Tomorrow morning, if all goes to plan (DD has been home with croup this week.), will be time for me to do the weekly update on the budget. Yes, I said it, the B word... budget.
Some people thing budgeting is a bad thing. "It limits my spending." "I won't be controlled by a budget." "Nobody is going to tell me how to spend my money."
Well, I guess you're right. No one is going to tell you how to spend your money. Only you can do that. A budget is a plan for how you're going to spend your money so when it comes time to make a purchase, the money is there. Without a plan, money just disappears -- $5 for a coffee, $2 for a newspaper, $10 for a lunch. And by the end of the week, where did it all go?
In our family, I do the book work, but K and I made the plan together. It's not up to me to tell him how much pocket money he gets. We decided that together, when we decided how much to allocate in each of our categories. But he's out at work all day and I'm home most of the time. I don't mind doing the book work, so it falls to me. And that's ok.
Tomorrow, I'll look at our income for the week, allocate some into each of our sinking funds for upcoming bills, transfer some over to the savings account for the emergency fund, put some back for some goals we're saving up for, and make the weekly stop into the bank to get cash for our envelopes.
Bit by bit, we're getting there. How about for you? Do you have a written budget? How often do you update it? What's working really well for you that you tell your friends about? What's not working that you'd like help with?
Some people thing budgeting is a bad thing. "It limits my spending." "I won't be controlled by a budget." "Nobody is going to tell me how to spend my money."
Well, I guess you're right. No one is going to tell you how to spend your money. Only you can do that. A budget is a plan for how you're going to spend your money so when it comes time to make a purchase, the money is there. Without a plan, money just disappears -- $5 for a coffee, $2 for a newspaper, $10 for a lunch. And by the end of the week, where did it all go?
In our family, I do the book work, but K and I made the plan together. It's not up to me to tell him how much pocket money he gets. We decided that together, when we decided how much to allocate in each of our categories. But he's out at work all day and I'm home most of the time. I don't mind doing the book work, so it falls to me. And that's ok.
Tomorrow, I'll look at our income for the week, allocate some into each of our sinking funds for upcoming bills, transfer some over to the savings account for the emergency fund, put some back for some goals we're saving up for, and make the weekly stop into the bank to get cash for our envelopes.
Bit by bit, we're getting there. How about for you? Do you have a written budget? How often do you update it? What's working really well for you that you tell your friends about? What's not working that you'd like help with?
Comments
Post a Comment