Create a budget and stick to it

I’m doing this. Even after ahem a blip on the financial radar today, I’ll still break even (including the purchase of a new gym membership and a ski trip – which dad is really amazingly helping me pay for).

After that, I will kick into savings mode. This is good and a real improvement on the status quo. I won’t owe ANY money to the flat account, which is the biggie for me. Progress, not perfection (but I will reach perfection with this goal before the year is out!).

OK. There are several things that need to happen before I can manage to do this. The first thing: I need to get my student loan payment reduced to match my income, per the new income based repayment guidelines. Right now, it is ridiculously high.

There are couple of excellent reasons for reducing my student loan payment. 1) I will qualify for federal loan forgiveness in 10 years, provided I continue to work in public libraries and provided the policy remains in place…therefore, increasing the repayment period for my loans is less problematic than it might otherwise be. 2) My current loan payments are high enough that putting savings away is difficult.

I have the paperwork I need – what I’ll need to do next is to submit this paperwork to each of my lenders (I have 2). According to the calculators I’ve used, there is a good chance I qualify for income-based repayment.

Once this is sorted out, and I (hopefully) have a more reasonable monthly payment, I’ll be able to actually budget savings for several purposes.

August 31-September 13
Income: $940.00
AT&T: $397.00 (5th)
COX: $107.00 (1st)
Dentist Appointment: $150.00 (4th)?
Commerce Card: $125.00 (13th)
HSBC Card: $25.00 (13th)
(Extras: gas for car, extra credit card payment)

September 14-29
Income: $1,136.00
Bank of America Card: $75.00 (15th)
Cox: $190.00 (21st)
Furniture Row: $500.00 (23rd)
Car Insurance: $40.00 (27th)
(Extras: gas for car)

September 30- October 13
Income: $1,331.00
Ryan’s Birthday Party: $200.00 total (present, cake, and all) (4th)
AT&T: $400 (?) (5th)
Commerce Card: $125.00 (13th)
HSBC Card: $25.00 (13th)
(Exras: gas for car, dental payments?, other credit card payment)

October 14-30
Income: $1,581.00
Bank of America Card: $100.00 (15th)
Cox: $190.00 (21st)
Furniture Row: $500.00 (23rd)
Car Insurance: $20.00 ?
Halloween: $25.00 per child ($50.00 total)

I feel a million times better about this goal. I sat down and waded through my financial situation, and was able to come up with a decisive plan of action that can be easily implemented in about half an hour (which, I must admit, has led to further pangs of guilt for not just biting the bullet and doing it sooner).

The vital factor for me when it comes to money is simplicity. There are other areas of my life where I delight in the complex, but money matters just don’t fall within that category. My plan involves limited action on my part, and really just requires me to be self-disciplined. If I’m leaving my cards at home in the morning, there’s no reason why I can’t be.

What I’ve essentially done is recognised that I earn different amounts for different pay cycles. The non-negotiable is that my rent has to be paid each week, as opposed to just with my larger pay cheque. On Thursdays, I’ll prance across to the nearest ATM and withdraw my discretionary spending in cash for that week. And that’s it. Finito. No more. The only time my debit card will be making an appearance is when I do my fortnightly supermarket shop. This will also help me re getting into a good routine with meals, etc. I’m working from the ground up.

I love the simplicity of it all. It is, as engineers would say, an elegant solution. Week One begins next Thursday, and I’ll report back then.

It’s official. I have had ENOUGH. I am sick and tired (yes, sick and tired) of being in financial turmoil, with my bank account constantly on the brink of cardiac arrest. After a recent chat with Karen about the amount of time and energy we invest in not doing the things we want to, I am taking a stand against my own lack of motivation and general wave-riding in this area.

1. Clear all debts (flat account). done
2. Calculate sources of income and when I receive them, and total income. done
3. Calculate fixed expenses (rent, food). Keep that money in WP account. done
4. Set an amount of money for discretionary spending. Take Lover Boy’s advice and withdraw that money in one lot. Move all other monet into NB acocunt. done
5. Take cards out of wallet and leave them at home. will be done from next Thursday, when this starts
6. Set aside a day (probably Thursday) for reviewing all things money-related, and updating goals. done – noted in diary and on calendar

That should do it. My self-directed frustration over this is at the point where I need to take action now. This is a good, simple start that is focussed on actually taking positive steps as opposed to just talking about them, which is all I seem to do in this area.

I’ll soon be back to having a paycheck that will go far enough to allow me to pay down debt and put away something for short- and long-term savings (I think so, anyhow).

Living paycheck to paycheck as an adult was kind of an eyeopener. Not a terrible place to be as a college student with few worries, but as an adult, not fun. And it made me kind of throw up my hands and avoid budgeting much – because even when I did, there was no real savings at the end of the month. I budgeted just enough to make sure I could pay my bills, and that’s it.

I desperately want to live WITHIN my means, now that they’ll be more respectable.

ETA: I’m trying out the various online budgeting software(s). The only way I’m going to be able to do this intelligently is to face the whole picture (student debt and all).

I’ve created a budget that should work. Now I just have to stick to it…. to be continued.

From this new year I’m not gonna use any credits cards at all, just cash! I’m gonna create a budget and stick to it to!

Sticking to a detailed budget has never been my strong point but I seem to have come to a happy compromise with myself about weekly spending on food and non-essentials. What with holidays and Christmas I’ve not been saving much the past couple of months and that is due to continue with some big expenses coming up.

I also think I’ve had a bit of a change in outlook when it comes to balancing daily pleasures against savings in the bank, and now that I have a decent buffer set aside I feel better about letting myself have things that are going to improve the quality of my day-to-day life and especially encourage my creativity.

So the main thing now is to make sure I am not wasting money, and to live within my income over the long term.

I now have hubby in agreement we will create the budget from ONE income, although we have two. That way if we have spill over, we will work harder to eliminate it so we can comfortably live on just one income in addition to the other, and the other can be used to further pay down debt, donate to charity, etc.

As far as the actual numbers and budget categories….we’re still bickering over that…lol!