April 17, 2015

How to budget...without a budget

Earlier this week when it was 70 degrees.  It's snowing today.
(All these clothes are old.)

Regarding budgeting...No budget.  I don't have one.  We have jobs.  We live within our means.  I don't even have a credit card actually.  Scott has one and since he makes most of the major purchases, like for the remodeling materials, he uses that and gets rewards points.  Aside from groceries, gas, etc, I honestly try to just watch what I'm spending and once in awhile I'll keep track of receipts just to see if I can find any trends.  Because, let's face it, we all go through periods where we buyallthestuff.  Sometimes it's nice to just take a step back.

1.  I'm really bad at pre-planning things I want/need to buy.  I can't say "$50 of fun money" and be done with it.  I know a couple who gives themselves each $50 of fun money a week (doesn't that seem like a lot?). I just generally wait until I really want something in order to buy it.  Plus, if an opportunity arises, sometimes you don't want to pass it up.  Plus, sometimes we need things.   If I can't stop thinking about it, I know I should buy it. I'm not an impulse buyer, really, so I generally don't budget things out.  I just justify them based on the idea that Hey, I didn't buy x, y, and z because I didn't really need those things anyway.  I do feel that I need this purse, and I haven't bought one in at least 6 months, so...

2. I set regulations for myself anyway (personal rules). For example, a few weeks ago, I had a coupon for the Athleta store in Lone Tree.  I like Athleta but they are expensive.  I figured I'd amuse myself on a Sunday afternoon by driving to Denver and maybe get a spring jacket or pair of tights or something.  However, on that Friday, Jett had an "accident" (or I did, depending on how you look at it) and I had to take him to the emergency vet.  That was $91.  I figured my karma-related punishment for being careless was now not getting to spend that $91 at Athleta.  Does that make sense?  I mean, we have to have rules we live by right?  Personal rules are important. How else could society function if we don't hold ourselves accountable (oh wait...)?  So I don't believe in pre-budgeting for shopping trips, but I do believe in balancing out what I'm spending.  Tit for tat.

3.  I don't eat out by myself.  Like, ever.  Scott and I eat out together once every week or two, but I never eat out by myself.  And I don't pick food up either.  I mean, once in a great while I'll grab Panera or something, but not often.  I have this thing where I think I have food at home that's already been paid for. 
I go to Starbucks.  That's my vice.

4. I rarely impulse-buy.  Or if I do, it's something I need or have immediate use for.  I think that moving every couple of years has kept me pretty honest in the regard of how much stuff we own.  I don't like packing up my stuff and moving it.  Less stuff equals less work.  But I do buy things that aren't on my list.  I'm terrible at sticking to a list. I always have a purpose for what I buy though.  I was at Target last week and saw a bottle of the Bona Hardwood floor cleaner I use for $9.99.  A nice big refill bottle.  It wasn't on my list, but I'd made a mental note that I would need to stock up again soon.  So I bought it.  Total impulse buy, but necessary too. The last thing I impulse-bought and now regret was a table runner at Target for $5 last summer.  It was on clearance and was yellow and gray and so pretty...and it goes with nothing else in our kitchen, living room, or either bedroom.  Talk about $5 wasted.  In my defense, I bought it with the idea that it would match the new kitchen when it was finished and the colors don't quite go now that it is finished.
I suppose my point here is that I'm not worried about breaking the bank over a pair of $150 shoes I find on a whim and just have to have.  Because that would never happen.  I'm too much of a control freak.

So that's my strategy that's not really a strategy.

Do you have any budgeting tricks or tips?  


16 comments:

  1. I am an I want it now buyer - once I set my mind on it, I want it, I buy it. I have a loose idea of what types of things I'll buy when (when the Sephora spring sale is, when Old Navy puts pajama pants on sale, when I'll buy a nice bag). I keep a list of needs and wants alongside a running list of regular Target shopping, etc. If a need is on sale, I'll pick it up even if it wasn't on the shopping list.

    I don't eat out alone often. I might buy lunch twice a month. I don't drink much. My vices are coffee and some shopping here and there.

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  2. I am exactly how you are! My husband and I are both self-employed, but we try to live off of just his income and save all mine. Our strategy is when he gets paid we pay all of our bills (a lot in advance), then put money in savings and then spend the rest on groceries, gas, Starbucks, etc. If he has a good month and makes a lot, we save more and give ourselves a little more spending room. If he has a slow month, we use a bit of my money for living expenses.

