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

[Beaucastle]

Piccolojones  Thanks for the encouragement.  I have a small "all heck breaks loose" fund for those things but I have to have no other option to dip into it.  Having that allows me to sleep at night. 

 

I'm really good at reasoning spending of larger amounts of money.  I have a problem with the under $10 spree.  these little nips of cash that drain my finances faster than sand out of a burlap bag, set my budget off kilter.

[SirHammerlock]

Sounds like a good plan. I have a tendency to go full bore into something, too. But I've noticed that I tend to wear down and grow lax after a while. By leaving your budget a little higher, you're effectively creating a cushion for yourself to get a little bit more lax as you grow weary, but you still have the satisfaction of knowing you're staying within your budget. It's good for motivation.

For both of you, I really recommend getting a mini-emergency fund together ASAP. $1000 set aside to use in case of emergency does wonders for relieving anxiety and keeping the credit card demons at bay. I believe this takes priority. (I actually had to dip into mine, so I'm spending the next couple months replenishing it.)

 

Keep up the good work, guys. You can do it!

 

Thanks very much! Yeah, the emergency fund is a thing I definitely need, but I want to pay off my debt first - or maybe I can split that? Well, I'll think about it. Perhaps it will be: Savings from the weekly budget go half into debt, half into emergency funding.

 

 

I'm really good at reasoning spending of larger amounts of money.  I have a problem with the under $10 spree.  these little nips of cash that drain my finances faster than sand out of a burlap bag, set my budget off kilter.

 

I know that one, too. For me it's like: Oh, it's only 10 bucks, why not buy it? And then it's ten here and ten there and suddenly it's a hundred. Also, I think I have lost the feeling of money's worth somehow, sometime 50 $ seems much to me, sometimes not. I need to get that in the right direction again.

[Beaucastle]

I know that one, too. For me it's like: Oh, it's only 10 bucks, why not buy it? And then it's ten here and ten there and suddenly it's a hundred. Also, I think I have lost the feeling of money's worth somehow, sometime 50 $ seems much to me, sometimes not. I need to get that in the right direction again.

yea  exactly.  Its so easy to swipe the debit card... not even think about it.  Its getting easier to use the debit card than it is to use cash.

[SirHammerlock]

That's it exactly. That is why I will get rid of my card after I payed off my credit-card-debt.

[Piccolojones]

Piccolojones  Thanks for the encouragement.  I have a small "all heck breaks loose" fund for those things but I have to have no other option to dip into it.  Having that allows me to sleep at night. 

 

I'm really good at reasoning spending of larger amounts of money.  I have a problem with the under $10 spree.  these little nips of cash that drain my finances faster than sand out of a burlap bag, set my budget off kilter.

Definitely. Well... You can try different "tricks" to help curb those $10 impulses. Like using a literal envelope system (cash allocated to specific categories of expenditures). You'd have to steal from another category to make the $10 impulse buy. And you'd be leaving your debit/credit card at home. Would something like that work? It'd be a bit more effort, because you have to plan ahead for your monies, but it should help with the discipline.

 

Thanks very much! Yeah, the emergency fund is a thing I definitely need, but I want to pay off my debt first - or maybe I can split that? Well, I'll think about it. Perhaps it will be: Savings from the weekly budget go half into debt, half into emergency funding.

I'd recommend building that emergency fund ASAP. The debt that you have already exists. The emergency fund exists to prevent you from accruing more debt. Life happens, and you'll always have unexpected expenses, and you don't want to have to go back (or deeper) into debt after you've paid it down. 

[SirHammerlock]

 

I'd recommend building that emergency fund ASAP. The debt that you have already exists. The emergency fund exists to prevent you from accruing more debt. Life happens, and you'll always have unexpected expenses, and you don't want to have to go back (or deeper) into debt after you've paid it down. 

 

Well, what got me into my debt was poor spending and emotional buying . But I'll make sure to split the money, building towards both the fund and paying off the debt.

 

What helps me most resisting that 10$-spendings (like buying a magazine, or the xtra-large coffee instead of the medium one etc.) is my (NF-)wristband I (had) made. This consequently reminds me why I am doing this and that every penny counts. Perhaps that's something for you, Beaucastle?

[Beaucastle]

I have a sticker that says   "think" on the back of my card.   Its helping.  Mostly its just a matter of discipline, like exercise.  I don't want to be frugal or sweat.  I have to do both.

