What are your best budgeting tips? Do you have any certain thing that you do to make sure you stay on budget each month? Any tricks of the trade would be appreciated!

By Colette on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 12:53 pm:

Make it realistic. If you know you are going to spend $200 on groceries don't budget $150. Allow for everything you spend $ on. Personal cash, clothing, medical, groceries, entertainment, cable, internet, etc. etc. If you have a hobby then make sure you include $$ for that. We used to use quicken and it worked great. I just started a new budget using quicken 2 weeks ago.

By Emily7 on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 02:10 pm:

To help stay on budget I plan 2 weeks worth of meals, make an ingredient list, then go through my cupboards to see what I can take off the list. I make my grocery list from that & then go through the ads. I also don't take dh to the store with me.

By Babysitbarb on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 02:38 pm:

My husband has a credit union at his work that we put a couple hundred in a week of his check. We also have exact amount put in the christmas club and we use this moeny to pay our fall taxes. This is done by the credit union.I put a certain amount back each week for our house and vehicle payment and put a certain amount in checking and keep a certain amount out for cash and spending. It works for us.

By Heaventree on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 05:23 pm:

Recently I went thru all of our expenses and managed to cut back by $600 a month.

I downgraded the cable and internet service.
We were doubling our mortgage payments, I brought it down to one payment.
I cancelled the gym memberships.
Cut back to term life insurance only.
Cancelled my Melaleuca membership.
Cut back on some investing.
I really pay attention to the price of groceries now and bring a list and try to stick to it.
Limit DH's shopping ~ he's a shopaloholic.
There was more, but I can't remember what else.

We really think about every purchase now and ask ourselves if we really truly need it and will we still be using it in a year from now or will it end up in the Good Will box.

DH now does not keep cash in his pocket and I only carry around $20 and try not to use the credit card at all, only for large purchases which we pay off every month and only because we get point towards flights, otherwise I wouldn't even use the credit card other than to have one for DH and his travel expenses.

By Karen~moderator on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 06:59 pm:

This is actually an incorrect usage of the *Anon* feature. Please review the posting guidelines regarding use of the *Anonymous* feature.

By Anonymous on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 08:43 pm:

I'm sorry. I posted anon because it was related to $$ and finances and being short every month is embarassing to me. I will review the guidelines again, it has been awhile. Thanks for letting me know politely.

By Mommmie on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 10:23 pm:

If you write down every penny you spend for a month or two, it will be clearer on what can be cut out. You will be be cutting out things other people spend money on, but that's okay. Weird, at first, but then okay and very liberating. Daily Starbucks and drive thru cokes really add up, I learned when I did this for a year.

Also it helps me to have a garage sale every now and then, or go to one, and you see something that originally cost $50 going for $2 and you wonder, was it really worth it? So I think it's a change in mindset as well as a change in spending habits.

It also helps me to understand that, adjusting for the value of a dollar and inflation and whatnot, two income families bring in less money than a one income family did years ago. It *is* hard to make ends meet these days. PLUS we have more expenses like *paying* for television! It's not just you! So don't feel bad, just make some adjustments.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 11:13 pm:

Definitely, as you are advised above, sit down and make a list of all your expenses and decide what you can cut. Some people find it useful to carry a little notepad with them and write down every single expense every day for a month or two. That includes the caffe latte, McDonald's, treats for the kids - everything. By looking at that you will have a better idea of where your money is going and what you can actually cut.

One thing my father always said - and it took me 50 years to realize he was right. Pay yourself first out of every paycheck. By this I mean put something aside - even if it is only $10 - that is meant to be saved and used only for deep, dire emergencies. Get into the habit of saving something.

One thing I do is empty all the change out of my pockets into a jar every night (which my dad also did). It is surprising to see how that adds up over time if both you and dh do that. And that is "found" money. You won't miss it, but if you let it pile up in the jar you can accumulate enough for an occasional treat that is "off budget" and won't hurt financiallly.

By Pamt on Monday, July 4, 2005 - 11:21 pm:

Plan your meals like Emily suggested and don't buy anything that's not on your list. Don't buy convenience foods or lunch-box type items like small bags of chips---buy a big bag and divide them into sandwich bags yourself. Cooking homemade is always less expensive, tastes better, and is better for you. Get rid of non-necessary expenses like cable TV, internet (unless you need it for work), etc. Carpool. Track entertainment and misc. expenses and see where you are wasting money.

By Missmudd on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - 03:06 am:

Use your computer for your finances. I use Money, it was already installed on my computer. I set up the budget on that and I know down to the penny what is being spent on what. I opened an additional free checking account at my bank since I was having trouble keeping on the food budget. Every payday I put 1/2 of the months food budget into that account and when it was gone I start going through the cupboards for food. It helped me alot to avoid unnecessary groceries that I could remember what was purchased. I try to make anything that I consider extra pay for itself. My internet access I justify by making it pay for itself by getting rid of stuff on ebay, online surveys and saving me having to go to the library for info. My newspaper subscription pays for itself for the grocery ads and the coupons in the weekend addition. The satellite pays for itself since we dont rent movies, rarely go to the movies, if we do it is from the library.

By Feona on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - 07:35 am:

Don't buy anything you don't need.

If you really want something expensive wait at least a week to buy it. You probably won't want it in a week.

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - 12:46 pm:

Anon, in that case, don't worry about using the Anon feature. That never occurred to me when I posted above, so I apologize.