How many of you follow

[River Wood]

Was talking to a guy at work today who follows some sort of workshop book he has (can't remember the author) and follows this extremely strict budget. They put so much money for groceries in an envelope, clothing in an envelope, entertainment etc in an envelope. If they run a bit short on something they are purchasing, and IF they take some extra cash from another envelope, lets say their entertainment envelope, well that is it! They don't have as much to go out with.

I found it pretty interesting and was going to find out more. They actually figure out their budget on paper for each month. Needless to say, they have no debt.

What is your "special way"

 

[mininik]

I'd be interested in finding out exactly what book that guy is following.

 

[Cathy_H]

It sounds like Dave Ramsey. If it is - Dave is great to listen to. He is on the radio here M-F. He has some great books - check at your library or his website. My daughter did pretty much what he teaches but her hubby gave her front row seats to one of his talks this year and she got to ask him a question......... One of his sayings. " Live today like no one else - so that tomorrow you CAN live like no one else".............. Dave has been there & done that and experienced the financial problems so he knows where people are coming from............ We discussed him about a week or so ago (I think). Wonderful spiritual compassionate speaker tells it like it is to get out of debt............. If Dave could oversee our nations spending he would get us on the right track and keep us there for sure............... I think lots of people would have to "eat a lot of rice & beans & beans & rice" to get there though - something he says quite often.

The baby steps to get your finances in order

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/index.cf...tContentID=4123

View here to find stations to watch & hear Dave Ramsey

http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/

Find his featured columns here

http://www.davesays.org/

Forgot to add we don't have a strict budget but we always pay off our charge card in full every month. We only allow ourselves to get in debt so much.

 

[ontherisefarm]

Sure does sound like Dave Ramsey... Well worth reading and following his advice... We follow a budget here only owe on my credit card and the rest including house is paid off. I dont charge on the card that is owed on just trying to pay off from earlier bad decisions before Dave came along..LOL

 

[River Wood]

You guys very well may be right...I'll have to find out tomorrow. This guy I know that follows his book swears by him.

 

[Valerie]

Oh wow, that brings back memories...... that is exactly how my mom budgeted......7 kids, and stay at home Mom...of course when I was little until a few years back I never realized that my Dad held 2 jobs most of the time....full time policeman & he also drove & delivered heating oil to houses......plus he would do roofing jobs and stuff in the summer. I used to help with the roofing jobs...... oops, got off track there.

But yep, every month, Mom would have her budget & different envelopes and each marked.....groceries, bills (seperate), insurance, school, misc, etc...... I don't recall an "entertainment" envelope, but then I guess with 7 kids we were the entertainment..haha.

Hubby and I went to a Financial advisor a few years ago & she gave us a great budget sheet to use & we each got an "allowance" weekly....and if you wanted something & it cost more than your weekly allowance, you saved up for it.......we still kinda stick to this and we are pretty much debt free, except for our house, but our cars are paid off, and we do put $ away for retirement & 401 k each month, plus we always put $ in savings monthly.

Thanks for taking me down memory lane, it's getting close to the 2nd anniversary of Mom's death and this is a nice memory.

 

[Minimor]

I don't do the cash in an envelope thing, but I do keep a budget. Each month I have the total money coming in, and I list the things that have to be paid each month-- utility bills, loan payment, gas, groceries, hay, oats, catfood...set amount for each one, then I know how much there is "left over" (usually not enough!!) and then the money comes out of the bank account for each specific thing. When I buy groceries, catfood, gas etc I keep a list of how much I spent on each "department".

It works well. Very well. Without a budget I wouldn't really know where I was at and would spend too much on one thing and then discover that there wasn't enough left to pay something that had to be paid (been there, done that!) I haven't bought any books (no money in the budget for books on budgeting!), following a budget is just something I started doing one time and was pleased with how well it worked so I kept on.

