Budget. Yep...that word is brought up monthly in our household and after months and months of "talking" about it, we finally read Dave Ramsey's book,
Total Money Makeover, and decided now that a baby's on the way, we gotta get moving on this budgeting idea! We felt we were pretty good with our money, but actually writing down every single dollar that goes out the window every month and seeing how much money we've been spending was actually a shock to us both. Because Andy and I both earn commission, monthly budgeting is kinda difficult, but we figured out what we
wanted to be living on every month (which is significantly less than what we are currently living on) and decided to use that number to budget. It's only been two weeks and I have to admit, it's hard. Using cash versus a card is a pain, but I can already see how much more mindful I am of spending now that I'm paying with cash. Also, we won't be living off two incomes forever, so we might as well get used to what that feels like now!
I'm a visual person, so I wrote out our budget on a whiteboard over my desk and color coded it...
As hard as budgeting is, it's also very exciting to visually see on a month to month basis getting closer (rather than further) to our financial goals. Does your family follow a budget? How closely do you follow it?
ok, I love budgeting. not sure why but I have loved it since college. And then when I started dating Sean I made his budget, yeah, I'm a little crazy.
ReplyDeleteI stick to it to a T but I have learned that I need to budget fun money. if i don't, I cheat. So we both get fun money when we get paid. I get to shop and go to movies and Sean gets to do what it is that boys do :)
I need to do this! I just bought my first car with a car payment and am nervous about how everything will work out! A budget is on my todo list!
ReplyDeleteI love the process of budgeting but I hate it that I have to be on one! As for budgeting I have one tip. I'd estimate the low end of income for you two. Base your budget on the average lowest it could be and then for those months you exceed that lower income then it will feel like extra and you will have left over money for savings or whatever else that pops up. If you do it the other way around then when you make less you might come up short on bill planning etc. My 2 cents!!
ReplyDeleteWe totally budget. It can be tough but also rewarding. We just decided yesterday to make a big Cinco de Mayo party our next short-term saving goal! Keep us posted on how the budgeting goes!
ReplyDeleteThe hubs and I totally did Dave Ramsey's financial peace university and read his book - life changing for us! In three months we had a few months living expenses saved up and a few of our debts paid off, and we were feeling huge amounts of relief! Now we are trying to stay motivated and consistent in our spending habits, which includes budgeting every week. Keep at it! It totally works. (P.S. I was pregnant when we started our budget process too.)
ReplyDeleteIt is a great program, we've read most of the wookbook, and have implemented a lot... it's so so hard though, takes such discipline, but once you get into a few months or so, you will feel a lot better. We don't have car payments now, and are debt free except our home mortgage, it's really nice!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, haha SO hard to use cash instead of a bank card LOL
and isn't it crazy when you write down where you spend your money just how LITTLE we need? I found exactly where my weaknesses were and that made it easy to STOP that ridiculous spending....:o