[Hiroro]

Hi guys, I'd like to join in if I can! This sounds like a pretty low-key PvP, which is good since I'm pretty intermittent. 

 

A little of my goals/background:

In general my struggle is that I love reading concepts and ideas but need to work on putting them into practice. Also, I've been getting into travel hacking which is an excuse to spend on my credit cards. Overall I'm fortunate to have a good job and have no debt, but I never ever stay within my budget...so this PvP seems just right for me.

 

Spending less goes with my current overarching desire to simplify my life. I'm inspired by a couple blogs:

• The minimalists
• Mr Money mustache
• Early Retirement Extreme
• Zen Habits

but as I mentioned, I read all this amazing material but haven't made many changes yet. I'm ready for action! Similar/related to my recent diet revelation, my *new* mental approach to buying less is treating the decision as a privilege. Every choice to not buy something is a choice I get to make to simplify my life and move towards financial independence. (Plus I'm working to get rid of some of my possessions but don't want to just replace them with equally meaningless stuff). It's much more positive than not thinking 'I can't have what I want because I'm trying to save money'. So I'm questioning whether/why I really want the things I buy.

 

One recent expenditure that has increased for me is drinks. I went on a Starbucks iced tea kick, followed by an almond chai latte kick. So now I'm working on making my own iced tea and almond chai lattes (homemade almond milk + homemade concentrate). I was mindlessly getting a Trenta unsweetened iced tea a couple times a week...but at one point pictured all of the plastic cups piled in a landfill 

Getting obsessed with DIY is useful right now since I make my own healthy from-scratch food, plus it's a sort of hobby. 

 

Sorry. I ramble. My main goals/challenges are:

• Saving for retirement -getting started with investing
• Small day to day expenses (my hand reaches for the credit card wayyy to quickly/easily)
• Spending less on food
• Overspending when I travel (even a weekend in the nearest city tends to be a blowout...mostly on restaurants not shopping)

Good things, and where I am now:

• Young professional putting 8% into Roth 401k with some company match
• Only a couple years into the workforce, but already thinking about stay-at-home momhood (with a part-time job)
• Thanks to my parents, college degree with no debt. 
• Bought a house this year, but then temporarily relocated for work. I rented out the house for enough to cover my mortgage, and I have housemates now so rent is reasonable.

TMI? Sorry I love to talk about this stuff. Now for the action.

[Hiroro]

Oh and I love the ideas of the wristband or the sticker...I might have to copy something like that 

[SirHammerlock]

Welcome Hiroro! Nice to have another one who wants to tackle finances the NF-Way . I'll add you to the list.

 

I know what you're saying about reading blogs and books with good ideas in it, finding it worthwile, but then fail to play it out. For me, the wristband really helps making me remember my goals and good intentions.

[Beaucastle]

Score one for the home team.

despite a sale and clearance prices ... I resisted and only purchase a sale pair of work shoes to replace the pair that fell apart.  I resisted the clutch purse and both pairs of fantastic heels along with the slashed price on a cute boot.

 

Go Me!!

[Piccolojones]

Score one for the home team.

despite a sale and clearance prices ... I resisted and only purchase a sale pair of work shoes to replace the pair that fell apart.  I resisted the clutch purse and both pairs of fantastic heels along with the slashed price on a cute boot.

 

Go Me!!

Yay for discipline and momentum! Good job!

[Kat on the Run]

I would like to join on this PvP too.  I am still ironing out exactly what my budget is each month, but like some of you, I struggle with the <$10 items.  A lot of it is food that I could plan better ahead and not have to buy the most convenient version of.  I am planning a wedding and also trying to save some so I have been trying to keep to a strict budget for the last two months.  With October almost over, I am over my budget in some categories, but not overall yet.  Weekly budgets (for non essentials) are something like:

-$25 for entertainment

-$150 for food/booze

-$80 for health/fitness 

-$40 for clothing/other

 

If I could stick to that, I'd be a lot better off.  I just downloaded some apps that are supposed to save me money/give me cash back on groceries.  Has anyone heard of/used checkout 51, field agent, or favado? Now that I have them, I just need to use them, and plan my purchases ahead, not wait until it's an urgent need for saran wrap/olive oil/chicken/whatever and then pay whatever the closest price is.  Any other apps people use?

[Rosiesan]

I encourage you not to "start" after your vacation. Plan your vacation spending before you go! You want to bring back souvenirs to remind you of the memories, but you don't want those reminders to be your credit card statements!

