We’re continuing our conversation from our last post about the things people struggle with when it comes to budgeting.
If you enjoyed that, then get ready for more of the same awesome conversation!
Getting started! I need to write everything down or get a spreadsheet but I find it hard to figure things out.
Check out our detailed basics series to get started. For budgeting, all you need to do is put down your income, fixed expenses (bills), variable expenses (spending categories), savings contributions and debt payments.
A lot of people make budgeting difficult but all you’re doing is mapping out where your money should go. As you decrease expenses and debt, you’ll have more power over where your money goes.
Where to document it and how often to track my spending.
We have always budgeted using spreadsheets but many people use pen and paper or apps. Decide if you want to use cash envelopes or track your expenses digitally while using 1 dedicated debit card. We prefer using
Not falling into peer/family pressure to spend money. They don’t always understand my lifestyle change.
It’s so frustrating when family and friends don’t understand the changes you’re making for a better life, but at the end of the day, they don’t have to.
At first, it hurt me that people we loved were judging us when we first started but now that judging has turned to admiration. Stay on your path and by doing the right thing, others will follow suit.
Having left over money in our cash envelopes and NOT adjusting the budget because we’ve run out.
If you run out of money at the end of the month, then you’ve budgeted enough and shouldn’t feel bad for spending it all. If you find that you run out of money too soon, try weekly envelopes first and then see if a category needs to increase to accommodate the necessary spending.
For example, every month last year we had to increase our gas envelope due to high prices and more travel. Budgeting shouldn’t be a rigid,
All the stuff I forget to budget for…then I get the “F*ck its” and overspend because I am so 😡.
We still forget to budget for things that we need so that’s why we like having buffers in our accounts. Don’t get all poopy 💩 over not having a perfect month every month. No one does, and those who claim they do are liars.
Being reasonable with “blow money” and being aggressive with debt repayment.
So, I have $100 budgeted for blow money, I averaged about $130 a month in 2018 on random Dannie -ish. For me, $100 is reasonable because I usually only buy books, fancy snacks or puzzles. I don’t have friends to go out with and I work from home in my pajamas with no need to spend money on clothing.
I tell you about my spending and situation because you may find that $100 is too little or too big for your budget and debt payment goals. You just have to decide if you’re okay with adding more blow money and subtracting it from your extra debt payments.
My husband and I don’t hold each other accountable when it comes to the purchases we make.
If you are both making personal purchases that exceed what you’ve budgeted and/or earned in income then you should find ways to keep each other accountable throughout the month.
We track our budgeting envelopes together each month and we both have the Goodbudget app installed on our phones so that we know exactly what’s going on.
The last thing we do is have monthly budget meetings where we recap everything that happened during the month. If one or both of us overspent, we talk about why that happened and how we’ll keep it from happening the next month.
Getting overly excited for the next paycheck. I drive myself nuts.
If you’re getting excited because you have 1 cent in your bank account then that means your spending needs to be adjusted. If you’re excited because you’re thankful that you have a job that pays you, keep that excitement haha.
Not spending the money I make from side jobs on stuff I haven’t been able to buy for months on end.
Set a budget for blow money and then try your hardest to follow it. If your bills are paid, your savings are plump and you have no debt – use your extra money to cash flow the things you’ve been looking forward to (but don’t go crazy).
However, if you still have other priorities to take care of then you have to hold yourself accountable and put that extra money towards those things.
Not to buy clothes and shoes when there is a huge sale.
Create a sinking fund for clothing and shoes. If a sale pops up and you have money in the fund, go have a blast. If you don’t have money in the fund at the time, go to your closet and admire the goodies you already have.
Needing to keep my hair done.
As I sit here with shoulder pain from just washing, deep conditioning and detangling my hair; I say that if you have a hair stylist you love and the extra money to give her, DO IT!
A cool trick you can use is to watch YouTube and figure out how to do your hair on your own. I have spent a lot of years doing my own hair (sometimes with DJ’s help). You honestly just have to weigh the time cost vs the monetary benefit.
I’m starting to get to the point where I’d rather just pay someone to do it instead of spending all day doing it myself. This will vary from person to person so you’ll have to figure out what works the best for you!
Tracking spending and estimating budget categories.
We wrote a post on estimating budget categories a while back. The best way to estimate your expenses is by looking at your prior spending. Using 1 debit card to do all spending is a great way to see how much you spend each month. We use the Goodbudget app to track our expenses and then double check everything at the end of the month by looking at our statements.
I’m a contract worker and I won’t know my next check until the Sunday before.
I’d recommend that you get one month ahead on your expenses. By doing this, your uncertain income won’t weigh on you so much. When I worked as an actor, I never knew what I was going to make the following month and usually had to wait 8-10 weeks to get paid. Being ahead in my checking account allowed me to sleep at night.
Prioritizing saving vs debt repayment. Not enough debt to be mad at it or want it gone fast.
If you have at least 1 month of expenses saved and you’ve planned for everything else you need money saved for, throw all the extra money towards your debt. You get an immediate return on your money as you decrease your debt balances.
The faster you become debt free the faster you can start putting your extra money towards your other goals!
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I hope you guys enjoyed this quick series. It was a lot of fun to answer your questions directly.
Check out part one if you missed it. Let us know if you’d like us to do this again sometime!
$tay Wealthy Friends!