Let me start here by saying my wife and I don’t have a budget.
When we were engaged we had a budget and savings plan and saved up the considerable amount of money to pay cash for our wedding and honeymoon. It was great that the wedding didn’t put us into debt.
During our first year of marriage we continued saving for a down-payment on our house.
Once we bought the house, our budgeting days were over. I’m not sure why, but my theory is that we didn’t have one major goal or event to work toward.
Over the past few years we’ve used our credit card more than we would have liked. Luckily we both get good annual bonuses and we’re able to pay off our debt every year, but it’s not the ideal situation. We make enough money where we should be saving more money than we do.
The problem is we’re both spenders, me probably moreso than her. I’m a gadget freak, and it’s very hard to resist when I have my eye on something. As an example, here’s what I’ve bought in the past year; an iMac, a Canon Rebel xTi, a Wii, two iPhones (you’d have to tear these from our cold dead hands to take these away!), a Kindle 2, and Apple TV. I am addicted to tech gadgets. My wife, to a lesser extent, has a slight Coach addiction, which I’m not going to talk about here!
Lately we’ve talked about setting a budget. I’m sure we can find areas where we can cut back on our spending. We’re also going to start doing the bills together (I handle all of that now) so we’re both aware of our financial situation.
Most importantly, we have a major goal to work toward. We both want my wife to become a SAHM. She feels like she’s missing out on Babito’s most important years, and we both aren’t 100% comfortable taking Babito to child care every day. Also, we’re starting to try for a second baby, and then we definitely want my wife to stay home with the kids.
I know we can afford this financially, we just have to get a handle on our spending, so that’s what we plan on working toward in the coming months.
I’ll keep you informed of our progress, methods, and ideas as we move along, but I’d love to hear what’s worked for you. Please share your stories and ideas in the comments. You won’t only be helping us. You’ll be helping everyone that reads this blog.
One idea we plan on implementing is setting aside a discretionary monthly budget for each of us. If we want to make a major purchase, we’ll be saving for it and paying for it in cash.
Let’s hear some more budgeting ideas!
Tags: budgeting, money, planning
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#1 by Melisa on March 10th, 2009
First of all, ADORABLE header picture!
We have a budget that we keep track of in Microsoft Excel. We have the main column which lists our income and regular monthly expenditures including everything from food to utilities to orthodontics, etc. One line that is included there is what we call “Expenses”, and that’s the money each month whose amount we divide in two (mine and his) and list in two separate columns to the right of the main one. We deduct things that we pay for daily, like a prescription, school fees for the kids, or even McDonalds. Sometimes we share the cost of these things in both of our expense columns (which I guess you could call “allowance”), but sometimes we don’t.
We also, below our columns, keep a running total of our savings account and log every withdrawal (and what it’s for) as well. That’s a motivational tool as well.
One pointer I would definitely give you, which worked wonders for us, is to individually keep track of every penny each of you spend (outside of paying bills) for two weeks. I guarantee it will open your eyes nice and wide. That will also get you into the habit of keeping up with an expense/allowance column if that’s the direction you choose with your budget.
Good luck!
Melisas last blog post..Flash Flood Watch! Er, I Mean, Watch! Flash Flood!
#2 by Lauryn on March 10th, 2009
It can be so hard to prevent yourself from buying those fun toys when you have the means to do so now, even if you’ll end up regretting it later on. If I had more income right now I’d need an army of men to keep me from feeding my Coach addiction and adding Apple gadgets to my collection too!
Sounds like you guys are both on the same page with wanting to save, which is a great start. Good luck with your budgeting! Look forward to hearing updates.
Lauryns last blog post..Life is Good
#3 by Nick on March 10th, 2009
Melisa’s suggestion is a good one. In two weeks you’ll be amazed where exactly your money goes… AND it’ll give you good ideas for easy savings. For me it was bringing my lunch to work each day. And to stop buying DVDs.
Even sold those I was unlikely to ever watch again.
Good luck with transitioning your wife over to be a SAHM. Best thing we ever did. To make the transition easier, we started living off my income and saving my wife’s. You get extra savings and a taste of what it will be like on one income. Once she quit her job, we even saved some extra money since she wasn’t paying for gas to commute and lunches out. (plus whatever you’d pay for daycare!)
#4 by Katie on March 10th, 2009
We also have an excel spreadsheet to track expenses. We include everything (mortgage, utilities, food, child care) etc. I recently made the decision to work from home and took a big hit financially. Knowing exactly where your money is going will help you plan and be ready when your wife decides to stay home.
#5 by morethananelectrician on March 10th, 2009
My wife and I don’t have a budget…SHE has a budget and I give my money to her. I just work and carry heavy things. There is money in the savings account and there is power and water on at the house whenever I need it, so I imagine we are doing just fine.
morethananelectricians last blog post..Compromise
#6 by Mary on March 10th, 2009
I have recently been following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover material. And I’m on my fourth week of his Financial Peace University program. I don’t have kids but he has an awesome FPU Jr. program too in order to teach your kids about money and using it wisely. This is something I wish I had started when I was younger but am looking forward to the results anyway.
#7 by Miss on March 10th, 2009
Seriously? I couldn’t budget my way out of a paper bag. BUT I’m pretty stoked that you’re trying to let hot wife be a SAHM! And for baby #2!
Misss last blog post..Kid-isms Part 2
#8 by Senthil Nambi on March 10th, 2009
One tip I’ve learnt is never buy an item unless you thought about it for 30 days. For example if I wanted new shoes, I put it on the 30 day waiting list and can’t buy it till April 10th.
This cuts down on all impulse spending.
Warning: This tip does not apply to must have items, say for example food your son. You should probably buy that immediately.
Senthil
Senthil Nambis last blog post..Twipocalypse…NOT!
#9 by Peggy on March 10th, 2009
I am the last person on the planet to give budgeting advice…total impulse shopper! Flat screen? Yes! iPhone? Thanks hon! New Coach? I’m in!
But not using credit cards at all has really helped us out of a rut in the past year or so. It’s harder to spend the $$ knowing that your tuition check might bounce if you do and cause severe embarrassment!
Really all I wanted to tell you was that your son is ADORABLE in your header!
Love the new direction of the blog…can’t wait to keep reading! Good job!
Peggys last blog post..Random Tuesday Thoughts
#10 by Out-Numbered on March 10th, 2009
my wife and I make sure we max out on 401k, contribute monthly to the kid’s 529’s and pay our bills outright. the big thing is the credit card. we set a number that we have to stay below every month no matter what. If we stick to that then we know we can feel good about the rest. as long as you pay yourself first, it’s ok to spend… gadgets rule!
#11 by alyssa tucker on March 11th, 2009
hey daddy dan! my hubby and i are no experts in money management, but we use mint.com and it’s linked to all our bank and credit card accounts (well, except my student loan and our citibank savings account). it’s even linked to our iphones so we can log on at anytime to see what we’ve spent. it’s great b/c i have a clothing budget and we have a restaurant budget so we can see where we are at withing that budget each month
mint is always being upgraded, too, and even my husband had a suggestion and ended up speaking with the CEO! totally recommend! oh, and it’s free!
alyssa tuckers last blog post..whimsy