TTMA Budgeting/Paying down debt

[mill23]

I definitely need to get better with this. We don't have a lot of debt (a bit of CC, about 5k left on my student loan, H's car payment and of course our mortgage) and since we make good salaries we have been pretty lax on budget. I think it's out of control and worry about what happens if an emergency creeps up or when/if we have kids.

I just recently downloaded the You Need a Budget (YNAB) software and am playing around with it. I've read lots of great things about it online so I'm doing the 30 day trial now. It's 60$ or so to buy the software.

I've also used the Gail Vaz-Oxlade from Till Debt Do Us Part method, sort of like envelope method but in an excel spreadsheet.

[requiressnacks]

Sept 15, 2015 17:40:55 GMT -5 penguin129 said:

notagoddess I usually have 2 shopping trips a month that are $80 and the weeks in between are around $50 give or take. I think we spend around $250/month on groceries for DH, DD, and I. Add another $50 in for toiletries etc. DD's diapers and wipes are in their own Kid's section. We don't eat out other than Little Ceasar's once or twice a month and when DH needs to get something on the way home from work. He really cut back on eating out now that he has a shorter commute and gets out of work earlier.

I'm impressed! You have a kid and spend less than half of me and MH.

[aprilz81]

I've been fortunate in that I've never had credit card debt, but I have had a small student loan and a few car loans.

Until about 4 years ago I never had a "budget" other than to spend less than what I made. Four years ago I bought a "new to me car" with a payment that was larger than what I was used to and this was about 6 months after buying a new house (as a single woman) that came with a higher payment. I wanted to make sure I had a good grasp on my finances to make sure I didn't end up with more debt because I wasn't paying close attention.

I found a budget app (Good Budget is what I use) and that helped me keep track of my day to day spending because I can put each transaction into the app while I stand at the register.

For most people the trick to a good budget is to be HONEST and REALISTIC about your income and your expenses. It is one thing to say "I'll only spend $50 a week on groceries for two people." to make your budget work but there is no way that will be sustainable for any length of time. I went through my bank statement and averaged out all of my utilities so I had a good number of what I spent in that area, and then made sure I was accounting for all of my other expenses and savings goals.

[aprilz81]

Sept 15, 2015 16:01:40 GMT -5 notagoddess said:

How much do you all spend on groceries and outside food? We need to tighten up our budget and that seems to be the main area where there's room to cut down.

Right now we spend about $150/week on groceries. DH buys lunch at work about 4 days a week. I buy coffee and a snack 2 days a week (so I can work at the coffee shop and not lose my mind being at home all day). We go out to eat together about once every week or two. All in all it's about $800/month, which seems extremely high, but maybe it's normal.

Any advice? I've been asking DH to pack lunch instead of buying it, but he gets upset since he doesn't spend much money in general and buying lunch with coworkers is a big part of his social life right now. 

We budget $425 a month for groceries/supplies/pet stuff and most of the time that is a tight squeeze.  We budget $200 a month for "entertainment" which for us is going out to eat, the movies, sporting events, or any activity we do together.  Then we each get $50 of "fun money" to do whatever we want with.  I'm not currently working so these numbers are based on DH's salary alone, and we are in a medium COL city.

Our rule is that if you want to go out to eat with co-workers it comes out of your fun money.  If you want to go to a happy hour with co-workers or friends it comes out of fun money.  It works for us because I get less cranky if DH goes to Happy Hour and drinks for a few hours and it gives us both some flexibility and judgement free spending.

[Evelyn3]

We put everything in an excel budget spreadsheet since planning our wedding and buying our house. It has really helped keep things in line.
It can seem tedious at times to enter everything in, and make sure it balances every month, but after a while you just get used to it, and I think the benefits outweigh the time it takes to do.

It has really helped us pay off our debts, and be aware of when one debt ends, moving that amount to something else to continue paying things down.

We recently renewed our mortgage and locked ourselves into a higher payment that we can afford to help us stick to paying it down faster. It was a bit scary to do since we are stuck with it even if something were to happen, but we did budget that it could be kept up with one income if it ever needed to be.

[Ray]

Thank you everyone for sharing your tips, anecdotes, experiences, etc. There are some great ideas here! I'll likely have some time this weekend so I'm looking forward to taking a hard look at our spending and then having a discussion with DH about what our plan should be