Between the fact that my tips have declined, my paychecks have increased (I've been trying to pick up extra shifts) and I blew the first budget to hell, it's time for a new one!
Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. Originally for my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x 2 pay periods). Unfortunately, tips have declined with the economy going down. So, I need to reconsider my income. Now, I'm figuring that I make on average 85 dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of 200. That gives me a grand total of 1760(16 working days x 85 dollars + 200 dollar checks x 2 pay periods).
Fixed Expenses:
Rent: 600
Car Payment: 272
Auto Insurance: 181
Gym: 45
Cell Phone: 86
Flexible Expenses:
Gas: 100
Credit Card: 200
Savings: 150
Food/Entertainment/Everything: 126
Oh, dear, god. That's not a lot to get by on in terms of going out and food. I totally admit that I'm the standard 22 year old who likes going out. A LOT. Curses. Drats.
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Oy! The Carnival of Personal Finance is huge this week!
Wow! I can't believe how many submissions there were. Lots of great articles. I submitted Learning To Be Content On Birthdays in light of the one I just celebrated. By the way, the birthday party Saturday night was absolutely insane and wonderful. I had sssuuuccchhh a good time! I still feel a little hung over. Heh.
Amanda over at Value For Your Life wrote a great article on Risk-Taking For Regular People that argues the merits of making educated risks.
I'm quite glad I came across Sudden Windfalls over at Small Cents because it is such a neat little blog! I smell something new I'll be reading often.
One of the most ethical posts featured in this Carnival is over at Money and Values: Is Your Money Funding Genocide? While I avoid certain corporations that are unethical in their practices, this post addresses investing in Mutual Funds that may be supporting the Sudanese government with ethnic cleansing of non-Arab Darfurians.
I absolutely love Debt-Free Revolution's post on using a budget to get out of consumer debt. This quote particularly stood out, "Yes, my first three budgets were actually the nightmares the dreaded “B” word tends to conjure up." I just had my first month of budgeting, and erm, I need to tweak it. Desperately! This post was perfectly timed for me considering I was about to throw the concept out the window.
Amanda over at Value For Your Life wrote a great article on Risk-Taking For Regular People that argues the merits of making educated risks.
I'm quite glad I came across Sudden Windfalls over at Small Cents because it is such a neat little blog! I smell something new I'll be reading often.
One of the most ethical posts featured in this Carnival is over at Money and Values: Is Your Money Funding Genocide? While I avoid certain corporations that are unethical in their practices, this post addresses investing in Mutual Funds that may be supporting the Sudanese government with ethnic cleansing of non-Arab Darfurians.
I absolutely love Debt-Free Revolution's post on using a budget to get out of consumer debt. This quote particularly stood out, "Yes, my first three budgets were actually the nightmares the dreaded “B” word tends to conjure up." I just had my first month of budgeting, and erm, I need to tweak it. Desperately! This post was perfectly timed for me considering I was about to throw the concept out the window.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
February Budget In Review
An important part of maintaining your budget is examining how well you are doing throughout the month. Waiting until the end of the month to see that you went a hundred dollars over in food expenses could have been prevented if half way through you realized you were already twenty dollars over. That said, let's take a look at my budget:
Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. For my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x two pay periods).
Fixed Expenses-Amount Spent-Difference
Rent: 600- 600- 0
Auto Insurance: 181- 181- 0
Car Payment: 272- 272- 0
Cell Phone: 86- Not paid yet- n/a
Credit Cards: 300- 300- 0
Savings: 150- 190- +40.00
Flexible Expenses-Amount Spent- Difference/Amount Left
Clothing/Auto: 50- 0.00- 50.00
Gas: 80- 16.43- 63.57
School Supplies: 10- 12.94- -2.94
Household Items: 11- 8.43- 2.57
Entertainment/Going Out: 60- 36.10- 23.90
Food: 100- 49.89- 50.11
Income- Amount Expected- Difference
Checks: 242.76- 150.00- +92.76
Tips: 624.00- 800.00- -176.00
Pinecone: 6.00- 0- +6.00
Total Income: 872.76- 950.00- -77.24
Explanation
For my fixed expenses, I only need to pay off my cell phone at the end of the month. Everything else is already taken care of. My uncle slipped me forty dollars last night so I put it towards my savings. I resisted the urge to get my toenails done or blow it on delicious wine. As for my flexible expenses, most of the categories still have money remaining in them. I've already used up two thirds of my 'going out money'. Le sigh. As for food, thirty dollars was towards Valentine's alone. I doubt I'll use the rest of the fifty this month. I went slightly over in school expenses, but I had to buy a reader for a class. Nothing I could do to avoid that.
