Question

How on earth do you families stay in budget and have leftover each month? We set our budget with a little cushion and have gone over every month. We are still in trial and error but I have no idea how to predict everything for the month or paycheck even. Haircuts, kids magically outgrow shoes last minute, vet appointment, husband's expenses for work (team meeting, study materials), personal/household things you forgot to add into the budget. Its really stressful and frustrating. I don't want to set aside a ton of money each month to *maybe* need it when we could pay off our high interest credit card. Help!  

Answer 1

I’ve just been cutting everywhere we can. This week the kids got sick so we had a $40 copay and then $20 for meds, we had to take it out of our grocery budget so we are just getting creative and pulling from our freezer and pantry to make meals. It’s not easy but I refuse to let us go over our budgeted amount. And every month gives me a better idea of extra money to set aside in our misc fund. Also- just started cutting my sons hair myself and saved an easy $28 a month.  

Comments

@providential4990 lol my husband has shaved his head bald since before I met him and I’ve always been grateful to not have to pay for his haircuts  

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@providential4990 maybe a tech school or look out for coupons. My daughter just got her hair cut for $11 including a tip. Can he go 5 weeks rather than 4 weeks?  

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@providential4990 my husband once asked me if I’d learn how to cut his hair to do it for him and I told him no because I didn’t want to mess it up  

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@pommard9414 ME TOO! Such a saver with that bald head  

Answer 2

Sinking funds are a budget saver! Even though it can feel counterintuitive because you want to put everything you can towards debt, having sinking funds helps you to stay on track and not go back into debt for those unexpected expenses.  

Comments

Ditto this! i have sinking funds for my hair, cleaning products, clothes, pets, etc whatever i know may pop up and we put aside for it everytime we get paid, if we dont use that month we put it towards debt or savings.  

Answer 3

Yes sinking funds! You can have one for kids to cover new clothes or anything like sports. A beauty one could cover haircuts. A work one could cover your husband’s expenses. Personal/household could come from either those envelopes or a misc envelope. You can just do like $50 a month to each or whayever it is you need/can do and just roll it over until those months you do need it

Answer 4

I’m sitting down with my last 3 months of bank statements this weekend to track all of my spending and add into categories so I can break down what I need for what category. I know it won’t be easy but it has to be done. this way, you can determine what you need to save for each thing that comes up and start there.  

Comments

@providential4990 yep! I’ve tried the last couple months and end up in the same boat. What I also do is that I know my son’s haircut is $20 with tip every 8 weeks so I split that up and do $5 a paycheck towards it. I do that with more annual or quarterly expenses. It makes it so much easier that when the day comes I just grab the cash and go.  

Answer 5

Practice! Budgeting gets easier with time. Its not something I was able to learn in just a month or two. I had to figure out where the money was going and how much we would need for each item. I use an online budgeting app instead of paper, it's about personal preference & convenience for me. My husband doesn't care about the budget as long as he has what he needs. I make sure he has a healthy allotment in his bank account and keep track of what he spends, not what he spends it on. I control what's for dinner and the food budget. Plan our vacations and other expenses. It's a team effort around here. That and twice a year we go over what we've spent. :)

Answer 6

I certainly haven't perfected mine in any way and still struggle with staying on budget, trying to keep some left over, and save. Maybe I'm just don't make enough money to do all of that because I've paid off a lot of debts. I find the miscellaneous envelope is a must for those times kids get sick or need last minute things. The months I don't use it *ideally* you'd just add to it for the times you do need it. Mine doesn't ever seem to roll over yet. I'm currently working on keeping to my budget.  

Answer 7

Do you have a miscellaneous category? That has saved us with a lot of unexpected or forgotten expenses. And when there is leftover we use that for extra savings/debt payments

Answer 8

I had to just stop buying. I constantly went over because of “emergencies. ” But when I made the decision to stick with my budget no matter what, It forced me to get creative. For example, if a kid grows out of her shoes, I ask if anyone has shoes to donate (people are very generous) and she’ll wear those until next month. I asked my sister for a roll of paper towels or we went without for the week. I had to wear my hair natural until the next pay period. In all, I learned that most of my emergencies, were not really emergencies. For the few that were, I put 50. 00 away and most months, it went unused.  