    But I'm definitely like you as far as not really budgeting and not impulse buying. I rarely buy anything for myself and I'm pretty cheap haha. I would rather save money than spend it so I only buy either necessities or something that I do really want.

    Great post!!

    -Sarah www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com

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    1. We think alike!
      My income used to be "extra" since we used to live off of Scott's, so it's allowed us to do extra things (like remodel a house!).

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  3. oh man the food is what hits us hard. We LOVE eating out together. And even separately, I am the queen of takeout. I just love getting takeout, settling in with a glass of wine and netflix. Totally my vice. I don't do big purchases like...ever. I did finally just bite the bullet and signed up for Julep. That's $24.95/month and it nearly gave me a panic attack to hit "subscribe." I have problems.

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  4. I'm pretty much right on with all of your comments. I've been feeling like we need to get a real budget in place, though.

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  5. I'm like you now. But I graduated from college with a ton of credit card debt that I addedvto for a couple years. I put myself on a cash budget for a few years and finally got rid of all of it. Now that I am debt free (no student loans or car payments!) On payday I put 10% in my savings and on the last day of the month I put half of whatever is left in my checking account into savings. Other than that I just pay attention to what I am buying.

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    Replies
    1. It did take us a good two years to pay off my loans/credit card debt. I understand that!

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  6. This is us to a T! I track our reciepts but honestly its because of taxes and its so much easier to see the number for the year than having to go back and calculate it all. If we eat out, its together and rarely on our own and usually never take out. Biggest issue would be groceries because I married a man who loves to eat however we usually do one big trip a month and it lasts us awhile, maybe a few fill ins on occasion but otherwise that's our budget.

    I know our friends wonder how we can travel, etc and its like we don't buy outside of our means and we are the deal people. You can almost always find a deal on whatever you might need or want to do.

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  7. We have a number that we view as 0 in our bank account. Once we hit that number we don't spend anything else unless we have an emergency. We have automatic transfers that go into savings and IRA's every month and those always happen. Thankfully living in a very small town helps when it comes to random spending.

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    1. Living out on the prairie helps me in this way too...I don't want to drive half an hour just to spend money!

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  8. I don't know how I would do it without a budget. I'm the one that tracks all our finances and it just helps to have it all written down, which bills are due when, etc. It's nothing complicated like some budgets I've seen where EVERYTHING is allocated, but it does help me to have a simple Excel spreadsheet so I can cross off bills every 2 weeks as we get paid and as I pay them so I don't forget anything, haha. Other than that...we pretty much just keep our spending in check and don't eat out much and call it a day. Our grocery bill has been about 1/4th of what it normally is, being that I'm by myself right now, so it's been nice to stash a little extra in savings the last couple months, haha.

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  9. We don't have a specific budget, but I write down all incoming and outgoing funds, just so I can always see on a piece of paper where we're at. It's in an old school paper account book. Our bank accounts are super confusing to figure out online because there's not an option on the bank website for "English"--haha! I never eat out by myself or grab snacks on the go--I only eat at home, or else we have a planned dinner/lunch out. This is a new strategy, but for the moment we're trying out having the equivalent of $50 fun money for each of us per month. I usually spend about $6 on a pedicure each month out of that, and Angel spends like half of his portion on bubble tea and snacks. I've found that with a supposed "treat" budget, he doesn't buy nearly the junk food he used to.

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  10. I wish I was this disciplined. I'm the worst at splurge purchases and picking up takeout.

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  11. I have a set budget for each month. I budget down to gas, groceries, dog stuff, etc. I have to keep a budget because my husband is a spender. Plus, it seems like the kids need something every month. I try to set aside money when I know we want to purchase something so we can save.

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  12. i wish i was more like you! we don't budget though, not really. i know how much our bills are, i use mint.com to track my spending just to make sure i'm not going too crazy with shopping or anything. i am trying to focus on what i will get to spend my money on (europe) if i don't spend it now (takeout / shopping) and that seems to be helping.

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  13. You really have great strategies about budgeting. While others might find this really difficult, following these rules would surely pay off. One would be really surprised on how much they can save up for not spending more than what they have. And I can say that you really have a great discipline when it comes to distinguishing what you need versus what you want. Keep that up, Kristin! :-)

    Tracy Frazier @ Sunnen Law Bankruptcy Firm

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