Is it just me......Always overbudget
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i work my *kitten* off at 2 jobs, still can't get ahead. everytime i think i'm going to catch up, something happens. last week it was the truck- tire blew out, $170 + $1100 for tires + ??? for body damage= i'm broke again.
You need to have an emergency fund. Check out moneyunder30.com. That site has a lot of information on learning how to budget.0 -
I suggest anyone serious about budgeting check out YNAB.com
No I don't work for them. I just use the software.0 -
Here are the shoes I'm wearing now. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/stacy-adams-connelly-mens-slip-ons/prod.jump?ppId=16a4032&catId=cat100300057&deptId=dept20000018&N=927&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=stacy+adams&dimCombo=Brand|&dimComboVal=stacy+adams|&currentDim=Brand&currentDimVal=stacy+adams
No difference in looks. $95 difference in price.
Oh and they are comfortable as hell.
But I'm betting you have issues with shopping at places like JC Penney if you think spending less than $150 on shoes means going to a "thrift store".
Wow. Way to judge. First. where I live, a thrift store is a place when you buy donated cloths. 2nd, we do not have JC. Penny. I do go and raid T.J. Max when I slip over the border. Perhaps we have a miscommunication.0 -
I save money every single month as does my man friend. Currently have over 20k in savings between the two of us. And retirement all set away as well. It's not the easiest thing to do, but I'd rather save now and go crazy when I retire.
I applaud your financial savvy but what if tomorrow doesn't come? I know that sounds morbid but I watched my Grandparents save and put a lot of stuff off until retirement. Unfortunately my Grandfather retired early through ill-health and his health didn't improve so they weren't able to go through with those plans. Save a little but live a little too!
I have to agree.
I'm currently try to save a deposit to buy a house here in the UK. We are going to need at least £12k and its going to take years to save that much when we can't afford to save more than £200 a month after we've paid our rent, bills, good etc. Me and my husband have a decent income between us but it really dies stretch very far and we don't spend much money on clothes (all from Primark, Asda etc) or go out much. And we've not even had kids yet, so we'll be even worse off if we do that!0 -
I don't even have a steady income( I sub as a teachers aid plus work at a small business part time) and I manage to save money.
What I wound up doing is setting up an excel spread sheet for each of my savings accounts( I have 2, one that I pay bills out of and one that I just sock money away in). I split them up so I can see how much I have to pay my one credit card with, how much I have left in personal training costs(I pre-save for this), how much I have left to pay my cell phone bill(I pre-saved for this), and how much I have in general savings.
I take each pay check and put half in my different accounts.. and it may not be a lot but it adds up over time. The rest of the money sits in my checking for different things that pop up during the month.
I also buy nothing brand new, and almost get all my clothes on sale. I've found awesome deals at Department Stores where I will get hundred dollar clothing items for between 10 and 20 dollars.
The one thing I do splurge on is my hair and personal training.. and as long as my bills are getting paid, I figure I can splurge on those two things.0 -
Here are the shoes I'm wearing now. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/stacy-adams-connelly-mens-slip-ons/prod.jump?ppId=16a4032&catId=cat100300057&deptId=dept20000018&N=927&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=stacy+adams&dimCombo=Brand|&dimComboVal=stacy+adams|&currentDim=Brand&currentDimVal=stacy+adams
No difference in looks. $95 difference in price.
Oh and they are comfortable as hell.
But I'm betting you have issues with shopping at places like JC Penney if you think spending less than $150 on shoes means going to a "thrift store".
Wow. Way to judge. First. where I live, a thrift store is a place when you buy donated cloths. 2nd, we do not have JC. Penny. I do go and raid T.J. Max when I slip over the border. Perhaps we have a miscommunication.
Forgive me if I come off as judgemental. But its pretty hard to feel bad for someone claiming that they are "struggling" to pay for their $150 shoes. You know what I struggle to pay for? Food and gas. You know the last time I bought a new pair of shoes? Over a year ago when I bought the shoes I posted above? You know when the last time I spent $150 on ANYTHING frivolous was? 2-3 years ago when I bought the first generation iPad. And I did it with the proceeds from a stock bonus I received from work at the time.
Please don't come around complaining about how you're struggling to pay for these things when more than 50% of the people on this site struggle to pay for basic necessities. I support my family of 4 on $36k a year in one of the most expensive places in the country to live. And I'm not on here creating threads to complain about it.0 -
My two favorite sites for budgeting are www.learnvest.com and www.mint.com. Learnvest they both use your online credit card / bank accounts to track your spending (scary, I know ... but no probs so far for me) and then create a budget.
