This week I’m going to share our personal budget.
We do have a budgeting app, everydollar, that I fill out every month with my husband on our budget date night! And if you are wondering, yes there is wine and some whine in that meeting!!! Sometimes there’s even cheese. But I need to put pen to paper and actually write the numbers on a sheet of paper. I remember them better that way and it feels more real to me, just like I prefer to spend actual money instead of using a debit card because I spend less that way. It’s harder to spend money than to swipe the card!
This is what our budget looks like. I sometimes need to take money from Miscellaneous to the grocery category , we don’t have a birthday budget every month but this month it’s my son’s birthday so he’s getting a gift! We don’t always have taxes, I mean they are taken out of our pay checks but these are last year’s taxes, due to covid-19 we pay them this month not last November as we normally do.
On the “Actual” column I put the amounts we do spend, specially on the variable expenses because it can change quite a bit. Sometimes I forget a birthday, other times there is a really good deal at the supermarket and I buy in bulk. So I need to change money from one column to the other. What I try not to do is to get money out of the account if it’s not on the budget sheet. Let me explain, let’s say I bought some clothes and spent my fun money, my husband bought some power tools, he always needs more power tools! and the miscellaneous money went to a car repair and I absolutely need some more money to buy a book for school! Well, I’ll go to the savings and take some out, not the one I budgeted for but the extra money we put there, the 197,71 in this case.
I’m ok with changing the budget as long as I use what I consider to be extra in the month, if I have to go to the savings account… I don’t like it, and I don’t like to not save the money I budgeted for either. But I have no problem using the emergency fund. Who is to say a book is not an emergency? Due to covid-19 books are an essential commodity so, it only depends on perspective!
I hope this was clear. If you want a budget sheet you can just sign up on the Home page and I will send you Your Money Folder, which includes this budget, an excel spreadsheet and a few tips on budgeting.
S
