Monthly budget

[Nick87]

Posted here because I figured it would get more traffic, the hunting loan thread got me thinking. What are some ways or tips you guys use to budget on let's say a weekly, monthly or annual basis?need to stop using the credit card as much, I mean we pay it off everyone but still there's always some sticker shock every month when it comes.

 

[RemingtonRules]

Sounds like you are married, if so you need to agree on what your financial goals are. Once you have this all other pieces that supports the goals fall into place.

 

[Straight Arrow]

When grocery shopping, we stick to a firm list of "needs", buying nothing else. That has proven to help with our budget.

 

[Nick87]

When grocery shopping, we stick to a firm list of "needs", buying nothing else. That has proven to help with our budget.

Wife does a pretty good job of that. She doesn't let me grocery shop because I'm like look at all this good shit we don't get at home.

 

[David58]

We have gone back and forth between cash envelopes and card. Going hybrid, now. We travel a good bit to see the kids, which involves airplanes, dog boarding, etc etc - so going to start stacking cash each month for those trips to avoid said sticker shock. Some other categories going there, too.

The most revolutionary thing we did was open checking accounts at another bank. Each month, we deposit our mad money in the hubby and wife accounts - we each get to spend it on whatever, it's our individual mad money. A lot of schtuff we used to buy on the family money now doesn't happen, since it has to come from the play cash. We save far more per month than we allow ourselves to have in those accounts.

My wife is the budgeteer. She uses Dave Ramsey's software, but I can't remember the name.

David
NM

 

[westbranch]

I have used You Need a Budget for 6+ yrs used Mint before that. Don't really budget but use it more as a tracking function so we know where money goes. It does have a monthly budgeting where you assign all funds to budget areas and would be easy to follow strictly if desired. It pulls in credit card transactions and offsets checking balance so you can see the net balance in real time.

 

[TN2shot07]

If you are looking to use some budget software I really like the Dave Ramsey EveryDollar stuff. I’ve tried most of the popular ones (nerd-accountant) and this one was the most user friendly to layout a budget. They have a free version and then a paid one that will import bank transactions and you can track your spending easier.

We still do cash for personal money (spend that with no questions asked) and groceries and it works pretty well. I have noticed those more and more of those damn self checkout machines are cash free lol

 

[Nick87]

I have used You Need a Budget for 6+ yrs used Mint before that. Don't really budget but use it more as a tracking function so we know where money goes. It does have a monthly budgeting where you assign all funds to budget areas and would be easy to follow strictly if desired. It pulls in credit card transactions and offsets checking balance so you can see the net balance in real time.

I'll have to check that one out.

 

[westbranch]

I'll have to check that one out.

I also use it to track off budget items like loan balances and retirement plans so I can see net worth and long term trends. I am a CPA and prefer it over any sort of self created spreadsheets or templates I have seen for similar tracking. Might be $80 a yr or so which I find worthwhile for ease of use.

 

[BackofBeyond]

We use Every Dollar, the Dave Ramsey one. It is user friendly, and nice to have on your phone. The key that we’ve found about a monthly budget is both have to do it. Both of us have to have it on our phones and we both have to be entering our transactions.

 

[Redmt]

Social Security sets our budget. If we don't have it, we don't spend it. My cash stash comes from extras I do either in the shop or if I get a little cash job playing tractor.

 

[npaden]

One thing that helped us out was simply using a check register to track all of our credit card charges as we made them. That was a long time ago, any electronic budgeting or tracking software should work.

Just tracking it in real time vs. getting a surprise on your monthly statement seems to help see it as real money being spent each time you swipe that card.

 

[Addicting]

We have gone back and forth between cash envelopes and card. Going hybrid, now. We travel a good bit to see the kids, which involves airplanes, dog boarding, etc etc - so going to start stacking cash each month for those trips to avoid said sticker shock. Some other categories going there, too.

The most revolutionary thing we did was open checking accounts at another bank. Each month, we deposit our mad money in the hubby and wife accounts - we each get to spend it on whatever, it's our individual mad money. A lot of schtuff we used to buy on the family money now doesn't happen, since it has to come from the play cash. We save far more per month than we allow ourselves to have in those accounts.

My wife is the budgeteer. She uses Dave Ramsey's software, but I can't remember the name.

David
NM

We follow the same style with the exception of Dave. I’m always amazed at when it’s time for the trip how much cash was squirreled away in the envelope.

We keep separate accounts for our mad funds and our main joint account for household purchases.

Even though I can’t afford a guided Moose hunt yet it works for us.

 

[WildWill]

We use Every Dollar, the Dave Ramsey one. It is user friendly, and nice to have on your phone. The key that we’ve found about a monthly budget is both have to do it. Both of us have to have it on our phones and we both have to be entering our transactions.

