't have a name for it. I had a fixed amount each week of petty cash. Once it was gone it was gone and then I had to stop spending except for emergencies.

If you're looking more for what can I afford in rent type budgeting then I'd still start with your fixed costs, some set aside for ad hoc and then see what is left from your take home.

[wildrice]

I just use excel. I have all my expenses listed at the top in their own cell, and total those. Then I subtract the total from my monthly income, and what is leftover is for variable expenses. I have a formula set up to add a running total of variable expenses and automatically subtract them from the total remaining, so I always have a number showing of how much I have left to spend each month. If you know how to use basic Excel formulas, it's pretty easy to set up.

I consider anything that is a bill or a regular deduction (like newspaper subscription or Netflix) a fixed expense, but I do not budget my variable expenses other than as one big bucket. For a while I tried doing things like budgeting X amount for groceries, Y amount for eating out, etc, but I found it too frustrating because every single month I'd blow one or more category. I don't eat the same food or do the same entertainment monthly, so having all of it in the same "general" category has given me more flexibility to skip shopping for clothes or housewares or whatever one month if I find I've spent too much on groceries, or not buy tickets to a concert if I've eaten out too much that month already, etc. I think a lot of budgeting is mental though, and it may take some adjusting and experimenting to find something that feels right for you.

[wildrice]

And I skipped the part about getting divorced. So, when I divorced I tried to stick to the recommended 30% of your income going toward housing. It was hard, though. I think mine ended up being more like 35-40% because I just couldn't find anything that wasn't a total shit hole that was cheaper. Since that was my top priority, I made the rest of my budget around it. So that $900 a month for my apartment was a starting point, and often meant I spent less on fun stuff as a result (though luckily I was just fine and could still do some fun things, too!).

So another part of budgeting is deciding what you can live with. I would not put yourself into a position where you have to live somewhere awful just to hit some arbitrary 30% number, but do be realistic about what you can do with the money leftover. There were some really nice places I could have rented that were more like 50-60% of my income, but it would have been impossible to live a nice life if I had gone with them, so I picked a place that wasn't gorgeous but also wasn't a shit hole and just tried to make it nicer with picking out decor, painting, weeding, etc.

[Deleted]

I have an Excel spreadsheet that I have been using since 2013 I think? If you'd like a blank copy, feel free to send me a PM.

I shared it with my friend recently and my advice to her was for the first month or two, instead of having a planned budget, use it more as a tracking tool to get an idea of what and where you are currently spending and then tweak the categories to your personal needs. Like, I have it set up with a bunch of categories right now, some of which have become obsolete over the years. I've also made it a lot more complicated adding even more links and formulas and having multiple tabs for different accounts and what not.

[sarahsays]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I sent PMs to those who offered to share their spreadsheets.

wildrice, I am struggling with some of the things you mentioned. I live in CT and it is expensive. I'm not willing to live somewhere terrible in order to stick to an arbitrary percentage amount for housing, luckily I'm staying with a friend now so I do have some time to find a place that meets my needs. I also have been struggling with separating everything out into neat buckets so I think combining some of the general discretionary spending into one bucket might help.

[wildrice]

sarahsays, good luck! I remember feeling such despair when trying to find a place to live, but I did eventually find one and while it was a few steps down from what I lived in when I was married, it ended up being a great place to live anyway- I have so many wonderful memories that were made in that home, and it was a place of peace and growth, which was so much more valuable than the nicer home I left behind.

I think neat buckets work really well for some personalities, but for me, I tend to say "well I already blew it, so I may as well stop tracking for the month!" and that's not really helpful. It made a huge difference when I made the shift to having more flexibility in those categories. Even if in the end I spend the exact same amount, I don't feel like a failure every month and it's been much easier for me to stay on top of tracking. Of course there are months when I go over budget anyway, but I think they are fewer and further between now.

[mlkgls]

Another vote for both the EveryDollar app and a spreadsheet. I use both, which is probably overkill, but I like each for different reasons. I use the free version of ED instead of linking my accounts and having to physically record each transaction forces me to think twice about each purchase. It’s also super easy to see how much $ is leftover in each spending category at a glance. I use a google sheets doc for more of a big picture, end of year summary.