Budgeting
I have another confession:I hate money.
OK, not really hate MONEY, but I hate talking about money and what we have and don't have and what we save and don't save and what we should spend and save and.....AHHHHH!
I'd rather cover my ears and sing 'la la la la la' over and over until Dave shuts up!
Now, I've never been an over spender. We always pay our credit card at the end of each month. We are very careful with our money. We spend wisely.
Money talk just stresses me out to no end.
We've tried the writing down every penny we spend for a month to see what we waste our money on, but we always quit half way through.
We used to balance our checkbooks regularly, but then came the invention of debit cards and on line banking. You want to know what you have spent and what you have left, you see it all on line down to the penny.
It must be so strange to be a teenager these days. No checkbooks, no saving receipts, no REAL math to do. It's all done for you.
But with Dave's new job and a new income, it's time for us to really see what we spend our money on each month.
Kether posted a great free budgeting software program the other day and I had to try it out.
It's GREAT!
I made different entries: mortgage; gas; groceries; walmart/target; water and light; etc....that and added in all of September and October.
I was embarrassed to say the least at how much money we spend on takeout alone. And the sad thing is is that it's not fun family dinners out either, it's subway on a Saturday afternoon or a pizza on a Friday night. Add in the Mc'D's on occasion and we've got TOO much money going to take out.
It went from "ACK! Money talk!" while running to the next room to, "we spend HOW much on WHAT!?" with the true desire to know!
The funny thing is that I did this all without Dave knowing. I'm so psyched for him to get home and see just what I started. He'll be so proud! ;)
I'm curious about your budget. Are you up to date with just how much you are spending on things like take out and Target trips? Do you give yourself an allowance each month? I know that that works for some people, would it work for you? If I knew I had so much money a week to spend on whatever I wanted, would I be so quick to drive through a drive through on a busy day? Or would I perhaps make a quick meal and hang on to that for a coffee treat or new shirt?
Man, laundry and budgeting all in one week. What's wrong with me! :) (And Simone, you totally have me beat. What are you going to do when the baby comes?!?)
posted by Jen at 2:19 PM
5 Comments:
For the most part - no drive-thru, no take out. Almost no eating out or restaurant meals.
I can honestly say that 80% of our spending is just the cost of living, utilities, mortage, etc. Another 20% is school and activity expenses.
When you're poor it's so easy to know where the money goes... LOL.
3:27 PM
The biggest key to the success of my marriage has been to have seperate money. We deal with money in entirely different ways. Dave is beyond what someone would call cheap and saves every stinking last penny. He knows where everything goes---he even knows how much more we spend for cheese (well I believe its a dairy category, I don't know that he goes all the way down to cheese..) Me, well I spend every month until zero and then I start again. Well, usually I end up with a few dollars or two. I never ever ever have rainy day money.
But, the time has come for me to mend some of my ways. I just got tired of seeing all my money fly the coop with relatively little to show for it. Imagine his shock and suprise when he saw my budgeting stuff and my pie charts, etc. Well, first there was the whole part where he almost had a heartattack over my eating out at lunch and ebay etc. But, then there was a pride--almost as if I had finally decided to go to AA.
Now if I could only truly conquer the laundry basket habit.
Its only my clothes. Everyone else's get put away.
4:28 PM
My Dave (yes, we all have Dave's) is always on my ass about budgeting and saving. We have separate bank accts and it just works way better for us that way. We split the rent, I pay some bills, he pays others, I get groceries. And whoever has $ on the wknd pays for dinners out or whatever. It just works. Now do I have a budget? No. Should I? Oh yes. I depend on my overdraft way too much.
Oh, and laundry when the baby comes? I think I may have to send it out and have them (laundry people) do it. It's twice as expensive but they have it ready for you same day. I just can't imagine doing it every couple days like I hear you have to with a baby in the house. Yikes!
5:27 PM
Dave's must love budgeting.
Simone is a fellow The Cure lover! yay!
8:09 PM
I used to know where all of my money went and then I got married. When I was single, if I wanted something I used cash. It's hard ot buy something when you don't have the money to pay for it.
Then I got married. Married to a man who likes to use credit cards because it is easier to track our money that way. Like you, we always pay them off every month, but I know I would make far less 'impulse buys' if I wasn't using a credit card. But my husband is a CPA, and manages our money very well, so it's hard to argue. I just think we could trim off some of the fat is all. Course, I guess that means no more take-out!
10:14 PM
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