Comments on: How To Make A Budget – GS11 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/ Christian Personal Finance - Financial help blog, debt help and other financial resources Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:22:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Amber http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-172739 Amber Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:43:38 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-172739 Bob, My daughter is 19 going on 20 and is getting ready to move out on her own she has a full time job making only minium wadge and a few tips here and there. She is convinced that she can make it on her own in a small apartment and will not listen to me on how to make or stick to a budget. Do you know of any web sites that could help her lay out a budget so that she can see in black and white that its not going to be as easy as she thinks. Any advice that you can offer would be most helpful. Thanks a million, Amber Bob,
My daughter is 19 going on 20 and is getting ready to move out on her own she has a full time job making only minium wadge and a few tips here and there. She is convinced that she can make it on her own in a small apartment and will not listen to me on how to make or stick to a budget. Do you know of any web sites that could help her lay out a budget so that she can see in black and white that its not going to be as easy as she thinks. Any advice that you can offer would be most helpful.
Thanks a million,
Amber

]]> By: Kris http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-168428 Kris Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:25:11 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-168428 My husband and I have a variable income and until recently we have had nothing but problems budgeting. My income can vary greatly... up to a 1000.00 every 2 weeks difference in pay and my husbands varies by 100-200 a pay. What I was able to do was calculate what we use monthly. I came up with a rough figure of say $3100.00. This is the must have for bills, expenses number. I then went to last years bank statements and verified our income every month was more than this number (Even with the staggering paychecks (maybe 1 week my check was 650 and 2 weeks later it was 1400) Im not looking at weekly paychecks but overall monthly averages. Once I knew we were now ok with that number, I then took the 3100 and divided it by 4. I threw in a couple of extra dollars and now my husband and I are putting in 780.00 per week (we each get paid bi- weekly on opposit weeks) into our checking account. Anything we make over, goes into a seperate account. If your paycheck is not 780.00 we go into the seperate account (call it the cushion) and deposit the difference bring the 780 account to 780. We do not touch anything not spent in this account. Overage stays in there, I will move it out of that accout at the end of the year. This account is the do not touch for any reason because it has to go to bills and ness. living expenses. This only works if you are 2 weeks (starting) to 1 month ahead (ideal) on bills. So a good time to start this is after tax time if you recieve a tax check or some sort of influx in cash to get you ahead enough to be able to do it. As you income is variable you have to be able to have time to make up the difference if 1 or 2 checks per month are off. Please note as well that I took my monthly budget and divided it by 4. As my husband and I are paid on opposit weeks, one of us gets a paycheck every week. There are 4 months this year with 5 week paychecks. Even without my cushion, the 780 program will have extra money in it as well as the cushion account. This enables us to actually have a little bit of savings, be a month ahead on our bills and still have play money. I dont know if I did things right but it is working so far so I hope this helps someone else. My husband and I have a variable income and until recently we have had nothing but problems budgeting. My income can vary greatly… up to a 1000.00 every 2 weeks difference in pay and my husbands varies by 100-200 a pay. What I was able to do was calculate what we use monthly. I came up with a rough figure of say $3100.00. This is the must have for bills, expenses number. I then went to last years bank statements and verified our income every month was more than this number (Even with the staggering paychecks (maybe 1 week my check was 650 and 2 weeks later it was 1400) Im not looking at weekly paychecks but overall monthly averages. Once I knew we were now ok with that number, I then took the 3100 and divided it by 4. I threw in a couple of extra dollars and now my husband and I are putting in 780.00 per week (we each get paid bi- weekly on opposit weeks) into our checking account. Anything we make over, goes into a seperate account. If your paycheck is not 780.00 we go into the seperate account (call it the cushion) and deposit the difference bring the 780 account to 780. We do not touch anything not spent in this account. Overage stays in there, I will move it out of that accout at the end of the year. This account is the do not touch for any reason because it has to go to bills and ness. living expenses.

This only works if you are 2 weeks (starting) to 1 month ahead (ideal) on bills. So a good time to start this is after tax time if you recieve a tax check or some sort of influx in cash to get you ahead enough to be able to do it. As you income is variable you have to be able to have time to make up the difference if 1 or 2 checks per month are off.

Please note as well that I took my monthly budget and divided it by 4. As my husband and I are paid on opposit weeks, one of us gets a paycheck every week. There are 4 months this year with 5 week paychecks. Even without my cushion, the 780 program will have extra money in it as well as the cushion account. This enables us to actually have a little bit of savings, be a month ahead on our bills and still have play money. I dont know if I did things right but it is working so far so I hope this helps someone else.

]]> By: Totally Money Carnival – #51 - Passive Income to Retire http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-167893 Totally Money Carnival – #51 - Passive Income to Retire Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:06:09 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-167893 [...] presents How to Make A Budget: A Step-by-Step Guide posted at Christian Personal Finance. This article is an exhaustive look at everything you need to [...] [...] presents How to Make A Budget: A Step-by-Step Guide posted at Christian Personal Finance. This article is an exhaustive look at everything you need to [...]