 

I understand what you're saying, but at that point there was too much going on for us to find time to sit and do a whole budget including the vacation. We actually did really well with spending on the trip and only brought back a handful of souvenirs. 

 

Now that we're back we sat and completed our first written monthly budget together. Made us really think about what we're currently doing vs what we should be doing. As I said we're going through Financial Peace University now and it's really given us a lot to think about. My husband is committing to working overtime so we can throw extra money to build up our emergency fund to $1000 then start paying down our bills.

 

I have noticed that since we've started talking about money seriously I don't just run to Target and spend $150 on whatever I feel like and grocery shopping is more planned than it use to be. 

 

So far we've saved up $300 in savings and hoping to be able to get to $1000 by the end of the month and put at least $500 towards paying off our debt each month in the future.

We've even started looking around our house at what we can sell to pay down this debt further.

 

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.

[Rosiesan]

I forgot to add Recruit that I would like to start this now.

 

Rules:

-Put at least $25 into savings every week

-No more overdrafts!!!!!!!!! Stay in the green all week.

-Only shop when necessary and with a list. For this week, that should mean only emergencies. We are set on food, clothes, diapers, shampoo etc so nothing should be bought outside of bills and gas.

[Piccolojones]

I would like to join on this PvP too.  I am still ironing out exactly what my budget is each month, but like some of you, I struggle with the <$10 items.  A lot of it is food that I could plan better ahead and not have to buy the most convenient version of.  I am planning a wedding and also trying to save some so I have been trying to keep to a strict budget for the last two months.  With October almost over, I am over my budget in some categories, but not overall yet.  Weekly budgets (for non essentials) are something like:

-$25 for entertainment

-$150 for food/booze

-$80 for health/fitness 

-$40 for clothing/other

 

If I could stick to that, I'd be a lot better off.  I just downloaded some apps that are supposed to save me money/give me cash back on groceries.  Has anyone heard of/used checkout 51, field agent, or favado? Now that I have them, I just need to use them, and plan my purchases ahead, not wait until it's an urgent need for saran wrap/olive oil/chicken/whatever and then pay whatever the closest price is.  Any other apps people use?

Welcome, Kat! and good luck! I haven't used any of those apps, but I feel like I've heard about that type of app before. I think in general I just use Mint.com, which isn't really the same type of app, but gives a good overview of how everything's looking.

 

I understand what you're saying, but at that point there was too much going on for us to find time to sit and do a whole budget including the vacation. We actually did really well with spending on the trip and only brought back a handful of souvenirs. 

 

Now that we're back we sat and completed our first written monthly budget together. Made us really think about what we're currently doing vs what we should be doing. As I said we're going through Financial Peace University now and it's really given us a lot to think about. My husband is committing to working overtime so we can throw extra money to build up our emergency fund to $1000 then start paying down our bills.

 

I have noticed that since we've started talking about money seriously I don't just run to Target and spend $150 on whatever I feel like and grocery shopping is more planned than it use to be. 

 

So far we've saved up $300 in savings and hoping to be able to get to $1000 by the end of the month and put at least $500 towards paying off our debt each month in the future.

We've even started looking around our house at what we can sell to pay down this debt further.

 

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.

Good job on keeping the spending down on vacation! I know that can be tough, with all the eating out and attractions and souvenirs. 

 

It sounds like you guys are making tracks on your budget. Good work! And I'll be praying for you and your husband; OT is hard on both spouses. This isn't going to be easy for you, but you can do it! 

 

As far as the investment fund stuff, unfortunately, I can't help you at all. Have you tried contacting one of Dave's ELPs? They're remarkably helpful, even if you don't end up going through with them.

[SirHammerlock]

Hey everyone, welcome Kat and Rosiesan!

 

I am sorry for not checking in last week, I was on the road and didn't have much time to be here. For me, this seem to be just what I needed. Since I started, I haven't been over my budget once, and it's really going well, finally. I got a new feeling for my money and am not spending thoughtlessly on amazon etc. like I did before, even not while grocery shopping.

 

I hope, everyone else is doing fine?

[SirHammerlock]

Ah yeah, and tell me when you are on a streak, so I can update the list .

[Beaucastle]

I managed to save enough to pay one third off one of my cards this month.  I dropped the balance significantly.  While maintaining the payment schedule.   Got a bit sideways when one of my medical bills came in.  Being on the road to healthy does not save me all the time.  I worked out a payment plan with them that wont capsize my budget and will have them paid off not as fast as they want but within a reasonable time frame.  They were glad to have me come to them with what I can pay and with a plan in motion.  I also was able to pay double payments on another card this month.  I was going to pay more but the medical bill ate that... *le sigh*.