My real concern is in my income. Tips have been considerably less this month. That bothers me. I've been averaging 89 dollars a night instead of my usual 100. Fortunately, my checks are higher because I've been picking up extra hours with training to be a manager. Hmph. We need to do something about that income! At least I get a third paycheck this month, although I want to spend the least amount possible out of it.
Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. For my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x two pay periods).
Fixed Expenses-Amount Spent-Difference
Rent: 600- 600- 0
Auto Insurance: 181- 181- 0
Car Payment: 272- 272- 0
Cell Phone: 86- Not paid yet- n/a
Credit Cards: 300- 300- 0
Savings: 150- 190- +40.00
Flexible Expenses-Amount Spent- Difference/Amount Left
Clothing/Auto: 50- 0.00- 50.00
Gas: 80- 16.43- 63.57
School Supplies: 10- 12.94- -2.94
Household Items: 11- 8.43- 2.57
Entertainment/Going Out: 60- 36.10- 23.90
Food: 100- 49.89- 50.11
Income- Amount Expected- Difference
Checks: 242.76- 150.00- +92.76
Tips: 624.00- 800.00- -176.00
Pinecone: 6.00- 0- +6.00
Total Income: 872.76- 950.00- -77.24
Explanation
For my fixed expenses, I only need to pay off my cell phone at the end of the month. Everything else is already taken care of. My uncle slipped me forty dollars last night so I put it towards my savings. I resisted the urge to get my toenails done or blow it on delicious wine. As for my flexible expenses, most of the categories still have money remaining in them. I've already used up two thirds of my 'going out money'. Le sigh. As for food, thirty dollars was towards Valentine's alone. I doubt I'll use the rest of the fifty this month. I went slightly over in school expenses, but I had to buy a reader for a class. Nothing I could do to avoid that.
My real concern is in my income. Tips have been considerably less this month. That bothers me. I've been averaging 89 dollars a night instead of my usual 100. Fortunately, my checks are higher because I've been picking up extra hours with training to be a manager. Hmph. We need to do something about that income! At least I get a third paycheck this month, although I want to spend the least amount possible out of it.
Monday, February 4, 2008
How are your resolutions going?
Oddly enough, a professor asked my class last week how many of us had made resolutions for the new year. Only two other students raised their hands! I was blown away by this. Not to mention dismayed. Does that mean that young people my age have no goals in their life? In light of this, let's take a look at how my goals are going.
Create, tweak and come up with a functioning budget: I came up with a budget that I think will work for me. I'm actually going to post a tweak to it. Last, time will tell if it is functioning. I have full confidences in Version 1.0, but I'm sure there will a couple adjustments. Grade: A (so far)
Keep all receipts: I have about 90% of my receipts from last month. I'm really, really, really, really trying on this one. Grade: A-
Have two thousand invested in a high-interest savings account: Erm. Um. Yeah. Not good on that one, but in the budget I'm using for this month, I'll be contibuting 150 into it. Grade: F
Credit Cards Paid Off: I'm one-third of the way there and planning on paying 300 off this month. Debts will be paid off within four months. Grade: B
Invest 500 into wardrobe: I actually spent fifty dollars on clothes last month and got great deals. I purchased two pairs of pants, two tops and a sweater. Another fifty will go towards clothes this month. Grade: A
Develop dietary and exercise plan that fits my schedule: I've been kicking ass and taking names! Heh. I've been going to the gym in ridiculous amounts. We're talking four to five days a week. Investing in a gym membership was one of the best things I've done for my health. My diet has also vastly improved although working in a restaurant has so many pitfalls. Grade: Exercising is an A and Diet is a B
Create, tweak and come up with a functioning budget: I came up with a budget that I think will work for me. I'm actually going to post a tweak to it. Last, time will tell if it is functioning. I have full confidences in Version 1.0, but I'm sure there will a couple adjustments. Grade: A (so far)
Keep all receipts: I have about 90% of my receipts from last month. I'm really, really, really, really trying on this one. Grade: A-
Have two thousand invested in a high-interest savings account: Erm. Um. Yeah. Not good on that one, but in the budget I'm using for this month, I'll be contibuting 150 into it. Grade: F
Credit Cards Paid Off: I'm one-third of the way there and planning on paying 300 off this month. Debts will be paid off within four months. Grade: B
Invest 500 into wardrobe: I actually spent fifty dollars on clothes last month and got great deals. I purchased two pairs of pants, two tops and a sweater. Another fifty will go towards clothes this month. Grade: A
Develop dietary and exercise plan that fits my schedule: I've been kicking ass and taking names! Heh. I've been going to the gym in ridiculous amounts. We're talking four to five days a week. Investing in a gym membership was one of the best things I've done for my health. My diet has also vastly improved although working in a restaurant has so many pitfalls. Grade: Exercising is an A and Diet is a B
Friday, January 18, 2008
Budget: Version 1.0
Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. For my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x two pay periods).
