Making a budget - have some questions

[aushannon]

I've never made a budget before. Daddy watched my spending in college, DH has watched my spending ever since. I'm not good with money, but lately I've started looking at our accounts and realizing we aren't saving anything. I coupon and take my lunch to work, but DH doesn't seem to be bothered with our spending. I have decided to make a budget and make him stick to it. We have separate accounts, but I am tracking both in mint.com so they are together. I'm working on our budget now and I've got everything that we regularly spend money on in a month, but how do you budget for things that aren't every month? Such as my hair, I get it done every 3 months. How do I put this in a budget? Do you just divide what I spend by 3 months? But then is it going to completely throw mint.com off? Can someone please explain how to do this? Any other tips on creating a budget are welcome too! TIA!

[434Teresa]

well I get my hair cut at the place in walmart so I just put that in as part of my walmart money for that week, so if its time for a hair cut I have to make it fit into my walmart bidget for that week if it dont work I try it the next week..or keep part of the money from that week to go with the money from the next week...say my walmart bidget is $150 a week for food and other needs if I have any money left that week I put it in a envie for extra things I might want to do that money can be used to get a hair cut at any time or to go see a movie..I dont count this left over money in my bidget again its for fun stuff or things I just want to buy for us,sometimes it adds up faster than others for some weeks I may have $20 left over to put in it and others i may only have $2 to add to it...

sorry to talk so much about wal-mart but I have two year old twins and that is the best place for me to shop, so I dont have to run all over town dragging them in and out,I have 2 teen boys also.

[FlaminGOgirl]

I calculate how much I spend per year on things like hair cuts. Then I divide that amount by 12. I put that amount each month into my "hair cut" budget account.

For example - let's say I spend $15 every 3 months for a hair cut
$15 x 4 = $60 (that's how much I could spend over a 12 month period)

$60/12 = $5 (that's what I would put per month into my hair cut budget)

[Sweet_Southern_Mama]

This may be the opposite of what everyone else does, but I just budget say $100-$200 a month for things like that in a miscellaneous category. There's always something every month that we don't get done every month. Like oil changes, getting hair done, small car repair, etc.

[aushannon]

This may be the opposite of what everyone else does, but I just budget say $100-$200 a month for things like that in a miscellaneous category. There's always something every month that we don't get done every month. Like oil changes, getting hair done, small car repair, etc.

Thank you so much. That seems to make the most sense to me. I'm not even going to say how much my hair is, I wish I could get it done for $15! Now how to get my husband to stick to a budget...that's the hard part.

[Arolisa]

Depends if he is wanting to work on this with you. You have to chat with him and have him jump on board, then he can work with a budget.

[jenrose]

Thank you so much. That seems to make the most sense to me. I'm not even going to say how much my hair is, I wish I could get it done for $15! Now how to get my husband to stick to a budget...that's the hard part.

My DH & I also have seperate accounts and as hard as I try to cut back he keeps spending like there is no tomorrow. I haven't figured out a way to want him to cut back yet so I haven't started pushing it. Until I can figure out a way to get him on board with the idea I won't push it because it will just be a huge fight. I just need to be sneaky to figure out how to make him WANT to do it.

My DH is one of those guys who is very good not wanting to carry a balance on a CC but using a Home Equity line of credit doesn't bother him in the least because that is not a CC and we can deduct the interest on our taxes...........But it's still interest we are paying and not allowing us to save any money and gain positive interest but he just doesn't see it my way

[Dengineer]

First, you have to make a new budget every month. You can't just make one budget that will last forever and fit every month. For example, we pay car insurance twice a year, in February and August, and we take that into account for those month's budgets. If you can't just "cash-flow" a large item that comes up periodically, I agree with one of the PPs about dividing it into monthly increments and setting that amount aside every month. The most important thing about a budget is that you prepare it beforehand every month and use it as a roadmap for your spending, not that it is perfect and eternal.

And one more thing---this will probably be VERY unpopular with a lot of people, but here goes. I could not imagine being able to manage our household finances if DH and I had separate accounts. We are a married couple, not roomies splitting the rent. All our money goes into one account and we decide together how to spend it. The family only gets ahead when both spouses are pulling the cart in the same direction. Dave Ramsey has some great ideas on how to get your spouse on board with you--he explains how almost every marriage contains one spouse who is a spender and one who is a saver, and how to get the two to reach a meeting of the minds and start communicating instead of disagreeing.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I personally budget for occassional expenses and divy them up monthly.

Hair cuts (Mine $50 every 3 months, DH $15 monthly, the boys $15 each every other month, the girls $15 ever 6 months) and I take that total it up and divide it by 12.

I pay car insurance $600 every 6 months so I divide that up into 12.

Same with things like renters insurance, auto maintinace (oil changes, snow tires put on and taken off seasonally, tune ups etc), gifts, etc.

Anything that is not actually spent in any month is put in a savings account till it is needed.

So if my car insurance is $1200 a year but I only pay that in June and December I put the $100 in an account till December then pay it (BTW you get a discount for paying for your insurance in a lump sum rather than paying it monthly)

I also agree with the no seperate accounts. I could not fathom having separate accounts. We do have personal accounts for our own spending, a little money each paycheck for extra spending money. This money comes out only after all other obligations have taken place. If my DH wants to blow that money on sunflower seeds, iTunes or soda and I want to blow it on a new kindle book or magazine or save it for a new handbag we can do that. But we pool all money and agree on what we are saving and what that money is for, pay bills and other obligations and then put a little into our personal accounts. Any money like birthday gifts is personal money and can be used however the recipient chooses.

I think the best way to get your husband on board to a budget is to first pool your money, work together on paying bills and saving money and to set up a budget for personal spending at a sum that both of you agree to and that is equal. How you spend that money is up to you and how he spends his money is up to him.

[FlaminGOgirl]

Hey queenofthehive - we budget exactly like you & your DH . That way we know we'll have $ in the bank for all expected expenses. It's worked great for us for the past 14 years.