Comments on: 30 Days to a Better Man Day 16: Create a Budget

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:02:59 +0000

I have a very simple budget where you only have to remember one number. You have to figure out what you can spend every day. I record it on the Tasks fuction in Gmail so I can get to it whenever I’m online.

I know what my take home pay is per month, and my monthly expenses. A simple subtraction leaves the amount of money left over per month. Then, divide by 31 days to determine your daily allowance. Round down to the nearest number to give yourself a bit of fudge room. I then collect every receipt and throw it away when I have taken it out of my budget. ATM visits come out instants, ignoring cash in hand. Once a month I remove all of my automatic deductions. Don’t forget that you’ll have many unexpected expenses that you have to calculate.

For example, you start at zero. On your first day you add your daily balance. Let’s say it’s $50. If throughout the first day you spend $20, you are now at $30, and your new number the next morning is $80. The next day you might have a $200 expense, so you would be negative, but at least you’d know it and spend less the next couple of days. It can be quite depressing to be below zero, but at least you know exactly where you stand every day.

By: Lane

Lane — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:17:13 +0000

I want to thank Brett and Kate for the Mint recomendation. I got an account immediately after reading this post. Thanks AoM.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:31:51 +0000

Hey, don’t forget me! OK, I’m a new player on the budget scene. I’m just getting released. But if you are interested I would love it if you would check out http://inzolo.com and give me some feedback. It’s a web based envelope budgeting tool. Thanks!

By: Marc D.

Marc D. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:56:40 +0000

This is great since after I graduated High School I knew I needed to start a budget before I go to college.

By: Nickoli

Nickoli — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:40:42 +0000

@Jason Y:
You can use a feature called “protected cells” to prevent accidentally overwriting cells that you shouldn’t.

By: Jason Y

Jason Y — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:51:38 +0000

More marriages end because of disagreements / stress / fights over _finances_ than for any other reason. It pays to work out a budget with your spouse, and stick to it!

Thanks for the suggestions on software to use. I used to wonder “Why not just create a spreadsheet for everything? That puts the USER in control!” Then I created a combination budget / ledger spreadsheet for my wife and I to use. Well, the problems we have encountered include:
-inability to dynamically or programmatically add a column, row, or worksheet to a workbook.
-slow sorting algorithms, requiring us to spread our data across multiple worksheets when one worksheet would otherwise work better
-I can’t figure out how to make filter / search / query filters work!
-You cannot control what users can and cannot change on a spreadsheet–They can overwrite formulas with data without even a warning message!

So we have an unwieldy beast. It actually works pretty well, but every time we have to add a spending category or something, we have to go through a 12-step ceremony to set it up, then double-check our formulas.

By: Tommy C

Tommy C — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:52:22 +0000

I’m also a huge Mint fan. I’m bad about keeping a paper log for expenses, so Mint keeps me in check when I spend much more than I thought on some projects.

By: Certified debt management programs

Certified debt management programs — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:36:10 +0000

With the twister of economic despair upsetting many people these days, becoming debt free is now the major center on many people’s mentality People are opening to appreciate if they want exist debt free they have to prepare, preparation, plus take achievement to get there. People facing bankruptcy will frequently check with a qualified bankruptcy attorney to help guide them throughout the procedure and make sure their container is resolved in an acceptable manner.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:34:01 +0000

I’m a college student and this is how I budget a bi-monthly paycheck:

I use 3 envelopes and no credit cards.

Envelope 1: Fixed expenses – all fixed expenses (motorcycle insurance, life insurance, etc.)

Envelope 2: Savings – Currently 25% of whatever I make

Envelope 3: Fun Fund – Currently 15% of whatever I make, to be spent on anything “big” I want to buy (like a new motorcycle!)

The rest of the money (cash) is put in my wallet and that’s what I have to spend (or not spend) for the two weeks before my next paycheck. If I run out of cash in my wallet…I stop spending. Easy. =D

By: Luís Guilherme

Luís Guilherme — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:41:34 +0000

I also recommend Gnucash (http://www.gnucash.org/ ) which has an excellent portable version: ( http://gnucashportable.sourceforge.net/ ).