I'm starting to get really really tired of my parents' total incompetence when it comes to budgeting money, and I want to make sure that when I hopefully get married I'll have been smart enough to budget for my family. So how did you guys do it? And when did you start? My plan is to start saving up money for a family when I graduate college, maybe even while I'm in college. I plan on putting away around $150-$200 a month to save until I get married.

What was your plan in the beginning, or did you have one? What's your budget plan now? And last but not least, do you feel it was successful?

Live within your means, which I admit I'm not doing right now.

Eat out less, eat at home.

You don't need a lot of monthly luxuries such as cell phone, health club, Tivo, etc.

Always pay in cash. If you use a credit card, pay it off in full at the end of every month. Save up your hard earned money and buy a house.

Is that advice, how you've done it, or a little bit of both?

I certainly don't plan on ordering any luxuries I can't afford.

A little of both, advice and personal experience.

Do you have a set monthly budget or play it by ear?

Do you have a set monthly budget or play it by ear?
Play it by ear but there are so many different variables. One of them being your monthly utility bills. Electricity costs tend to skyrocket during winter and summer seasons.

Yeah. I think for me I'm going to just set aside x amount of dollars based on the average of previous bills when it comes time. There are variables, but bills are always a constant. :(

I figure by the time I graduate and get my own place the cost of living here in California will depreciate a little bit (hopefully).

right now, we play it by ear but we set close standards to what we spend each month. i.e. our grocery budget is roughly 300 a month, our eating out budget is set at this much, etc. we've been pretty good about it actually, since we never wind up short.

put away money towards a house, not towards your family life. that's more important, esp with CA real estate, although i'm hoping for a crash (or at least, a correction) since i'm not ready to buy for a few years. i'm hoping i won't be priced out of the market.

just don't go spending lavishly just because you got "a little extra" one month. it's always tempting to use that bonus or that tax refund on something, but if you discipline yourself you can put it towards something useful.

One of the best things you can do to get yourself started on the right foot is to take advantage of cheap or free rent from the parents for a while when you get out of college. I'm able to save 75% of my current income, and Jenni is about the same. When we get married (2 years after graduation), we'll have more than enough for a 20% down payment on a house in the price range we're looking at. There's no way we'd be anywhere close to that if we had apartments. We could certainly afford to rent, but why throw all that money away?

Having a goal (a house) has also helped us evaluate our spending habits. When I want to buy something, I ask myself if I NEED it, how much would I USE it? I've avoided wasting a TON of money by reminding myself of the house I want to own.

Making food vs. eating out saves a ton of money.
Renting movies instead of buying saves a ton of money.
Doing car maintenance yourself saves a ton of money
NOT buying an expensive new car right out of college saves a ton of money
Mowing your own lawn saves a ton of money
I think the common thread here is that doing ANYTHING yourself rather than paying someone else to do it saves a ton of money IF you are capable of doing it right the first time.

Combining grocery coupons with sale prices saves money, as does buying store brands. I stock up on loss leaders that we use a lot. At one point we must have had about a dozen bottles of laundry detergent in the basement, because Shop-Rite had it for $1 a bottle! I picked up about 30 gallons of store-brand Gatorade one time that was on sale. I used to drink a LOT of Gatorade. :)

Costco saves us tons of money as well.

I'm starting to get really really tired of my parents' total incompetence when it comes to budgeting money, and I want to make sure that when I hopefully get married I'll have been smart enough to budget for my family. So how did you guys do it? And when did you start? My plan is to start saving up money for a family when I graduate college, maybe even while I'm in college. I plan on putting away around $150-$200 a month to save until I get married.

What was your plan in the beginning, or did you have one? What's your budget plan now? And last but not least, do you feel it was successful?

Remember - "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

I don't know your parents situation, so I'm only speaking in generalities, but certainly no one can plan for the unexpected. I would say set aside at least 10% of your monthly income for this. Some months it will be more than enough, some months it won't be nearly enough. No one enjoys living from pay check to pay check, but not everyone does it because they don't budget or don't know how to budget.

Life happens... especially when there are kids involved!

<--- * smiling lovingly at avatar... *

There are different opinions on budgeting. In fact, different people has a different way of spending. Some like to spend on food, some like to spend on gadgets, some like to spend on travel, etc.

Definitely, one has to master how to manage the money. Even rich people. Until now, I am still surprise by how rich people are able to go bankrupt. You named it: Mike Tyson, Gary Coleman, Sugar Ray Leonard, etc.

You should start savings at early stage as possible. Make it as a habit. Why don't you start now instead of waiting until graduate from college? Your spending habit may alter your lifestyle by then. Save little by little. even if it's only $10 a month.

By learning there, you should be able to understand how to manage money. See Mugs post above. I admire those who can discipline on money. Make a goal, such as freesia39 goal to get a home. Then at the end, ability to enjoy family should be the fruit of your labor.

Definitely, avoid any bad debt. Such as Credit card debt. There are debt that is good, for example, mortgage. If you are able to get hot deals, but then have to pay interest on that particular item, it doesn't look like hot deal anymore!

Having a kid recently make me realize how glad I am that I am able to control my spending habit. I don't use tight budgeting (even though I have always try to do that - it's time consuming)

Budgeting could help you monitor where do you normally spend your money on. And from there you can set the goals to spend less on the categories.

Unfortunately, I didn't budget very well when we were first married, but that has changed. This is what I did, to get the finances back in check.

I started with just recording everything we spent money on for 3 months. We lived as we usually did, and didn't make any adjustments. Then, after those 3 months, we looked over our expenses and looked to see what was necessary, what was a waste, and what we needed to make a value based decision on. From there, we were able to cut out the junk (eating out a lot, buying movies all the time, etc...) and were able to come up with an extra $350 per month. That all went towards paying off the car in 1 year less time than the loan was for. Then, when the car was paid off, we had $550 extra per month, which went toward CC debt and the emergency savings fund. That's were we are currently, and you wouldn't believe how much nicer life is. The CC's still have a balance, because of careless spending in the past, but they are getting knocked down. Another advantage that you will see to budgeting and being organized is that your credit rating will go up very quickly, after about a year of knocking off CC debt and regular payments.

Unfortunately, I didn't budget very well when we were first married, but that has changed. This is what I did, to get the finances back in check.

I started with just recording everything we spent money on for 3 months. We lived as we usually did, and didn't make any adjustments. Then, after those 3 months, we looked over our expenses and looked to see what was necessary, what was a waste, and what we needed to make a value based decision on. From there, we were able to cut out the junk (eating out a lot, buying movies all the time, etc...) and were able to come up with an extra $350 per month. That all went towards paying off the car in 1 year less time than the loan was for. Then, when the car was paid off, we had $550 extra per month, which went toward CC debt and the emergency savings fund. That's were we are currently, and you wouldn't believe how much nicer life is. The CC's still have a balance, because of careless spending in the past, but they are getting knocked down. Another advantage that you will see to budgeting and being organized is that your credit rating will go up very quickly, after about a year of knocking off CC debt and regular payments.

My hat's off to you!
:clapping:

Keeping a journal of all spending, even a 35 cent newspaper is a good idea.

My latte a day habit costs me $54 per month, money that could be used to pay for broadband internet.

Keeping a journal of all spending, even a 35 cent newspaper is a good idea.

My latte a day habit costs me $54 per month, money that could be used to pay for broadband internet.

True... mine is simple coffee, but that runs $30/mo. What sucks is that there is a coffee pot in my office. It is just never made when I get there.

Keeping a journal of all spending, even a 35 cent newspaper is a good idea.

My latte a day habit costs me $54 per month, money that could be used to pay for broadband internet.

GASP! that's = $648 a year.

GASP! that's = $648 a year.
That's almost a new laptop :(

True... mine is simple coffee, but that runs $30/mo. What sucks is that there is a coffee pot in my office. It is just never made when I get there.

My coffer is less than $50/year. I go to a local bakery that offers refills for $.25. I get coffee 5 days a week (usually) and doughnuts or kringle once a week for the office. Of course, the doughnuts and kringle go on the expense account.

