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Started By
Message
How do you and your SO budget?
Posted on 11/2/15 at 5:58 pm
Posted on 11/2/15 at 5:58 pm
My wife and I are starting the process of creating a Budget. This was our first month in writing down (spreadsheet) the budget. We broke ours out into individual weeks and appropriated money based on income each week and what bills we would pay at the middle of the month or at the end of the month. It seemed to work OK and i'm sure there's better methods out there. What does everyone on the MB do? Do you sit down with your SO each month and go over the following month budget (Dave Ramsey's style) or does one of you take charge and do it every month?
Also, do you use websites live everydollar.com or more conventional methods?
Interested to see how we can improve ours.
Thanks.
Also, do you use websites live everydollar.com or more conventional methods?
Interested to see how we can improve ours.
Thanks.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 6:56 pm to CHiPs25
Like a construction project. ... plan to go 25% over budget.
Life happens
Life happens
Posted on 11/2/15 at 9:12 pm to CHiPs25
We just started direct deposit breakdown like this:
Needs 50% post tax income to joint account (mortgage, bills, grocery, etc)
Savings 25% between 401k and joint savings
Wants 25% into individual accounts that we can spend on whatever
Needs 50% post tax income to joint account (mortgage, bills, grocery, etc)
Savings 25% between 401k and joint savings
Wants 25% into individual accounts that we can spend on whatever
Posted on 11/2/15 at 9:16 pm to Larry Gooseman
My wife has built an insanely complicated spreadsheet that tracks everything from our net worth, debt repayments, monthly spending etc. It's quite impressive.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 9:34 pm to CHiPs25
Wife built an Excel spreadsheet with all of our bills broken up into first half and second half of the month, and which bills are paid from her LLC. Then we broke down exactly how much money I bring in, how much she needs to supplement and how much we budget for 'play money'. Everything above & beyond goes into savings/retirement. We just revisited our expenses and cut out some of the unnecessary expenses to bolster savings a little more.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 9:38 pm to LSUGUMBO
I love Excel (live in it every day and am considered an expert by everyone I work with) but I have no desire to build a complex model for personal finances. I have built a basic income tax calculator that fed into a generic budget template. I only use that to estimate net worth increase annually.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 10:01 pm to CHiPs25
We get paid twice a month - both of us on 15th and last day.
We have a spreadsheet that at the top lists our net checks - which is after taxes, insurances, retirement, and savings allocations (we both have our checks split into our checking account and savings account).
Two sets of columns, one for each half of the month.
Next we list out all our "bills" such as mortgage, student loans, utilities, tuition, etc.
What's left is what we have to spend. We budget this roughly into four categories: groceries and home items, entertainment/eating out, fuel/car maintenance, and kids stuff. We then get cash on payday and do envelopes for the entertainment/eating out and kids stuff budget items.
It's probably overly complicated but it works for us. The two areas we get cash are the two areas in our life where we are prone to overspending. We generally don't overspend on car expenses or groceries.
We have a spreadsheet that at the top lists our net checks - which is after taxes, insurances, retirement, and savings allocations (we both have our checks split into our checking account and savings account).
Two sets of columns, one for each half of the month.
Next we list out all our "bills" such as mortgage, student loans, utilities, tuition, etc.
What's left is what we have to spend. We budget this roughly into four categories: groceries and home items, entertainment/eating out, fuel/car maintenance, and kids stuff. We then get cash on payday and do envelopes for the entertainment/eating out and kids stuff budget items.
It's probably overly complicated but it works for us. The two areas we get cash are the two areas in our life where we are prone to overspending. We generally don't overspend on car expenses or groceries.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 10:08 pm to LSUFanHouston
What do yall consider needs/bills? Do vehicles count or is that a personal thing? What about furniture and stuff? I could see a female saying a blah blah sofa being necessary and the man not agreeing, or likewise an f250 necessary when the wife doesn't care about vehicles.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 10:55 pm to CHiPs25
At this point, we do not actively budget.
We max all retirement accounts(403b, 457, IRAs) pay all of our bills in full each month, and neither of us is a big spender.
We have never spent more than we make and started off saving all of her income.
