Budgetting - tight or lose
- FrankN
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Replied by FrankN on topic Budgetting - tight or lose
JacksonM wrote: I have a method, but I wouldn't call it a tight budget. I pay myself first with automatic transfers to my savings account and have things in the right place to pay each bill in full on time. The rest is more recreational with no direct plan.
Do you usually have a % target or $ amount to save each month?
- JacksonM
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- JGibbs
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Replied by JGibbs on topic Budgeting - tight or lose
That really doesn't sound bad because you're paying your bills first and you know what the remainder is getting spent on. Most people who blow through money make late payments on bills and have no idea where their payday went. As long as you're aware of what's going on, you can shift priorities as needed.Pinky wrote: I'm more of a loosey-goosey when it comes to finances. I pay my bills but instead of saving as I should, I usually just save a small portion of the excess and spend the rest on fun things for me and the kids. I didn't have the opportunity as a child to do much so I'm very conscious about doing things with my children.
- Moneyes
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Replied by Moneyes on topic Budgetting - tight or lose
I am learning the importance of giving every dollar a name. I'm doing really good these days, so I went and made myself a spreadsheet. I have expensive bills and it used to get depressing. The spreadsheet though, right now, goes until the end of the year and is based on my base commissions only, of which I am locked into for the next 3 years. When you see your money laid out in the long term, it doesn't get as depressing. You can see yourself getting ahead of the game that way, instead of looking at it all week by week. It won't be long until I get 2018 planned out.
So yeah, I'm as tight as tight can be right now.
- Pinky
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- JGibbs
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- Pinky
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- Breakinger
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- Moneyes
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- FrankN
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- FrugalFran
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Replied by FrugalFran on topic Budgetting - tight or lose
Breakinger wrote:
This is exactly what has happened in our situation, FrankN. Our budget never used to be tight until we purchased our house and had three kids. Now we have to make sure that there is enough for all. Hopefully, once everyone is grown up we can loosen our budget again. What do you think?FrankN wrote: I used to have a very flexible budget. However I have recently gotten married and we are trying to save for a house and for kids down the road so I have had to turn it rather tight. When you need to provide for other things, it usually tightens the budget quite a bit!
Breakinger, I think you're in the same boat as most people. Family responsibilities come along and you need to tighten up with the hope of having some fun money to spend when the kids are grown and on their own. That's just pretty much the way life goes, but I do agree with Frank that you need to use a little of it now once in a while. Being comfortable later on is important, but you can't save all the fun for the retirement years.
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This is exactly what has happened in our situation, FrankN. Our budget never used to be tight until we purchased our house and had three kids. Now we have to make sure that there is enough for all. Hopefully, once everyone is grown up we can loosen our budget again. What do you think?FrankN wrote: I used to have a very flexible budget. However I have recently gotten married and we are trying to save for a house and for kids down the road so I have had to turn it rather tight. When you need to provide for other things, it usually tightens the budget quite a bit!
- Wanderer
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- Moneyes
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- FrankN
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