I can't stick to a budget-ugh

[msmama]

I have Mint and it works for me because I don't have to do anything. I don't actually have to input everything (is that what you mean by auto-populate)? I find I like Mint on the computer better than the app though.

Do you NEED a budget? Do you have debt to be paid down? Do you have savings (I see above you say you want to save more)?

Every few months or so I get very strict on my budget and track every penny - that lasts for about a month or so. Still, it's nice to see where the money is going. But, like you said, I have no idea what my utility bills are (I mean, I know roughly so I know enough to notice if one is abnormally high or something). Also, by tracking every few months, I KNOW what my weak spot is (it's groceries) and I adjust accordingly.

I also believe in "paying myself first." I get money. X amount immediately goes into savings (which includes emergency fund). Another (smaller amount) goes into "Saving For" (which is like saving for vacation or when my car is going to need replacing in a few years, etc). Everything else just stays in checking and ideally the checking account ends up with more money than it started with at the beginning of the month (some months it doesn't and I've learned to live with that - for instance property taxes and my disney trip in the same month - checking takes a big hit - though smaller than it would because of GC's I've budgeted for and purchased earlier in the year). If you tried this and it didn't work, try a smaller amount and then increase it over time.

HOWEVER, I'm able to be looser with my budget now because there were times when I was tighter with it. I've built up cushions to where I know I'm not going to run out of money at the end of the month. And I think that during those times I was tighter with my budget I learned to be more careful with money.

Also, for your Starbucks habit - make sure you're saving money when you can. Buy Starbucks gift cards when you find them on sale, for example.

The key is to find a way to budget that works for YOU. Maybe it's not tracking every penny. Maybe it's tracking discretionary spending. Maybe you need to try to lower your utility bills (the thing I like about Mint is that it'll tell you what percentage of money is going where). Maybe you don't have to do it ALL. That said, if you want more money and you don't want to bring more in, you're going to have to find a way to cut some spending and yes, it might be hard and take will power, but there's no magic way to do it.

Good luck!

 

[pryncess527]

You can use a 3rd party app, PocketSense, can auto-sync your accounts with YNAB.

I'll say though,

I was all set to try YNAB as I'd heard so many great things about it, but when it comes to tracking things like this I'm just lazy. I don't have the patience to input every purchase manually.

Does strike me as getting to the heart of the problem. With YNAB, it's not about the patience to enter anything manually (that literally takes me less than 15 seconds at checkout on my iPhone) -- it's more about learning to think about your budget category BEFORE you spend. I don't literally whip out my phone to ensure I won't go 10 cents over in groceries if I throw a candy bar in my cart, we don't live that close to the edge -- but treating your budget like a zero-based system, whether it is through cash envelopes or digital ones -- helps you learn to think about money differently and consider the tradeoffs when you choose to spend more in one category at the expense of another.

We have modest debt (car loan & heloc), but no CC debt, and my H and I never fought about money, but approaching our budget from a zero-based perspective for the last few years has been really transformative in how we discuss money, and it has helped us ensure that our spending is a reflection of our priorities.

One last thing I'll add -- I think of it as more of a spending plan than a budget. We are not pinching every penny, we do not NEED a budget in the traditional sense. But the reality is, everyone, even Bill Gates, has a limited set of resources, and using zero-based budget/spending plan gives us all the data we need, at our fingertips, to make sure our resources are allocated in a way that is important to us, whether that means putting more in retirement, having nice clothes, money for Disney, or the awesome anniversary night out we are planning.

 

[Madteaparty001]

Hello all- OP here. Figured I'd pop in and answer a few q's/give some additional info. Thanks for all the feedback.

I was all set to try YNAB as I'd heard so many great things about it, but when it comes to tracking things like this I'm just lazy. I don't have the patience to input every purchase manually.

I do everything online-all my bills, rent, etc. I don't use cash anywhere except paying my dog sitter. For those of you who do the cash envelopes, do you go to the cable company every month to pay your bill? I'd never get my bills paid lol.

I watch my cards online (thank you Prism as I have lots of cards and could never keep track without that app!) for an idea of where I am and that's about it. I don't carry a balance on my cards so no debt there.

