Budget Budget Budget*

NOTE: numbers used in illustrative spreadsheets are random - you didn't think I'd let you see my actual income and expenditure did you? Due to this being a MADE UP budget, the numbers don't work as neatly as my real budget does. Use your imagination.

I'm still very much in post-baby fog, so this might not be the most coherent post on earth, though it looks OK to me. Please accept my apologies.

Also, click the picture for a bigger view.



Recently, a friend of mine asked me to show her how I use my budget (we still need to sit down one day so I can show her properly.. we keep getting distracted by things like op-shops and screaming children). She had gone to her bank account for some reason and couldn't figure out where all the money had gone. Now, I'm no expert, but I usually have a pretty good idea of how much there is in my account (and generally manage to save a fair amount). My husband generally does not.

He readily admits that he's not so great with money. If he needs to save for something, he can do it, no worries, but saving just because is a bit tricky. If he sees 'spare' money, he wants to spend it. What this means in a practical sense is that he's given me complete control over our finances, and rarely looks at the bank account. He doesn't want to know how much is there, so he can't be tempted to spend it. He knows in a general sense what he's allowed to spend - eg. he knows groceries should be around $200/week - but he leaves the specifics up to me.

This means that I need to keep a constant eye on where our money is going, since if we end up broke, ITS MY FAULT. The best way for me to do this is having it written down, and checking our spending frequently. Theres no point saying out loud "I will only spend $800/month on groceries" if you don't have it written anywhere to keep track. So I've drawn up a spreadsheet, with an 'estimate' and 'actual' column, and every thursday I open my bank account online and check whats been spent where, filling in the blanks in my budget as I go.

This helps for two reasons.

• Firstly, the estimate column is what our goal is - how much we should be spending in each area - and seeing how much we actually spend, compared to what we planned on spending lets me know if maybe we need to re-think our goals. Some things never change - for example our car payments are the same every month, and our phone bill should be, since we're on a plan and rarely go over our limit. Other things, like groceries, are less predictable, so the 'estimate' column is more of a guide, a number I'd rather not go over.

• Secondly, checking it every week lets me know if it was a one off blow-out - did we go over our grocery budget because we had one week where we had to buy toilet paper AND dish washing liquid AND laundry powder AND tissues AND restock our meat supply - or if we have been consistently going over by a little bit each week, perhaps meaning we haven't been paying as much attention to purchases as we ought.

My budget spreadsheet also carries over from month to month, with sections for the current month, the current quarter, and the whole year, so I can see at a glance how much we've spent over different periods of time, and if there are any trends - do we spend more on petrol at one time of year? More on groceries? More on eating out?

I have a monthly calendar at the bottom of each page, so I can see how many thursdays - when hubby gets paid - there are per month, so I know how many units of salary and groceries to put in. This also lets me know if I'm likely to need to transfer money from the savings account into our everyday account for things like insurance payments - if the payment is due monday, chances are I'll need to transfer some back, since there won't be the funds for it until thursday, and when thursday rolls round, I can simply transfer the extra back to the savings.

I've also set it up so that negative numbers show in red - every time we go over budget theres a big nasty red mark on my neat and tidy page, glaringly obvious, and begging not to happen again. I'm a shocker at keeping my house clean, but I like my computer to be ridiculously tidy, so having the glaring red really helps me try to keep things in check.

Absolutely THE most important thing in any budgeting is to make it work for you. This set-up worked for me, obviously, or I wouldn't still be using it 5 years after I first drew it up. It might not work for you. Your brain may not work the same way mine does. There are lots of different guidelines out there, find one that suite you. Also, don't be a slave to it. The budget is a guide, an indication of what you should be spending. Draw yourself in some wiggle room, and don't freak out if you go over a little. Maybe you need to rethink the numbers, but maybe it was a one off. If you are consistently going over budget, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, but don't beat yourself up about it.



If anyone is interested in more pictures and/or detailed explanations, or would like a blank copy to play with, let me know and I'll see what I can do.




*Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget MONEY MONEY!!
Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget MONEY MONEY!!
A Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget Budget SAVINGS SAVINGS! Savings, Savings, oooooooooooh Savings and Budget Budget Budget.....

(sorry, couldn't help myself, the badger songs gets in my head every time someone says budget)