Question

I’ve been staring at my numbers and rewatching videos, and still not sure if I’m doing this right! I’m still trying to close out my February budget. If I paid a few February bills with the last paycheck in January, is the January paycheck considered February income OR just my starting balance? Helpppp I’m going crazy over here! Lol

Answer 1

Did you use the last check in January to pay for bills in February? If yes, then I would consider it February income.  

Answer 2

I’ve had to roll over income for the next month for a couple months now so Im also stuckk!  

Answer 3

I wouldn't worry about closing it out, just keep a running balance, adding and subtracting as money gets added or subtracted.  

Comments

@lathing I’m filling out the where did my money go worksheet and want to know my percentages- but need to know my total income in order to figure that out.  

Answer 4

Let It go! What is your bank account on The first day of your most recent paycheck? Start there and move on. Remember that It’s a paycheck budget. Isolate the paycheck - forget the calendar dates!  

Comments

@hemocyte I’m filling out the where did my money go worksheet and want to know my percentages- but need to know my total income in order to figure that out.  

Answer 5

I had to switch and do my budget based on when we got paid. So my months don’t close normal, I close them when the 2nd pay period is over. I do my calendar and bill set up based on the pay period so it doesn’t confuse me. It’s made a world of difference!  

Comments

@cartesian thanks! I might have to try this. I’ve considered changing my “tracking period” but have to figure out when that would be.  

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@knepper I just started my March setup. It says March but I start it at the start of our last paycheck so 2/27. And I do a bill pay tracker for each pay period and an expense tracker for each period.  

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I’m still filling it in- but I have been working on separating my groceries and stuff by the week of that pay period because I’m having a hard time staying on top of my budget for 2 weeks for the envelopes. So I’m trying a new way for that. It has helped it make more sense this way. I also took it out of the notebook and put it in a binder so it’s sorted the way I want by pay period.  

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@cartesian this is so helpful, thank you. I’ve been budgeting by paycheck, BUT tracking expenses monthly. Maybe I’ll try it this way. When you close your budget, do you use the where did my money go worksheet? And how often ?  

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@knepper yep. I use it and break it into the 2 pay periods. I haven’t gotten to the % yet. I just write it down. I’m actually more interested if I went over budget so I’m thinking of writing a spent vs budget column. I can still use the % but as I’m starting I want to see where I’m over for the entire month I’m tracking. It’s still a big work in progress lol. Depressing but at least it’s a start. I’ve had the book since oct and couldn’t wrap my head around it until I switched the dates around and now it makes it easier.  

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@knepper this was feb close out. It’s done by pay 1 and pay 2. I’m still tweaking. The parts I struggle with is when there is $ left over in the account (like Jan, I had extra money for sinking funds but they aren’t listed here because I haven’t wrapped my head around all that yet. ) ‍♀️

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@cartesian I appreciate you sharing this! I’m only a few months into this as well. It surely is a work in progress. I think that the longer we do this, the easier it will be to figure out the missing pieces. Thanks so much for your advice!