i am over my head in dept. i need help. dose anybody have a way to budget?

Question

i have $1200 a month to mork with. my organization skills suck.

Answer 1

$1200 a month net?
or $1200 a month gross?

Here is what you need to do first.

Make a list of all your month bills. Then tally them up and compare it to the amount of money you take home in a month.
If that is more than you are in deep deep trouble.
Generally your MONTHLY bills do not amount to more than half of take home pay. Everything else is "controlable" So lets say this is what you have theorectically.

Rent $400
Cell Phone $50
Utilities $35
Internet $35
Cable $45
Car Payment $100
Saving in IRA $100

Total = $765

So you have $1200-$765 = $435 for other expenses.

Next you need to budget for needs

Food $150
Gas $100
Credit Card $50 (debt reduction)

$435 - $300 = $135 Carry over Money.

Essentially the Free money is what you can use next month in a carry over or if you want to by something for yourself above and beyond normal needs, or accelerate savings or debt reduction.
When you do this you'll find out what you actually need to spend and what is personally driven expenses. This will force you to re-evaluate where your money is going, once you do that you can pay down debt or free up cash to buy things you need or want.

Good Luck

Answer 2

What I usually do is divide the money I have into 3 equal parts.

The first part is to cover my housing and utilities

the second is to cover living expenses and banking a little.

the third is to cover bills and debts.

If you are able to do this it may make life easier for you.

Try to have a certain day to pay your bills maybe twice a month.

Use a calendar to write the due date and amount to pay for every bill you have.

Have two small drawers or shoe boxes. One to put the bills in when you get them and the other to put the paid bills into after they have been paid.

If you have smaller a/c owing, pay them off at once.
Make a list of the lager ones and contact them, asking for a little longer to pay and requesting a payment arrangement with them
If you contact the people you owe money too, they are usually reasonable because, 1 - they want their money and, 2 - you have shown you are prepared to pay but need a little time to do so.

If you have credit card debt STOP using it for a start because that incurs so much more debt for you in the way of interest.

If you are old enough you may be able to approach a bank for a consolidating loan , where all your debts are paid off by the bank and you make 1 monthly payment to the bank.

This may get you out of the bind you are in right now but YOU MUST make the monthly payments and when you have an extra few dollars pay that onto the loan as well.

A friend once told me - look after your roof first, then your belly, then your bank, and then your bills. If you do this you will always have a roof over your head, food in your belly, money in the bank and no bills to bother you.

I always though it was good advice and worked for me.

Answer 3

first all you need is food and roof == you does not need a cell phone or cable or internet == same way with transporation == if public is available use it == meanwhile try to earn more!!!