do you budget?

[Candini]

So I've decided I want to start saving for my own home. I'm really excited! However, I'm doing a budget (Gail Von oxlade worked best for me) and it seems really tedious. Do you have any suggestions?
I feel like I'm going to get super annoyed and not stick to it, then be mad in 6 months thinking " oh I could have saved X amount of money. "

[Shwa Girl]

Yes, we do. Start small. Pick a category like emergency fund. Save a small amount for June, say $10/pay. Once that becomes a habit, add another category. Like, closing costs (around $5000ish for the house). Do $10/pay for this.

Rinse and repeat.

That's why we like the Tangerine Bank for this type of budgeting, because you can name each account Emergency Fund and Closing Costs. They say, once you name it, it's real and you try to keep it going.

When I just finished school, I would deposit $10 each pay into a savings account. That was 2 x per month. The teller smirked and rolled her eyes when she saw me coming. She did not think much of me and my $10. Then it was $25/pay about a year later and the teller looked at me a little better, because the savings account was getting a bit bigger.

BTW, that bank was gobbled up and that teller did not go to the new mega bank.

Congrats on saving for a house!

[matty's mom]

Congrats!
It's okay if you think or feel it is a bit tedious, because it just might be for the first few weeks. I did find it a bit of a pain. But I found that after that learning pain, everything became habit and therefore easier. I am now at the point where I check in on my budget every two weeks. This might not work for everyone, you probably will want to check in more frequently, but I have been living on a budget for YEARS! (Decades really if I was honest, but I am not, because I don't want to accept how old I really am! LOL!). But once I was in post graduate school, that budget was my lifeline for what I could and couldn't do. Later, marriage and a son just made a budget more necessary. It is a great tool.

[Tommycoupons]

I don't budget I just spend less than I earn. Maybe I do budget unconsciously. For those who can I recommend getting a high value rewards card and using that for all purchases and ALWAYS make sure you pay off the balance. I find AMEX is the most generous when it comes to bonuses. Another tip is to keep the minimum balance possible that waves bank fees. no point of having unlimited accounts if you use credit cards to make your purchases. I have a scotiabank account that allows 10 transactions a month the fee is $4.95 per month waived with a $1500 balance. It used to be $3.95 and $1000 which was easier for me to figure out, but on the old account you're basically get $48 waived on $1000 annually that was basically 4.8% "interest" earned on that $1000 for the year. Small things like these do add up. Then its the old saying "ONLY BUY WHAT YOU NEED".
Anyways good luck on saving!

[Shwa Girl]

Oh candini, please choose a bank/banks that DO NOT charge you monthly fees. Like President's Choice and Tangerine Bank. There are others. Why eat up you precious savings that you budgeted?

Plus, recently, these two banks have been competing against each other to get clients and offering 2.5% and 2.1% interest rates on savings.

[walkonby]

candini what I like about Gail's site is her budget sheets with every category listed. I am not a fan of the cash in the jars method because I like to earn rewards for free groceries and cheaper gas using my CC's, but if you do use any CC just keep the tally of what is put on every week and pay the balance in full when the bill comes in.

Tucking savings away is going to be the biggest discipline if you have not done that before, but just keep your main goal front and centre and that will help you separate the needs from the wants in spending.
Many are able to go " bare bones " when it comes to living frugally ( I applaud that ) but if you start simply by tracking where every cent goes for just a few months it will surprise you how many areas you can stop spending and switch that to build up the savings.

Good luck!!

[beckie.c]

I budget bi-weekly since our paychecks are bi-weekly. I separated our fixed expenses (regular bills/I set savings as bills) and our variable expenses. For efficiency, I chart out 6-8 months worth of fixed expenses at a time, so that I don't have to do that on a bi-weekly basis, since these don't change very much. Then I always know what bills I have to pay with which paycheck and what date they are going to come out. (See below). Then on a bi-weekly basis, I just subtract the total bill amount from our paycheck to see what is leftover and then we decided how to use that $$ during that period. I do a spending journal to track what we spend those $$ on. All leftovers go to savings/extra student loan payments.

June 4th - 17th
(5) Canada Savings Bond $
(5) Mortgage $
(5) RRSP - M $
(8) Investment - M $
(8) Vehicle Loan $
(10) Investment - B $
(15) Life Insurance $
(15) Vehicle Plates $
Total Bills $XXXX.XX

June 18th - July 1st
(18) Canada Savings Bond $
(18) City Utilities $
(19) Mortgage $
(19) RRSP - M $
(22) Vehicle Loan $
(22) Investment - M $
(24) Investment - B $
(24) Student Line $
(28) Home Insurance $
(28) Telephone/Internet $
(29) Wireless Acct $
(30) Student Loan $
Total Bills $XXXX.XX

[Candini]

I see you`re really into investing! Nobody ever taught me about finances so I might leave that out of the equation lol

[Candini]

I like what you said walks, however I`m thinking because at the moment I do have a bit of debt, it doesn`t make sense to charge items to cards. I want to be debt free and then continue saving.
I`m sticking it out to 'jar method' for now, then will continue on with cards/rewards programs

[momof5boys]

Here is what I do - nothing elaborate. I have a notebook with columns for expenses. I write down everything we buy - add the columns up at the end of the month and then come up with a grand total. Each month, I try to reduce the expenses. This system works for us. We just spend way less than we earn (and we are low income folks), live simply and try not to waste anything.

[beckie.c]

I see you`re really into investing! Nobody ever taught me about finances so I might leave that out of the equation lol

I kind of cheat... I have a family friend who is a financial planner and he's guided me through mutual funds that I hold in my Tax Free Savings Account. We do small bi-weekly deposits

[BC Gal]

I'm sure like other people on SC, I started couponing because I was spending more than I made (actually the cost of everything went up and I could no longer afford life). Learning all the tips and tricks from other SCers, I found out how to save on all my bills. For some people I'm sure having a guide is helpful, but I just spend as little as possible. Yes sometimes I get told to loosen the purse strings, but now it feels good to save my money rather than spend it frivolously. It's a mindset that turns into a way of life.

Having a goal of getting a house is awesome. Let that be your driving force to not go out to eat, buy a bunch of new clothes, etc. If you only spend on what you need rather than items or other things you want, you should be able to get yourself on track as well as know what you can afford for a monthly mortgage. Also, check out older posts on ways to save money. The people on here have some amazing ideas and ways to save.

[Frugalbigmama]

I have no worries about money because I budget. Plan for everything. I budget monthly for Christmas, the dog, kids clothing too. I budget for everything. I am at a point where all my accounts are maxed and am starting to invest the budgeted amount. If/when I start using the funds from those accounts then I will replenish them again

[lizzie bargain]

We don't technically buget either. But we do track all our spending and ensure that the outgoing is below our incoming $ and retirement savings for sure. It is easier as we are semi retired and our house is paid for so our fixed living expenses are not so high now. Either method of budgeting per category including savings or spending less than you earn and saving the extra can work.

[Arvilish]

Of course! I have been saving money since 14! I have been called ‘penny pincher’ by mom who is an amazing saver. Not that I am cheap [ok may be a little] but I do NOT buy things that I do not need even if they are free because it hurts my budge (i.e. tax!). I think my biggest lifetime was using my own savings to pay for my school fees for one year instead of using loan and it was forceful though heheh


I save certain money aside for grocery/shopping etc and save the rest in my one bank account and do not even touch that account. Of course things will get complicated after I grow more





I highly recommend that money be saved in some sort of savings account where you can earn interest rate while it grow; it may seems low but its better than nothing. Do anything but mildly use your credit card as they are the worst ‘money’ ever.