I guess I feel a bit irresponsible as so many people seem to know how much they spend on x per month. Other than rent, cable, doggie daycare and Netflix I have no idea. I have a rough idea of electric summer vs not but as for gas, food, entertainment, etc. I have zero idea. I've set budgets for all of those in an attempt to save but then...nope.

Glad to hear that not everybody budgets to the $. I like hearing strategies. I think if I ever get motivated to save for something new maybe I'll have the willpower.

We wrote out a budget like this one: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tmex6fjkoskkfjw/AABLU9IQNmfGvZb7IIP4LBAga/BlankBudget.xlsx?dl=0

Then divided the amounts in half since we are paid biweekly. Then every time we got paid we filled the envelopes. We charged everything to our credit card so we would take cash out of the envelope, say when we paid the phone bill we put the cash from the phone bill envelope and put it into the credit card envelope. Then at the end of the month we took our credit card envelope and paid off the credit card with it (we started with using a chase card since you can pay that in person with cash). Things like rent was by check, so when we wrote the check we put the cash in the bank account to cover it. If you're disciplined enough you can just leave the cash for rent in the account.

 

[MomToOne]

Here's what works for me: I have a monthly budget spreadsheet, where I list all the standard bills. I am like you and have everything auto-paid, but when a bill comes in my email, I just add the amount to the spreadsheet - it's really easy and fast. From there, I give myself a weekly "allowance" - I personally track each and every dollar I spend there, but if that is overwhelming for you, then I suggest just getting a separate credit card that you put all that miscellaneous spending on and just check your account online periodically to see how you are doing for the month. (That advice assumes you won't abuse the card, and will pay it off every month.)

I prefer the spreadsheet approach over all of the fancy applications because I can see my whole years budget on a single screen (each month gets a column), and it's very quick to access and update it. And I can add and subtract categories as my whim changes with just a simple addition of a line.

Also - don't beat yourself up about not succeeding the first few months at this. Budgeting is a process that you will slowly get better at. I think just tracking your expenses is the first step, for now you don't even have to set a budget. Then, over time, as you see where your money goes, you will just naturally start to identify areas you can tighten or make improvements in.

 

[kymom99]

I use a plain old spiral notebook. Each page has a checklist of bills in chronological order, 3 months to a page. I check them off as I pay them, and because we basically live month to month, I mark where each paycheck will fall so I know how far each check needs to stretch.

We have gotten much better about trimming excess spending, but it is discouraging to always be running out of money. The monthly obligations don't change much. I have already adjusted some things to the point where I am paying as little as possible within reason, for example, our insurance premiums. I recently decided to get real with myself and take a hard look at my discretionary spending. Because if I never change anything, how can I expect things to get better? I wrote down every transaction last month that was not a necessity, like stopping at McD's or Subway for breakfast. We spent over $250 in that area last month! I was absolutely shocked! Now some of this was cash needed for entrance into my son's track meets and collections at work for flowers and shower gifts. But not much of it. It was a huge wakeup call, and I didn't need a fancy program to figure this out. I talked to my husband and told him I realize this is mostly me. I suggested we each take $20 cash every 2 weeks for spending money and try to limit ourselves to that amount. That will save a ton.

Maybe you are trying to be too strict in your budget, or maybe your means of documenting is too much for you. Take it in small steps until it becomes a habit, a way of life.

 

[eliza61]

I started a thread awhile back asking for tips on budgeting for beginners.

I signed up with mint and input everything and set goals/budgets. I gave it a go for a good several months and all I can say is...it was a cluster at best.

I just cannot stick to a budget. Things pop up or unexpected spends occur that throw things off.

I guess sticking to a budget is just a matter of will power and I ain't got it

I'm a super organized person in general but I seem to be very fly by my seat when I comes to spending.

Thoughts? I don't really have a specific question at this point. Just unable to sleep and lamenting my budgetary incompetence.

LOL op, there is a reason why millions of dollars are spent in the debt industry and the weight loss industry.

you are by no means alone. It's hard to stay on budget and lose weight.


I don't do budgets per se. IMO they are simply documented proof that you are going to blow it. LOL why do I need to pay for a program to document that.
Anyhoo, I do agree with others, you need to find what works for you and a strict budget may not be it.

Now me, I'm a goal setter. that is what works best for me. I very loosely budget.