Answer 9

I keep a Miscellaneous envelope for each pay period. It’s great for unexpected pop up expenses and allows me to track those expenses to better prepare for them in the future.  

Answer 10

Sinking Funds are a must. We have a extra category in our cash envelope system for unexpected little expenses (kids need something last minute for school, husband needs something last minute for work, meds for kids if they get sick and we are out, if I've maxed out my other categories and still am needing something). I do $100 and I usually only ever need $50ish every month so some months I just roll it over deposit it into our savings jar at home. Also looking at your personal calendar in advance. I put EVERYTHING in my calender on my phone so I know when kids have appointments, I schedule everything in advance so its in my calender and im financially prepared for it. Like haircuts.  

Answer 11

I set aside about 500 dollars a month for “what if’s”. At the end of the month whatever is left over goes to debt, sinking or savings. February have 362. 00 which will go to vacation. Always have something left even if it’s small amount, it goes to one of these.  

Comments

@providential4990 i get paid monthly so I do it right off, if my food goes over I will use some or if any other cash envelope is over I use it. This was the best month so far for savings. The thing that makes it work is that it’s in our savings so I have access when or if needed.  

Answer 12

Please, please reduce your consumption of paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc. There are so many ways to reduce your $$ burden on your budget. even if you make good money. but there has to be a common agreement among participants. Just saying. so much $$ going out the door for Not necessary items. Please do not be offended.  

Answer 13

Add a miscellaneous category if you don’t have one and find money for it! I just re did our budget coming up (student loans start soon) and we were hardly breaking even and I managed to find $500 by cutting things!  

Answer 14

One thing I did to get my bearings is cancel anything that I did not need, like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, gym membership (I put on hold). Instead, I looked for alternative entertainment (FREE movies on YouTube). That's just one small thing to create a little more money each month.  

Comments

That's great! It's a start :) My plan is to add things back in when my debts are paid off or lowered.  

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Same here! Haven't had cable for years. Yay   

Answer 15

One thing I’ll say and I’ll sound like a broken record, is that I’m noticing to get out of a hole sometime you just *have* to make more income. It’s not a “fun and creative idea” but. It’s how TBM and most got out of crushing debt. You can’t cut what’s not there. No amounts of cool worksheets change that. It just usually stops further debt.  

Answer 16

Id say budget for it and if you dont use it youve got it to pay off your card!  

Answer 17

I'm not great with sinking funds yet. The only sinking fund I have is Disney World vacay. But the envelopes we have are groceries, eating out , entertainment, beauty/personal, misc, pets, clothing, and then me and my husband each have one that we can do whatever we please with. So I just have put my envelopes accordingly for each paycheck. So the amounts fluctuate based on what I sense is coming up. So far it's working. I also do a checking account cushion too if $150 per paycheck

Comments

@providential4990 same girl. same. But last paycheck that cushion saved me from over drafting for something my husband had to get at school. Praise it lol

Answer 18

So in the beginning it hard but eventually you learn to start planning ahead. Most items are not “unexpected” just unplanned. My husband is still very much struggling with that part but ive defintly seen improvement. If it helps try to go through your toiletries and clothes and shoes and kids items and try to make a list of what may need replaced in the next 3 months. Most of the time you can plan these things.  

Answer 19

I have space for all the things you mentioned in my budget. Example, we have a haircut category and I adjust it st the beginning of each month based on who has appointments that month. Shoes come out of the clothing budget for the month. I also have a $100 miscellaneous budget each month for things that come up that really are unexpected, like my windshield wipers stop working. But I try not to use it unless I have to. It gets easier!