Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Budget, dollar by dollar

I might've mentioned my "budget" a lot, but never broken it down and posted it in its entirety. So here it is, for no better reason than 1) I have always wanted to and 2) it is about to be changed, so it doesnt matter for long.

I get paid biweekly, so I account for 2 checks per month. 3 check months are usually considered unaccounted extras up until this year, where they have a very specific purpose (SAVINGS!). I get paid $910 every paycheck from my FT job (not accounting for $35 which are automatically sent to an IRA or whatever goes to my 401k). My PT job is... unreliable and extremely variable, so it is always counted as unassigned extra.

At the very beginning, I was fighting myself because I wanted to be one of the cool kids and have a monthly budget. Well, problem was... my money wasnt monthly. It's biweekly. Every 2 weeks. Trying to draft everything a month in advance just wasnt in my cards. So I did what I consider the smartest thing I've done and broke it into 2 small budgets; 1st check and 2nd check. (I am a simple person, you see.)

Let me tell ya, the biggest challenge was making sure the two were balanced to the max of my income. I even had to switch debt due dates so that I could make it work. I am glad I did.

1st check (between 1 and 15th of the month)
--$200 for food, misc personal expenses and gas (also known on my books as f/m/g)
--$50 Verizon wireless (cellphone)
--$660 snowball (currently being sent to Student Loan 2, then would've gone to savings)
===> Total: $910

2nd check (16 - end of the month)
--$200 f/m/g
--$500 rent for following month
--$40 car insurance
--$170 snowballs
===> Total: $910

And that is it. That accounts for every penny I earn in my full time job. Now you can see how that's a problem, especially since I have a horrible tendency to cut my food budget before I cut my snowballs.

As far as my PT job, the money is thrown into a savings account, and sometimes saved, sometimes used to cover for overages. It is nice, but I'd hate to ever count it in... maybe if one day I get a real PT job with an actual reliable schedule.

11 comments:

  1. You work in HR?? You are way underpaid, start looking for a new job. You should be making 55 to 65 but it sounds like you're more in the 35 range...

    HS

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    1. That really just depends on location. Most business related/administrative type jobs around where I live wouldn't pay 55 - 65.

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    2. Yeah, it is area specific. I had mentioned I've kind of outgrown my position, but in this company, this is as far as I can get (literally--the only other step up would be taking my manager's place). I do plan to get another job, in another 12 months or so. For now, I will use the experience, which is nearly impossible to get in HR. Everyone needs HR, but very few are willing to hire anyone with less than 5yrs exp.

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  2. That's the way I do it too Tanner - I get paid twice monthly but they are different amounts due to different payroll deductions so 2 mini budgets work best for me (and YOU!) And I do zero budgeting like you do too. Whatever works.

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    1. I do it that way too. We get paid twice monthly. I have a budget for the 1st paycheck and a budget for the second paycheck. Which is why I love 3 paycheck month's so much. I don't budget the money from those, so its almost all extra.

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    2. Yup! That money is all gravy, literally. Can you believe I didnt recognize there were 3 paycheck months until I started doing budgets?! Ha!

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  3. I get paid once a month, on the last working day of the month. It sucks. But of course, after the bills are paid on the 1st, I know exactly what I have to live in the rest of the month!

    Peace <3
    Jay

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    1. Yikes, that'd be a challenge! Now I know who to turn to, if I ever become a monthly paid employee!

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  4. I budget in a similar way.

    I created a custom master budget (via Excel) where I list my total monthly income & known expenses. Then each month I create (2) sub-budgets for each payday. Might sound time consuming, but it's really not since I just create a copy in Excel. I do this every month because my expenses change so frequently, and I'm able to account for extras that payday. It also check my account balances (debt, HSA, savings/401k/IRA) and record it in that tab. My budget will change again this Fall when I move.

    Your budget seems so much more simple than mine, i.e. fewer (in terms of how many) bills to pay.

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    1. Yup, I totally take advantage of the fact I have such few bills. I am sure it'd be a mess if I had tons.

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  5. What you need to do is calculate what all your expenses would be if you paid them on an annual basis. Let's say for example your total expenses for a year is $14,400 (not including food or gas for the car). Divide the $14,400 by 12 to come up with your monthly expenses or in this case using the $14,400 as an example, $1,200. You need to build up at least 1/2 to 1 full month's worth of expenses in your checking account. Once you do that then take the annual expense amount and divide it by the number of paychecks you receive which if I understood you correctly is 26. This will give you the amount of $555 prox. (again I'm not including food or gas). Each time you get paid insure that you deposit this amount and when your bills come due, the money will already be in your checking account to pay them. With the balance of your check you buy your food, gas for the car and hopefully put some of it into savings. If you set up your finances like this, you'll never be late with a payment or overdraft your account. But the trick is as I mentioned above to build a balance in your checking account to cover 1 month's worth of expenses.

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