anyone know how to budget well?

[The Notorious LOL]

Goal Savings ******0687 $5.01
10/05/2006 10:25 PM CDT
Savings Total: $5.01




Totally Free Student Checking *****7571 $3.05 10/05/2006 10:25 PM CDT

Checking Total: $3.05

[befsquire]

no. if i did, i wouldn't be here to read this. i'd be watching the dude who waxes my porsche at my mansion to make sure he doesn't miss a spot. actually, i'd hire someone to watch the dude.

[Dorothy Wood]

omg. I make a budget in my head. I try to spend $10 or less a day. which is really hard, but if you're always thinking about trying to do that, then more expensive things are easier to resist, AND easier to buy later on when you find your bank account a little fluffier the next month ;)

my friend owes me $50, and I just gave cort $40 because she got her purse stolen, so now I have only $80 left after rent until monday, and I want to buy pants tomorrow! I mean, I'm not going to buy $130 worth of pants, but, you know, it's the principal! that $50 was allocated to the gettin-new-pants section of the budget. hmph :mad:

[The Notorious LOL]

well my check is in there now so its much more.


nontheless I absolutely suck at managing money. Cant do it for a damn.

[Rock]

basically cut out all the fun stuff.

[jabumbo]

at one point in my life, i realized that 90% of my expendable cash flow went into either music of eating out. so the way i cut back is to try and not go to the record store every week.

but i feel your pain. i just paid all the bills this month, so my roommates both owe me $500 some a piece, plus i am waiting to get money back after paying for tuition, and i somehow ended up with more to pay that is due next week so i am pretty much screwed

[kate]

i could pretty much rule at setting you a budget. the hard part is making you stick to it.

[Mr Films]

basically cut out all the fun stuff.

yup. thanks to being a jackass during college, now I'm massively in credit card debt. that coupled with the $8,000 movie I financed myself last year.

my bills get paid, then there's nothing left.

[Justin]

I make decent money for a 24 year old so i could care less about saving up for retirement at this time. I just make sure my rent is paid every month....other than that I buy stuff!

I learned about this the hard way. My father would always save at least $50,000 all the time in the bank and never spend it...and he was never happy. He was always like, "well I gotta put this in the bank, we may buy it next month".....I hated that! He had no loans or credit payments to make.

I work all week so when the weekend comes I take the money that I've earned and go out and spend it!

Money will do nothing for you sitting in the bank when your dead.

(I am single, no kids, so I have NO Leeches at this point)

[Teh]

stop binge drinking you stupid bastard


nah just kidding. just allocate a certain amount of money for the 'essentials' each month - and in that include a sum for random stuff too. that way you can adjust how much cash you're actually allocating each section and start spending less on certain stuff - but saving that cash rather than allocating it to something else if you see what i mean.

either way itll probably make your social life suffer a bit if you're out every other night.

[venusvenus123]

yeah, i do thanks.:cool:

[Bitchamachacha]

Yup.

Being a single mom, I HAVE to budget. I'm far from rich, and have debts to pay off. Most of the extra $ I make goes to credit cards I ran up during my money moron days.

Once a week I take Aiedyn out to eat at his fave restraunt, which just happens to me a Mexican place where the food is delish and cheap, you get full service AND you get free chips and salsa (which is why Aiedyn loves it so much). With a 20% tip, we walk out of there for like $10.

I did splurge on new jeans though this week because all of my other jeans and pants are too big due to my health craze. Oh, and I bought a dress which will function as my Halloween costume and birthday outfit.

[ET]

Try imagining yourself living on the streets if you don't phase out all of the needless shit that you buy.

I am sure that your social status is determined by all of the Roca Wear fashion that you purchase... that will have to go! Pinching pennies when it comes to clothing is a major step. Nothing wrong with going to Goodwill (the more decent ones) or Target. At least for pants.

Get rid of your cable if you have it. Otherwise you're going to have to sell your tv anyway.

Whenever you drive it's got to be from work and back. If there's a grocery store on the way back then do your shopping on the way home. It's nitpicky but saving a few bucks a week adds up. $10 buys a lot of ramen. Which should probably be half of your dietary intake anwyay.



It's just a matter of cutting the crap out of your spending habits and pretending it's the depression. DDD should know about these things, she's jewish.

[The Notorious LOL]

I gets all my pants at Target shun :cool:


and I havent bought an album in six months. Ipod and piracy all the way.


I think it boils down to food, essentially. I am a lazy, lazy, lazy man...and often times I just eat out...but not crap, I get more expensive better stuff at like $8-$10 a meal, so you figure thats sometimes $20+ a day in food as I usually only eat two meals.

