i really need to start a budget, where to start?

Question

i was trying to save $100 a week to go towards a downpayment on a house, then my fiance's car died and we had to buy him a new one. i had to cosign so he could get it, and this is his first car thats not on his mom's insurance so the insurace payments pretty much tripled.
so now i have to figure out a budget for us so that we can start saving again, yet still make the payments (we went from no car payments and only $175/mo in insurance to $325 car payments and $300/mo in insurance). i still have to worry about credit card payments (i pay those on my own) and we still need to keep saving up for a house. we're getting married in 1.5 years and i would like to be able to get a house before then! help! because of this, i havent been able to save my $100/week for a month now.

i have no clue where to start on the whole budge making thing. i started 2 days ago making a list of everything we spend money on for the next month, but what to do after that? or before that? lol. help!

since its his new car, he is paying the carpayment and his insurance, i'm paying my insurance but i have no car payments *fingures crossed my car lasts until after we're married*
as for the credit cards, he owns me about $1000 towards one that he was using, but the rest of the bills are mine, so i'll be paying that.

i guess i should also mention that i'm only working on MY budget for right now, i'd rather get my spending in order before i put my focus on his cause i cant follow him around with a notebook all day long lol.

my biggest issue is that right now i'm still finishing up school and i only work 2 part time jobs, so i dont really make that much. i'll be graduating the semester after we get married (it would be that semester, but i'm taking off 1 semester to finish getting the wedding in order instead of dealing with finals AND a wedding)

Answer 1

Where to start...hmm

From what you've posted, I would first wonder if I'm too young to get married. If both of you are in a financial crisis right now, you may want to hold off on that wedding. Financial issues are the #1 reason why divorces occur.

Budgeting is all about what comes in, vs. what goes out. So figure out how much you bring in after taxes. Then list out all of your "debt". Regardless of how much money you save for a house, a bank is going to look at your debt to income ratio, meaning what is left over after all of your liabilities. A bank also looks at your FICO score on your credit report. So look at your credit report too, and see where you stand. This will determine what "rate" you get on your home loan. I would suggest attending a new homeowners seminar at a financial institution. These are usually free to anyone. Call around local banks and see what they are offering. They should be able to walk you thru what you need to do "way before" purchasing a home. It sounds like you may have more than 1.5 years of planning to do.

Whatever you do, do not get sucked into a bad loan from a bank. The ARM's are teaser loans that give a good rate up front, but at some point reach astronomical rates that you can no longer afford.

Key here is educate yourself on finances. Read about it, get books, attend seminars, etc...

Good luck.

Answer 2

Here is my first suggestion. Do some research on personal finance. Budget making is covered in there. Go and buy the book "Personal Finance for Dummies". It has a lot of generic budgets you can mold yours from. From there, you can find other books. Also, don't forget about online articles. Here is one that I check out everyday. It has thousands of different article about personal finance. It also has budgetting articles.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/Archive.html

Also, before you can make a budget, you need to analyze how you are currently spending. You need to see what your current budget is in other words. Do the notebook gimmic. Carry a notebook with you where ever you go. When you spend some money, write it down in the notebook. Note what you spent the money on, when you spent it, where you spent it and most importantly how much you spent. After a month has gone by, go thru the notebook and compile everything in it. Fit all of your spending in categories. Food, rent, clothes, entertainment, credit card payment, car payment, whatever. The same type of categories you would use for a budget. See what that looks like. You may find that you are spending a lot of money on stuff that you did not realize. A lot of people find that they are spending way too much on eating out. One friend of mine realize she was spending over $1500 a year on cigarettes.

Ok, use this to figure your budget. Find areas that you can reduce or eliminate and determine areas that need more attention. You have a goal of saving $5200 a year. That is great. I would also put a little towards paying off the credit cards. They are budget sappers. Imagine how much money you would have in your budget if you did not have the credit cards. You are paying for stuff that you bought a long time ago. Heck, you may not even have the stuff anymore. If you used the credit card of food or entertainment, then you are paying money (with interest) for something that lasted you a very little amount of time.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you, a piece of advice that is ignored by millions of people every single day. If you spend less than you make then over time you will grow wealthy.

Answer 3

First things first, get out of debt. You are paying interest rates on your credit cards and his car. Do that before you even try to save money. Once you are out of debt, saving will be a lot easier. If you cannot save $100.00 a week now, how are you going to manage a mortgage? The ONLY way I was able to buy my own house this year was getting completely out of debt first. My car is 10 years old but hey, I have a house finally!

In the meantime, make a list of every day things you do and see if you have a spending habit that needs to change, i.e: Starbucks coffees, dinners out, lunches out. Start bringing lunches to work. Every single dollar you save, put toward one of your debts. Make sure you are using electricity, gas, etc. in the most economical way. Utility bills will kill you!

Good luck and I wish you future happiness on your marriage and new home! Keep reaching, I know you can do it!!!

Answer 4

Start at the top of the budget.

First take in the amount of income you have a month, week - etc.

subtract out mandatory expenses - car payments, rent, utilites, average groceries.

The rest are discretionary - which are also important -- (eating out, movies, clothes, cable tv, cell phones) set up an approximate amount for that.

then do the math income - madatory expenses- discretionary expenses and see what you have left.

If it is negative you need to cut out some discretionary items -- if it is positive take that amount each month and put it in a cd --(so you wont spend it)

I would suggest putting it in a cd a the beginning of the month.

good luck

Answer 5

lol everyting has a solution..first take a breather...next, liek the other respondent said, u gota think in "we" terms...sounds like YOU are the one handling all the bills..that is crazy...and i would suggest putting off the marriage for lil while longer...because it sounds like ur man might not even be a suitable partner for u...these days money plays a huge part in the way couples function and it sounds like yall ain makin' it...
for now, dont buy things u dont need and dont charge things on credit cards...u might wanna get rid of some of ur cards, because thats where the problem lies a lot of time...also buy groceries on sale and buy other necessary basic things when they are on sale...and no matter how trivial or dumb it sounds, coupons in sunday paper also help to save a penny here and penny there...pennies add up to dollars...

Answer 6

Start with looking how much you spend per week and what you could spend less on for example if your shampoo is expensive try cheaper brand. Same with other toiletries. Buy clothes, c.D's ,D.v.ds etc in the sale or cut down on the amount you buy. If you have a Mobil phone use it less often and see if your parents would be happy for you to use the house phone.

Answer 7

Your first step in coming up with a budget is to have your fiancee show some responsibility.It's a joint venture but it sounds like you're carrying the whole load.
Until you start saying"we' I feel your are doomed.