I know this is a personal question but

How much extra after all your bills do you have left over every month. We have a townhouse now but FI business is bringing us out west more, We have a Townhouse in Manorville which is the reason we have a nice down payment but we just wanna see how much we could really afford and live comfortable.

Bridget

For both, what kind of percent would you say you have left over every month to put into savings and what for spending. This is after food and gas also.

Bridget

I am super anal about our budget. I have a spreadsheet that we live by (my friends have me create theirs all the time ) We put 17% of our monthly income into savings and 10% of our monthly income is misc money. And I have to say we rarely spend all our misc money. But I am not a big 'shopper' and neither is Matt.

The best way to do this is track your expenses to the penny for a month or two and create a budget from there. You will see with the exception of 'special' events (weddings, birthdays etc.) you will spend about the same amount of misc money each month unless you shop out of control.

FM me if you want more info. This may be too personal for people to answer

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Posted by JENHOS

I am super anal about our budget. I have a spreadsheet that we live by (my friends have me create theirs all the time ) We put 17% of our monthly income into savings and 10% of our monthly income is misc money. And I have to say we rarely spend all our misc money. But I am not a big 'shopper' and neither is Matt.

The best way to do this is track your expenses to the penny for a month or two and create a budget from there. You will see with the exception of 'special' events (weddings, birthdays etc.) you will spend about the same amount of misc money each month unless you shop out of control.

FM me if you want more info. This may be too personal for people to answer

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FM!

We save first then pay our bills. We have our savings come right out of our check. We both do about 15% in our 401k. Then we have another 10% for our tithe. Then we have 10% that goes into our mutual fund. And then we have 5% that buys company stock. We work for an employee owned company.

We saved 6 months worth of expenses and that is our emergency money. So we don't put money in that account anymore.


Whatever is left we spend.
That works better for us b/c once we get the money some how some way its gone.

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Posted by JENHOS

I am super anal about our budget. I have a spreadsheet that we live by (my friends have me create theirs all the time ) We put 17% of our monthly income into savings and 10% of our monthly income is misc money. And I have to say we rarely spend all our misc money. But I am not a big 'shopper' and neither is Matt.

The best way to do this is track your expenses to the penny for a month or two and create a budget from there. You will see with the exception of 'special' events (weddings, birthdays etc.) you will spend about the same amount of misc money each month unless you shop out of control.

FM me if you want more info. This may be too personal for people to answer

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We have tried so hard to do this and it never goes good for us. It stresses us and we argue.

Neva

We used to argue but once we laid it out and fiddled with it for a few months and figured what worked without feeling strapped we don't argue anymore.

The 17% we save is after what goes into 401K etc. I was talking take home pay. Money that I don't see I don't count. It is like it doesn't exist!

If we didn't have a sheet to live by our money would be all over the place! I envy people that can do that.

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Posted by JENHOS

Neva

We used to argue but once we laid it out and fiddled with it for a few months and figured what worked without feeling strapped we don't argue anymore.

The 17% we save is after what goes into 401K etc. I was talking take home pay. Money that I don't see I don't count. It is like it doesn't exist!

If we didn't have a sheet to live by our money would be all over the place! I envy people that can do that.

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I envy people that can be so disciplined and organized

we set up our current situation so that we could live on DH's salary alone....


anything I make goes to fun or savings...(we've been trying to stop so much fun purchases...lol)


I would love to know how you do it Jen!!!

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Posted by MarcellaBella

We have a budget sheet too.. DH is VERY anal and it's the best thing ever!

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See I am the anal one but my husband is so not a saver. Right now he gets a $400 a month allowance. I told him that was excessive and he told me he thought it was too low. I have since given up on our budget and I started the automatic take out program.
....lol


jenhos I sent you a FM :)

Back at all of you.

Christine you can be. It isn't that hard once it is set up!

I like this one b/c it shows how you waste money. This way I can show it to my husband at the end of the month.

I am so the house accountant ..lol it cracks me up.

I am always looking for new ways to save.

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Posted by dgtlsunshine

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Posted by MarcellaBella

We have a budget sheet too.. DH is VERY anal and it's the best thing ever!

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See I am the anal one but my husband is so not a saver. Right now he gets a $400 a month allowance. I told him that was excessive and he told me he thought it was too low. I have since given up on our budget and I started the automatic take out program.
....lol


jenhos I sent you a FM :)

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You are soo funny!! automatic take out program lol!!

Todd gets soo paranoid that he makes us sit down like once every couple of months to see what we have in what account and what needs to be paid and he looks over every bill just to be sure lol it's pretty hilarious.. He has to put me on a budget though lol

My sheet is color coded so I know what has been paid and what hasn't. I pay my bills online so I have even automated that process. matt isn't even allowed to get near it!!! My brothers make fun of him and ask if he is even allowed to have his own ATM card

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Posted by JENHOS

My sheet is color coded so I know what has been paid and what hasn't. I pay my bills online so I have even automated that process. matt isn't even allowed to get near it!!! My brothers make fun of him and ask if he is even allowed to have his own ATM card

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we also have our Microsoft Office set up.. that's pretty cool too. and we pay everything online (except the oil company) incld., the mortgage.. =)

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Posted by MarcellaBella

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Posted by JENHOS

My sheet is color coded so I know what has been paid and what hasn't. I pay my bills online so I have even automated that process. matt isn't even allowed to get near it!!! My brothers make fun of him and ask if he is even allowed to have his own ATM card

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we also have our Microsoft Office set up.. that's pretty cool too. and we pay everything online (except the oil company) incld., the mortgage.. =)

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I wish - DH is hesistant about doing this. It would make bill paying a snap