No wonder I spend so much every two weeks :mad:


and cmute, the "make more money" logic is idealistic. Anyone who comes into more money finds more ways to spend it. My check this week is $500 more than usual...yet I wont have a lot in excess after bills and stuff are paid.

[venusvenus123]

yeah, the little things make a difference.

for example, i have cut down massively on the amount of takeaway coffees i get. i know they're the same price in the US as they are here (at starbucks for instance). i bought myself a little one-person coffee press and saved immediately.

don't eat crap tho... and i'm sure you won't, but making your own stuff saves £££

[paul jones]

I can't budget very well because I spend it all on concerts,cd's,dvd's and e-bay(y)

[Yeti]

I was always taught to budget from my folks. My mother could pinch the bronze off a penny. I began working at 13--I mowed over 20 lawns--was a paperboy--worked on farms--etc. Even then I put money in savings and invested in bonds. When I began working in my chosen career of photojournalism I invested the full amount in 401ks and stock options. I know it is difficult with bills and other essentials to save. There is a good book called--The Millionaire Next Door. Normal people can save significant amounts of money with average incomes. Investing in real estate is a good option because renting is a black hole. I bought my 1st home with a Fannie May Foundation loan when I was just out of college. I maintained the home and improved it by landscaping--installing central air--etc. I sold it for a $77 grand profit 5 years later. It is all about responsibility and biting the bullet. There are alot of people out there with stinking thinking and always look at prosperity as an unattainable goal. Being comfortable and stable financially is very attainable. Just ask questions to people that understand investing and you will succeed.

[abcdefz]

i could pretty much rule at setting you a budget. the hard part is making you stick to it.



That's exactly what I was thinking.

Heck, I know how to make a budget. I also know how to make a bed, iron clothes, and do the dishes. :D

[b-grrrlie]

Heck, I know how to make a budget. I also know how to make a bed, iron clothes, and do the dishes. :D
Man of my taste! :D

The last two winters were pretty harsh for me, but luckily (?) I was raised with by an extremely scroogy father, so I knew I could make it. When times really got tought I sold some stuff on eBay and Tradera (Swedish version of it) so I could buy some more BRMC and Beastie stuff on eBay.... :rolleyes:

[The Notorious LOL]

I worked a lot when I was young. I had two paper routes and mowed a lot of lawns. Saved up for a lot of large purchases for a 11, 12 year old. I always had fancy toys because obviously at that age I didnt have to worry about buying clothes and stuff.


Problem is I never got in the habit of saving. If i had it, I spent it...and I am trying to break that cycle. I would save, yes...but only for large purchases...basically knowing that that money would be used to buy something in a few months.

[Loppfessor]

All I know is you gotta spend money to make money....I'm halfway there!

[Yeti]

I worked a lot when I was young. I had two paper routes and mowed a lot of lawns. Saved up for a lot of large purchases for a 11, 12 year old. I always had fancy toys because obviously at that age I didnt have to worry about buying clothes and stuff.


Problem is I never got in the habit of saving. If i had it, I spent it...and I am trying to break that cycle. I would save, yes...but only for large purchases...basically knowing that that money would be used to buy something in a few months.

I was a weird kid. I used my lawn mowing $ to buy another mower and got a friend to help.

[abcdefz]

I have one friend who swears by the envelope method of budgeting. Figure out what your budget items are and create an envelope for each and label it, then stick the appropriate amount of cash in there. Then you can spend however you like 'til the money is gone, and that's it -- no robbing "Groceries" to pay "Slowly-mounting crack habit", etc.

[Dr Deaf]

i can juggle cash pretty good. somehow i don't think that counts for anything...

[ET]

You're going to basically have to figure out an average cost of your needs, like utilities/gasoline/HOMECOOKED food etc. and turn that into a percentage. Then work with the rest of your cash (ie SAVE IT) for future bill payments/emergencies. When you then have some savings going on you will have more to hold onto in your upcoming checks and can push it off onto your debts if you still have those (and I really hope you don't?). abcdefz's friend's idea is good once it becomes feasable.

Get into the habit of making bag lunches for work when you get sick of the cup of noodles and can afford the smoked turkey. Maybe it's just me but I find that a light lunch leaves me more productive. Cuz the ITIS hits me pretty hard and I don't like thinking about my lunch options as soon as I get to work. It's distracting. But like a loaf of bread, some turkey, and lettuce (and banana peppers) is like $10+ for me. And I'm fed for the week.

For real though, no more videogames for a while either. :( (Except romz lol)