Fixed Expenses
Rent: 600
Auto Insurance: 181
Car Payment: 272
Cell Phone: 86
Credit Cards: 300
Savings: 150
Flexible Expenses
Clothing/Auto: 50
Gas: 80
School Supplies: 10
Household Items: 11
Entertainment/Going Out: 60
Food: 100
The Explanation
Obviously, rent, auto insurance, car payment and cell phone are fixed items. I definitely could do something about lowering my phone bill though! I rarely use up all the minutes although I put the texting to good use. I think I use texts more than minutes. As for the credit cards and savings, with that sort of progress in my budget, I could pay off my credit card bills in four to five months! After I pay off the credit cards, that money is going to be divvied up between extra on my car payment and more into savings. Once the savings goal is met, it's going to be all thrown at my car.
As for the flexible expenses, part of my resolutions for the new year is to buy more clothes. I figure I'll start a clothing/auto fund that will pay for any oil changes that occur, along with buying some new clothes. Gas is a major expense for me. I commute back and forth out to Los Angeles for school. School supplies are hardly needed although do occur (paper, pens, scantrons, etc.). Same goes for household expenses. I seem not to go through shampoo, toothpaste or detergent terribly often. The following two are my biggest weaknesses that I've already gone WAY over this budget for this month. I am twenty-one... and I love to go out! Furthermore, since I spend upwards of twelve hours at school on some days, I inevitably buy food on campus.
I'm quite satisfied with this budget. Although, I'm fully aware that I'll prolly have to make some adjustments as time goes on.
Fixed Expenses
Rent: 600
Auto Insurance: 181
Car Payment: 272
Cell Phone: 86
Credit Cards: 300
Savings: 150
Flexible Expenses
Clothing/Auto: 50
Gas: 80
School Supplies: 10
Household Items: 11
Entertainment/Going Out: 60
Food: 100
The Explanation
Obviously, rent, auto insurance, car payment and cell phone are fixed items. I definitely could do something about lowering my phone bill though! I rarely use up all the minutes although I put the texting to good use. I think I use texts more than minutes. As for the credit cards and savings, with that sort of progress in my budget, I could pay off my credit card bills in four to five months! After I pay off the credit cards, that money is going to be divvied up between extra on my car payment and more into savings. Once the savings goal is met, it's going to be all thrown at my car.
As for the flexible expenses, part of my resolutions for the new year is to buy more clothes. I figure I'll start a clothing/auto fund that will pay for any oil changes that occur, along with buying some new clothes. Gas is a major expense for me. I commute back and forth out to Los Angeles for school. School supplies are hardly needed although do occur (paper, pens, scantrons, etc.). Same goes for household expenses. I seem not to go through shampoo, toothpaste or detergent terribly often. The following two are my biggest weaknesses that I've already gone WAY over this budget for this month. I am twenty-one... and I love to go out! Furthermore, since I spend upwards of twelve hours at school on some days, I inevitably buy food on campus.
I'm quite satisfied with this budget. Although, I'm fully aware that I'll prolly have to make some adjustments as time goes on.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Resolutions for 2008 (Finally!)
I've been mulling over what my goals would be for 2008. It took me two weeks into this year to figure out what I wanted to accomplish. I'm actually happy that it took me this much time; I came up with goals that are realistic and plausible.