My sister told me about Learnvest and I really love it. Learnvest is marketed towards women (but the advice is good for anyone) and has amazing articles and email newsletters for all sorts of people in various budgeting situations in their lives (ie, how my family business got us $XXX into debt ... and how I'm paying it all off, how I'm moving into a tiny house -- the size of a parking spot -- and having fun doing it, the financial realities of being a model in NYC, Is Girls (HBO) an accurate depiction of young American women?, etc).
Mint is just the budgeting tool (no frills), but they have more advertising, which I find annoying. They do have an app, though, and that's really nice for updating while out and about.
I would definitely make comparisons to MFP and Learnvest/Mint. You are really just calorie-budgeting here, aren't you? You can definitely have success on these sites if you are having success on MFP. Best of luck!0 -
I save money every single month as does my man friend. Currently have over 20k in savings between the two of us. And retirement all set away as well. It's not the easiest thing to do, but I'd rather save now and go crazy when I retire.
I applaud your financial savvy but what if tomorrow doesn't come? I know that sounds morbid but I watched my Grandparents save and put a lot of stuff off until retirement. Unfortunately my Grandfather retired early through ill-health and his health didn't improve so they weren't able to go through with those plans. Save a little but live a little too!
Who said I didn't live??.... I've traveled Europe, Mexico... the US. I'm busy all the time "living". We're just able to save ridiculous amounts of money because.... we can.0 -
I think they zero in on the shoes because you identify that they cost you 150 but without caveats as to why (needing formal business attire for work) OR how often you make such a purchase (we can't tell if you mention it because shoes are a recurring expense or because they're one of your recent purchases). Obviously, buying $150 shoes to stay "in fashion" with each season or trend, as some do, is different from buying a pair every few years so you have nice shoes for work. So it's easy to quickly jump to the conclusion that you're someone who might needlessly buys expensive shoes on a regular / frequent basis.
Unfortunately, as you know, kids will make any situation complex. I was talking with a coworker today who was ecstatic that his child was now old enough to drink milk because formula is so much more expensive. Add in things like school fees and the fact they'll be outgrowing their clothes, and the costs keep rising.
Myself, I've generally been able to hold to a budget not only because I'm careful about what I spend, but also because I'm pretty lucky. Scholarships meant I graduated from college with zero debt (and actually had a surplus because I had a job) and I was able to use the money I'd saved up for college to buy my car so I have no car payments. That eliminated what are often sizable budget drains for my peers.
But I do find that, just like using MFP to watch my calories and where they come from, writing out my expenditures, even when I know I've got plenty of money in the bank, is a real help. That's how I was able to recognize some underlying "static"- small payments, usually subsriptions, that I didn't need anymore but, because they were so small on their own, I didn't bother to notice or cancel them! Recently, I've realized how much I began spending when they attached a credit card reader to the snack machine at work, so I've had to make a conscious "cash only" decision that I didn't need to think about back when cash was the only option.
Having your budget written out won't bring in more revenue, but you may be better able to see where some costs can be reduced or eliminated.0 -
Everyone has different levels of discretionary income -- the "guide" that is used for lending is around a max 40% of your GROSS income for debt (house, car, student loans, credit cards) -- the rest is for your taxes, savings, groceries, gas, etc and "other" --- In MY case, I have to keep my debt at 25% or there is no money left.
Track your spending for a minimum 30 days. See where your money goes, and set a budget for things that "come up"!
I did mortgage loans for 15 years - the housing crisis was nothing more than greedy bankers wanting a fat paycheck - we could give loans to anyone - and KNEW they couldn't afford it.
As to "how did our parents do it"? Most of them saved, and then bought, not bought and then figured out how to pay for it. A nice house was a 1400 sq ft rambler with ONE car in the garage -- usually not new. Eating out was a luxury, not the norm.
This generation are users of debt... need to get away from that! If all else fails, vote republican.0 -
Here are the shoes I'm wearing now. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/stacy-adams-connelly-mens-slip-ons/prod.jump?ppId=16a4032&catId=cat100300057&deptId=dept20000018&N=927&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=stacy+adams&dimCombo=Brand|&dimComboVal=stacy+adams|&currentDim=Brand&currentDimVal=stacy+adams
No difference in looks. $95 difference in price.
Oh and they are comfortable as hell.
