Monthly budget

[SAJ-99]

95% of the broke people I know have a spending problem, not an earning problem.

Agreed. I think the point has been made a few times that the amount of earnings doesn’t prevent you from overspending being broke. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. However, about half of Americans have an earning problem. I don’t make this point to derail the thread, just to point out that people who give financial advice are target a pretty narrow subset of the population, and making themselves rich doing so. God bless capitalism.

I know exactly one billionaire. I know a couple dozen folks who filed bankruptcy.

I know of an alleged billionaire who filed for bankruptcy, a few times. the system is set up to encourage risk taking, but it doesn’t penalize failure.

 

[JesseSr]

My spouse and I started following DR about 15 years ago. We have a large family with 7 children (2 adopted). We live in a modest home that should be paid for in the next two years (God willing).

The first couple years, we were super intense and paid off 29k in 19 months. I think we made a combined 90k back then. Then we became DR-ish and puttered around for a couple years. I wish that I could have that time back.

Then we went and took the FPU class mentioned above. We decided to follow the advice to the letter and stick with it. We still have our modest home, and now have 5 grandchildren. We pay cash for cars and haven't had a credit card in 15 years.

Based on projections, we will be well set to weather the last few decades of our lives. I'm a big proponent of the DR program, as long as you're willing to do it and stick with it.

As for hunts, my spouse and I budget money each month to a fund for me to apply for hunts. I got to spend some time in Wyoming this year on an elk hunt with two of my sons. It was great to not stress about money and e joy the hunt. I hope everyone gets to enjoy that time with their loved ones like I did this year.

 

[mxracer317]

What I wouldn't give to see some of that info from people I know. Leaves me scratching my head some of them I mean I have a pretty good idea what they're making and sit there scratching my head like how? Quite frustrating at times actually.

I’m a retirement income planner. Like @Big Fin said, seeing people financially naked is eye opening to who has cash and who doesn’t. Most of our “wealthy” retiree clients are NOT the ones you’d except judging from appearances. It’s actually crazy to see the people with the “show” are usually the ones “with no go”.

I prefer “expense plan”, because NO ONE likes to budget. Put some guardrails in place. Don’t go over the guardrail, but don’t go under too. Moderation in all things.

 

[Nick87]

I know of an alleged billionaire who filed for bankruptcy, a few times. the system is set up to encourage risk taking, but it doesn’t penalize failure.

True unless you have some pride...it exists I'm some folks still buy not many I'd say.

 

[FairWeather]

I really need to get into a habit of budgeting more actively. my wife handles most of the important spending. Paying the bills is fun to her. Can’t wrap my head around that one, but I’m glad for it. I just know not to use my debit card, as a good amount of those bills are paid through my checking account.

Roth IRAs, our employer retirement accounts and pension, and my VA disability, should cover our bases for retirement goals. Hoping to be able to retire by 60.

We use the credit card for most daily spending and pay it off before the interest starts to accrue. She gets the ones with 0% APR for XYZ months, and 5-10% cash back rewards. Use them for everything, and make sure the balance is $0 before the interest starts. Cancel them as soon as it does, or at least destroy the card so it can’t be used. Generally we hold onto them for at least a few years to avoid the new lines of credit dinging our credit scores. Both of us are in the high 700/low 800 range, so don’t want to let those go down.

As for a hunting budget, I’m pretty new to hunting so I stick to in state OTC tags/validations, and otherwise it’s pretty much just gas and ammo. Any gear upgrades need to at least partially paid for by selling whatever is getting upgraded. So, it’s a “one rifle, one shotgun” scenario here, not counting the 10/22 I’ve had for ages.

I doubt I’ll ever be able to justify spending thousands on a guided hunt; to her or myself. Maybe if I win the lottery.

 

[jt13]

I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground until a handful of years ago when I took the initiative to learn. I come from a completely financially blind family. I say that with love but it's the truth. Let's just say my dad cashed in his 401k at 50 years old for a camper and 2 jet-skis and leave it at that.

We don't keep a monthly budget in the conventional sense of the term, in that, we dont track every purchase of every item. I have meticulously combed through our previous years expenses and identified problem areas that I keep an eye on as well as a longterm overall monthly spending average. This coupled with automatic contributions of 25% gross income to 401k, 529, 457b, and a taxable brokerage account has worked fine for us. I update our account balances and net worth in an Excel sheet no less than once a month.

Hunting trips and vacations are planned 1 to 3 years out and expenses are handled as they come in. Tag fees, deposits, airline tickets, rental cars, etc. It spreads it out through the year and gets paid just like anything else. No separate "fun money" accounts, its all just money.

 

[BucksnDucks]

100% honest. Finances are a huge factor in divorces, I imagine lying about finances would factor in even more so. I love my wife, she's my best bud, deserves to know as my partner in life exactly how much things cost. If she calls me a moron for spending too much, odds are, I'm a moron for spending too much. We've got a set amount where we need to discuss before spending, otherwise we trust each other to make sound financial decisions. I.E, I just bought two bricks of primers at todays prices. I told her exactly how much they cost, why they cost that much, and why I needed them. Non-issue. I bet it would have been different if I lied.

Lying would get you in trouble. If she asks about a charge or new item, I tell her. I personally don't bring up the fact I may have bought 1000 primers or spent a couple hundred bucks on draws. She is not concerned and I'm not hounding her smaller expenses.
We are not keeping secrets and we are not trying to match each other's spending. We don't have a set budget but strive to live within our means monthly. Most charges go on point earning card that is paid off each month, so if she wants to scrutinize it's right there.
We will discuss special purchases that will put us far over a typical month's expenses. Awhile back we agreed on a dollar amount above which to let the other know prior to purchase. It's worked for a long time and beats the hell out of constant spending arguments/discussions. This would not have worked years ago when we were just scraping by. Kids are grown and we share like goals for retirement and future.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

For the married folks.
How many of you are 100% honest about cost of gear, trips, and guns?
I'm usually on a don't ask don't tell policy. If directly asked about a specific item, I won't lie but I'm not proudly printing out receipts for draws/tags, firearms or reloading components.
Also if I die and she sells any optics or rifles someone is in for a fantastic deal

I see a divorce for this guy soon...lol

Married here and we discuss ALL things we buy big or small. Like with anything the best thing you can do is not spend on other areas if you need to budget for hunting. I personally don't go out of state all the time so I don't have the issue really, but if I did I would just cut back on other activities if I could to make up for the hunt costs. Drink less booze...that right there saves money...don't go out to dinner all the time....etc...etc..

I'm sure this would all be different if I felt the need to go out West every year, but at this time and the way things are going with getting tags, I might as well stay home as I won't get a tag for 2-3 years anyway.

 

[FairWeather]

For the married folks.
How many of you are 100% honest about cost of gear, trips, and guns?
I'm usually on a don't ask don't tell policy. If directly asked about a specific item, I won't lie but I'm not proudly printing out receipts for draws/tags, firearms or reloading components.
Also if I die and she sells any optics or rifles someone is in for a fantastic deal

We have shared accounts, and she checks them way more often than I do. She knows exactly how much my stuff cost, it’s right there in the transactions. One of the reasons I don’t own high end anything. But my rifle goes bang every time I pull the trigger, and hits as well as I can aim, so the budget stuff doesn’t seem to be holding me back so far.

Edit: I should mention any purchase over $100 gets a conversion first, even if it’s just a quick text or phone call.

 

[Pucky Freak]

For the married folks.
How many of you are 100% honest about cost of gear, trips, and guns?
I'm usually on a don't ask don't tell policy. If directly asked about a specific item, I won't lie but I'm not proudly printing out receipts for draws/tags, firearms or reloading components.
Also if I die and she sells any optics or rifles someone is in for a fantastic deal

Wife asked the cost of a NR mulie tag the other day, out of curiosity. Her response after I told her: “It better piss gold.”

 

[BillDoe708]

One thing I find is to make a meal plan Thursday night for the next week. We grocery shop Friday night for what we need. We try to look at the weekly add and plan accordingly. We always eat before we go get groceries too.

