Anyone budget to leave one paycheck
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| Fri, 03-31-2006 - 9:45am |
free at the end of the month? I'm thinking of trying this. I know some people cannot afford this and frankly I'm not sure if we can yet either. But on paper we should have a considerable amount of money leftover at the end of the month. I know where ALOT of it is going though--odds and ends for the house which add up over the course of the month, overspending at the grocery store, and yes, eating out. I bet we spent $200 just this month. We did so well in Feb--we just fell off the wagon this month. I'd like to get through April without eating out to see how much we'd save. Anyway, I'd really like to get dh's student loans paid off this year and w/ super budgeting I think we can swing at least an extra $900/month on them which would be awesome. So, I was thinking of working on a budget today to account for leaving the 4th check of the month partially free. I'm quiting my p/t job as of tomorrow so I really want to watch our pennies more closely. Honestly, I think what I made just went to food out, etc. Stuff we didn't need anyway. My dh just got a raise too and will more than make up for the difference. I only worked 3 nights/week. So, I figuered if I devoted some of that time to menu planning, shopping the sales, etc I could save the difference, kwim? Ideas? Otherwise, we live pretty simply. We did just buy a 2005 used minivan--got a great deal on it but it's another payment we didn't have before. Our other car is paid off and we just had $250 worth of standard but way overdue mainteance done on it (still needs brakes though). Oh, and I think I've got the $1000 ER fund covered--made sure I left enough from tax refund. Sorry so long--guess I just wanted to get my ideas down in writing. ;) Let's see how I do. On paper it looks good. Reality, who knows?
BTW--we have 3 kids, boys so I have to account for their baseball stuff (which I think is already been paid for) and unfortunately they all need summer clothes. Grr....:( Plus, dh gets a profit sharing bonus on a monthly basis and luckily they have been breaking sales records so it's been pretty nice so I could add this to repayment or to ER fund? What do you think?

Hello,
Regarding leaving a paycheck "free", I would give that money a name. Decide where you want to apply it and set it aside for that purpose. For instance, setting aside half of that paycheck for the Emergency Fund and immediately moving it to your ER as soon as the money comes in. Since it's an Efund and you haven't actually spent the money you set aside, it's there just in case your budget is a little 'short' this month.
You can also use it for a snowball payment. I use my DH's paychecks as snowball material. Most of our bills are covered by my income.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
I hope you can get the numbers to work your way!!
Sounds like a great plan.
We don't do it but that's because we are overstretched as it is now.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis