Monies

[miss_pryss]

So I've never kept a budget or even sat down and tried to think about my income and my expenditures in any kind of focused way. It hasn't really been an issue -- I've usually been able to stay debt-free and living within my means.

Lately, though, it's been harder. I'm thinking now is the time to figure out where I stand and maybe develop some personal policies about what I can spend and what I really can't.

But where to start?

I'm thinking maybe a book would be a good idea. Do any of you have any recommendations for books, websites, philosophies; or any personal tips to share for managing income sanely and without stressing out?

Any and all suggestions welcome -- I'm really kind of in the dark, here.

Comments

[jalfred.livejournal.com]

http://consumerist.com/consumer/how-to/consumerists-9+step-beginners-budget-245303.php

[megstuff.livejournal.com]

I am obsessed with budgeting & could blah blah blah about it all day long, but I'll try to restrain myself. I don't really like any of the books I've looked at myself - each one seems to have a really specific agenda or orientation about the RIGHT way to handle your money; I think they tend to be sort of value laden. There are two websites I like, though - Get Rich Slowly is a personal blog plus a great clearinghouse for personal finance info, and The Simple Dollar, which has a ton of basic how-to re: budgeting, saving, and frugality & also a lot of reviews of personal finance books (I find the author a little pompous, though).

Best tip for getting started: keep track of EVERYTHING you spend for a month. Once you know what you really spend money on, you'll know what you can change easily & what will take more effort. My other tip is figure out what works *for you* & stick with it, regardless of the advice you get; everyone has an opinion on using credit cards, debit cards, or cash only, for example, but none of them are inherently better - just depends on what keeps you on track.

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

Tee. My brain!

[kupukello.livejournal.com]

I don't know about any books but what worked for us (when we still had the patience for it, that is) was to keep all receipts and type them in an Excel sheet. It was quite interesting (and horrifying, too) to see how exactly our money was spent. Like Xe for food, Ye for gas, Ze for entertainment etc. Sometimes you then realised that holy hell, this month has been way too wet with the huge amounts of money spent in bars. Or that, jesus, do we really eat that much ketchup?

The point being that once you know how much money you spend and for what, it's easier to figure out WHERE to save. If you see one movie a month, cutting that doesn't mean much in the big picture, but if you buy a tabloid each day, stopping that habit would save a lot of money.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest something similar. My husband & I sat down & sorted that all out a little while ago -- where has our money gone over the past 6 months? -- pretty easy to do as our bank would export us a .csv file which we could import into a spreadsheet and play around with.

We classified everything -- household bills, credit cards, mortgage, one-time large expenditures, groceries, booze, leisure (restaurants, bars, movies, etc), clothing....and so on & then made big pie charts to stare at and figure where we could trim things and so on.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Quicken. That's the best program I know of for budgeting, and the latest version automatically downloads info from your bank and credit cards, so it's minimal work. Keen!

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

I'm in the early stages of being able to use this resource adequately, but I highly recommend this: http://www.getrichslowly.org

It's personal finance for dummies, but written smartly, and user friendly. Read the blog, and especially this entry, which started the whole website: http://www.foldedspace.org/weblog/2005/04/get_rich_slowly.html

It just may make you feel better about where you are financially. I know I feel better reading it.

[weirdnessmagnet.livejournal.com]

One of the best books about money I've read is "The Richest Man in Babylon." It reads sort of like an Aesop's fable; it's a parable about managing personal finances. One of the best things I gleaned from it is, "Pay yourself FIRST." Ten percent of what you make is yours to keep.

The problem with budgets is many advise people to pay their bills first, then whatever's left is for savings or recreational purposes (or food). Sometimes that isn't much, if anything, and after a few months of trying to live like that a person goes insane, goes on a spending spree, and blows the budget. (Think about the last diet you ever went on. It's a lot like that.) By allotting 10% of your net income as "fun money" you can still go out and have fun and buy books and other non-essentials without destroying the budget you've set up.

Thag and I take out 10% of our paychecks (we each get 5% of the other's so it's fair -- he makes 3 times what I do) and we can spend it on whatever. If there's something expensive that I want, I save my fun money for a few months and buy it, and we don't argue about one person buying something pricey without the other's approval because it's fun money. Thag and I never fight about our finances.