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monthly budget shenanigans

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jamevfan
Frequent Contributor

monthly budget shenanigans

I do the budget and pay the bills for our household because it was figured that I was more efficient at doing it than my hubby (he said this, i didnt Smiley Happy

Anyway, Im currenlty trying to have the utilities to where they are all do at the same time in the middle of the month and have rent due in the beginning of the month instead of just splitting them all down the middle and paying them every other week which is the way ive i have been doing forever. This way the bills seem more organinzed and I know without much effort on what needs to be paid.

 

 

What are your methods?

I have a few acct on automatic draft but due to me being paid bi weelky instead of set day i didnt want to run the risk of a payment not going through.

 

any feedback is much appreciated

 

FYI:

Im trying out the mint budget app but have always logged monthly bills in a graphed logg book, I want to be able to mark what was paid and when and any other details i want to add about payments.

Current Ficos as of 01/2017 Equifax 640, Transunion 690 Experian 690 Mortgage middle score of 677
Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
iheartwings
Valued Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans


@jamevfan wrote:

I do the budget and pay the bills for our household because it was figured that I was more efficient at doing it than my hubby (he said this, i didnt Smiley Happy

Anyway, Im currenlty trying to have the utilities to where they are all do at the same time in the middle of the month and have rent due in the beginning of the month instead of just splitting them all down the middle and paying them every other week which is the way ive i have been doing forever. This way the bills seem more organinzed and I know without much effort on what needs to be paid.

 

 

What are your methods?

I have a few acct on automatic draft but due to me being paid bi weelky instead of set day i didnt want to run the risk of a payment not going through.

 

any feedback is much appreciated

 

FYI:

Im trying out the mint budget app but have always logged monthly bills in a graphed logg book, I want to be able to mark what was paid and when and any other details i want to add about payments.


I'm a singleton, but not without my own budgeting shenanigans!  With the exception of water, I have my utilities set on equal pay plans, and I have my bill pay to pay the half the monthly bills every other week when I get paid. My rent is paid once a month, but I add a placeholder for half the rent in YNAB every other week to make sure I don't spend those $$$. I really have no idea when my utilities are due because I've paid at least one month ahead (when you do every other week, then it's equivalent of 13 months), so this has worked for me quite well. 

 

As for CCs, I pay tne posted balance every Friday. All of my CCs close around the same time each month and have the 15th as a due date. As an added quirk, I've been trying to make sure only one CC is ever reported. 

 

I wasn't crazy about the new YNAB, but I still use the old version and record everything. A friend of mine commented on the fact that I always get a receipt for anything I buy in the cafeteria at work. It's because I'm anal about making sure everything gets entered into my register. 

Message 2 of 12
jamevfan
Frequent Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

Nice! Ive heard of others using,  YNAB? I will be looking into that. Thanks 

Current Ficos as of 01/2017 Equifax 640, Transunion 690 Experian 690 Mortgage middle score of 677
Message 3 of 12
iheartwings
Valued Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

Yeah, I started using it in 2013 and have kept up with it.

 

YNAB is now offered as an online only deal and you can link your accounts to it. I really couldn't get my brain around the trial, so alas, I will continue to use the classic version until I can't anymore. 

Message 4 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

Paychecks direct deposited into my savings account, but I pay bills out of my checking account (most on auto pay). I transfer next month bill total from savings to checking on the last day of the month. For example, on June 30th I will transfer the $xxxx into my checking account to cover all of July's bills. I never have to worry about them.

Message 5 of 12
RonM21
Valued Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

I kind of do the same thing OP. I handle the rent and a couple of other things early in the month. Then, all of my cards and a couple other leftover things are mid month. I get paid bi-weekly, so this works better for me. But overall, it keeps things in order.


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Message 6 of 12
CatOfSpades
Frequent Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

So, I am a crazy budget person. I start by keeping a buffer in my checking account of my first paycheck that covers my first round of bills - utilities, cell phone, internet - and any grocery shopping or general shopping that I want to do before the first paycheck of the month comes in. Then I have nothing due until the end of the month - mortgage, HOA, credit cards (I don't wait for my statement due date, I pay them all off at the end of the month regardless - which keeps me at least a week or three ahead of when they're actually due anyway). I use Quicken, Mint, and EveryDollar. Quicken because I have records going back to 2007 (told you I'm crazy), Mint, to keep up with all my bank accounts in one place and make sure stuff is posting right without signing into multiple accounts every day, and EveryDollar, to keep me on budget because I budget weird & couldn't make YNAB would for my quirks.

 

I get paid weekly. What this translates into is that I pay all of my bills early, almost to the point where I'm literally paying everything on the same day. Like my mortgage and HOA are due on the 1st, but I might end up paying those on the 25th, along with next months utilities, cell phone, internet bill, and any credit card balances that I wracked up over the month. This means I use my debit card or cash until the first (insofar as there is still money left to spend in my budget.)

 

If that makes any sense. Smiley Happy

Works very well for me because I am hyper organized, keep all receipts, match my records to online records when everything has cleared, and appreciate having clear boundaries to stay within. Keeps me out of trouble. Smiley Wink

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Message 7 of 12
Appleman
Valued Contributor

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

If you are new to YNAB I think you will enjoy the new online version. A free 35 day trial right now.

Message 8 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: monthly budget shenanigans

I use an excel spreadsheet for my budget. I have formulas to calculate any income I have coming in for that week, any bills due for that week, and the money that's left gets carried over to the next week to get added to my paycheck, again it subtracts all the bills that are due from the money I have or have coming in, etc. it's very handy. It helps me to make sure I don't accidentally spend money that was for my electric bill or whatever. Also I can see ahead of time how much extra money I'll have to pay towards a credit card balance, birthday gift, etc. 

Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: monthly budget shenanigans


@jamevfan wrote:

I do the budget and pay the bills for our household because it was figured that I was more efficient at doing it than my hubby (he said this, i didnt Smiley Happy

Anyway, Im currenlty trying to have the utilities to where they are all do at the same time in the middle of the month and have rent due in the beginning of the month instead of just splitting them all down the middle and paying them every other week which is the way ive i have been doing forever. This way the bills seem more organinzed and I know without much effort on what needs to be paid.

 

 

What are your methods?

I have a few acct on automatic draft but due to me being paid bi weelky instead of set day i didnt want to run the risk of a payment not going through.

 

any feedback is much appreciated

 

FYI:

Im trying out the mint budget app but have always logged monthly bills in a graphed logg book, I want to be able to mark what was paid and when and any other details i want to add about payments.


Hi!! I do it that way. Rent is due on the 1st and the rest of the bills I pay 2 weeks later since I get paid biweekly. I dont pay anything on autio draft except netflix because I have to. I just moved all the due dates to the 25th in case my 2nd payroll date of the month is the 16th instead of the 15th or something like that. It really works for me and I just set up all my bills through billpay so that I can make sure I dont forget anything. 

Message 10 of 12
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