There are many many websites that can explain budgetting better than I can. But I'd like to give my $0.02.
If there's one tool to make The PLAN work, it would be the budget. How would you know where your money is going?
Be the boss of your money, don't let your money boss you. During the past few months, I learned how to allocate my money on things that are important to me and my family. I do need to work on a few things. I'll get to those later.
Budgeting is simple. There are many ways to create and manage a budget. This is what works for me:
1. Figure out how much income we'll have. I have a good estimate of how much we have coming each payday. Mr. Broke's first income varies. He gets paid bi-monthly on the 10th and 25th. Since there days in the moth differ and sometimes he accrues overtime, I stay with a safe guestimate of $1000 paycheck. I can view my upcoming paycheck on our HR website the Wednesday before payday. Mr. Broke's 2nd job gets paid biweekly, so the paychecks are pretty consistent @$850 - unless he requests a night off. Anticipating how much income is very crucial for my routine since I handle budgeting and bill paying each Wednesday.
2. Prioritize expenses. I keep a money binder that is home to all our active finance documents. It's home to my Bill Sheet. On the days I'm budgeting, I refer to what needs to get paid when. Subtract expenses from the income.
a. After all the bills are 'paid' it would then be time to fill out our Envelopes. I'm still testing this out, but so far the envelope method works like a charm! I still need to play around with envelope numbers.
3. Have more money? Good for you! If we have extra money after budgetting, I would allocate this extra money towards our current goal.
4. Evaluate. Evaluate. All budgets have to adjust. Go back and asses what needs more money and what you can do without. If you had the PERFECT budget, PLEASE let me know how I can do the same.
That's all for now. Simple right?
-Ms. Broke
If there's one tool to make The PLAN work, it would be the budget. How would you know where your money is going?
Be the boss of your money, don't let your money boss you. During the past few months, I learned how to allocate my money on things that are important to me and my family. I do need to work on a few things. I'll get to those later.
Budgeting is simple. There are many ways to create and manage a budget. This is what works for me:
1. Figure out how much income we'll have. I have a good estimate of how much we have coming each payday. Mr. Broke's first income varies. He gets paid bi-monthly on the 10th and 25th. Since there days in the moth differ and sometimes he accrues overtime, I stay with a safe guestimate of $1000 paycheck. I can view my upcoming paycheck on our HR website the Wednesday before payday. Mr. Broke's 2nd job gets paid biweekly, so the paychecks are pretty consistent @$850 - unless he requests a night off. Anticipating how much income is very crucial for my routine since I handle budgeting and bill paying each Wednesday.
2. Prioritize expenses. I keep a money binder that is home to all our active finance documents. It's home to my Bill Sheet. On the days I'm budgeting, I refer to what needs to get paid when. Subtract expenses from the income.
a. After all the bills are 'paid' it would then be time to fill out our Envelopes. I'm still testing this out, but so far the envelope method works like a charm! I still need to play around with envelope numbers.
3. Have more money? Good for you! If we have extra money after budgetting, I would allocate this extra money towards our current goal.
4. Evaluate. Evaluate. All budgets have to adjust. Go back and asses what needs more money and what you can do without. If you had the PERFECT budget, PLEASE let me know how I can do the same.
That's all for now. Simple right?
-Ms. Broke
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