Unfortunately, I didn't budget very well when we were first married, but that has changed. This is what I did, to get the finances back in check.

I started with just recording everything we spent money on for 3 months. We lived as we usually did, and didn't make any adjustments. Then, after those 3 months, we looked over our expenses and looked to see what was necessary, what was a waste, and what we needed to make a value based decision on. From there, we were able to cut out the junk (eating out a lot, buying movies all the time, etc...) and were able to come up with an extra $350 per month. That all went towards paying off the car in 1 year less time than the loan was for. Then, when the car was paid off, we had $550 extra per month, which went toward CC debt and the emergency savings fund. That's were we are currently, and you wouldn't believe how much nicer life is. The CC's still have a balance, because of careless spending in the past, but they are getting knocked down. Another advantage that you will see to budgeting and being organized is that your credit rating will go up very quickly, after about a year of knocking off CC debt and regular payments.

Nice work, except I'd have paid off the credit cards before the car. :)

I totally agree that expense tracking, down to every last penny, gives you a great idea as to where your money is going. We tend to not really need to do that as we don't tend to have enough money to spend carelessly, but it did help me establish an amount to allocate for groceries.

I made a list of every bill we pay: phone, van payment, car insurance, newspaper delivery, cable tv, credit card. Our van payment is pretty much equal to the cost of all the other bills, so we make our van payment and pay the cable bill with the first of the month's pay, and pay all the other bills with our mid-month pay. (We get paid 2x/month). That way we're spending close to $300 on bills each pay period. I also allocate $200/pay period for groceries and that includes any fast food we might get. So if our pay period lasts 18 days (like if we got mid-month pay on the 13th due to the 15th being a Sunday, but have to wait till the 31st to get our end-of-month pay) we tend to not have any fast food, while if the pay period only lasts 13 days, we very well might.

Anyway, I also figure out how much gas we'll need...lots and lots for dh's truck, grrr, and not so much for my van. He's usually allocated $35 and me $15 per pay period, but he's been using a lot more than that lately so we will have to talk and he'll either have to drive less or I'll have to revamp that part of our budget. I also give each of us $50 per pay period to spend on anything, and we put $100 into savings. Whatever is left over goes to whatever the kids might need--new shoes, clothes, field trips, etc.

If we stick to the budget we do really well. If we don't pay attention to how much we're spending, it can be disasterous. The brigade formal totally threw us off...we bought food and made the car payment and all the rest of his paycheck went to my dress/the babysitter/gas/having my hair done/etc. Yikes--that was kinda poor planning. Should've saved up over several pay periods, but I didn't realize it'd cost so much.

Anyway, with the paycheck we get this Friday we'll be back on track. I don't really like being so pinned down to specific amounts, but I hate to feel broke even more. Knowing we won't have overdraft charges/NSF fees does feel good.

Well, I already save now, but it's not much. I try to save $2 a day but I always end up having to buy stuff for my computer (that I DO need, not just want) and never get to the goal. What's sad is I was reading a magazine called "Zillions" by Consumer Reports when I was in 2nd grade and could check them out from our school library. Read it every month for 3 years until they cancelled the subscription. I think that's why I'm decent with money.

With my parents, I understand that raising children takes a lot, but that's no excuse for living from paycheck to paycheck when your dad is a lawyer and your mom is a teacher. It's had such a mental toll on me and I don't want to put that on my kids. When I said I'd put money away for a family I meant a house too, as I think that's part of the family expense.

I'm hoping that starting this summer I can put away $400 a month or so. It's very feasible and actually I could probably put more money away if things worked out perfectly, but I don't want to put away any more than I have to because I need to pay for gas/clothes/random expenses.

One question I have is how do you build up credit? I mean if I get a CC when I turn 18 and use it for all my purchases and pay them off at the end of every month, is that all there is to it? Or is there some secret ferengi way to get a higher credit rating?

