How well do you budget your life ?

[calranthe]

Many times I hear from friends or acquaintances "you must be loaded" "damn how did you afford that"

 

The simple fact is my wife is disabled so she gets disability and I am her primary carer, anyone who knows that kind of situation knows you are not rolling in money, far from it and up to three years ago we were living from week to week money coming in and going straight back out.

 

But then I saw an advert for some budgeting software and decided to give it a go.

 

My first try was a failure but then I realized for it to work I needed to be completely honest about every outgoing.

 

It took three months pouring through statements (downloaded from the bank) putting everything down to the single chocolate bar I bought on the way to town.

 

It can be a very sobering reality check.

 

I then took stock once I had all the facts and figures, saw a lot of wasted money and ways to change it we sat down together and made decisions, simple things like stop eating take outs (I have lost 45 pounds) I cook every mean (having a slow cooker means I can buy the cheapest cuts of meat and turn them into the most tender slow cooked creations, I mean cheapest cut of pork over night in the slow cooker melts in the mouth a long with stew and casserole ) Take a shopping list shopping and stick to it, shut down cable TV subscription replaced it with(YouTube, amazon prime and freeview).

Shutdown any game subscriptions you don't play and never pre order, wait to see the reviews and decide if you really want that game.

 

Basic things like that and then future budget, a good program like Acemoney (lite version is free) allows you to look 6 months ahead and see your money levels.

 

We both budget for game releases and hardware, she has her craft subscriptions, I have money I put aside for fun projects, in the budget is even £20 a month to spend at Dlsite on Japanese hentai games.

 

We are now at the point our account can handle minor disasters like my pc dying  after all £1500 for a new PC budget was easy to build up when you realize most people can spend £20 on a take out in one night or drop £50 on a night out just working out what matters more in the long run.

 

What experience have others had in budgeting ?

[Guest MonsterFish]

Is... Is this an advertisement?

 

Either way I have £60 left in my bank account so I'm just about the richest person in the North of England

[GimmeBACON]

It's easy if your'e a penny-pinching bitch like me. I've been poor and living out of my car, so that's my inspiration not to blow all of my cash. Between my two jobs and my gf's job, we have been saving pretty well. I don't know exactly how much money is in her bank, but I have about 15 grand in mine right now. It's not a lot, but, when you keep earning and don't blow through your cash, it adds up pretty easily.

[calranthe]

<-- Northern England too.

 

Takes away a lot of stress knowing that you have that kind of semi security incase you need it, I guess it did sound like one of those adverts you see but the truth of it is sorting this stuff out put us in a much better place than ever before and kind of a paradox, I can now spend more if I wish than I used to have.

 

 

[Millicent Bystander]

Yeah, a clever budget makes the world of difference. Back in 2006 I was heavily in debt, I created a simple budget in excel and a few years later I had paid off my Credit cards, now I live quite happily with a surplus of cash.

[Chaos63]

I'm very jewish when it comes to money, more out of practicality than greed. I always buy the cheapest goods, etiquette and even quality play no real role in my choices. 10$ wine and 100$ wine taste the same, expensive foods get shat out the same way cheap ones do, car is good until it stops getting you from A to B...you get the point.

Screw cash and luxuries...leave that shit to my kids if they want it, I got more than I need.

[idgaflulz]

I budget pretty hardcore. I'm a huge fan of YNAB (You Need A Budget). Their software/methodology fundamentally changed how I handle and look at money.

 

My wife wonders how I continue to grow my savings account so substantially, but dismisses the idea when I tell her she should deposit her money into my account instead of letting me draft it each pay period.

[Vacaliga]

Since my income can vary so much from month to month and season to season setting a budget can be a little tricky, an example would be in 2014 around 75% of my total income that year I made between mid-October and late December, in 2013 it was more even but with the high points being June and July.  

 

So I have set up a sort of safety net, 45% of whatever I make each month goes to the bank no buts no maybes and that covers stuff like property taxes, car insurance payments on my apartment, 15% goes into the company budget to cover stuff like equipment breaking, travel cost etc you know business stuff, the rest I pay myself in salary or allowance if you will. And I basically pretend like that 45% don't exist.

 

By having it set this way I may have times where I don't have a lot of cash to throw around, but I'm never broke. might not be optimal but it works, and it has been such a relief knowing that that stuff is taken care of. nothing can stress me out more than having to worry about money, fuck that shit I have enough headaches.  

 

It has been a little easier to deal with since the girlfriend moved in or rather she stopped going home at some point  

[Joomla]

pretty much this

 

 

 

[AKM]

I've found that for long term, the best way to deal is to simply not see the money.  Put it into savings right off and you won't be tempted to spend it, as it isn't right in front of you for you to see.  Of course, this assumes you have the extra to spare, but then it doesn't take much to get started, either.  The little bits add up fast.  I made a major purchase one year based on dollars and quarters set aside over the course of a summer.

[27X]

1. Determine what's important, budget for that.

 

2. Learn to go without anything important.

 

3. Absolutely and abjectly ignore advertising.

 

4. Spend where it counts. Like computer parts and working clothes and food.

 

5. Eating out is not a necessity.

 

6. Neither are designer brands.

 

7. Neither are sugar drinks.

 

8. If you live in a metropolitan area and own a vehicle and don't work for a Fortune company, you're probably going to be financially strapped for a long time.

 

9. Cable and Network Television is fleeting, the internet is forever.

 

10. Movies are a luxury. Treat them as such.

[axarin]

I pretty much spend money only what I really NEED. 

 

Might be really simple but it is just like that in life I think... I could have chosen to go out with my friends on Saturday night but instead I chose to saty inside to work on my game.

Spent no money, because I didn't need to + go to do some work. 

 

 

[Guest]

pretty much this

 

 

 

 

LOL .... so true in my country. I'm pretty organized when it comes to managing my budget. When I get my salary I participate with most amount of my money (80%) in my household and the rest of the money (which is not much: 50 USD) I'm putting aside for gym monthly membership, going out with friends (2x a month) and for computer parts in the case that something is broken.

[nonusnomeni]

they say 

paycheck (monthly) is a same as period

you have that 2-3 days

and rest of the month you can f.............

 

 

[Chaos63]

they say 

paycheck (monthly) is a same as period

you have that 2-3 days

and rest of the month you can f.............