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Note from Tiffanie: As you read this I am on my way to Las Vegas to visit my brother and his family.  This is our cheap & frugal vacation!  I’ll write more about how we saved money and what was actually spent when I get home.  For the next few days, please enjoy some of the guest bloggers that have been willing to keep this place alive while I am gone!  The first guest post is from Bobbi, who doesn’t have a blog, but maybe she will start one in 2009?

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First, I would like to thank Tiffanie for letting me guest post. I hope everyone is enjoying 2009 so far. I am very much looking forward to it. A little background; I am a mid-40 something woman, with a grown daughter, I don’t spend more than I earn (anymore) and I try to enjoy life to the fullest everyday!

I started budgeting and really paying attention to my spending in 2008. I have always been pretty good with money, but never really paid a lot of attention to where it went. Having a budget has truly been an eye opener. I tried a couple of budgeting programs and finally settled on YNAB Pro (You Need a Budget). It pretty much gives me everything I need and I did not have to go through the trouble of setting something up or messing with a spreadsheet myself.

My idea of a budget has always been that it had to be ‘black & white’ & that you could not deviate from it at all. When I first started budgeting, emotionally, I felt like I was breaking some sort of unwritten rule, even letting myself down, if I did not stick to the limits I had set at the beginning of the month. (That may be why some people don’t want to start one). Lately though, I have found myself re-budgeting some categories during the month. With gas prices dropping I have been able to take the extra allowed dollar amount and put it in my ‘buffer’ category. That has allowed me to have a little extra for small Christmas things that came up during the month. OR I can take some of the surplus and put more than usual towards savings or a credit card payment. It is nice to know you have a little lee-way even in your budgeting and that is actually OK to do this.

To anyone who thinks a budget is set in stone, I ask you to reconsider and start one today! Budgeting will only help get your financial future under control. What better way to start the New Year than with a clean slate!!