My Budget Basics

I am so unorganized and random when it comes to blogging, obviously. I have really good ideas and intentions but they never seem to pan out. I don't ever follow through, and not just with blogging, but with almost everything I do. I am a planner, but not a do-er. I love to plan, I could do it all day. I love to budget, I could do that all day too. But it doesn't help unless I FOLLOW through on that plan or budget. I've decided I need to schedule time to blog, instead of just waiting for a reason to. So I'm laying out a new plan, and this time I will follow through.

My "Budget Basics":

1. My budget is for myself, my husband, and our dog.
2. I don't work, and our only income is from my husbands full time, salaried job.
3. Our week starts on Sunday, and we budget weekly.
4. While I budget weekly, I also track spending by the month, to see from year to year where the money goes.
5. I don't really use software. I do use quicken, but for me, it works best using a notebook and pen, and an old fashion check register.

My Basic Monthly Budget:

Total Net Income: $2254 (We get an additional $1200, but because we live on Military Housing, it goes straight to them, covering housing and all utilities.)

Fixed Expenses:

$200: Automobile and Home Insurance

$140: Both Cell Phones

$477: Truck Loan

$103; Cable and Internet

Total Fixed Expenses: $920

Variable Expenses:

Groceries/Household Needs: $250

Gas: $150

Cash: $200 (We each get $20 a week "spending money". David gets $30 since he usually eats lunch at work.)

Misc: $200 (This covers dining out, entertainment, clothing, etc.)

Credit Card: $200

Total Variable Expenses: $1,000

Automotive Savings: $50 (This is a vehicle maintenance fund, we pull from it for repairs or upkeep on both the car and truck.)

This leaves about $285. At the end of the month, all leftover money is transferred to general savings.

My plan is to post on Sunday or Monday the budget for that week. I also want to track how many "No Spend Days" I have. My goal is 4 a week. Aside from the day I run my errands and the weekends, there really is no reason to spend money during the week. However this doesn't include the $20 weekly spending money, since we don't track that. Also, on the 1st of each month I want to post the totals for the previous month.

I'm excited to get started...again.