Spending Plans

[Carrie Earls]

When we first got married, Bryan and I had a fairly in-depth spending plan. We didn't own a computer, so (believe it or not) we tracked it on paper. This method worked well for us.

A few years into our marriage, things naturally got more complicated in the financial arena. Although we had switched to using Quicken on the computer to track our spending and do our planning, it seemed more complicated than we thought it should be. So, we spent the next couple of years trying to simplify our budgeting categories.

Now our budget is so simplified that it is probably not fair to still refer to it as a budget! But it works. We don't spend more than we make, we save what we can, and we don't use any credit cards. Plus, by tracking it all on Quicken, we still know where all of our money is going.

How do you manage your money? Do you use a particular program, or follow a certain plan? Do you find that you are in the minority (among your friends) if you do live by a budget?

[jamesglewisf]

We follow the spending plan recommended by Larry Burkett (http://www.cfcministry.org/). Check out my article (http://marriedadults.com/one_income.htm) about trying to live off one income.

It seems like most people don't have a budget. My wife and I love it because we never have to have money arguments.

[blinc]

Oh yeah... we have a budget. It's called pay off the bills and try to survive on what's left!

Seriously, yes we do have a budget of sorts. We pretty much know what our expenses are each month. I handle the bills, since my husband works LONG hours. All of the bills are on a calendar by date - we have very few unexpected bills. The rest of the money, after bills, is bugeted between food, necessities, savings and entertainment. Our health and life insurance policies are through my husbands work, so they are deducted out of his pay automatically. House and car Insurance we opted for a pmt. plan, with smaller premiums due every other month, instead of LARGE payments once every 6 months. Here in N. Carolina you can't buy policies for a year at a time. I don't know why.

We know about what our house, land and vehicle taxes are going to be every year so try to set aside so much every other month, so that when they come due, it won't be a huge bill staring us in the face. All of the larger bills we try to put some money aside throughout the year just for those, so that we don't ever feel a real hard hit. There are those times though... when we get hammered with big vet bills, something else, then something else, that just eat things right up. Seems like when something unexpected happens... several other things seem to follow right after. Guess that's life, huh? :)

[TTP]

My budget...it's pretty easy, just yesterday I wrote a $25 check to pay a bill and it evened my checking and savings accounts at exactly $0.00. I am very broke! I just got paid Monday and this is only Wednesday! Tuesday if you account for the fact I haven't went to sleep yet.
What I do is keep track in my checking account because right now that is where I put all my money. So it is pretty easy to tell where I spend what. College life is so fun isn't it? {rolleyes}