Although budgeting isn't new to my life, I still thought I'd share this part of it with you because now that NYC is out the way and I've had a few months of having money I really need to be getting back to the important things.
Since writing my last post there has been a new development. Okay not completely new, but a can of worms that was opened just over a year ago has been re-opened. Maybe it's a jar of worms then... a can can't be sealed shut again.
Anywho...
Last time the jar was opened, I booked the previously mentioned trip to NYC. and considering that it cost in total about the £4k mark give or take, that money could be used for something more... substantial. Now I know that took a year... and it may take me a year of hell to do it again... but it's do-able.
So I thought I'd take you along for the ride as I got my finances in check.
Because the best place to start is the beginning and the beginning of this is the set up.
1. Create a budgeting Template
It can be a notebook, a spreadsheet or a scrap of paper. Who cares! As long as it gets the job done.
a. Write your whole list of revenues & the amount of each. I also like to include the current balance of my bank account.
Total that up and make a note. This gives you your money to play with.
b. Make a list of Bills & Direct Debits.
Another list of ALL your DD's & Bills that come out of your bank & the amount owed each month.
Total that up, make a note and deduct it from your revenue balance to give you your remaining balance.
c. The dreaded DEBT Since getting back I've finished paying off 3 credit accounts and I'm super pleased I did that. So I'm splitting that amount between the 2 bigger debts. I'm also rounding the minimum balance up as much as I can.
Total up the debt payments, make a note and deduct that from the DD Balance.
d. Now to the fun part. Budget.
I have the following categories.
i. Fuel.
ii. Self Care
iii. Social
iv. Dog
v. Therapy day
vi. Christmas Therapy.
some categories are the same each month so I can fill them in. Some of the others require a planner flip through. For those I go through and see what I have planned and add the funds accordingly to the budget.
Give that a quick tally and deduct that from the debt balance & take note.
Now some of the budget will stay in the bank - in which case I move it to my savings account until I need it. Some I pop in my budget binder. Those one's I tally up and make a note on the amount I will need to withdraw from the ATM.
e. The important part. Savings.
This part maybe should have gone first because it's automatic but anyway.
As soon as I get my wage slip I deduct a specific amount. So lets say I got paid £500. But I want to save anything over £450 my spreadsheet automatically tells me that my savings this month is £50.
Below the savings column is another total which is the remaining balance. Basically the total from savings deducted from the budget balance. If I was to do this on paper, I would 1000% do this first so I had a clearer view of my starting balance.
This is because, when I first worked full time I earned X amount. Now working nights part time, I earn more due to extra shifts, overtime & wage increases.... I know I'm not wording this right... but my heads a mess.
2. Budget Storage.
I always dive down a rabbit hole when I start something and I love to see cutesy videos of people budgeting. I went out, got a small binder... or 2.
Wallet inserts.
Made vinyl
and used a eyeshadow pallet organiser to plop my money in while I sorted it all.
Realistically... envelopes that have hand written names on them, is all you need. You can even make it fancy with a large paperclip to keep them together if you really wanted. Also laying you money on you table is just fiiiiine!
3. Savings Storage
I have another binder I tuck away to store my money through the year. This is where I pop everything I've saved. For the past few months I moved it straight to my savings account.... I spent some of it (Other than on car repairs), so I'm going back to the binder method. I have a few trackers to make saving fun, so far the mainly used one is the penny saving challenge.
I keep a pot in my desk drawer and pop my change in it through the month(s) and one day randomly I'll count it up and then go through my tracker. After that I bag each denomination up until I have a full bag then pop it into the bank, and swap it for notes to pop it in my binder.
And that random people of the internet is my basic guide to my Budgeting & Saving set up.
Maybe one day I'll do a video... but until then you've got words and a photo!
TaDah!
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