[Ongoing] The Budgeting-PVP-Challenge. Fitness-Nerd = Finance Nerd?

[Robpocalypse]

Maybe someone here can help me with this question. My grandparents started an investment fund in my name when I was little. At the moment it has about $14000 in it. It's a Class C. Can I take that money out to try and help pay down our debts? What percentage will I lose if I do? Do I have to pay any of it back in taxes? I'm so bad about this investment stuff and we haven't gotten there yet in the FPU class. Any help would be appreciated.

Class C funds typically refer to Class C mutual funds. With mutual funds you can redeem anytime you like, it does not carry a restriction like a tax deferred investment would (401k, IRA etc.).

Class C usually implies the small fees are charged on an annual basis and there may be a redemption fee when you choose to sell shares. You don't have to pay any back, but if you're in the US you would have to pay capital gains taxes which are generally much lower than ordinary income taxes.

For a mutual fund, you can take it out and buy 14,000 dollars worth of lottery tickets if you like, it is different than a tax deferred retirement account that requires you to justify your "borrowing" from your retirement funds.

That being said if you plan on selling shares I would consult a local financial planner as state/local laws vary widely. Also I would not suggest buying 14k worth of lottery tickets

[SirHammerlock]

Hiho, so far I haven't been using any app, just plain old notebook in my pocket . Proved to me as the easiest way, but I have thought about using an app, so please tell me about your experiences.

[SirHammerlock]

And Rosiesan, updated you to the Beginners List, congrats on your first streak!

[Rosiesan]

Class C funds typically refer to Class C mutual funds. With mutual funds you can redeem anytime you like, it does not carry a restriction like a tax deferred investment would (401k, IRA etc.).

Class C usually implies the small fees are charged on an annual basis and there may be a redemption fee when you choose to sell shares. You don't have to pay any back, but if you're in the US you would have to pay capital gains taxes which are generally much lower than ordinary income taxes.

For a mutual fund, you can take it out and buy 14,000 dollars worth of lottery tickets if you like, it is different than a tax deferred retirement account that requires you to justify your "borrowing" from your retirement funds.

That being said if you plan on selling shares I would consult a local financial planner as state/local laws vary widely. Also I would not suggest buying 14k worth of lottery tickets

 

Thanks! We talked to a local investor who advised us that it's ok to take it out and use it to pay down our debts (Not 14,000 worth of lottery tickets) and later on we can invest again. I was worried it was like a 401 or IRA. There is a fee, but that would happen no matter when I took the money out so it's all good.

 

And Rosiesan, updated you to the Beginners List, congrats on your first streak!

 

Thanks! It's been weird having money in the account and not freaking out every morning when I check it. It's also really hard to not say "Look at that money in there, I should go spend it all!" and just leaving it alone.

[Salivanth]

I'll participate I finally have enough money coming in to start saving. I've saved up 750 so far (not including a few hundred in my spending account), and should be able to keep saving an extra 250 a fortnight until the end of the school term, when my math tutoring money will dry up until February. I live with my mother and grandmother, so in exchange for board, most of my expenses are covered. The variable expense I'll be budgeting is just "incidentals"; anything I buy that isn't a fixed expense like my board, or the internet I pay for. I'll be budgeting $50 per fortnight.

My goal is to save up 5,000 in order to invest into an index fund, as 5k is the minimum investment for what I've heard is the best one in Australia. (A stock market thing that invests in all the All Ords; basically putting money on the entire stock market, rather than individual stocks. Pretty safe, guaranteed return unless the stock market crashes.)

On a more helpful note, if anyone here hasn't done it yet, check if your bank has an integrated savings account option. In Australia, Commonwealth Bank has a Goal Saver account option with:

- No fees!
- 3.65% p.a interest, as long as I increase the balance by at least $200 each month, and don't withdraw from it more than once in that month.

So I'm keeping a few hundred dollars in my regular account for expenses, and putting everything else in the savings account via a recurring payment each fortnight. I calculated it out, and if it takes me a year to save 5k, I'll be earning about 90 bucks in interest over the course of that year. Doesn't seem that much in the grand scheme of things, but I basically earned 90 bucks for 15 minutes work. Not a bad return on investment, if you ask me. Plus, I've set up my spreadsheet so that it adds my interest to my fortnightly income. It's tied to my savings, so whenever I update my savings, I can see the number go up We love seeing numbers go up, most of us are gamers after all!

