<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Life for Me

Life for Me

July 11th, 2008 at 03:11 pm

So here it is payday again and I’m stressing on where and how and who I should pay first. It is so stressing. So I write down how much I owe on my bills for this month and how much for groceries. And then 5 min later I’m spending my money on things that I don’t really need. Yesterday I had to pay my phone I had 20.00 dollars on my bank account, so paid it, but my bill was for 80.00 dollars. I got charged and overdraft fee of 34.00 doalrs plus the 60.00 dollars that I was missing so I had 97.00 dollars taken from my direct deposit. So now I have to rearrange my bill payments and adjust my budget. The thing is I don’t know how to stick to my BUDGET. PLEASE HELP!!!

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

12 Responses to “Life for Me”

  1. Koppur Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 03:13 pm 1215789223
    1215789223

    welcome to the blogs...maybe post your budget so we can take a look at it and suggest ways to trim it. Smile

  2. saj Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 03:35 pm 1215790558
    1215790558

    sounds like we have some of the same money issues in common, trying to get by, and deal with the financial choices we've made, is a struggle. It seems very hard to stick to a budget when the budget is tight. I worry how I will make it another two weeks with $30.00.

  3. honeichild Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 03:36 pm 1215790592
    1215790592

    Welcome.
    Yeah the first thing would be to create a budget. Pay your bills first then you can do what you want with the rest.

  4. saj Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 03:42 pm 1215790975
    1215790975

    but what happens when the budget is more than the income?

  5. merch Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 04:18 pm 1215793102
    1215793102

    arrange your budget in priority. Food, then utilities (not including cell phone and cable), rent/mortgage, car/ins/feul, rest of your utilities, CC, etc.

    Once the money runs out, it runs out. The next thing to do is look at where you can trim (sell the car, get rid of the cell phone, cable, cut your eating out/bar nights, etc.).

    But you first need to see where everything is going.

    Good luck.

  6. JanH Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 04:51 pm 1215795119
    1215795119

    Welcome! Perhaps the envelope method would work for you. Put what you budget for each category in a different envelope and when it runs out, then don't borrow from another. You'll get into the habit of only using what you have budgeted. Sticking to the numbers isn't easy. It does get easier with practice!

  7. Petunia Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 05:37 pm 1215797879
    1215797879

    Welcome. You'll find a lot of support here. Everyone is motivated by something different. Some people need the carrot ("I feel so much better when I'm working towards my goal") and some people need the stick ("The pain of not staying on my budget is greater than the pain of giving up buying that new shirt, shoes, drinks out with friends, etc."). You might want to tap in to what motivates you so you can help yourself stick to your budget.

  8. Kayla Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 06:26 pm 1215800797
    1215800797

    i'm 20 too! not in exactly the same boat that you are but struggling nonethless. i'm pretty good at creating and sticking to a budget so maybe we can be a support team to eachother!

  9. scfr Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 06:54 pm 1215802480
    1215802480

    Welcome! Merch gave you some very good advice. I will also strongly recommend that you start writing down eveyr penny you spend, not only bills you pay but every bit of cash that leaves your wallet. Carry a little notebook around with you to write things down as soon as the cash is spent. This record of your spending will go hand in hand with your budget.

    I would also recommend that you go to the library and check out one or two general books on personal finance. Choose the one that appeals to you the most. Some authors to consider are Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, David Bach, Jane Bryant Quinn, or the Wall Street Journal Personal Finance book. There are other good ones but I can't think of them off of the top of my head.

  10. Aleta Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 09:23 pm 1215811418
    1215811418

    Welcome! I know that you must feel overwhelmed right now. We've all been there. This is a process and it's not fast one. There are many here that can give you great ideas. Right now, you have to list your income (all of it), including interest in bank accounts, cash money from birthdays. You also have to list everything you owe that is expected every month.

    I would suggest carrying around a small notebook and writing down every expense that you incur whether it's a newspaper on the way to work or a cup of coffee. Even if you contribute to a kitty fund at work for coffee or gifts.

    Find some books as was stated by another poster. Your public library has them and they are free.

    Keep reading here and know that you aren't alone.

  11. sillyoleme Says:
    July 11th, 2008 at 10:06 pm 1215814005
    1215814005

    Hi there, I'm 22 and our budget is tight too. In the past few months I've found it's even harder to keep track of expenses for TWO people (my BF included).

    You will find lots of good support here, and you'll probably find that having a place to keep all your progress will motivate you more. Welcome!

  12. saj Says:
    July 16th, 2008 at 02:24 pm 1216218279
    1216218279

    I've found so many helpful ideas from everyone here. I am going to get the Dave Ramsey book, Total Money Makeover from the library (of course its on hold) and when I'm hopeless about a situation I get a lot of help. Keep positive!

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]