One question I have is how do you build up credit? I mean if I get a CC when I turn 18 and use it for all my purchases and pay them off at the end of every month, is that all there is to it? Or is there some secret ferengi way to get a higher credit rating?
No, it's that simple. Don't go crazy and apply for 10 different cc's. Just get 1, use it, pay it off every month and always make your payments on time.

Don't go over your limit. Just prove that you can responsibility use credit and make payments on time.

It will take time but eventually you'll get $5k - $10k cc offers in the mail all the time.

not all lawyers make money. :( it's sad but true... i just hope that we're not so horrible in law school that we wind up in the public defenders office... or worse... as paralegals and not attorneys... or as deck in "the rainmaker" "hi i'm deck shifflet, paralawyer." (failed the bar five times... FIVE TIMES...)

...uh, what's so horrible about being a paralegal? I'm taking some stupid correspondence course to be certified as one, to go with my English degree. I probably could have been happy in law school but I'd much rather do the paperwork and research part of things than the courtroom part of things, and never in a million years will I have the money for law school...and figure being able to work as a paralegal will be helpful when I don't know where in the US we'll be living 5 years from now. There's law offices *everywhere.*

Always pay in cash. If you use a credit card, pay it off in full at the end of every month. Save up your hard earned money and buy a house.

That sounds like me expect saving my hard earned money part.

aplefka, when you're in college. Your money will mostly spent on school, books, loans, groceries, etc.

That sounds like me expect saving my hard earned money part.

aplefka, when you're in college. Your money will mostly spent on school, books, loans, groceries, etc.

I know, which is why I said after I graduate college.

...uh, what's so horrible about being a paralegal? I'm taking some stupid correspondence course to be certified as one, to go with my English degree. I probably could have been happy in law school but I'd much rather do the paperwork and research part of things than the courtroom part of things, and never in a million years will I have the money for law school...and figure being able to work as a paralegal will be helpful when I don't know where in the US we'll be living 5 years from now. There's law offices *everywhere.*

nothing's bad about it, it's only bad if you went to law school with the intention of being an attorney, and you just wind up so bad that you never pass the bar and never become an attorney, wasting all that money. that's my fear. law school tuition isn't cheap. at least the bf got a scholarship and they're picking up all his tuition as long as he's in the top half of his class. he knows some people that went to law school that had no idea what they were going to do with their lives, and now they're stuck with 100k + in debt.

i personally don't want to do litigation, i'd rather do corporate or estate planning. i'd avoid the courtroom as much as possible. *shudder* i can never be a public defender, or a district attorney (i'd work in the office doing research though...). the bf is the same, or he'll also consider immigration, which means we'll be in LA forever, since he can speak pretty fluent korean, and we can assist them in immigration documents, forming businesses, bankruptcies, etc.

i have a friend that hates corporate law - she wants to do litigation badly. i'm like "sure fine enjoy."

my other friend graduates from george washington next year, but he wants to be a politician.

I'm up late, and there's not much going on, so I'm resurrecting an old thread with my comments...

First thing I'd do is set up an automatic draft at your bank to move money into a savings account (I recommend going with a percentage if you can) that hits your bank account the day your paycheck hits the bank (I'm assuming since you haven't embarked on your "career" yet, you haven't gotten used to a specific lifestyle yet, so you should be able to take nearly any amount you choose and "save it before you see it"). It doesn't really matter what percentage you pick 1% or 40%, you're still getting in the habit of automatic saving. Adjust it monthly until you get to a point you're capable of living with - just don't ever stop it completely!!!

Then forget about it.

Except when you get a pay raise. When you get a pay raise, increase your automatic draft to grab at least half of your raise. You won't notice it, you're still getting a raise in your spendable money as well.

5 or 10 years down the road, you're going to find out you've got a whole bunch of money in the bank, and you're saving a significant chunk of your paycheck.

(If you are eligible for a 401k, do whatever you can to maximize your contribution at least to the point where you get the full company match available to you - but don't save this way with money you intend to use for a downpayment on a house. Most plans allow loans to make a downpayments, but just because they allow it doesn't mean that it's a good idea.)