We are high income, but also have a lifetime of savings habits.
I guess we should look at where we spend money, but it may not change much. We are not in any financial strain.
We max all retirement accounts(403b, 457, IRAs) pay all of our bills in full each month, and neither of us is a big spender.
We have never spent more than we make and started off saving all of her income.
We are high income, but also have a lifetime of savings habits.
I guess we should look at where we spend money, but it may not change much. We are not in any financial strain.
Posted on 11/2/15 at 11:30 pm to LSUFanHouston
quote:
We have a spreadsheet that at the top lists our net checks - which is after taxes, insurances, retirement, and savings allocations (we both have our checks split into our checking account and savings account).
Two sets of columns, one for each half of the month.
Next we list out all our "bills" such as mortgage, student loans, utilities, tuition, etc.
What's left is what we have to spend.
This is essentially what we do to this point. I update it weekly in about 5-10 minutes with our expenses for the week that aren't "bills". Then send a text to the wife letting us know how we're doing for the remainder of the month, etc.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 6:57 am to makersmark1
quote:
makersmark1
This is how we've always operated as well, but it's starting to make me nervous. I'm concerned we're basically papering over some bad habits, habits that could bite us in the arse if our income ever drops. And by we I mean, specifically, me.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 7:34 am to Cold Cous Cous
quote:
This is how we've always operated as well, but it's starting to make me nervous. I'm concerned we're basically papering over some bad habits, habits that could bite us in the arse if our income ever drops. And by we I mean, specifically, me
Same here.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 7:38 am to Cold Cous Cous
When my day rate got cut about 6 months ago (oil & gas), it forced us to take a look at all of the bad financial habits we had created. She was ordering all kids of stuff (makeup, clothes, etc) and not thinking anything of it since we were 'doing fine' it was kind of a blessing in disguise- we really cut back a lot of expenses.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 8:26 am to CHiPs25
We only have 1 credit card and we both monitor it closely. We know how much we can pay off at the end of each month. If we start getting close to that limit, we simply slow spending down till the end of the month.
I've tried spreadsheets and apps and whatnot but we never really keep up with them for more than a month or so.
We also tried the all cash thing for like 3 months.
This method was the simplest and has been the most effective.
I've tried spreadsheets and apps and whatnot but we never really keep up with them for more than a month or so.
We also tried the all cash thing for like 3 months.
This method was the simplest and has been the most effective.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 8:37 am to CHiPs25
quote:
Do you sit down with your SO each month and go over the following month budget (Dave Ramsey's style) or does one of you take charge and do it every month?
We are currently doing the Dave Ramsey debt snowball (not the cash envelopes though), so yes we have our budget meeting at the first of the month. We discuss upcoming expenses together and stick to it. We use Dave's EveryDollar budget app and it's very easy to use.
I just sounded like a Dave Ramsey commercial.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 9:26 am to SATNIGHTS
quote:
YNAB
I hadn't heard of this before but I just watched the video on the website and it looks interesting. How long have you been using this and is it a big improvement over any other methods you have used?
Posted on 11/3/15 at 9:26 am to bwallcubfan
I am not yet married, but I did get my girlfriend to start using Mint. I will continue to live by Mint as it is the easiest way to aggregate all of my financials for viewing purposes.
My setup is generally:
1) Create an analysis to understand what my take home pay will be for the upcoming year. Then, make sure I am cash flow positive every month.
2) Track transactions and net worth on Mint each month to make sure that it is increasing at approx the pace I am expecting.
My setup is generally:
1) Create an analysis to understand what my take home pay will be for the upcoming year. Then, make sure I am cash flow positive every month.
2) Track transactions and net worth on Mint each month to make sure that it is increasing at approx the pace I am expecting.
Posted on 11/3/15 at 9:31 am to CHiPs25
I use mint.com to track our spending. From there I have an excel spreadsheet with all expenses. Each expense has the date of withdrawal, withdrawal type (credit card or checking), and estimated cost.
I try to keep the spreadsheet updated a few times a week and project my remaining balance at the end of every month.
I try to keep the spreadsheet updated a few times a week and project my remaining balance at the end of every month.
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