November 10th we will have all the money we need to close on the house and then some so no real need to track that anymore. Will probably switch to an emergency fund tracker since we will need to replenish that and just plain build up regular savings.
New Budget (when we get the house)
Savings 25
Roth IRA 416
Student Loan 193.6
House Payment 1233
Insurance and Taxes 200
Electricity 120
Water and Sewer 70
Credit Card (paid in full) 1318
On the Credit Card
Cable 62.11
Phone 71
Netflix 15
Bus Pass 70
Groceries,Out to Eat and Fun Money 1100
Remaining 424 would go into the EF.
This is a lot tighter budget then I am used to. 1, DH will be maxing out his 401(k) and 2, I will be maxing out my Roth IRA. That's not quite $1700 per month thanks to the tax advantages but ouch. Course what you aren't seeing is that we have been living on a much tighter budget than this, its just we had the illusion of more money because we were choosing to pay so much on the credit cards to get rid of them.
A big issue with this budget is electricity, garbage, water and sewer are a big question mark. I way overestimated electricity to cover garbage but electricity is the only bill I have ever paid when in a house (currently live in an apartment so I know what I pay now but that won't necessarily translate).
Actually electricity was cheaper in a house than an apartment so I am hoping it will go down but I am not holding my breath.
Another thing you will notice about the new budget is that it is one budget instead of two. My DH and I will be alternating control of the entire budget so that he can get an overall view of what we are spending. In the past I always made sure all excess income was in his wallet not mine because I didn't trust myself not to spend it. This resulted in him having one little bill and lots of free money. Hard to stay in budget if you see no reason to. This will give him the opportunity to see the big picture.
Hopefully this will eliminate the "what do you mean we spent twice we are supposed to, why didn't you tell me no?" situation since I am always the instigator of spending money but couldn't see his side of the equation in order to self regulate (he can't say no to me, trust me, I only think of this as a bad thing when it comes to our finances, I am spoilt and loving it).
Overall, I think we are doing pretty well but I am looking forward to March when everything has been switched over and all the chaos is over.
New Budget Planning
October 15th, 2008 at 03:25 pm
October 15th, 2008 at 06:18 pm 1224094739
October 15th, 2008 at 07:19 pm 1224098395
If you are just a cash fan, since you can't really use checks (no one accepts them in my area), its cash or debit cards. Loved my debit card but no cash back and if someone steals the number, I am in big trouble.
Cash I absolutely despise and have ever since getting a job. It flows through my fingers like water. Not sure if that's because I lose or misplace it (which I know I do since I have found cash I didn't know I had) or because I just spend it. I do know I am incapable of tracking it so I can't budget when I use it.
With a credit card or debit card, I have to actually face how much I have spent on something later on which makes me think about purchases more before I do them.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:45 am 1224153911
October 16th, 2008 at 04:48 pm 1224175684
October 17th, 2008 at 07:31 am 1224228692