Rent: 400£/ month
Oyster: 100£/ month

Food: 30£/ week = 130£/ month
Smoking: 5£/ week = 20£/ month

Going out: 25£/ week = 100£/ month
Spend for myself (clothes, stationery, other caprices): 10£/ week = 50£/ month
Other (health, beauty, home etc.): 10£/ week = 50£/ month

TOTAL = 850£/ month

Weekly to spend = 70-80£ 1 week ago

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I’m writing a budget at the beginning of every month. However, I keep having unexpected expenses such as car repairs, etc. which is making it difficult. 6 months ago

I am seriously “White-knuckling” it through Jan and Feb, then I can breathe easier. I’ve got car insurance and tags due for 2 cars right after Christmas. 15 months ago

For right now, I am writing a budget at the beginning of every month. I’ve got a rough January and February coming up. Did one for January. 16 months ago

My boyfriend and I did the Dave Ramsey FPU class Jan 2011 and it was the best $99 we ever spent! While a lot of what’s taught is common sense it was laid out in a very doable plan.

We are now budget masters! We’ve become so good at it that we help friends and family with their own.

The latest was a friend who is a single mom. She didn’t think she’s be able to afford X-mas gifts and catch up on bills she was behind. With a lot of crunching and cutting out a ton of “wants” over needs she’s 100% on track to being caught up January 1st. Her daughter also ended up with a bunch of gifts in the end.

We still love Dave Ramsey and listen to his radio show daily. We’re doing our baby steps, but we aren’t die hard like some people are. We’ve taken what works for us from his program and use that. What didn’t work we either left out for now or switched it up to fit us.

If anyone needs help feel free to ask!

Just so you have some numbers:
Starting Debt: $22,000
Debt when I took FPU Jan 2011: $20,000
As of December 26, 2011: $975

I’m under a $1,000!

I did this all on a $22,000 take home income.

Were there tears? Yes.
Did I throw a few fits? Yes.
Did I have some major “want” moments? Yes.
Was it hard? At first!

It is so worth it though. My boyfriend and I found so many free events in our area for fun. We would save up for special things like a convention or haunted house.

I’m also less of a consumer. It’s amazing what you can live without.

The key is to get fun money! Some paychecks I only got $10 of fun money and it became a game to figure out how to make it stretch out. If you can get $10 a paycheck of fun money you’ll be able to give yourself some little reward.

Sell what you don’t really need, want, or use any more. There are a ton of Buy, Sell, Trade groups on Facebook. Some months I made an extra $100. Every little bit counts. 17 months ago