I use this. Been to 2 Ramsey seminars in my life that man's word is gold to me.

 

[David58]

We follow the same style with the exception of Dave. I’m always amazed at when it’s time for the trip how much cash was squirreled away in the envelope.

We keep separate accounts for our mad funds and our main joint account for household purchases.

Even though I can’t afford a guided Moose hunt yet it works for us.

We are cleaning up a few debts this year - for 2024, if God wills, we will be able to budget in guided elk hunts.

David
NM

 

[HuskerHunterFisher]

I like YNAB (you need a budget) as others have said. It makes you think and analyze not just your recurring monthly expenses, like gas and groceries, but also your less frequent expenditures, like homeowners insurance (if not lumped with mortgage), auto insurance, vehicle registration, etc. You can set a goal, say $70 per month for auto insurance so you "set the money aside" and when it comes time to pay for the 6mo policy, you have the money already earmarked. It does take some work to set up but once it's rolling it takes me 10-15 min twice a month to check in, reconcile everything and plan for the next cycle.

 

[Art Vandeley]

3 years ago I built a spread sheet that I enter every cent I spend into pretty much daily. It is organized by each month and different spending categories. I also have my after tax income put in, and one cell calculates how much money I will have at the end of the year if my spending continues at the same rate the previous months was... it has really helped me see where I need to cut back, but also gave me peace of mind to spend on somethings knowing I will still be saving money at the end of the year after my expenditures and retirement savings. The spreadsheet is a constant work in progress and I try and make it better each year…

 

[Big Fin]

Very glad to see this thread. Lots of good information to be shared with a thread like this.

In my 30+ years as a CPA, my anecdotal observation is that 90%+ of my successful clients had a budget that was a monthly road map that helped them achieve their goals, whether they were business clients or individual clients. Their lives were much more sane, they did not have consumer debts or credit card debts, they had savings, they were thinking about retirement income, and they took comfort in the monthly/annual progress they saw toward their goals.

Of those clients who spent more than they made, whether they made $75K or $500K, about 90% of them did not have a budget. Their financial maturity was through the narrow lens of next month's cash inflow. They were stressed, in debt beyond their means, and too often ended up in a divorce.

I got to see everyone financially naked. You would be amazed how many people give the appearance of "knocking it out of the park," yet behind the big house, the new vehicles, the toys, the timeshare, the fancy vacations, is a mountain of debt that grew faster than the income. And most of them realize it, but by the time they do, it seems almost overwhelming to get out of.

I am convinced the exercise of budgeting makes a better financial adult for anyone with a third grade math ability. If I could change one thing about our public education system that I think would make a huge difference in our society, it would be to require every high school graduate to pass a personal budgeting class in order to get their diploma.

As it relates to hunting, I suspect the majority of folks who budget well and avoid debt also have budgets, using that as the path to do the trips they want, purchase what they need, and they do so on all levels of income.

Some might be reading this and be at the beginning of their earning years. If your household is not on a budget, make that your New Year's resolution. Better yet, make it your "Rest of your life" resolution. Doing so will add a lot more hunting days to your future.

 

[220yotekiller]

a big thing for us was getting rid of my card so that l can't bust the budget buying stuff for my wife, it's so easy to do. you call home and hear the kids rioting and hear that she spilled her coffee and the mop broke when she was cleaning it up, it sounds crazy but it's 100 percent true, and so to make her feel better you go and get her favorite chocolate and a drink, 10 dollars a time times 10 times a month really dings the budget. we went to her having the card and l carry fuel cash and my petty cash, it makes life a lot easier. like dave ramsey says you have to build in disipline into your budget or it won't work. we use every dollar and at the first of the month we sit down together and do the budget. the other thing is to make sure that one partner isn't using the budget as a weapon on the other.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I have the apps for all our accounts on my phone, and check our balances every day. Credit cards/checking/savings/401k etc. I can tell you with a 12hr accuracy what our net worth is.

I have our direct deposits set up so that rent/mortgage and then regular monthly costs groceries/gas/utilities etc are the only portion of our paychecks that hit our checking account.

I keep a buffer in the checking account so I don’t over draft but try to have a 100% utilization every month of our paycheck. If there is a bunch left in my account at the end of the month that means more needs to go to savings.

I think my biggest “budget” struggle is at the high level. Long term savings, fun money/not a necessity, daily expenses.

The fun money category gets the shaft, and I think more than anything it’s me not being able to lighten up on the reins after a decade of super tight budgets.

The tightwad thing also makes me kinda a judgmental jerk when it comes to how other people choose to spend their money.

Sorry guys for making fun of your pickups… they’re epically stupid… but I don’t need to say it out-loud all the time