Friday night (at 11:15 when we got home from the temple) we start talking about our trip the next morning. Mike starts to show some hesitations about the cost. We don't really have a budget, we just try to get good deals and not buy things we don't need. And after some recent looses in the stock market (gag) I think he is just playing it a little more conservative. He noted that we have a trip to VT planned in a few weeks, I am planning on buying new work clothes, I just had to have my car fixed and we still have to pay for the rest of our Costa Rica trip soon. With all that coming up he couldn't justify spending $100+ to go to the water park, especially one without a lazy river. I agreed it probably would be wise to just stay home and do some errands together.
So where do we go? Costco. Mistake. Luckily there were no blender, mattress, sunglass or knife companies there doing road shows, but they did have some nice things. Coats, vests, pants, jeans, shirts, shorts, food, thankfully the samples are free. We go to the check out and our bill was over $200. We would have saved more money going to 6 flags. lol.
I think we need some help. Three years of marriage and still no budget. What will happen when we have kids? We need to figure this whole thing out. Maybe I should pay more attention to my mint.com alerts telling me I have gone over my "budget" in certain areas.
Any suggestions on your favorite ways to save? How do you manage your budgets? Are you good about sticking to them? I need some suggestions that are practical & easy.
We have been budgeting well since we got married. Soren is pretty extreme about it and I make it more practical so we can still "live". We use an excel page monthly that Soren programmed to keep track. I have started a weekly and then monthly budget allotment. I figured out what Soren makes a month, what we need to live a month, tithing, savings etc, then the extra for fun things and then we divide that my weeks in a month and that is our weekly budget. I enter everything I spends as I go so I know when I am getting close to the limited amount and sometimes we just have to make it a few days before we can go shopping. We still manage to have fun and save at the same time (ok we used to save before this pay cut) but, anyway, it works really well if you have the discipline needed lol :-) Did that help?
ReplyDeleteOhhh I love mint.com :-) It's free, it's secure, and it's by the makers of QuickBooks and Quicken. It keeps track of your debts, income, and investments, shows you areas you can save, and even tabulates a suggested budget. I flippin' love it! Bonus points? It reminds you when you have bills due.
ReplyDeleteFunny story! I always feel that way about Costco - even when you only buy a few things it really adds up!
ReplyDeleteWe use Quicken. It takes some time to set up but once you get going it's very easy to use and so helpful.
We do sort of the same thing as Sandy. Except we take out the weekly and monthly amounts in cash and put them into envelopes labeled for the different categories (weekly - grocies, Wal-Mart; monthly - gas, entertainment, dr. appointments, etc.), and then save the rest.
ReplyDeleteThat way, we always have the same amount in the envelope every week/month and when the cash is gone, the spending is done. Of course we have the typical emergencies occasionally (unexpected repairs, car trouble, etc.), so that's when savings come in handy. This has worked really well for us throughout the past two years.
It really takes getting down to business to figure out a budget that works for you. I don't know how we would survive without a budget! It was really humbling for us when we first sat down and really figured out what we were spending verses what we should be spending and saving. I'm amazed at how much extra we were spending! It feels really good to have limits now.
Yeah. We have a budget and we live by it. (We use an excel spreadsheet). At the beginning of each month, we go through our bills, tithing, and any other costs we anticipate for that month and write them all out. AFter everything, if there is any extra money for that month, we divide it among the two of us and put it into separate checking accounts. (So, we each have a stash to spend how we'd like). If we want to do something that we didn't budget, then we split the bill between the two of us... if it's worth it. Works for us!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. You all gave us some great ideas! Hopefully we will be on track soon!
ReplyDeleteWe do the same as many of the others. We use the excel spreadsheet too. I pay bills online and I HAVE to withdraw my grocery cash or I tend to spend too much when using a card.
ReplyDeleteTHese have been some great examples I may have to steal some.