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Forum -> Household Management -> Budgeting & Bargains
Do you actually have a monthly budget?



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Do you have an official budget with line items and keep track every month?
Yes, I keep track of all my expenses  
 25%  [ 28 ]
No, I don't keep track it works out by itself  
 74%  [ 83 ]
Total Votes : 111



chocolatecake




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 1:57 pm
Do you actually have a figured out budget where you are alotted x amount of money each month for each category and you actually record expenses or are your spending habits more or less in line with your income and its just works by itself?

Most people I know in real life it just kind of works out by itself and if one month the credit card bill is too high they just dip into savings a drop to pay it and hope to pay savings back but here its seems many people actually have good old fashioned budgets.
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small bean




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 1:58 pm
I don't budget and never did. But I think it's super cool those that do it.
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vintagebknyc




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 2:20 pm
I do, we do, but we are both really good with not overspending and generally run our home/lives with a casual budget.

Meaning: we added up what we bring in each month, added up expenses (including what we wanted to save), and divided that's left over by four (four weeks in a month). That left-over, pays for groceries (it's just the two of us), dinner/movie nite, any co-pays, new clothes. Emergencies come out of savings.

It doesn't have to be complicated.
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baby12x




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 3:48 pm
Yes.
We have a real budget.
I think it's the number 1 thing to do if you want to have control of your finances, save for big events and retirement.
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SuperWify




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 3:52 pm
I tried for like a day. It was too hard.,

But bH with online banking it’s easy to see what to spend.
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Elfrida




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 4:09 pm
Yes. But so not so complicated.

First take out fixed expenses.
Second a certain sum goes into savings account.
Third ma'aser
Fourth, whatever is left gets divided into four, and that's the weekly budget. There is a bit of flexibility, and I might overspend one week and economize the next, but never go over the monthly total.
(Fifth, at the end of the month see how much is left in the account. Half of that gets transferred to savings account. The other half remains in current account to provide an emergency cushion, or for big expenses like holidays or new furniture.)
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gonewiththewind1




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 4:16 pm
.

Last edited by gonewiththewind1 on Thu, Dec 23 2021, 8:45 am; edited 1 time in total
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 4:31 pm
You might get better response if you enable anonymous posting.
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HonesttoGod




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 5:05 pm
Yes we do!
We have our income minus expenses every penny is given a place.

Some months are harder income wise vs other months so we have an emergency fund for that but we always put back if we take out of it.
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pizzapie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 7:30 pm
We just (finally) made a budget. I think that the biggest factor is that having an itemized budget helps eliminate impulse purchases. Money that is leftover at the end of the month rolls over to help cover for months that have higher expenses.
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HeartyAppetite




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 8:01 pm
When I started making a budget we were able to put a lot more money into savings.
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Optione




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 09 2021, 9:12 pm
My husband documents everything; I don't. That being said, we're extremely on top of credit cards and pay them 1-2 times a week. If one week we slightly go over, then the next week we cut back to make up for the deficit. BH my husband gets paid weekly which really helps with this system.
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abmom2




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 10 2021, 12:44 am
What system do you use? Any apps or computer programs that would be helpful for budgeting dummies?
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Jewishmom8




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 10 2021, 1:40 am
There was no choice for me.
I want to pick no but I should.
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GramaNewYork




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 10 2021, 3:43 am
We don't spend according to a budget, but we keep track of all our expenses (it takes about a half hour a week to enter all receipts into a spreadsheet). It's very eye opening: shows you if and where you need to cut back, etc.
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SG18




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 17 2021, 2:03 am
I don't budget, but if we spend heavily one month, we try not to spend a lot on extras the following month

Last edited by SG18 on Tue, Aug 17 2021, 7:29 am; edited 1 time in total
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nchr




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 17 2021, 5:59 am
Yes I have a budget.
Its more a mindset than the actual budget. If you want a budget you need to learn how to allocate a little extra which you can save every month and also be strict with yourself so if you only have $55 left to spend on a particular item, you don't spend $56.
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