But I'm betting you have issues with shopping at places like JC Penney if you think spending less than $150 on shoes means going to a "thrift store".
Wow. Way to judge. First. where I live, a thrift store is a place when you buy donated cloths. 2nd, we do not have JC. Penny. I do go and raid T.J. Max when I slip over the border. Perhaps we have a miscommunication.
Forgive me if I come off as judgemental. But its pretty hard to feel bad for someone claiming that they are "struggling" to pay for their $150 shoes. You know what I struggle to pay for? Food and gas. You know the last time I bought a new pair of shoes? Over a year ago when I bought the shoes I posted above? You know when the last time I spent $150 on ANYTHING frivolous was? 2-3 years ago when I bought the first generation iPad. And I did it with the proceeds from a stock bonus I received from work at the time.
Please don't come around complaining about how you're struggling to pay for these things when more than 50% of the people on this site struggle to pay for basic necessities. I support my family of 4 on $36k a year in one of the most expensive places in the country to live. And I'm not on here creating threads to complain about it.
So serious! Lol
How do you survive on 36k a year with 4 kids? Sombody must be helping you0 -
Those are the cheapest shoes where I live. In canada.
:noway: Wow, do you guys get paid more than we do in America I wonder?
Less actually. Thats why we sneak over the border a few times a year.
Not sure where in canada you are, but if it's near Minnesota we don't have sales tax on clothing.0 -
Those are the cheapest shoes where I live. In canada.
:noway: Wow, do you guys get paid more than we do in America I wonder?
Less actually. Thats why we sneak over the border a few times a year.
Not sure where in canada you are, but if it's near Minnesota we don't have sales tax on clothing.
montreal.. I hit plattsberg.0 -
I guess I should not mention my IPAD 3........
You have a disease called stuffitis. You need to stop buying things with money you don't have to impress people you don't know. You need to stop buying toys and prioritize your spending and write a budget. If you can afford an Ipad you have no right to complain about not having money and if you need money that bad than sell the Ipad and your other toys. I am telling you you need to check out Dave Ramsey. Just google it and his website will come up. Read the forums there and make a plan to help yourself. Here is his plan in a nutshell. Before you begin the steps you need to write a budget and quit living on credit. There are 7 steps.
1. Build a baby emergency fund of $1000.
2. Pay off your debts from smallest to largest.
3. Save up a Fully Funded Emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses
4. Save 15% of your income for retirement
5. Save for the kids colllege
6. Pay off the house early
7. Live and Give like no one else.
We are in step 6 and with Gods grace will be onto step 7 in less than a year. I am telling you this plan works. It is simple and makes sense and alot of what Dave teaches is common sense with money. How to tell yourself "no" and how to calm you inner child that wants it and wants it now. It is a totally different way of living that will bring peace to you life.0 -
Here are the shoes I'm wearing now. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/stacy-adams-connelly-mens-slip-ons/prod.jump?ppId=16a4032&catId=cat100300057&deptId=dept20000018&N=927&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=stacy+adams&dimCombo=Brand|&dimComboVal=stacy+adams|&currentDim=Brand&currentDimVal=stacy+adams
No difference in looks. $95 difference in price.
Oh and they are comfortable as hell.
But I'm betting you have issues with shopping at places like JC Penney if you think spending less than $150 on shoes means going to a "thrift store".
Wow. Way to judge. First. where I live, a thrift store is a place when you buy donated cloths. 2nd, we do not have JC. Penny. I do go and raid T.J. Max when I slip over the border. Perhaps we have a miscommunication.
Forgive me if I come off as judgemental. But its pretty hard to feel bad for someone claiming that they are "struggling" to pay for their $150 shoes. You know what I struggle to pay for? Food and gas. You know the last time I bought a new pair of shoes? Over a year ago when I bought the shoes I posted above? You know when the last time I spent $150 on ANYTHING frivolous was? 2-3 years ago when I bought the first generation iPad. And I did it with the proceeds from a stock bonus I received from work at the time.
Please don't come around complaining about how you're struggling to pay for these things when more than 50% of the people on this site struggle to pay for basic necessities. I support my family of 4 on $36k a year in one of the most expensive places in the country to live. And I'm not on here creating threads to complain about it.
So serious! Lol
How do you survive on 36k a year with 4 kids? Sombody must be helping you
At the moment we're not paying rent because we're taking care of my father in law who is sick. However it hasn't always been that way. We were paying almost $1000 per month in rent prior to this.
