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Ok, here’s the deal. I have a secret.
….
I don’t really have a budget.
….
I say “really” because I guess I kind of do of sorts, but not to the extent that I have categories and allotted spending amounts and this and that. I keep track of all my incoming and outgoing money in MicroSoft Money (which I’ve used since I was 16 and had my first job!). I like this because I can input all my bills for the month (or two or three, depending how far down the road I want to “look”) into the ledger and it gives me a rough estimate of how much money I have after all my known bills and income at any given point during that time.
Right now I actually have the ledger showing all recurring bills, transfers, and deposits through the end of the year. I did this because I am currently unemployed (with no such luck at finding a job, although I may be working for family soon if things go well) and my unemployment compensation will be running out in either September or December (if I qualify for the 13 week extension). So this gives me a window to see how we sit financially at any given point over of the duration of my being unemployed. It’s very useful to me.
For instance, I can look and see that on September 1 I will have x.xx amount in checking after I pay all of our bills up through that date.
Plus I am able to keep all my banking (checking & savings), credit cards, student loans, car loan, investment accounts, and other liabilities all on one screen. I have up to date information on every single account at any given moment. I take the time to sit down and enter receipts every night, if there are any. It gives you the option of putting these expenses into categories they have built in, or you can make your own categories for things you want to track separately.
It’s a bit complex for some because it does take some time to set up all the accounts, but once you do…it’s such a time saver! I love the reports that you can generate with the click of a button (and customize!).
So…back to my secret. I don’t really have a budget.
I’ve tried to make a budget in Money, but it doesn’t work for me due to how I have transfers set up from one Money account to another. I’ve tried using some wonderful ones I’ve found at other PF bloggers websites, but nothing really works for me. I hate entering financial information in more than one location (log my receipts and such into MS Money, then go update a spreadsheet with the same information to generate a budget? No thanks.).
But this works for me. I’m still able to see how much we spend each month on any given category and I can generate reports at the end of the month to see where we need to cut back. This method has worked for me for 8 years (hard to believe I was all over this at the age of 16! How did I end up in debt, again?).
My point is this. What works for one person will not always work for you. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t seem to find a specific budget template that works magic for you. Try some different things. Heck, make your own if you’re savvy enough with Excel! Or just jot down your budget on a piece of paper each month and tally expenses that way. Whatever works for you.
For me, it’s sitting down each day to analyze our financial situation and enter receipts and look ahead to make sure that a financial decision today won’t cause a problem 2 months down the road.
What works for you?
