Welcome back. Excited to see that you are still reading this.
Like any expecting parent, or heck, anybody who was raised by human beings, I’ve always said that “I want more” for my child. Does this mean that I grew up wanting for anything? That I was ever hungry, or didn’t get the prom dress that I wanted? Absolutely not. It simply means that I want to provide my LO (little one) with even more in life than was provided for me.
In my case, that simply means starting now to save for her college education. Why, do you ask? Because while college isn’t for everyone, it can definitely give her a head start in a life that I feel she deserves. I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about it, we can do that privately if you’d like, but yes ~ I plan on fully funding my daughter’s college tuition. And here is our reason why:
You spend four years at a state school, and if you’re lucky you walk away with a degree and let’s say $50,000 in debt. You take that four year degree, and with no experience you’re able to land a $40,000 a year job. You didn’t have a car in school, so now you’ve got to find transportation, you’re paying for new insurance, a home, groceries, utilities, and you’re trying to have a life as well. Sound like any 22 year olds that you know? I simply want my baby girl to be able to pay for all of those things without having to pick up a second job to cover that $500 a month student loan bill… Again $500 is a conservative number, assuming she’s lucky.
That is just my reason for ensuring that we maintain financial stability. Whatever yours is, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to achieve it. This is one of the things that I strongly hope to help you with. This is also one of those matters that I ENCOURAGE you to contact me about if you should have any questions. So let’s dive in.
First things first. YOU NEED A BUDGET. I don’t care if you are living paycheck to paycheck, always have the funds to do whatever you want, or are sacking 50% of your income away every month into a savings or retirement account. If you don’t know where your money is going, you don’t know what you have available, what it’s for, or even how to use it.
If you are one of the millions of people living paycheck to paycheck, I’m going to tell you that it’s not necessary. At this point you’re wondering how I can say that. I don’t know you, I have no idea how much money you make, or what your bills are. I do know however that I have spent some serious time in forums helping women just like you with their budgets, and I promise you we have been able to make some amazing headway. You just have to be prepared to either change your lifestyle, or make some uncomfortable calls to the people you’re currently writing checks to every month. Both is obviously the best option.
Let’s get personal: For those of you who don’t know me, I recently got let go from my job where I was bringing home over $800 a week. I had SO MUCH CUSHION in my budget it was ridiculous. $100 clothing allowance, $250 social, $50 in online video games, almost $400 in gasoline… I did whatever I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it, and I still put money aside for an automobile repair fund, and an emergency savings fund. Well, I haven’t worked in six weeks now, and I can honestly say that I can survive another month if my unemployment happens to not kick in before then. Wouldn’t it be great to be in that situation? Am I shopping at Express every other week and going out to dinner all the time? No, of course not ~ but my bills are paid AND I’m even still putting money back into my savings, so as not to deplete it entirely.
So what do you need to sit down and do your budget? If you’re not good with excel, bust out a paper and pen. Pull your bank records for the last three months if you can. Create a list of categories and get to budgeting. We’ll get to a payment schedule later on. Your sample budget should look something like this:
Mortgage
Break things out into categories. Do you see how I have everything listed for the house? Then your emergency fund savings? Then auto? Then misc.? This way if you need to, you can see how much you’re spending in each category. Utilities can include anything from gas & electric to cell phone to internet and cable. See how monthly pay matches total operating? Because every dollar is allocated including your entertainment, groceries, and gasoline. This is why it may take a few months to get your budget right.
Tune in later for a blog about why it’s important to have multiple savings accounts, how to create your payment schedule, and why allowing yourself some $$$ to yourself while you’re trying to get on track is your safest bet!
Sincerely,
~Nikki
I love www.pearbudget.com and they even have a free spreadsheet to help with your budget.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll have to check it out and maybe write a post about it! :D
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