The Offical Feburary Budget

So I forgot yesterday when I was doing the budget that February is a bit off since I am only going to get one half of my first paycheck--so I'll get 75% of normal.

I really don't like how I get paid every other Friday. Everything else is months based and it's so much easier to budget when your paycheck is too. I think that we are going to keep everything in this month's budget about the same as the normal budget just sans savings. Next month is a three paycheck month and we will put 100% of the first paycheck to our emergency fund since we aren't putting anything into saving in Feb.

We are however, still going to pay over by a grand on the house (which is slightly lower than target) and by $300 on the car, so I'm not being a total slacker. I don't want to cut the decor fund because I have rooms with nothing in them and feel that it's silly to spend all this money to live in a nice place that is empty. Another major expense is that the car insurance for the year is due this month. We pay once a year to make it cheaper.


Today I went out to lunch, but had no Starbucks...so I got it half right. I've been working through lunch almost everyday at work and am new so I don't want them to think that I am anti-social. I'll probably go a couple times a week at least at first to be a part of everyone.

Stage Orange--Working with our budget

So we know how much we spend--and we know what our goals are. Now we need to figure out a way to combine our dreams with reality. This is the first part of Stage Orange.

1) Make a general budget.
1a) Take out the list of all expenses
1b) Next to each recurring/fixed expense write down the monthly price. This is the money that you have promised to pay or owe each month (cell phone, mortgage/rent, cable--anything you get a bill for)
1c) Calculate how much you have left.
1d) This is the tough part...figure out what's the least you can reasonably spend on your variable line items. (food, gas, etc) Write that down.
1e) Write down the rest between your paying down debt or savings goals.

2) Review the budget
2a) Look at your savings and debt payments...are they high enough to reach your goals--and be honest, both in how much you can put towards it and how close it is. This needs to be accurate because we are going to remove that amount from our accounts and put it towards their goals BEFORE we pay for anything else. This is paying ourselves first.
2b) If it's not close enough, which it never is, right :), you need to look at ways to save on your variable expenses (for example, eat out less) and to lower your fixed expenses (get rid of cable). This is the step that Stage Orange revolves around.


Each month on First Friday Financial we will go over our general budget and make adjustments for the upcoming month--typically minor. This may include action plans to lower our fixed expenses or ways to save on our variable ones. We will also look at the previous month's budget and see how we got. I will also update my networthIQ graph at the time.


We gave ourselves some variable spending cash as a compromise between P and me. I'm not sure how it will work out or what we get to do if we go over/under . The decor fund should only last a few months--probably until Thanksgiving when it will turn into our Christmas budget. The "Other" line item is there to make the balance come to equal and in case we mess up by a little bit.


P gets paid twice a month. I get paid every other week. We know how much P makes after his 401(k) and our health insurance comes out. I had to guess how much I will have after taxes, but I think it's pretty close. I assumed two paychecks a month for each of us and put the post tax at the bottom. In March and October I will have an extra paycheck and we will put that towards retirement in an IRA. That's not shown in this budget. Also, in two months I'll start having 401(k) coming out. I'll take away the retirement line item at that time.

Hopefully we can stick to it!

Item	Budget
Mortgage Base	2360
Mortgage Over	1240
Assessments	144
Condo Ins	25
Gas	50
Electric	60
Car Payment	550
Car Insurance	85
Car Gas	150
Car upkeep	75
Public Trans	40
RCN	40
Cell Phone	100
Student Loans	140
Entertainment Both	250
Yacht Club (Dues, Events, and Food)	200
L’s Allowance	200
P’s Allowance	200
Day Food L	100
Day Food P	100
Gifts	75
Grooming	30
Household	50
Food	300
Gym	25
Sadie	66
Other	120
Decor Fund	1000
Travel Fund	200
Emergency Fund	1000
Retirement	200
Total	9175

Getting On Track--How I am Going to Fix my Finances

As I stated yesterday, I want to Fix my Finances. I know that I can't do this in one big swoop so I have come up with stages that I am going to follow to get myself on track.

Stage Pink: Where am I? (or figureing out my situation)
Stage Blue: Where do I want to go? (or what are my goals)
Stage Orange: What can I change? (or evaluating my budget)
Stage Green: What can I do to reach my goals? (or setting up for the future)

At first I numbered these stages, but I don't think these stages are the sorts of things that go step by step. I think that stages must be revisited on a regular basis.

Maybe once or twice a year you need to hit up Stage Pink to reevaluate where you are at financially and personally. Also, as life changes, so do goals--so Stage Blue will need to be hit up from time to time as well. A budget needs to have to pull and give so Stage Orange will probably be on my mind frequently. Also, as goals change what needs to occur to reach them will change. Stage Green also might be considered more and more as a portfolio grows.

ChickCents will work these Stages and will give a plan to obtain your personal financial needs. I am going to approch these stages as levels on a spiral going towards financial freedom. Depending on your situation, you might work through the steps in each Stage faster or slower than me. Take your time and have fun!