Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Budgets, Money and Life.

My wife and I are a younger family with one little girl. I started late in life (was 33 when my girl was born) and I was never really worried about budgets or money before then...Now reality is starting to set in. Was sitting down looking at the numbers and realized some changes had to be made.
How strict are you guys with your budget?
What are some major things that have helped save some $$$?
We do well, have a home and a couple reliable vehicles, but the extra money seems to be getting less and less. I guess I'm just reaching out to confirm that we are in fact not in the minority hahahaha.

Humm.....
I'm 60 y/o. Never in my life have i run a budget.
I have a stupid way of doing it.

I get paid every Friday. I sit down at the kitchen table Saturday morning and write checks and pay the bills that are due and fit that pay window.

What ever is left... all but 25 bucks gets rolled over into the savings account.

That way. Ever week, by Saturday 8am, I am broke for the rest of the week and I live off that 25 bucks. And at the same time, my savings builds for the large bills like property tax and insurance payments or major crisis.

Even today, I never work less than 45 hours per week... and in my younger days, I went yeas and years putting in 60 hour weeks to make sure I have enough to cover the bills I knew I had coming up.

Welcome to parenthood!

You're in the minority by stopping to take a look at your budget...seriously. Most people don't. A super simple low tech budgeting tool, dedicate to a couple months of writing down every dollar you spend. It's en eye opener and you'll quickly see where your money is going. Eating out (includes buying lunch, McDonalds,etc. not just sit down dinners), monthly subscriptions, credit card/vehicle payments are places where a lot of budget gets sucked up.


Also, I don't know where you live but around here the public schools aren't the greatest so private school is a high priority for us. Just mentioning it in case it's something you may have to consider when she gets older.

Deleted

Budgeting is the wife’s job. Sounds to me like you’re a very rich man. Live within your means and don’t dwell on the negatives.

The way this inflation is your going to need a second or third job, we were comfortable middle class and now it takes all we make to survive. Not much going in the kitty.

Budget savings as a top priority.

Like Brydan noted above look for places you are bleeding money.


Another huge money drain are cell phones, internet, and tv services. Always ways to improve spending there.

Someone told me years ago... that every dollar that left my hand will be spent on a consumable... or a commodity.

Consumable dollars are gone after they achieve the Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit in my belly.

Commodity dollars would buy a chicken... and the eggs become free.

Same with rent vs. buying/building a home.

Same with a truck (i.e. buy a used Cummins)... they actually go UP in value with use... unlike 99% of other vehicles.

Every dollar spent on a commodity (vs. a consumable) is retained to some degree (50%, 100%, 200% etc.).

As other posters said, examine your expenditures. Eating out, gas, subscriptions like cable satellite etc that don't use, interest, etc can all add up.

Kids are expensive: schools, clothes, food, medical, events etc; but they're worth it.

We went 20 years with very little money left over as we had youngsters. When the last one left the house we had a bit more money but not by much. It's taken another 15 years to get where we are now. My wife is a budget nazi. We finally have money in the bank and some investments. Our grandkids do not go without because we knew what it was like when our kids were little. My wife and I never had the luxury of having grand parents to help us out.

kwg

I was chatting with my wealthy neighbor just yesterday...

He is dropping $12k on a South Dakota duck hunt in 2-3 weeks.

He is also dropping $18k-20k on an Argentinian hunt in the Spring.

These are consumable dollars... but he will enjoy the hunts I suspect.

------------------

On the other hand, I will spend the same $32k+/- on a dozier or a loader and work roads on my WV land.

His dollars are gone...

Mine are retained and improved/advanced.

Neither of us are right or wrong in our decisions... we are just both free Americans (for now) spending dollars as we see fit/best.

Commodities became a lifetime habit with me 30+/- years ago... nothing more... nothing less.

I use quicken, been using it for 20+ years. It makes it easy to figure what I'm spending money on. You can use a spreadsheet or just paper. The thing is, you know you are going to have to pay property tax, car insurance, tires every few years, ect. I set up phantom accounts that I fund weekly. Putting 16 dollars a week away for tires and registrations doesn't hurt much. There was an escrow account when I was paying my mortgage, I set up a phantom one that I fund.

At the end of the year, I look over various categories that I'm funding and what I had to spend and make adjustments to the periodic funding.

Normal bills don't really bother me, the money is sitting there, because I didn't spend money I had when there were future claims on it.

This thread will turn into a bunch of old guys talking about how they got rich because it's a money thread on the Fire. Most here got 30-40 years on you, they forgot when things were tight back when. I have 20 years on you, I can remember when we didn't have a lot extra. Keep slogging, it gets better.

Work for what you want pray for what you need

I was raised in a tightly budgeted home, which is probably why I have always run a budget for my personal finances.

I did it on paper, then of LOTUS123, and now on EXCEL.

Other than pocket money cash transactions that I budget at $100 per week, I track all other transactions in detail on an EXCEL file, including when I move money between checking, savings, and line of credit accounts, so that I always know what my balances are, what I have and what I owe.

The biggest factor in todays economy......is Bidenomics.

Pay yourself first every payday. Then learn to live on what's left. How much you pay yourself depends on what you have left after your obligations are met. As stated above, a couple of months of tracking where every penny goes will show you where your money goes.
Most people tend to spend as much as they make. They get a raise, their spending goes up. That's a bad plan. Their savings should go up.

Fund yourself first, and don't waste things. I'm real big on not wasting things. Especially food. $$$$ Not every meal has to be a gourmet affair. It just has to keep you fed.
There are lots of creative ways to not waste money.

The fact that you are discussing it means that it is front and center in your mind. That's a good thing.

As far as things to help save money, buy in bulk, turn off lights, keep your freezer or freezers full. By this I mean if there is room for a gallon jug of frozen water, I put one in there. This helps to keep it from running. Same with my fridge.
Plan out trips that involve driving from place to place to handle everyday chores like grocery store, drug store and post office.

I'm not cheap but I am frugal as hell.

One other thing shoot cheap cup and core bullets. If you put them where it matters, that's all that matters.

One way to stretch the budget with kids is by buying ahead when it comes to clothing. Scope out clearance racks and if you hit a deal on something they’ll grow into soon get it then, don’t wait until they need it and you have to pay full retail. Shoes especially. Second hand shops and yard sales are another option to find quality items reasonably cheap. We dressed our kids quite well for not a lot of money and often sold the stuff they outgrew as well.

Cut out the stupid spending and figure out how to make more money. Life is too short to be a complete tightwad.

I lived paycheck to paycheck for a good while because I had a job I enjoyed. Then I lived paycheck to paycheck because I had a kiddo and it was costing all I could make working 6 12s to keep us afloat.

I have a better job now and my wife works part time for her walking around money and whatever incidental things she wants or needs.

I average the cost of our monthly expenses and have that amount plus a couple hundred direct deposited into the account I use for paying bills and buying groceries. Anything over that amount goes to a separate account we use for buying toys or going on vacations.

We do not have credit cards and try to keep our debt confined to a house payment and no more than one vehicle payment at a time.