My very own sexy budget.

UPDATE: *NEW* Budget being tracked monthly now!

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 (now frozen…stupid economy!)

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.

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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.

PPS: And here’s a list of a whole bunch of other free budget templates!

More budgety posts:
My “Credit Card” budget
My “House” budget
Budgets are a man’s best friend.
Where does my money go?

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2 Comments

  1. theFIREstarter February 14, 2014 at 6:39 PM

    This is so great to look back at your old budget and see how much progress you’ve made! And your old posts as well! See what you meant about the capitalisation ;)

    I hope I can do the same in 6 years time with my blog

    Reply
    1. J. Money February 15, 2014 at 2:39 PM

      Haha, yeah man. You’ve stumbled across an oldie but goodie :) It’s sad all my comments from back in the day got erased too when we did the WordPress upgrade cuz it would be fun to see what all those were like too! 80% of the people/bloggers probably aren’t even around anymore… (reading this blog, that is – not perished! haha…)

      Reply

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