Does anyone else use a budget?

[fezwhy]

I have always gone through my bills every month to see how far I can stretch my money. I just had a savings account setup for my 8 year old son. I plan on depositing at least 100 dollars a month for his college fund.

My girlfriend on the other hand has never budgeted anything. She just wings it. Her bills only get half paid because she runs out of money. This woman is 30. Also her parents have been giving her 20 or 30 dollars here and there to help out. I have always told myself I would never live with someone that can't budget and pay bills. She has 3 months to prove she can budget or I am done.

[Anonymous]

I budget every month.  I do a spreadsheet and every month I update the balance.  It really helps.

[IOBA]

I have a yearly budget (basically use excel and project out the bills for the next year.)

I have a 3 paycheck outlook.  I budget out the paychecks and tweak as necessary.  For example, sometimes the medical will exceed what I put aside for it each paycheck.  

And each payday, I review the budget and follow it.  I transfer money to the food account, the gas account, the medical account, the tax account, the maintenance [property] account, the reserve account, the utility account,etc.

One the things I do is plan ahead.  For example, I know that I have car maintenance to take care of.  I never know exactly when it will or how much it will be.  But I set aside $200 each paycheck and put it in the "gas account."  Whatever is leftover after paying for the gas expenses stays in the account, earning interest, to be available to pay for car maintenance, inspections, and tags.

For example, my tax account gets $115 every payday.  From that account, I pay the property taxes when they come due three times a year and life insurance.  While I am saving up for it, the money is earning interest.

I track on excel how much I spend a year in groceries, dining out, vehicle, and utilities. [Done by the monthly totals and then yearly totals.]  I take the total amount spent and compare it to the previous years.  Usually I increase the amount I tuck away to between 5-10% more than the year just finished, when I can.  Our income, in many ways, has decreased from previous years.  But we do the best that we can with what we have.  And we find ways to be more frugal.  

DH was not into budgeting when I met him.  We work together as a team now to make the finances work.  But I tell you, if he had not made the effort to change right away, we may not have made it.  If GF isn't willing to learn, make changes, I agree - let her go.  

Is she receptive to learning how to budget and to live within her paycheck?

[KoolDev]

Remember, using a budget is a learned trait.  My dad did try to show me a budget and how to use it.  I never did, i was in highschool at the time.  The one thing i think that would have done me good is to teach me about credit and how it works.  I have already started trying to teach mine as they both think, if you have it, you need to spend it.

Wife did a budget once, back when i made about a 1/4 of what i do now.  Man it helped.  But she quit and I didnt keep it going so I could have money to spend without having to answer to her (immaturity at its best).   Now days, i control all the money, credit score is up, debt to income is reasonably low (21%) and we are doing well.  My next step is seeing how much I can get into an emergency fund and how long its going to take without harming anything else.

So another budget is in order i do believe.  

I do agree that she needs to learn the value of a budget and living within her means.   If not it will be a pain in the rear end for some time to come.

[kroberts67]

---

@fezwhy wrote:
I have always told myself I would never live with someone that can't budget and pay bills. She has 3 months to prove she can budget or I am done.

---

This is very wise!  Not unreasonable at all, just plain smart.

[fezwhy]

I think she wants to learn. I haven't seen all her bills yet but I estimate she should have at least 350 dollars extra after paying all bills. Just really bad money management. Her biggest expense now is gas. She will drive out at least 4 or 5 days a week for 1 errand. Her van gets 16mpg on a good day. So she is working on consolidating trips Into 1 day. Her daughter has a case of the gimmes. Every time she goes with she buys her something. She tries to just not bring her with. Before I met her she would only pay half her bills which I never understood. If your internet bill is 40 and there is 300 in your account just pay the whole darn thing in full. The other thing I do is not lend her money. That only enables her bad spending to continue. No money for gas? Well you will have to borrow money elsewhere or make it work. The tough love seems to be working a little bit.

[jojomomma]

I budget monthly.  I know when my bills are due and when my paycheck comes in.  I lay out the month ahead and check it off as the paycheck has come in and the bills are paid.  Doing it monthly keeps me focused and gives me a quick jolt of enthusiasm to write out the next month's budget.  It helps reduce wasteful spending as well I think, you know where all your money is going!  I do entertain 3 & 6 month budgets depending on whats coming up, birthdays, holidays etc.  Just to see where I might be, could be by then but my monthly budget is my must have, must do!        Perhaps she will enjoy it more by doing a smaller budget to start, monthly or paycheck to paycheck, see the rewards quickly and go from there!   I don't use any fancy software or ledger books, I write everything out in a notebook.....one page/one month....tear it out when its done....write up the next month

[fezwhy]

Those are all really great ideas I just might have to incorporate some of those. So today I gave her the budget and she said some expenses like gas and utilities were too low. I showed her the math. 50 dollars in gas should get her 240 miles roughly. She drives 20 miles round trip for work. However the problem is she drives all over not paying attention to gas. Again I told her there should be no way she drives that much in a week. The grocery story is on the way home also. Such simple stuff I don't know why this stuff doesn't click in. since she now has a check card it will be easier to track where she spent money. she definitely has some things to work on. She does feel the burn of having no savings. A traffic ticket of 150 dollars. Driving with no insurance. Has yet to look for car insurance. I can only help so much. Lol

[themizlyne]

That's cheap for a no insurance ticket. It's about $600 here.

[fezwhy]

Yeah. It was a no seat belt and driving with no insurance. She fought it in court. 150 dollar fine and 10 hours of of community service. She still has no insurance. ... the judge told her that next time she will have a larger fine and lose her license. Next time she won't be so lucky.