And here's the best part; because it's integrated, whenever I check my online banking, I can see both accounts and how much is in them at a glance. It's no more complex than managing a single account.

[Hiroro]

Hi guys! Exciting to see a couple more people here. I know we're supposed to do weekly budgets, but I tend to track monthly which allows for fluctuations due to weekend trips. I'll do a weekly check-in to see if I'm on track though, so that should work.

 

Goal budgets:

Food: $400/month

Shopping: $100/month

Personal care: $100/month

Gifts: $300/November

 

Already spent $68 on personal care yesterday...expensive face products but I'm sort of okay with spending on skin care, just not makeup which I hardly wear. The gift category is also sketchy, it's high because I'm hoping to get holiday gifts done early this year but I just picked a number so we'll see how this goes. I don't really want to restrict gifts because I'm willing to spend when I find the 'perfect' gift for someone I care about, but I'll be making most gifts hopefully so the total should be manageable....it will be good to track.

[Rosiesan]

Alright got our money from the investment. We have sent off and closed all of our credit cards and one car. We also have $1000 saved up for our starter emergency fund!

 

Also we have stuck through with the budget, but I'm still finding stuff to tweak it. Up to 12 days now!

[Clarys]

Hello Everyone!

This exactly what I needed right now! I know that I'm spending more than I should in things that aren't important...

I'm not in dept, and my regular bills is about half my payment, and every month I finish without money.

I need some control, I need to save to go to Camp Nerd Fitness next year, I want to save to travel.

I will join you!

 

My rules:

-  I will withdraw every friday R$150,00 to spend on food (including lunch at University cafeteria, farmers market, the food part of groceries, etc).

-  I will put on my savings account R$300,00 every month.

-  I budgeted R$ 100,00 every month to "fun" things (books, magazines, phone apps, clothes, movies).

 

I started this method this weekend, so I'm already 5 days on strike!

I will update weekly!

[NicTheRugger]

Hello, all! Is it okay if I join in??

 

This is exactly what I need in my life. I'm a full-time, unemployed law student, living in an off-campus apartment. I have absolutely no income at the moment, which means that I really need to figure out how to budget myself. I don't really have much of a plan yet, and am hoping for some helpful budgeting ideas! 

 

My biggest sources of spending money are bills and rent. Unfortunately, I do have to pay those. I spend on average a little less than $30 per utility (water, sewer, electric, gas, and the most costly-- internet, so I can work at home), but my rent is the real heavy hitter at $550/month. 

I also have undergrad loans to pay off, which I'm doing at a steady $50/month, because of the lack of job. During the summer, I was able to bigger payments, but now that I'm back in school (in a different part of the country), and with restrictions on how much I can work, I had to cut down on those payments. 

 

I'm hoping to budget my grocery spending to $55/week (veggies are expensive!), and limit all other spending except for Christmas gifts to $20/week. I will withdraw this money when I do my grocery shopping and hit the "cash-back" option. Christmas gifts, I'm budgeting myself to $25-30 per person. I have my parents, and two younger siblings. Honestly, they might be getting a lot of home-made DIY stuff, since it's usually far more affordable to make a nice gift, rather than buy something similar for a lot of money.

 

I'll try to update once a week!

[SirHammerlock]

Hey guys,

 

sorry for being awol, I am a bit short of time atm.

 

Welcome to the new guys , I'll add you to the list tomorrow and also give a decent update then.

[Kat on the Run]

Last week I spent:

$180 on food/booze - whoops, overspent -- went out once with TF and once with my friends, then ordered a pizza two nights in a row. Bad, Kat, bad.

$11 on entertainment - under budget

$139 on health/fitness -- umm, wow. That's what happens when you run out of multiple medicines at once and decide to buy a pullup bar the same week

$0 on clothing, so that's good, but I also took too many cabs/uber, so that puts me right at my budget for "other" for the week

 

So we know what my problem areas are, clearly.  Will try to stay in to eat this week and cut down on health/fitness purchases.  Though I just scheduled a consultation with a skincare place, which won't help that amount....

 

EDIT: I forgot that I put some peoples' drinks on my card when we went out but they paid me back in cash, so I'm less over than I thought I was.

[Rosiesan]

Hello Everyone!

This exactly what I needed right now! I know that I'm spending more than I should in things that aren't important...

I'm not in dept, and my regular bills is about half my payment, and every month I finish without money.

I need some control, I need to save to go to Camp Nerd Fitness next year, I want to save to travel.

