I need help learning how to budget my money. Any suggestions?

Question

20 yrs. old and in the military (USCG) single

Answer 1

OK this will sound off the wall but it works for me. I'm always on my computer and I figured since it's the first place I go to when I get home some how I could utilize this to help budget my money. I do all my financiing and bill pays online so here is my plan. I buy really small post it notes and along the edge of either the computer monitor or the top portion of my computer table I will write down the due date, amount and agency to which the money should go to on each sticky... and as they come due I will just pay em as the reminders are sitting right here on my desk. I keep a pad close by and put the stickies in it and also put the total left in each bank account in a note pad. I don't know why but this has worked wonders for me and I haven't been late on one payment or had insufficient funds since I started.

My second suggesstion is get a second checking account with the same company... keep one for majore expeneses and one only for small expenses... like getting pizza or toiletries...things like that. It keeps your money separate for different things. Okay sounds weird I know but this actually helped... cause I don't know how I'm paying for all the things I have to pay for now as a single household occupant lol.

Answer 2

You could be my son, he is 20 and in the Navy, and we just went over this.

Ok, figure out what are your expenses. You probably just bought a car and have insurance and then there is gas. Let's see you probably have a cell phone and maybe a regular girlfriend.

Now look at your income. What are you--E2 or E3. Do you get food allowance or anything? Add that in.

Add up the outgoing. Add up the incoming. Subtract the outgoing from the incoming and you have your disposable income. But next remember, You want to fly home a few times a year, and there are car repairs, and don't forget Christmas gifts, birthday gifts and the other assorted holidays.

So you might want to run to the credit union and open up some accounts, one for car repairs, one for travel expenses and one for gift giving. Try to estimate how much you would spend on each of these and then go to payroll and have then distribute money into each of these accounts.

Now what is left is your disposable income.

Scarey, isn't it.

My son was doing dry cleaning on his uniforms, till he realized it was costing him almost 70 a month, now he does his own.

Answer 3

I do not know how much you get each month. So I would suggest that you have a contingency account of 20% of your income each month. This 20% should be best deposited into a bank account and live by the resolution that you may not withdraw it until you are really in need of it for survival.

The balance 80% you can spend it on things like clothing, food, transportation, dating, etc. If you over spent the 80% that you have with you, too bad you have to think of a way out yourself - no loaning from the 20% contingency.

Answer 4

I created an Excel spreadsheet that allows you to break down all of your expenses.

It's easy to create -- simply go through your checkbook for the past 3 months. Each entry should fall into a category -- i.e. household, food, entertainment, etc. So for each entry, type in the amount that you spent. For example:

UTILITIES:
Gas Bill...$85...$97...$88
Electric...$35...$32...$27
Water.....$64...[Only one entry since it comes quarterly]
HOUSEHOLD:
Food......$205..$225..$213..$187..$242..$221
Misc.......$54...$82....$61...$81.....$74....$62
[Six entries because you shop bi-weekly]
CASH:
Haircut.....$35....$35....$35
Gas-Car..$104..$117..$110..$95
[You may not know how you spend your cash, but at least make an entry for it]

etc...

Once you have this broken down, you can calculate the amount you spend on each item per month. This will help you determine where you may be overspending, and where you may be spending more than you realized.

You can then determine where you need to cut back to fit into the amount that you net per month.

Answer 5

I highly recommend reading Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker.

Answer 6

First spenless than you make
Control spending on fansy stuff like cars,cloth,latte
set aside 10-15% of your pay to TSP (Thrift Saving Plan)
Saving consistently and often
Limit use of credit card

Answer 7

Start by looking at how you spend your money. Group your spending into categories (food, clothing, entertainment, etc.). Then you have a good basis for starting to draw up a budget.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

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Answer 10

buy savings bonds.So when you leave the military you will have some extra money set aside.