[SirHammerlock]

Yeah, medical bills suck. Here in Germany, medical insurance is required by law, but as I am working on my PhD, I am at the moment in a quite stupid contract that makes me pay 135 € per month, but doesn't cover quite a lot of medical bills, as I recently discovered - so I had to pay around 500 € of bills on my own within the last few month (on a monthly budget of 1000 €). This is frustrating, and I am thinking of changing to another contract, where I have to pay a higher monthly rate, but which will cover almost every bill and expense. But I will have to think about it, cause when I will get married to my spouse I can participate in his insurance, which is a lot cheaper and will cover almost everything, too. Anyway, medical bills suck!

[Rosiesan]

Alright last week I did great! So far Streak is 6 days.

 

Spent money only when needed: Daycare, gas, cold medicine.

 

We've been slowly saving and trying to stick to a budget very rigidly.

 

A week ago we say down and did our first monthly budget for Nov. Since then we have noticed we forgot a few things and so I spent quite a bit of time last night "fixing" it and talked it over with my husband. Realized we still forgot a few things so I'll need to touch it up again.

 

He's going on a business trip next week and although he'll get reimbursed for his food we still need to have money for him so the plan is for him to take out $100 cash for dinners. Hopefully he wont spend it all.

 

We fell into a bit of money that we are going to use to bring our savings up to $1000 and pay off our credit cards and most of our car payments. Very excited and grateful to this. Still going to go head strong into the budget and debt snowball for the rest of our medical bills and student loans.

 

Honestly after looking at our budget I am terrified we wont do it. I'm terrified we won't stick to it and it will all fall apart and we'll be back at square 1. I guess the same can be said for fitness and nutrition as well.

[Rosiesan]

Yeah, medical bills suck. Here in Germany, medical insurance is required by law, but as I am working on my PhD, I am at the moment in a quite stupid contract that makes me pay 135 € per month, but doesn't cover quite a lot of medical bills, as I recently discovered - so I had to pay around 500 € of bills on my own within the last few month (on a monthly budget of 1000 €). This is frustrating, and I am thinking of changing to another contract, where I have to pay a higher monthly rate, but which will cover almost every bill and expense. But I will have to think about it, cause when I will get married to my spouse I can participate in his insurance, which is a lot cheaper and will cover almost everything, too. Anyway, medical bills suck!

 

Oh man that is rough. I agree that they do suck! When are you planning to marry your spouse? Would it make sense to switch yours before then?

[Rosiesan]

I managed to save enough to pay one third off one of my cards this month.  I dropped the balance significantly.  While maintaining the payment schedule.   Got a bit sideways when one of my medical bills came in.  Being on the road to healthy does not save me all the time.  I worked out a payment plan with them that wont capsize my budget and will have them paid off not as fast as they want but within a reasonable time frame.  They were glad to have me come to them with what I can pay and with a plan in motion.  I also was able to pay double payments on another card this month.  I was going to pay more but the medical bill ate that... *le sigh*.

 

Great job!!! Boo medical bills! It sounds like you got things under control though!

[Rosiesan]

Has anyone thought about or heard or looked into things like "Simple" or "Level" or other budgeting apps/banks/options.

 

I've started using Level and it's taking a while to update and figure out my actual money but it seems nice to see how much "spendable" money I have at a time.

 

Simple looks neat to help get away from "big banks" and avoid any kind of fees. Kind of scary moving away from a big bank but it think it might be better for us. Wells Fargo has done nothing but stolen more and more money from us.

 

Anything similar? Anything different?

 

This is where I got the idea from:

http://gizmodo.com/how-to-ditch-your-big-shitty-bank-1647116373

[Kat on the Run]

Interesting ideas there.  I switched from Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) when they continued to take out bills before processing my deposit from days before, requiring me to (delegate someone to) sit on the phone with them for an hour to fix the overdraft fee.  I haven't had much trouble with Bank of America, but I do understand why people switch.  I also just recently got a savings account with GE Capital Bank, thanks to Nerd Wallet's review of them, but I haven't dealt with it enough to really review it.  

 

As for budgeting, I use Mint and now that I've got it all set up, I'm reluctant to switch.  I will save that article for future reference, however.  Some of those sound like good ideas.