My very own sexy budget.
I've been using a budget for a little over 5 months now, and i gotta say i am feeling pretty damn good about it! And although it doesn't look as good as it should - I have a plan, i'm stickin' to it, and i'm saving money.
The calculations don't lie: Budgets = Confidence = Sexy.
Here's exactly what i have to play with every month after taxes, ss, medicare, and 401k at 19% (holler!):
- Paycheck #1: $1807.86
- Paycheck #2: $1807.86
- Quarterly bonus': $2k-ish
My budget, however, only factors in the bi-weekly paychecks I get. The bonus' are GREAT, but it's not something i can definitely count on 100%. So, when/if these come in every 3 months, i either apply it to our open credit cards, the Emergency Fund, or to cushion my checking acct. a bit.
Here's my bi-weekly budget:
(Some of this may look familiar/redundant from my recent "Where does my money go" post, as I budget using "clumps" of money)
- Mortgage $$: 1/2 of my share of the mortgages
- House $$: 1/2 my share of the monies for "house stuff". this includes all utilities & all groceries eaten @ home. i use a separate house budget to track this which i'll post soon.
- Wedding Fund: for our wedding!
- My Credit Card: the amount i alot myself each month. Gets paid off on time and no interest accumulated. i also use a credit card budget to keep track of this separately.
- Cash Withdrawal: always gotta have cash on you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Mortgage $$: the other half of my share.
- House $$: the other half of my share.
- Condo Investment: the amount to my brother for help.
- Insurance: auto: actually covers my car, our 2 laptops, and the engagement ring. billed together.
- Insurance: life: gotta have that life insurance!
- Auto loan: the biggest non-necessity (price-wise that is).
- Emergency Fund: the least amt. i put in...if i save in other areas, i drop that into here as well.
- Cash Withdrawal: trying not to take out more. it's hard :(
- Roth IRA: i used to put in at leat $100/mo until i realized i don't have the money to be doing that! i'd like to re-contribute on an automated schedule once i get this budget in check.
As you'll notice, my lifestyle costs me around $3,900/month on average, and i only bring in $3,600/month. Soooo, according to my budget i'm down around $300 from the get go :( On the plus side, however, i stick to this budget pretty hardcore and haven't gone over since starting. The last 2 months i've actually shaved off a good $200 or so each time (thanks to all my challenges!) so i'm really losing around $100 per month.
None the less, I need to get my average spending down so that i'm at least breaking even each time. This is why i will more than likely sell my car, and pick up a way cheaper one.
It's good to remember though that budgeting is a continual process. So as long as we're all indeed working on it, we're already better off!
------
PS: I keep track of all my budgets using a simple excel spreadsheet i've been polishing up. Feel free to use it! Click here for the actual file, or here for the google-ized one.
More budgety posts:
- My "Credit Card" budget
- My "House" budget
- Budgets are a man's best friend.
- Where does my money go? • Digg this! • Stumble it! • Send to PF Buzz • Save to Del.icio.us • Subscribe to feed
The calculations don't lie: Budgets = Confidence = Sexy.
Here's exactly what i have to play with every month after taxes, ss, medicare, and 401k at 19% (holler!):
- Paycheck #1: $1807.86
- Paycheck #2: $1807.86
- Quarterly bonus': $2k-ish
My budget, however, only factors in the bi-weekly paychecks I get. The bonus' are GREAT, but it's not something i can definitely count on 100%. So, when/if these come in every 3 months, i either apply it to our open credit cards, the Emergency Fund, or to cushion my checking acct. a bit.
Here's my bi-weekly budget:
(Some of this may look familiar/redundant from my recent "Where does my money go" post, as I budget using "clumps" of money)
- Mortgage $$: 1/2 of my share of the mortgages- House $$: 1/2 my share of the monies for "house stuff". this includes all utilities & all groceries eaten @ home. i use a separate house budget to track this which i'll post soon.
- Wedding Fund: for our wedding!
- My Credit Card: the amount i alot myself each month. Gets paid off on time and no interest accumulated. i also use a credit card budget to keep track of this separately.
- Cash Withdrawal: always gotta have cash on you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Mortgage $$: the other half of my share.- House $$: the other half of my share.
- Condo Investment: the amount to my brother for help.
- Insurance: auto: actually covers my car, our 2 laptops, and the engagement ring. billed together.
- Insurance: life: gotta have that life insurance!
- Auto loan: the biggest non-necessity (price-wise that is).
- Emergency Fund: the least amt. i put in...if i save in other areas, i drop that into here as well.
- Cash Withdrawal: trying not to take out more. it's hard :(
- Roth IRA: i used to put in at leat $100/mo until i realized i don't have the money to be doing that! i'd like to re-contribute on an automated schedule once i get this budget in check.
As you'll notice, my lifestyle costs me around $3,900/month on average, and i only bring in $3,600/month. Soooo, according to my budget i'm down around $300 from the get go :( On the plus side, however, i stick to this budget pretty hardcore and haven't gone over since starting. The last 2 months i've actually shaved off a good $200 or so each time (thanks to all my challenges!) so i'm really losing around $100 per month.
None the less, I need to get my average spending down so that i'm at least breaking even each time. This is why i will more than likely sell my car, and pick up a way cheaper one.
It's good to remember though that budgeting is a continual process. So as long as we're all indeed working on it, we're already better off!
------
PS: I keep track of all my budgets using a simple excel spreadsheet i've been polishing up. Feel free to use it! Click here for the actual file, or here for the google-ized one.
More budgety posts:
- My "Credit Card" budget
- My "House" budget
- Budgets are a man's best friend.
- Where does my money go? • Digg this! • Stumble it! • Send to PF Buzz • Save to Del.icio.us • Subscribe to feed
posted by J. Money at
10:47 AM
7 Comments:
Wow, that's one colorful spreadsheet!! Mine's super simple compared to yours :-) But my personal finance stuff is on like 15 different tabs in my bigger spreadsheet so I guess it's complicated enough.
Just a question about the house money... is that the electricity, phone, and other utilities? Just wondering.
Buyers remorse? *sigh* too familiar..
Cool Blog so far J,
If budgets are so sexy, could Justin Timberlake's song Sexy Back really be a PF Anthem in disguise?
Seriously though, why is your net worth in RED? That's the colour of blood and financial loss. Try BLACK or GREEN.
Cheers to your financial health,
TKO from Ontario
I like the idea that you include cash in your budget. Whenever I need cash I take it out of one account and then I transfer money into there to cover it. It's kinda burdensome.
Canadian Saver - the crazy part is that my spreadsheet was just cut in half to make "simpler"! haha... and yup, our house $ includes all utilities and groceries eaten at home. i should prob. update the post, thx!
Chicky - no diggity. having A.D.H.D. doesn't help either.
TKO from Ontario - that's funny you mentioned JT, as my original blog name was gonna be "i'm bringing budgets back!" :) as for the bloody coloring, i just wanted it to match the rest of the site....but you bring up a good pt!
asgreen - i used to do that too up until a cple months ago when i couldn't ever follow a budget...turned out i never took cash withdrawals into consideration, along w/a cple other "denials". i say stick with what works for ya.
hey you!
I thought you were making $75K and bonus how come your take home money around $1,800 for per paycheck?
crazy right? well gross it's $3125 a paycheck, but after factoring in federal & stat tax, ss, medicare, AND the biggest deduction: 401k, it whittles down to $1807.86.
2 things to keep in mind though:
1) I contribute 19% into 401k so i can max out $15,500 this year.
2) I don't factor in any of the bonus' in my budgeting, so I consider all of it "extra" :)
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