I set goals and then work toward them. For example, I have one long term goal. I want to do an African safari. I want to see giraffes in the wild and an African sunset. So basically I pay toward that first and foremost.
Now closer to home, it's a bit easier. I only have x amount of dollars and certain things have to get paid for.
Mortgage, utilities etc are no brainers.

SAVINGS COME FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE.

Have you tracked your spending? I know that can be very tedious but a lot of times when you do that you find out where money kind off disappears too.

also miscellaneous/emergency/forgot to anticipate items will always creep up. I just realized that next month, june I've got 3 cars due for registration and inspections. YIkes there's an extra 200 I keep forgetting about.

My kids will be out of school in a week so I know from tracking last year that my food budget is about to explode about 25% more.

 

[Minnesota!]

I have many, many savings accounts set up - each with a different designation:

Vacation
Car
Property Taxes
Utilities
Kids savings
Mortgage
Insurance
Christmas
Kids tuition
Student Loans
House fixing up (where I put money for plumbers, electricians, paint, any home repair that might pop up)
General savings
And then I have one right now that I am saving towards a big wedding gift ($) for a very dear friend who is getting married in 18 months.

I take my usual monthly utility bills (home phone, water, electricity, garbage) and have it direct deposited from my check to that account. And then they are direct debited by the various utility companies. Same with Student Loan/Mortgage/Insurance/Property Taxes.
I never see the money, except on a statement, so I never miss it.

For my revolving debt - any cell phone, cable, credit card, loan, etc. payments, I have a document that spells out exactly what is brought in each pay period (base pay..), and then I pay those on pay day. Then, whatever is left, is mad money for gas, groceries, eating out, having fun, etc. If I decide to splurge on a few meals out, my budget for groceries will be pennies. And I have to live with that.

Unexpected things do come up that I pull from general savings - a donation to a kids fund raiser, new uniforms because my kids decided to grow overnight, husband decides we need some random piece of sports equipment, or hell, I want to go out to dinner and there is no money in checking.

I am tight on my budget as far as bills go. Mad money, I don't really track how it is spent. I just compensate where I need to. If we need to live on noodles and canned veggies for a few days, I am good with that.

 

[jhoannam]

I was the same way. Now I make a monthly budget, because things are different every month. Everything that is budgeted gets paid as soon as the money is in my checking account. Savings get auto deposit so I don't even see that money and don't count that as part of our budget. Gas, groceries, clothing, blow money and misc. are just one category, they have their own checking account, once the money is gone then it's gone. For example this week we were bad and only had $60 left for groceries but guess what we made it work.

 

[verleniahall]

Lots of good points have already been mentioned, OP. I think it is important to find out your style and figure out what works best for you. We use the Mint app and I love seeing where all the money is going. I particularly like that it shows how much we have spent relative to where we are in the month - that is less helpful for things like groceries sine I don't shop every day, but it helps with eating out. We have set several different budget categories, but you might be happier with fewer. For example, we have a budget for groceries and one for eating out. Sometimes the eating out is too high but the grocery category is low because of that. I am okay with that as long as our total spending for the month is less than or equal to what we have budgeted to spend overall. If it is a month where we are buying a lot of gifts, we hold off a bit on new clothes for the kids (when possible).

It is always a good idea to see where you can cut, as well. We turned in two cable boxes and cut our cable bill $15 per month. We are not ready to cut the cord completely, but we haven't missed the extra boxes.

I would also check to make sure your budget is reasonable for how you live. You only have a finite amount of money to spend as a PP said, but you also set yourself up for frustration if you set individual numbers too low. For example, if you tend to eat out a lot, try to cut back if you want, but also divert money from another budget area so you can meet those numbers. Maybe you will choose to spend less on clothes, or cable, or going to the movies so you can eat out more. Or maybe you will cut back in some categories so you can save for vacation.

Last thing - it was helpful for us to account for ATM transactions. They were always the black hole of our budget. Now we either use a credit card or I write down why I got money out of the ATM.[/QUOTE] (Bolded) - BRILIANT!! I always write down the transaction - but i wils start writing down WHY we took it out.


OP - something that i do in my register is round up to th enearest whole dollar amount.

EX - groceries were $100.45 - i input 101.00 for groceries at whatever store.

at the end of the month, I know there will be some leftover in the account since everything has been rounded up. that money is withdrawn and put into our emergancy fund