I don't have 'entertainment' on my list of budget items--we don't do entertainment things here anyway, the horses are our entertainment--going into town for dinner in a restaurant would be a shocking waste of time, effort, gas and money, as would going to town to see a movie at the theater--the 'extra' money gets put away as much as possible for things like horse show expenses, repairs to vehicle, home or whatever--pizza for a weekend lunch or some such thing like that can sometimes be fit into the grocery budget.

 

[onlyminis]

Yes, this is Dave Ramsey's plan you are talking about, his motto is "live like no one else so you can LIVE like no one else". He'll help you cut it to the bone and get it done, he's drastic, but he's VERY motivating!

I use his plan as a part of our overall plan, I'm not that drastic. BUT, we're 32 months into our mortgage and we're 41 payments AHEAD! I don't have to work, I work a part time night job, that money is absolutely allocated, no exceptions, no if's and's, or buts, it has a place. We'll be mortgage free years ahead of schedule because of it, and it's worth it.

His plan can be pretty drastic, be prepared to work for it, if you want the results.

om

 

[rockin r]

This is what Art and I do...money in a envelope! We figure what our monthly bills are (individually by bill) divide by 4=what we put in the envelope(s) weekly ..one for Mort. one for ele, one for food, etc...what is left goes for savings or usually unexpected bills (vet, Dr. roof, house repairs). It works for us.....and at the end of the month I know that we have enough $$$ to pay all the bills due. I LOVE the 5 week months!

An extra week of savings.......yep, works for us!

 

[Bess Kelly]

I do write out my expenses and budget based on a "fixed" amount of income. Like to pay all once a month, with a 30 day accumulation to do it again the next

Know comings are saved up....winter hay, qtrly obligations, etc. Worked hard to get to a point of pretty much debt free. The mortgage is fine but there....we can't get away from some things, taxes, insurance, etc.

My backup stash is there for extremes. So, if something comes up that is "emergency" I may put it on a credit card and pay out over 2 months if needed. It's easier to cut to the bone on a monthly basis to pay it than to get it BACK INTO the stash.....well, for me it is. Been lucky so far as this has worked for me. Also keep a separate emergency fund for the vet needs & separate cr card.

Fully using & recycling is major. I hate to throw out any food, so freeze, etc. Plus my kids both live on my farm, so we share meals every week.

Gives us all some time together, another cook, some time off from cooking/clean ups, etc. It works out pretty evenly over the month, time & $$. Watch electric, heat, trips (gasoline!), etc, for best use. Limit shopping to cut impulse but do watch for great sales.

A "budget" is paramount IMO.....as are goals.

 

[Sonya]

When we first got married, we did the money in the envelope thing, we had to. As we became more financially successful, I stopped doing it. I need to go back to doing that, I should be saving much more than what I am and paying things off quicker. I'm going to have to get one of his books.

 

[capall beag]

You know before I got married I did this.

I got my paycheck and divided it to the cents into envelopes.

My husband was the opposite, got his check and spent until it ran out and literally lived week to week.

BUT he had no debt, he never had any money from Wed through fri either

Since I now stay at home and do not bring in an income I can't budget like this.

My husband refuses to do anything like that.

He says debt is his motivation to work harder, and he does work very hard.

He says, "why would I get out of bed if I didn't owe money!"

That said I am thinking about doing a budget but one that will be flexible.

I am not a big spender but could never be the type to really budget at the grocery store.

I see people with a calculator at the grocery store and I know that would drive me crazy!

Not knocking it, it just would not work for me.

Right now we owe on our house, no other debt. But not much savings either

 

[whitney]

Yep I budget but not in envelopes.

I have bills I pay at the first of the month, and ones I pay at the end of the month. By automatic bill pay through my bank LOVE THAT SERVICE!

Whatever is leftover goes first to the in case of emergeny fund and then to the INDOOR arena fund. I NEVER take money out of the INDOOR arena fund, and only the emergency fund for an EMERGENCY.

In another 2 years I will be riding/driving INSIDE YEAR ROUND!