How important is keeping a budget?

Question

If you are married, or even single, budgeting is pretty basic. What comes in vs what goes out equals either stress or stress free. At the end of the month you either have some left over, you break even, or you are in further debt. How do you deal with this? Please try and be a specific as possible.

Answer 1

My husband and I have separate bank accounts and we split up the bills between us. I take care of childcare, groceries, phone/dsl, satellite and water. He takes care of the mortgage, electric, insurance, gas and credit cards (his). This way we know how to budget our own checks and have money left to use between us for extra's. Some months can still be tight though (4 kids and all). We both "force" out 20 a week to savings and can only touch for car emergency or house emergency. As far as entertainment we do not budget per say for that. We do try to eat out once a month as a family and do a summer vacation with income tax refund money. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

We are very specific with our money

We have a quarterly budget.....and then we also have a one year plan & a 5 year plan as financial goals.

After we started doing this....we both know what we want to accomplish and how we're going to accomplish it.

We made a list of how much money comes in and what goes out every month.....such as mortgage, car payments, insurance, food, gas, utilities, personal stuff like hair, nails etc.

Then we put how much we're saving or investing....and how much for short term entertainment like dinners out.....and long term entertainment like vacations.

I hope this is what you're looking for.

We no longer have money worries....it was one of the best things we've ever done.

Answer 3

Don't spend too much on your wife, save your money for mistresses and prostitutes (if you're in Nevada like me).  

Answer 4

I use an excel spread sheet... I input all of our income and then based upon when we get paid, I put down how much I'm sending to each bill.

I get paid weekly, so I have to update it every week. I try to leave $100.00 each week for groceries and such, all the while paying the bills and putting some into savings. It works for me.

Answer 5

we've been dealing with this for 36 yrs, seems like we have lived from paycheck to paycheck most of our lives.  But you pretty much have it right as far as stress.  It seems to always looks easier if its spread out on paper as far as money coming in and bills gooing out.  if you include all the stuff like groceries, utilities and all ur bills, and wow GAS money, not sure how some people do it now days.  Sometimes it helps to be married I think or share an apt with someone to share some expenses.  Just if you are married, share the bills with the money, meaning hand over all money to the same account and have just one of you handle the payments.  And the other has to understand what the accountant says as far as spending.  keep it real.

Not sure what else to add.  Just common sense I guess.  You have to find fun things to do that don't cost much is all.  But ya gotta live your life other than just working for the banks and bills.  keep within your means.

Answer 6

OMG budgeting is THE MOST IMPORTANT and can change the way you live. Now for most people there are things you can cut out of your life to save a little extra cash. Like Food, gas, hair cuts ( military), and entertainment should be cash. If you do the envelope system it will keep you from over spending. For example: My husband and I stay on a very tight budget so when can pay off debt. It works great! Every two weeks I put money in my envelopes. 100 for food, 100 for gas,45 for entertainment, and 30 for hair cuts. He's in the military so he has to have his hair cut. By having cash for these things you never over spend. When you run out THATS IT! For those 2 weeks. ( now gas is different buddet to your own car) But dont drive more then you need to.

Its very important to buddget for intertainment, if you never do anything not even a movie you will blow your budget one month because you go stir crazy. No as for bills. Say credit cards. You pay min to everything maybe about 5 dollars over and then take ALL your extra money and put that towards 1 card. The least ammount card. Not lowest intrest rate. Intrest rate dont matter right now. When you pay off that small card roll that payment over to the next card and so on and so on. Its called the debt snowball. I recomend the total money makeover book by dave ramsey. It is a wonderful book that has help my husband and I to get on the road to get out of debt. I must say its been working great. I have an emergency fund and a regular savings. If ALL your money has a place to go then you will have enought to pay down bills, save, and have a little fun.

Now for your food bill, Every two weeks do a menu. Look in your cabnits and plan a meal around what you already have then just by the fillers. You will save a lot of money that way. Hope I helped.

Answer 7

my husband keeps  us always on a budget if he did not er would have nothing i love to spend money. it is very important in our life to have a budget we know what goes out every month and what we have for food and shelter the rest is on gas to work and back now days maybe something small to spend on a weekend if any, so yes we keep a budget have to survive so it is very important every day living in our home

Answer 8

If you want a specific answer, ask a specific question.  Your third sentence pretty much says it all...problem is, many people simply can't control their spending well enough to comply.

Answer 9

My husband takes care of our finances. He generally knows what comes in and goes out. Bills and salaries are generally the same from month to month, and he doesn't include into his budget anything we make "on the side" (which in his case is sometimes several grand a month). This way we always know what we can count on, and anything that comes in "over" this amount is an extra bonus. We don't really have a spending budget - there are some living expenses which are roughly the same every month, like gas and groceries, and whenever we need something we just buy it. We're not big spenders, so we do well without a strict budget that accounts for every penny. We're saving plenty of money, too.

P.S. We don't have a "list", but my husband keeps very good track of all bills that need to be paid each month (we use an automatic bill-paying service, but he also knows in his head what the bills are). All of our accounts are joint, but he's the one mainly in charge of our "financial planning". We discuss large discretionary purchases, but generally we have very similar ideas of how to spend and how to save, so we don't report every dollar to each other. I'm in charge of groceries and making food, and I spend as much as I deem necessary on that; my husband is more in charge of anything that comes to our home - repairs, renovations, household appliances - so he makes the decision on how to handle that, and I'm not involved in the minute financial details of it. I trust his judgment completely. It works out.

Answer 10

You must live below your means...earn more than you spend.  If you are constantly looking for additional funds at the end of the month, you must increase your income...part time job...or do without. I cannot tell you how many people I have advised on this subject...and it is a basic issue...but causes many problems.

Answer 11

First of all, it let's you know how you are spending your money

It also make sure that you pay your bills on time. So when you look at the due date on your various bills, you can plan on advance when you are going to pay that bill and make sure that you have it so you don't incur any late charges or have other problems with it.

It also allows you to save for special purposes.

I think finally the most important is keeping things organized. It is something that if you don't keep track of it can be problematic for you and cause problems ( credit problems )

Answer 12

When I was first out of college and spiraling into that pit that most of us get into at that point in our lives, I decided I needed a budget. I wrote down every penny I spent for about 2 weeks. Not kidding, every penny. If I bought a pop at the gas station, I wrote it down; if I bought a newspaper out of a vending machine, I wrote it down. After 2 weeks I sat down and figured out where all my money was going and then decided what I needed to cut back on and how much I needed to budget for the necessities, as well as a few luxuries.

My husband had NO budget when I met him, and I managed to keep a budget for the first few years we were married, but when his son moved in with us, the budget went out he window. We manage to get by, but I know we could economize if he would just take a look at how much we are spending on things like eating out and entertainment. My husband works really hard and feels like he should be able to treat himself whenever he wants. I agree that he should be able to do the fun things he enjoys, like golf, but know when to say when!!! I started hiding money from him and have managed to save over $10,000 that he doesn't know about. Don't judge me! I'm not hiding it for myself; I'm hiding it so we have a cushion in case something were to happen and one of us couldn't work.