I will join you!

 

My rules:

-  I will withdraw every friday R$150,00 to spend on food (including lunch at University cafeteria, farmers market, the food part of groceries, etc).

-  I will put on my savings account R$300,00 every month.

-  I budgeted R$ 100,00 every month to "fun" things (books, magazines, phone apps, clothes, movies).

 

I started this method this weekend, so I'm already 5 days on strike!

I will update weekly!

 

Welcome! Good luck!

 

Hello, all! Is it okay if I join in??

 

This is exactly what I need in my life. I'm a full-time, unemployed law student, living in an off-campus apartment. I have absolutely no income at the moment, which means that I really need to figure out how to budget myself. I don't really have much of a plan yet, and am hoping for some helpful budgeting ideas! 

 

My biggest sources of spending money are bills and rent. Unfortunately, I do have to pay those. I spend on average a little less than $30 per utility (water, sewer, electric, gas, and the most costly-- internet, so I can work at home), but my rent is the real heavy hitter at $550/month. 

I also have undergrad loans to pay off, which I'm doing at a steady $50/month, because of the lack of job. During the summer, I was able to bigger payments, but now that I'm back in school (in a different part of the country), and with restrictions on how much I can work, I had to cut down on those payments. 

 

I'm hoping to budget my grocery spending to $55/week (veggies are expensive!), and limit all other spending except for Christmas gifts to $20/week. I will withdraw this money when I do my grocery shopping and hit the "cash-back" option. Christmas gifts, I'm budgeting myself to $25-30 per person. I have my parents, and two younger siblings. Honestly, they might be getting a lot of home-made DIY stuff, since it's usually far more affordable to make a nice gift, rather than buy something similar for a lot of money.

 

I'll try to update once a week!

 

Welcome! Homemade gifts are usually the best! Just be sure that you're not actually overspending on them. I know I've fallen into that pit before.

[Rosiesan]

Still working through the Nov budget, but a lot of tweaks are being made. Makes me realize how spontaneous we are :-P. We also started really looking at our insurances and what all we have covered and what we're paying.

 

I have sat and made a budget for Christmas gifts, just need to talk it over with the hubby to confirm. We also are going to sit and work out our Dec budget so we know what we're looking at for next month.

[Clarys]

Hello!!

 

My last week update

I overspent both in foods and fun things.

Amazon trick me with the free-shipping over a certain price... about 10 more than my budgeted, in the first week of the month...

And I  overspend about 30 in food. It was exactly a dinner out, that I wasn't anticipated. I will try to compensate this week!

 

I feel a improve on my control already. What it is really good!

[Hiroro]

Gah fail so hard. 11 days into the month and somehow I've spent $370 on food. what. Honestly it's probably because the bf is in town on an extended business trip, so I've been eating out all the time. Huge change from when it was just me and I basically only ate out on weekends, plus takeout sometimes. Spending is out of control. I know it's terrible because having him visit is great, but for the sake of my budget, diet, and working out it will be so much easier after he leaves. :/ 

 

I'll track food spending for this week. Brought lunch and made dinner, so no cash outflow. Good start.

[SirHammerlock]

Welcome again to Clarys and Nic, added both of you to the list. Good luck!

 

 

Gah fail so hard. 11 days into the month and somehow I've spent $370 on food. what. Honestly it's probably because the bf is in town on an extended business trip, so I've been eating out all the time. Huge change from when it was just me and I basically only ate out on weekends, plus takeout sometimes. Spending is out of control. I know it's terrible because having him visit is great, but for the sake of my budget, diet, and working out it will be so much easier after he leaves. :/ 

 

I'll track food spending for this week. Brought lunch and made dinner, so no cash outflow. Good start.

 

Yeah, food is mostly my problem, too. For the first time since I started I went over my budget of 75€ per week due to spendings while going out with friends and visiting a conference. I also preordered the WoW-Warlords of Draenor Collectors edition, had planned that as an extraordinary expense. Therefore, including the CE, I am over my budget around 100 € this week. Therefore, these was overall an extraordinary "spending" situation and the spendings I took when going out and at the conference where mostly unavoidable. I will try to reduce my spendings over the next weeks, so I will get balance back in my budget.

[Hiroro]

Still doing better on food spending for the week, haven't gone out yet! I did buy groceries at Costco Tuesday (STEAK NIGHT) but used gift cards yayyy. 