]]> By: John Frainee http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-167864 John Frainee Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:43:12 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-167864 Hey Stephanie. One thing that has helped me with my variable income is to have a fund that you pour money into that has a cap. For example, you might have a fund that has a cap of $10,000 (meaning you wouldn't fund it over $10,000) and you can budget out from that every month. You'll have to keep your monthly budget necessities as low as possible, say, $2,500 to $3,000. Pull the amount that is right for you out of your $10,000 every month and fund any extra commission money you get that is beyond what you need for the month back into your $10,000 fund. This might give you the buffer you need to get through several months of low income and allow you to refund the account when your commission is rocking! Hope that helps! Hey Stephanie. One thing that has helped me with my variable income is to have a fund that you pour money into that has a cap. For example, you might have a fund that has a cap of $10,000 (meaning you wouldn’t fund it over $10,000) and you can budget out from that every month. You’ll have to keep your monthly budget necessities as low as possible, say, $2,500 to $3,000. Pull the amount that is right for you out of your $10,000 every month and fund any extra commission money you get that is beyond what you need for the month back into your $10,000 fund. This might give you the buffer you need to get through several months of low income and allow you to refund the account when your commission is rocking! Hope that helps!

]]> By: Stephanie http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-167849 Stephanie Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:11:25 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-167849 Bob, I have been working on my budget for some time now, both in trimming expenses and planning spending and I keep getting stuck. I make commission only, and have been trying to use a system where I use my last year's earnings and divide it by 24 (for each pay period) which will give me my "salary" to work from. I get stuck in my own calculations of monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly expenses. My budget equation looks a bit like calculus and I get frustrated and confused and give up for a while. I would love to have a program to help me get past the math of all of this. As I look through different websites or programs that can help, I have yet to find one that will let me have variable income. Can you (or anyone else reading) direct me to one? Thanks in advance. Bob,
I have been working on my budget for some time now, both in trimming expenses and planning spending and I keep getting stuck. I make commission only, and have been trying to use a system where I use my last year’s earnings and divide it by 24 (for each pay period) which will give me my “salary” to work from. I get stuck in my own calculations of monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly expenses. My budget equation looks a bit like calculus and I get frustrated and confused and give up for a while. I would love to have a program to help me get past the math of all of this. As I look through different websites or programs that can help, I have yet to find one that will let me have variable income. Can you (or anyone else reading) direct me to one? Thanks in advance.

]]> By: Jeff Crews http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-166400 Jeff Crews Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:31:30 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-166400 Yes, it recently has added some nice features. I think I might take the time to set it all up and use it. Then I can give a better review of it. I know it automatically tracks money going in and out according to your account (or that is what my good friend told me). That could be a pretty cool feature. Link it to all my accounts and then know when certain accounts are running low, etc. Way better than my Google doc budget. Although that lays a great foundation. Yes, it recently has added some nice features. I think I might take the time to set it all up and use it. Then I can give a better review of it. I know it automatically tracks money going in and out according to your account (or that is what my good friend told me). That could be a pretty cool feature. Link it to all my accounts and then know when certain accounts are running low, etc. Way better than my Google doc budget. Although that lays a great foundation.

]]> By: Bob http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-166386 Bob Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:44:04 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-166386 Jeff, last time I did a thorough look at Mint (they are continuing to add features) it was a great way to see where your money went. It is beautiful and provides easy to see data of where your money goes, but at the time it wasn't the best tool for budgeting for the future. So if you keep that in mind I think it can give you a lot of useful information about your spending habits, etc. Jeff, last time I did a thorough look at Mint (they are continuing to add features) it was a great way to see where your money went. It is beautiful and provides easy to see data of where your money goes, but at the time it wasn’t the best tool for budgeting for the future. So if you keep that in mind I think it can give you a lot of useful information about your spending habits, etc.

]]> By: Jeff Crews http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-166220 Jeff Crews Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:00:15 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-166220 I like your thoughts on how to keep it simple. I broke my budget down into a Google doc. It is easy to keep track of items wherever you are since the doc is always online. I am thinking about using Mint.com to track all my expenses. Any thoughts? I like your thoughts on how to keep it simple. I broke my budget down into a Google doc. It is easy to keep track of items wherever you are since the doc is always online. I am thinking about using Mint.com to track all my expenses. Any thoughts?

]]> By: Brent Pittman http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-166090 Brent Pittman Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:32:32 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-166090 Jacob, I agree mint is a great starter tool for tracking what you spend. Minus- can't track your cash, doesn't know what checks are floating, & doesn't track pending transactions at your bank. For most people Mint is a "best guess" as to how much money you have. But, I do love that it's free. Jacob, I agree mint is a great starter tool for tracking what you spend. Minus- can’t track your cash, doesn’t know what checks are floating, & doesn’t track pending transactions at your bank. For most people Mint is a “best guess” as to how much money you have. But, I do love that it’s free.

]]> By: Brent Pittman http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/comment-page-1/#comment-166089 Brent Pittman Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:29:28 +0000 http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-budget/#comment-166089 Great ideas on irregular income. I also wrote about it at http://www.ontargetcoach.com/a-budget-for-artists-and-freelancers-budgeting-with-an-irregular-income/ Great ideas on irregular income. I also wrote about it at http://www.ontargetcoach.com/a-budget-for-artists-and-freelancers-budgeting-with-an-irregular-income/

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