This is a continuation of the previous post regarding the friend, the friend's significant other, and the friend's SO's financial habits.
The friend's SO had children from a previous marriage that will hit up the SO for money. Large sums of money for things they can't afford, but want or feel like they need. When these children's demands come around, they really throw a wrench in the new and responsible financial plans that the SO is trying to follow. My friend was fuming at the fact the SO cannot change his way of saying yes too often to these children, or teach them to be more responsible.
So I suggested to her that maybe he should budget for their leeching. They both know that these children will come around from time to time. They also know that the SO has a hard time saying no to the kids. Well, why not set aside some money for them? This way, the SO can say yes to them, but does not ruin the personal plan for other things. When these accounts run dry, the SO can tell them so. Maybe over time, the SO can learn to say no or at lease prioritize the yeses.
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Rolling over
Remember when people still counted minutes on the usage of their cellphone service. I do because I still do that. I don't have an unlimited plan, so I am conservative with my usage. And also remember the rollover plan some companies have with unused minutes. What a great idea. It's stuff you paid for, why should you throw it away?
Some times, I like to "roll over" the money I didn't use but was budgeted for. For example, there is $50 budget for small repairs around the house every month. If there is nothing to use it for, it gets added to the $50 for the next month so I have $100 and so forth. So if I need to get a new water heater the next month, I have $100 already for it, so I am only need to add $200-300 more instead of $400. I don't keep it in a separate account. There would be too many accounts to keep track of, if I had one for every category. But it would be nice to look at!
Not sure if anyone else do that or I am doing silly mind trick with myself. If I rolled over my personal spending amount every month, it would give me more motivation to "save" for something that I want to splurge on. Let's say I have a budget of $50 spending per month. Every month, I just have to stay under budget. After 6 months, I could potential have $100 unused money rolled over in my personal spending. Then I could splurge one something that is the amount in my rollover, in this case it's $100. I wouldn't have to justify to myself that I am splurging once or feel guilty that it comes out of any other pile of money. It's money I already "spent" or budgeted for but not used. Or think of it as prepaid installments instead of credit card balance minimums after.
Some times, I like to "roll over" the money I didn't use but was budgeted for. For example, there is $50 budget for small repairs around the house every month. If there is nothing to use it for, it gets added to the $50 for the next month so I have $100 and so forth. So if I need to get a new water heater the next month, I have $100 already for it, so I am only need to add $200-300 more instead of $400. I don't keep it in a separate account. There would be too many accounts to keep track of, if I had one for every category. But it would be nice to look at!
Not sure if anyone else do that or I am doing silly mind trick with myself. If I rolled over my personal spending amount every month, it would give me more motivation to "save" for something that I want to splurge on. Let's say I have a budget of $50 spending per month. Every month, I just have to stay under budget. After 6 months, I could potential have $100 unused money rolled over in my personal spending. Then I could splurge one something that is the amount in my rollover, in this case it's $100. I wouldn't have to justify to myself that I am splurging once or feel guilty that it comes out of any other pile of money. It's money I already "spent" or budgeted for but not used. Or think of it as prepaid installments instead of credit card balance minimums after.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
spending tracking addiction
In order to reign in my spending, I have started to track my every dime with a spread sheet. I break down all amounts spent to a few categories and look at the sums of each. Then I realized that I was spending too much on things that I didn't need. So I made a game and aimed to reduce the personal, dinning out, clothes, and misc spending by a small amount each month.
I think I have displace my addiction. Every time I want to by something, I think about what category it would fall under. If it's not something that's a need (diapers for my kid, food- not junk food, etc) I would put it back. When I do go to the store, I can't wait until I get to break down the receipt when I get home. I want to see how much is that category adding up to. I look at the calendar and see what the total is at the particular part of the month. I feel good about keeping things low through the 1st half. The game to keep it well below the budget AND the previous month. Of course unexpected things come up, but that's OK if it's a need (busted water heater or fridge), cause I have been good.
So now, instead of spending, I am addict to looking at my bank account and spending spreadsheets.
I think I have displace my addiction. Every time I want to by something, I think about what category it would fall under. If it's not something that's a need (diapers for my kid, food- not junk food, etc) I would put it back. When I do go to the store, I can't wait until I get to break down the receipt when I get home. I want to see how much is that category adding up to. I look at the calendar and see what the total is at the particular part of the month. I feel good about keeping things low through the 1st half. The game to keep it well below the budget AND the previous month. Of course unexpected things come up, but that's OK if it's a need (busted water heater or fridge), cause I have been good.
So now, instead of spending, I am addict to looking at my bank account and spending spreadsheets.
Friday, June 3, 2011
small sacrifices add up
I have been lazy lately and don't really want pack my lunch in the morning. I have also wanted to get ice coffee or blended drinks every day. Does warm weather make people lazy? It seems to make me that way. So I have been telling myself to stop every I wanted to buy something.
I told myself that I will not buy anymore clothes unless I need it. And when I meant need, it's not want. It's I don't have anything at all to cover my body so I can be decent in a public place. So I have been good for the last month about buying anything clothing related. But now it's food.
I have to constantly remind myself that it's the $2-$7 purchases that add up to $200 - $300 of necessary spending. If I spend $2 on coffee everyday when I am at work that's $45 for the month(2x22days). Also, $7 on lunch is $154. Which is $2340 per year. Which is That's on the cheaper end. If I am not vigilant about the small purchases, the money will just drip away like a leaky faucet.
Sometimes you have to treat yourself, and budgeting that in will keep you from forsaking it altogether. Like a cheap day on a diet. So I tell myself everyday, OK we can budget for buying lunch once a week. Coffee, nothing more than $2 a week. $10/week is about $520/year. That's much better than $2300+/year. What will I do with extra $1800+? It's a nice problem to have. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I told myself that I will not buy anymore clothes unless I need it. And when I meant need, it's not want. It's I don't have anything at all to cover my body so I can be decent in a public place. So I have been good for the last month about buying anything clothing related. But now it's food.
I have to constantly remind myself that it's the $2-$7 purchases that add up to $200 - $300 of necessary spending. If I spend $2 on coffee everyday when I am at work that's $45 for the month(2x22days). Also, $7 on lunch is $154. Which is $2340 per year. Which is That's on the cheaper end. If I am not vigilant about the small purchases, the money will just drip away like a leaky faucet.
Sometimes you have to treat yourself, and budgeting that in will keep you from forsaking it altogether. Like a cheap day on a diet. So I tell myself everyday, OK we can budget for buying lunch once a week. Coffee, nothing more than $2 a week. $10/week is about $520/year. That's much better than $2300+/year. What will I do with extra $1800+? It's a nice problem to have. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
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