 

I need to pay more attention to online shopping. I bought face stuff and man it adds up when I see it in Mint...somehow surprises me even though it's an intentional purchase. But for the rest of this month I'll focus on food, then zero in on other categories.

[Rosiesan]

Alright did pretty well this week. Stayed within the budget! I worked from home most of the week so we saved money with gas there. 

[NicTheRugger]

Hello, all! I was pretty good this week. I've made budgeting part of my challenge, so I'm working extra hard to keep up my budget.

 

My budget for groceries is $55/week, since fresh vegetables are always expensive! I spent $35.51 this week on groceries. Success!

 

I have $20/week for "fun" or "social" spending. I had an extra $5 in my wallet when the week started, so it was more like $25. I believe I have $5 left, so I'm exactly on budget. I did a little more spending than I would have expected, but I think it's because my boyfriend is visiting for the weekend, so we need to go out and do things rather than sit in my apartment all day. I know I'll have to spend at least part of that $5 this upcoming week for a networking function that my school is hosting, but I see it more as an opportunity rather than "fun" spending.... what do you guys think?

[Zendikara]

I just joined this site today, and wondering if it's too late to join this =) I struggle daily to hit my budget.. and some support would be a great help.

[SirHammerlock]

Hi Zendikara,

 

since this one is an open challenge, with no real beginning and end, you can of course join at any time! Welcome to the pack!

[Hiroro]

Hello, all! I was pretty good this week. I've made budgeting part of my challenge, so I'm working extra hard to keep up my budget.

 

My budget for groceries is $55/week, since fresh vegetables are always expensive! I spent $35.51 this week on groceries. Success!

 

I have $20/week for "fun" or "social" spending. I had an extra $5 in my wallet when the week started, so it was more like $25. I believe I have $5 left, so I'm exactly on budget. I did a little more spending than I would have expected, but I think it's because my boyfriend is visiting for the weekend, so we need to go out and do things rather than sit in my apartment all day. I know I'll have to spend at least part of that $5 this upcoming week for a networking function that my school is hosting, but I see it more as an opportunity rather than "fun" spending.... what do you guys think?

Good job Nic! I agree that spending on a networking function is not 'fun' spending, though if you have fun that's definitely good! I would see it as an investment in your career, similar to buying basic professional clothes for an office job.

[Hiroro]

$84/100 for food spending this week! Including groceries, a bag of coffee, and a few meals out. I did have a few meals out that were covered by friends/coworkers, but I normally would be eating at home more anyhow.

$36/?? on movie tickets, a CD, and...something else I got at Target--seriously don't remember

 

Seems like 'food' and 'other' are probably my easiest categories to track ('other' being discretionary, not including bills). So I'll say $100 allowance for other. Which gives me a one week streak!

 

One note about the streaks...personally it makes more sense to do it as an average over the month (because some weekends are empty and some are expensive). That also lets me 'save' some of my budget for later in the month.

 

Also, I inventoried my pantry over the weekend so now I have a list of food to use up. I foresee a few solid frugal weeks!

 

Another good thing for my budget is the bit of overtime I've been working lately, which pads my paycheck nicely. My Mint budgets are already in the red for the month  but I hope to see December all green.

[SirHammerlock]

Hey, great job you guys! You can handle the streak thing like you want, see the rules as a guideline^^ (so for example, if you screw up one week but manage to save that much the next week that you get an even budget, that's fine, too).

[Zendikara]

Fabulous, happy to join the clan! This is exactly what I need right at this moment, and a great way to start getting ahead before the new year To fill you in on where I stand I would most certainly stand:

 

1. Create meal plans weekly to decrease the impulse buying of fast food, or going out for supper.  (I am spending too much money doing that)

2. Take out 10% of each pay check ($108) and put it aside for a fun money. (I am awful at keeping cash I find having in an account works best for me, so open a new account at a bank for my non necessities)

3. Learn to say NO! (eg: I have a monopoly board collection of different types.. just recently picked up a fishing monopoly. Did I need that? NO! Did I want it, yes.)

 

I have tons of more goals for my finances,  but that is what is putting me the post in the hole right now.. is spending too much money on myself for items that aren't a necessity... and buying too many groceries and having them go bad on me. If I start doing meal plans my food shouldn't be going bad, and I have no reason to be going out for food because I don't have a meal cooked. I also work from home, so this shouldn't be a problem.. as I don't have that groggy I'm home from work and now I have to do this feeling. I have been making friends with my crock pot  a lot lately, and plan to use that more often.