Create, tweak and come up with a functioning budget. This is by far the most important thing on the list. Hence, it's number one. Budgeting is a new thing for me. By the end of 2008, I want to have developed a flexible budget that will take into consideration all the facets of working, going to school and attempting to thrive.
Keep all receipts. Obviously this ties in with the first goal; I want to track my finances immacutely. I find that I tend to overlook certain expenses because I never hold on to receipts. Furthermore, next year, I want to take deductions on my taxes and I'll need to have saved my receipts for that.
Have two thousand dollars invested in a high-interest savings account. This is a multi-part goal. First, I need to save up some money. Second, I need to research which type of high-interest savings account will be best for me. Third will be to open an account. Last, reach my savings goal!
Credit Cards paid off. I need to dedicate a significant portion of my income to paying off my cards... quickly. I feel guilty that that debt exists.
Invest 500 into wardrobe. This is at the bottom of my list of resolutions, yet still here. I have a horrid habit of never buying clothes. Ever. It's partly because of my body image and partly because I never feel the need to spend money on it. I tend to buy a couple pieces of clothing once every like four or five months and then wear them out before buying a couple more. I spend MAYBE 200 on clothes each year. Well-Heeled is having the opposite problem that I'm having, ironically.
Not related to my fiscal well-being, but very important: Develop dietary and exercise plan that fits my schedule. I have a really hard time sticking to diets because I feel like I just don't have the time for them. I need to find something that works for me. I'm not setting a weight goal to lose during the year. Physical well-being and satisfaction with my body is what I'm looking for.
Create, tweak and come up with a functioning budget. This is by far the most important thing on the list. Hence, it's number one. Budgeting is a new thing for me. By the end of 2008, I want to have developed a flexible budget that will take into consideration all the facets of working, going to school and attempting to thrive.
Keep all receipts. Obviously this ties in with the first goal; I want to track my finances immacutely. I find that I tend to overlook certain expenses because I never hold on to receipts. Furthermore, next year, I want to take deductions on my taxes and I'll need to have saved my receipts for that.
Have two thousand dollars invested in a high-interest savings account. This is a multi-part goal. First, I need to save up some money. Second, I need to research which type of high-interest savings account will be best for me. Third will be to open an account. Last, reach my savings goal!
Credit Cards paid off. I need to dedicate a significant portion of my income to paying off my cards... quickly. I feel guilty that that debt exists.
Invest 500 into wardrobe. This is at the bottom of my list of resolutions, yet still here. I have a horrid habit of never buying clothes. Ever. It's partly because of my body image and partly because I never feel the need to spend money on it. I tend to buy a couple pieces of clothing once every like four or five months and then wear them out before buying a couple more. I spend MAYBE 200 on clothes each year. Well-Heeled is having the opposite problem that I'm having, ironically.
Not related to my fiscal well-being, but very important: Develop dietary and exercise plan that fits my schedule. I have a really hard time sticking to diets because I feel like I just don't have the time for them. I need to find something that works for me. I'm not setting a weight goal to lose during the year. Physical well-being and satisfaction with my body is what I'm looking for.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Budget for November (My very first!)
In reviewing my expenses last month, I found that I spent less than I thought I would on food. Furthermore, my father bought me two tanks of gas and someone else topped off my tank (thirteen dollars worth). So, that will be changed in my budgeting for the month. Hopefully, I'll manage to up my income by four hundred dollars this month as per my goal. I worked fourteen days last month. I'll most likely end up working closer to eighteen, if not nineteen days this month considering Thanksgiving. At my restaurant, that means excruciating long hours and sheer HELL. I'll end up working a six day week. Grawr.
November Budget
Cell= 85.40 (soon to change)
Groceries= 100
Dining Out= 20
Household= 10
Fast Food= 0
Gifts= 120 (to finish Christmas shopping)
Clothes= 25
Auto Insurance= 203.63
Rent= 600
Car Payment= 271
Gas= 90
School Expenses= 15
Credit Card= 427
Emergency Fund= 150
November Budget
Cell= 85.40 (soon to change)
Groceries= 100
Dining Out= 20
Household= 10
Fast Food= 0
Gifts= 120 (to finish Christmas shopping)
Clothes= 25
Auto Insurance= 203.63
Rent= 600
Car Payment= 271
Gas= 90
School Expenses= 15
Credit Card= 427
Emergency Fund= 150
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