And we survive because we budget and we keep ourselves relatively debt free. Our bills currently are high because of medical bills (new baby + other son with epilepsy has made for some struggles the last year). But beyond the medical bills we really only have our cell phones, our car/insurance payments, and living expenses (including rent and utilities before we were helping my in-laws).
Things are tight. We usually don't have a lot of money to go out. We usually don't buy frivolous things. Prior to buying the shoes I posted above for $55 I was generally buying $30 shoes for work. The problem was I was replacing them every 6 months. So by purchasing the $55 ones that will last me a year and a half I am actually saving in the long run.
Recently my wife has started clipping coupons like crazy and we're eating much more cheaply than we used to. In fact last night we were trying to remember the last sit-down restaurant we had been to. Neither of us could remember specifically.0 -
Here are the shoes I'm wearing now. http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/stacy-adams-connelly-mens-slip-ons/prod.jump?ppId=16a4032&catId=cat100300057&deptId=dept20000018&N=927&topDim=Brand&topDimvalue=stacy+adams&dimCombo=Brand|&dimComboVal=stacy+adams|&currentDim=Brand&currentDimVal=stacy+adams
No difference in looks. $95 difference in price.
Oh and they are comfortable as hell.
But I'm betting you have issues with shopping at places like JC Penney if you think spending less than $150 on shoes means going to a "thrift store".
Wow. Way to judge. First. where I live, a thrift store is a place when you buy donated cloths. 2nd, we do not have JC. Penny. I do go and raid T.J. Max when I slip over the border. Perhaps we have a miscommunication.
Forgive me if I come off as judgemental. But its pretty hard to feel bad for someone claiming that they are "struggling" to pay for their $150 shoes. You know what I struggle to pay for? Food and gas. You know the last time I bought a new pair of shoes? Over a year ago when I bought the shoes I posted above? You know when the last time I spent $150 on ANYTHING frivolous was? 2-3 years ago when I bought the first generation iPad. And I did it with the proceeds from a stock bonus I received from work at the time.
Please don't come around complaining about how you're struggling to pay for these things when more than 50% of the people on this site struggle to pay for basic necessities. I support my family of 4 on $36k a year in one of the most expensive places in the country to live. And I'm not on here creating threads to complain about it.
So serious! Lol
How do you survive on 36k a year with 4 kids? Sombody must be helping you
Oh and I mis-read your post. I don't have 4 kids. I said I have a family of 4. Me, my wife, and 2 kids.0 -
How did our parents ever make it with one income.
Because they didn't spend money on the things we do, the things we think we 'need'.0 -
Do try couponing it's great and you really do save money. Also try clearance sales for those birthday gifts throughout the year. After Christmas you can really rack up on those. I usually buy then for each niece or nephew then along with a few extras, you never know and just get them out of the closet for each event.0
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And OP...just so you know that I'm not ONLY here to berate you for complaining about struggling with frivolous spending...here's how our budget works.
We have 3 checking accounts and 2 savings.
1 checking is for food and gas and gets $400 per paycheck put into it (that's $200 per week for food and gas).
1 checking is for bills - currently since we have so many medical bills (and some small credit card bills) we are putting almost nothing into savings and putting everything that doesn't go into the 2 other checking accounts toward bills.
1 checking is for entertainment and we put about $25 per paycheck in here.
1 savings is short term (currently my wife needs a car so it serves that purpose)
1 savings is long term0 -
I think your answer is simple. Start stealing more and be good at it.
Seriously, you're writing things down and that's a good start.
If you can't measure it, then you can't manage it. It's just like managing these mother farkin' calories. Except you need to keep some $$$ in reserves in case of emergency. (I should keep some calories in reserve in case of donuts)
Check out Mint.com. Also, Microsoft Money is free now.
Shoes are a necessity if you work in an office. I tend buy my shoes from Bass. They're not bad but I go through a pair every six months-nine months. I have bad arches/feet/knees so I need to replace them when they get worn. The outlet stores often have buy one, get two free or something like that. I buy 3-6 pairs of shoes at a time so that's how they average out to $60-70 a pair. If you get heel plates on the worn portion, you can make the shoes last much longer. For me, it's the heel wearing down that causes me aches and pains.
I had a nice pair of $170 Kenneth Coles and they were terrible. The rubber soles came apart after a couple months. BUT if you get a nice pair of shoes with leather soles that can be re-heeled, you can save money in the long run. I don't think it's worth it to re-heel rubber soled shoes though.0
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