Am I the only weirdo addicted to my budget?

[MagicalMom]

Originally posted by Pembo
I'm confused by the paying by the day thing?! Dh gets paid every 2 weeks. I hold all the bills until pay week and then write the checks for those that are due in the next 2 weeks. How do you all do it?

I get paid every other week. DH gets paid weekly. We have a budget written out stating where each paycheck is desiganted. We pay bills on Fridays, which explains why I am so excited today. Over time is considered extra money. An example is DH will get a additional $400.00 in OT next friday, that money goes directly on one credit card. I get paid on Thurs. & DH gets paid on Fridays. Every other Wed. I look at our acct. & see what is left. Additional money is split between our my savings & paying additional on bills. DH has $40.00 a week automatically transfered to his savings acct., also known as "my Christmas fund."

 

[katerkat]

I love my budget. I designed it myself on Excel. I update it every night and pay all my bills online. My favorite part is around the 20th of the month when I can see what the credit card payments are going to be (we pay them in full every month) and can decide how much we want to stick in savings and how much we want to pay on the car loan.

DH thinks I'm very sick and twisted, but he's happy the finances are done well.

 

[DiznEeyore]

I also have a "budget binder" that I've kept for about the past 4 years. I've tried doing it on the computer, but find I like handwriting everything much better. I have a form I use typed up in Word, then I print one out for each month with dates corresponding to our paychecks.

My favorite thing is going through and designating what "extra" money (from dh's moonlighting, etc.) will go for, LOL!

And yes, I have my budget sheets printed out through January '05. I also have dh's paydates calculated through December '05 -- this way I know when his two "bonus" checks come in (he gets paid every other week so twice a year we get an extra pay).

It might sound weird to some, but I say "go us!!" We are on top of those budgets, rather than letting them run us over!!

 

[MagicalMom]

Originally posted by DiznEeyore
IAnd yes, I have my budget sheets printed out through January '05. I also have dh's paydates calculated through December '05 -- this way I know when his two "bonus" checks come in (he gets paid every other week so twice a year we get an extra pay).

It might sound weird to some, but I say "go us!!" We are on top of those budgets, rather than letting them run us over!!

I love those "extra" paychecks too! It's so fun to decide where they are going.

I also allow $100.00 a week for groceries, but sometimes spend less if rhe sales & coupons are good. Then I have to run home & write down what I actually spent & put the remainder in savings or on a bill.

The dorkiest part is that I'm always tempted to show people my binder, I'm just so proud of it. Then I remember that it is really personal info, not a coffee table book! LOL

 

[DMickey28]

I am so jealous... a few months ago I was on a roll with this budget stuff... now not so much.

We have our wedding coming up in five weeks... DFiance's pay schedule was changed on us and the company messed with his pay causing us to lose $2000 we counted on for August... we are in a complete mess now. I have to borrow from my parents every months only to pay a bill, and then pay them back at the end when his check comes... it's a pain and I can barely cover my cc's anymore. In fact I know I am late on two of them right now...

I am guilty of the duck and run.... I hate trying to do this when there isn't enough money and I can't seem to get myself motivated to pull the budget back in when I know the end result will be zero...

As soon as the wedding is over we will be back on track it should only take a month or so to pull things together, except that dfiance may be getting anew job offer in chicago so we will need to balance two rents for two mnths....

ahh when does it end...

I wanna join your group.. i really do... and i will soon!!

 

[DCLuvinit]

I've been wanting to make a more detailed expense budget. Right now I have all my bills listed in Excel. When a bill comes in, I post it to the spreadsheet, sort by due date, then once a week I pay the bills that are coming due. I LOVE spreadsheets!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I am a total Quicken addict.

oh yes. After 3 or 4 years of history in Quicken -- I can do a nice budget in a matter of minutes. My favorite is the reports section where I can go look at our net worth and see it rising over a period of years. For some reason that particular graph gives me a happy feeling.

There is also a cash flow graph where it shows income vs expenses per month. Whenever I really want to buy something I know we can't afford, I go look at those bars to remind myself that spending less than you make is really important.

I love those "extra" paychecks too! It's so fun to decide where they are going.

we have an extra paycheck month in October. We always use at least 1/3 of the money for something fun... The rest we invest or use to ugrade the house.

 

[snoopy]

DH has always been the budget person in our house. He's to be commended, if it were me paying the bills and planning the budget, we'd probably have the house foreclosed on.

 

[caitycaity]

i actually love budgeting and paying bills. fortunately or unfortunately, i married someone who wants to pay them too, so dh handles all of our finances in an excel spreadsheet he designed.

 

[Crankyshank]

I'm another one with a budget done on excel. Right now it's set through march of '05. I love updating it and checking online to see if payments have cleared.

I just wish DH stuck to the budget