Invisapeeps 2.0

Aurora · Senior Member

Do people make a written budget?

iluvsuomi1989 · Senior Member

I clicked "sometimes." I find that when I try and make a budget plan, something totally unexpected happens that makes it difficult to stick to my budget, especially as far as savings go. I suppose I should just have a category named "Totally Unexpected Expense" and try to put money into it that is separate from regular savings.

I do find that when I have a budget, more does go into my savings account and my CC bill goes down. Also, I start seeing areas where I can save money, like entertainment, meals out, etc. that are really cash suckers.

kinalikamom · Senior Member

When we were younger, we did. What we found was that DH and I are very like-minded regarding money. As in, we are thrifty. Tightwads. Unwilling to spend frivolously...You get the picture. We consistently lived beneath our means. We're retired and still do. DH tracks our spending and he would probably say something if an area got out of hand, but that is unlikely.

I did like the discipline of a budget and I believe it does help to know exactly where the money is going.

Aurora · Senior Member

kinalikamom wrote:
When we were younger, we did. What we found was that DH and I are very like-minded regarding money. As in, we are thrifty. Tightwads. Unwilling to spend frivolously...You get the picture. We consistently lived beneath our means. We're retired and still do. DH tracks our spending and he would probably say something if an area got out of hand, but that is unlikely. We consistently lived beneath our means. We're retired and still do. DH tracks our spending and he would probably say something if an area got out of hand, but that is unlikely.

I did like the discipline of a budget and I believe it does help to know exactly where the money is going.

LOL, that is me too! Even the money board thinks I am too thrifty with my fun money.

living revived · Senior Member

We sometimes do. It's more difficult, because our pay varies. DH gets paid once a month, and I get paid weekly and per hour, with my hours varying. We aim to pay the major bills out of what DH gets, and everything else from what I get, but it doesn't always work that way. We do consider it all "our" money, and don't have his and her's accounts.

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

I voted "no". But only because The Wife can't stick to one... so it's pointless. Our "budget" is: "after the required bills are paid... how much is left so I {The Wife} know how much I can spend on stuff/junk?"

RareEyre · Veteran Member

We sorta do. We pay close attention to our accounts and always make sure that the balances are going up rather than down, unless we've had to make a big purchase. Our hobbies aren't terribly expensive and we live pretty simply. There are five of us on one very modest income and we are comfortable.

I do some contract work for my former workplace, but it's only between 6 & 20 hours per month so when we periodically review our budget we don't take it into account (heh) so there is always a small cushion there.

Also, my phone wanted to replace "review" with "Tebow," and I am intrigued at the idea of Tebowing a budget. :)

kinalikamom · Senior Member

Probably better than t-boning a budget!

Cactus · Senior Member

I don't. I am not very good at organizing finances.

OpheliaDev1 · Guru

My financial plan is to be a tightwad. Seriously. I've been a tightwad since I was a child. When I go to the bank for cash, I put a randomly chosen amount from checking into savings. I max out my IRA and every so often I'll send a random chunk to my mutual fund.

Aardvark · But my mom says I'm cool!

I used to have a spreadsheet for everything, but I gave up on it.

RTL · Member

I keep a spreadsheet of all my expenses, and have been doing so for years. I do my best to stick to my budget, but sometimes there are emergencies or circumstances that arise, and there goes what little I have.

winds55 · Guru

I don't. I know I should, but everytime I think about it I find something else to do.

Aurora · Senior Member

winds55 wrote:
I don't. I know I should, but everytime I think about it I find something else to do.

Winds, I think that makes you normal. smile

ladyloonatic · Senior Member

I have, when money was tight, to be sure I had enough money to pay everything that needed to be paid and get my debt paid off. Once I got loans and credit cards paid off, I kind of quit. It really helped when money was tight. I didn't feel so stressed out.

collegebound · Member

I would prefer to have a written one. I write it down on paper and then transfer it to Mint. I would prefer something more complete, but we aren't there yet. DH is very meh about a budget, and I am would prefer to have a realistic budget.

EmmDee · Guru

We do a spreadsheet before each paycheck and then once the check is deposited we evaluate what we have left over after bills and our required savings amount and decide whether to save more or buy something on our wish list. Right now we are at the point that we run down our checking account only because if it is there, it is looked at as something that can be spent. If we move surplus to savings, we do better.

Forty-two · Guru

I can't imagine doing so, I am not sure what I would need one for.

Marie · Veteran Member

We have one but DH does it. He thinks Quicken and spreadsheets are fun, plus we just finished doing Dave Ramsey's series last year. We didn't do a budget for Jan/Feb due to the move to NJ - the cost of living is so much different we had no idea how things would shake out. DH and I are both tightwads though - we tend to save for nice things, rather than buy lots of cheap crap.

EmmDee · Guru

42, we are starting out and developing our spending/savings habits. I hope after a year or two we will have things figured out and it will kind of fall into place. We are still establishing how to be on the same page financially so it is important for us to do this. I do my business on a small scale and have complete control over those finances but we exist solely on DH's income so it is important for us to work together on our short term and long term goals.