 

[The_Jim]

I was reading that hunting loan thread thinking to myself if people were financially responsible the woods would probably be a lot less crowded. Hunting trip loans, gear loans, credit card loans for thousands of applications. It makes me anxious thinking about all those loans and I haven't had a loan since I paid off my house 8 years ago...

Dave Ramsey gets a lot of hate but most people would be a lot better off following his advice than their own.

 

[Irrelevant]

I know less many on here, but I question anyone's push to create and maintain a spreadsheet, nothing will make you give up a good habit quicker than making it a PITA. There are lots of free apps that'll do it for you.

My "secret" is to save me from me, but having most of our money DD to accounts I don't look at. We don't maintain of ton of liquid cash because it'll just get spent. We put out money to work for us as quickly as possible. Max out 401ks and HSAs, excess goes into a brokerage account, I deliberately have the govt withhold a bit more money, because it's always nice to get a little extra back than have to pay up (even though I know I could make a little more in the long run).

I also question the whole "no cc" policy. We've paid for two vacations by simply saving the cash back from our CC. It still get's paid off every month, and except for gas (non costco at least) and cars, buying with cash doesn't save you money.

The two things that can push us over the edge quick on any given month is subscriptions (all those small little $10-30/mon add up), and clothing/shoes/boots. For whatever reason my wife and I are both susceptible to the a good sale on gear, saving our way to the poor house.

 

[TOGIE]

I know less many on here, but I question anyone's push to create and maintain a spreadsheet, nothing will make you give up a good habit quicker than making it a PITA. There are lots of free apps that'll do it for you.

mmm, i just love the custom nature of spreadsheets. i like time series. i like seeing the whole picture. some time to set up, but after that the effort of updating is equal to that of an app IMO.

I think if people aren't gonna update a spreadsheet they aren't gonna update the numbers in the app either.

budgeting really just requires some effort each month now matter how you doing it.

are there any totally free apps that will automatically tally your CC and checking account hits by type though? the .csvs from my bank are actually kinda useless for categorizing. i need to look at the credit card website though and see what i can download there.

 

[rke]

Posted here because I figured it would get more traffic, the hunting loan thread got me thinking. What are some ways or tips you guys use to budget on let's say a weekly, monthly or annual basis?need to stop using the credit card as much, I mean we pay it off everyone but still there's always some sticker shock every month when it comes.

I use my cc for everything so that I gain as much cash back as I can. I also check the app everyday and make payments to it daily so that I never carry a balance. It's a little work, but no more than using a debit card would be.

 

[Irrelevant]

mmm, i just love the custom nature of spreadsheets. i like time series. i like seeing the whole picture. some time to set up, but after that the effort of updating is equal to that of an app IMO.

I think if people aren't gonna update a spreadsheet they aren't gonna update the numbers in the app either.

budgeting really just requires some effort each month now matter how you doing it.

are there any totally free apps that will automatically tally your CC and checking account hits by type though? the .csvs from my bank are actually kinda useless for categorizing. i need to look at the credit card website though and see what i can download there.

I don't have to update anything in the app, it's all auto by the app itself. It's not 100% accurate, but changing a couple a month is easier than entering dozens

 

[TOGIE]

I don't have to update anything in the app, it's all auto by the app itself. It's not 100% accurate, but changing a couple a month is easier than entering dozens

is the app 100% free?

i just want an app that tallies my cc and debit card purchases by category without paying for the app. that's the only thing that takes time.

or if it's a 5 dollar app that's fine. but i ain't paying Dave Ramsey no monthly subscription for that chit.

 

[TOGIE]

I see Personal Capital me be a good app for that.

 

[Irrelevant]

is the app 100% free?

i just want an app that tallies my cc and debit card purchases by category without paying for the app. that's the only thing that takes time.

or if it's a 5 dollar app that's fine. but i ain't paying Dave Ramsey no monthly subscription for that chit.

Mint?

 

[Elite7]

I might be old school but I don’t want an app to have my spending habits. Hell I just whispered the word electric bike and now all my electronics have adds everywhere for them