Can anyone Help me figure out a budget?

Question

Okay my rent and utility bills areabout 1000 total per month
My husband makes 2700 (1350) every two weeks)per month.. and i make anywhere
from 1200-1500 a month...How much should we be saving per month and could someone help me with a budget,,and could we just get along with his pay and put mine all away in the bank?

Answer 1

Open up a "bills Only" checking account. Take $550 (to be sure that you can cover everything in case of higher power or what not) and deposit it into the bills only account. You might have ot contribute 550 of your own money the first week in order to get a big enough cushion. Then use that accont for bills ONLY. That's it. Use the remaining 800 for groceries, gas and general spending. Take the 800 and divide it into 4 envelopes-- "Week 1 spending", "Week 1 Groceries/Gas", "Week 2 Spending," Week 2 Groceries/Gas".

Only open teh envelope that corresponds with the week you are in. Wait until the following week to open the second envelope. You'll have 400 a week to live off of-- so you shoud do about 200 for groceries/gas and 200 for spending $$.

Then take your paycheck and deposit into a savings account. Cut up any debit/atm card that is linked to your savings account. DO NOT view this as your "fall back money" view it like a bill.

Answer 2

Well, this is my situation, perhaps you could utilize it in some fashion:

I currently work 2 jobs, both paid weekly - $500 and $70 respectively. My rent is $1150 a month, my cable is $72, my electric is generally between $30 and $40. I have a gym membership of $40, credit card/debt payments of $348, and car insurance of $83. So we're talking roughly $1700 in expenses per month, not including auto fuel, groceries, etc.

I get paid weekly, so I have my budget set up weekly. I use Quicken which makes it easy for me. I deduct 1/4 of the gym and rent each week. I pay 1/4 of the cable, car insurance, and $20 to electric each week. I take out $20 for myself, $20 for groceries, and $20 for gas. I also try to put at least $10 into an emergency account (known as my credit union), and $10 into a long term savings account (known as ING). I only have a debit card associated with my credit union, so I'm forced to think "is this an emergency" before I use it, and ING is an online only account so that's not accesible from anywhere, so you generally forget about both of them ensuring the money is there when you need it.

Although my bank account and Quicken rarely match because of this, I can be sure that at the end of the month, I'll have enough money for the rent, and the other bills are already paid, and I also won't have to worry about bouncing a check by thinking I have more money in the account than I actually do. And I do this all on my own, as I have no roommate to help split the bills.

Answer 3

It sounds like you certainly could!

Be realistic. You need to map out all expenses, even if they aren't monthly expenses. You don't want to miss things like hair cuts, dry cleaning etc.

When you and your husband come up with what you spend in all categories per month, compare it to your take home pay (also budget for savings and retirement, etc.) If you find that it is too close with just his check, alot yourself with one check of yours per month, putting the other instantly in savings.

Try this for a few months, putting your money in an accessible savings account, but only touch it if you feel that you have overstretched. After you have a nice fund set up in your savings account, put the money in a high yield savings like at ING Direct or Emigrant Direct. They are much higher yielding than your neighborhood bank.

Don't lose sight of retirement either, if you can, put some money in a Roth IRA every month. It is accessible (what you put in) and when you retire the money you earned in interest will be tax free!

Good luck!

Answer 4

Amanda's approach is unique, but probably too rigid for most people.

You could probably live off just your husband's pay, but it will probably be tight. A general rule is that no more than a third of your pay should go to housing costs.

I recommend using MS Money or Quicken for a few months to track where all your money goes and put together a monthly budget.

Answer 5

Wedding jewelry, I could cross to Prime Outlet to Zales for the marriage ceremony jewelry. I could seem at David's for bridesmaid and marriage ceremony attire whilst they have got their $ninety nine sale. For cohesion candles, I could get 2 white tapers and a white bite candle. You would do a stencil at the bite one to decorate it up for those who wish to. The desk cloths, plates, cups, I could cross to Party City or some of the reduction celebration give shops.

Answer 6

I'll assume you're talking about saving for retirement.

You should be saving at least 10% of your monthly income.

If you're older and closer to retirement, it should be more if you need to catch up.

Answer 7

You also keep in mind of the children and (if) child support, outstanding debts too in seperate accounts and together. too