Let's talk money. Budgets. Life.

[WildBoose]

My wife and I are a younger family with one little girl. I started late in life (was 33 when my girl was born) and I was never really worried about budgets or money before then...Now reality is starting to set in. Was sitting down looking at the numbers and realized some changes had to be made.
How strict are you guys with your budget?
What are some major things that have helped save some $$$?
We do well, have a home and a couple reliable vehicles, but the extra money seems to be getting less and less. I guess I'm just reaching out to confirm that we are in fact not in the minority hahahaha.

 

[Tod osier]

My wife and I are a younger family with one little girl. I started late in life (was 33 when my girl was born) and I was never really worried about budgets or money before then...Now reality is starting to set in. Was sitting down looking at the numbers and realized some changes had to be made.
How strict are you guys with your budget?
What are some major things that have helped save some $$$?
We do well, have a home and a couple reliable vehicles, but the extra money seems to be getting less and less. I guess I'm just reaching out to confirm that we are in fact not in the minority hahahaha.

Not saying that this is the case for you guys, but people spend money on what I consider the stupidest shit (but I'm sure having towels and live love laugh signs for every season and a disposable wardrobe gives them great happiness). My wife and I are lucky in that we see eye to eye in terms of what we value, the money conflict we do have it splitting hairs in many ways. We worked good jobs our entire lives, but compromised on our careers and earning potential to have time for family. Our plan is to retire early 50s.

We have never had a formal budget, but we both are frugal and make good money. We like having new cars for reliability, but always buy base(ish) models of the most reliable brands. We have a nice house (actually two right now, WTF???), but we do everything ourselves. We do our own snow removal and yard work with reliable tools that get the job done without being extravagant. We spend a lot on food and wine to cook at home, but don't eat out often. I guess what I'm saying is to make sure you are spending on what is important and not what isn't - on what you value and what has value (oh yeah and invest as much as possible into retirement).

 

[rayporter]

i always had a budget. i paid my future first.

 

[Thess87]

Budget and stick to it don’t fudge the numbers to get what you want.

 

[bigbassin]

If you haven’t already, the first step is to decide how much you want to save and have the money directly removed from your paycheck so you never even see it hit the bank. Makes it easier to adopt the mind set of living below your means if you trick yourself into thinking you make less than you do.

Second look at everything you have spent money on in the last 3 months and divide into want or need. If it isn’t a reasonably priced mortgage/rent, payment to a debt that must be made, payments on anything past a second car, utilities, gas to get to work only, or a home cooked meal costing more than about $5, it’s a want not a need.

Of course there is no flexibility on needs, so go ahead and deduct that from the number you came up with after step one.

What you have left is the money you can play with. If you don’t have a couple months of expenses saved up, I’d buckle down the hatch and contribute this extra money to that first. If you do, you can sit down and decide how you want to spend it.

Trips and the occasional nice dinner are a lot more enjoyable when you’ve done your homework and know you can actually afford it, rather than stressing about if it might have put you over budget.

 

[TN2shot07]

The first time we sat down and did a written budget was eye opening, you’d be amazed at what gets blown on food (groceries and restaurants). We do restaurant money in cash each month, that doesn’t get mixed in with the groceries.

We solved the other issue (junk listed above) with personal money in cash. When that runs out you’re done for the month. You can save it and buy something nice or dollar it to death for coffee and eating out for lunch.

The biggest change we made was moving savings goals to the top of the budget. No other spending happens until those are met. If you plan to save what’s left over you’ll never get around to it

 

[bigbassin]

What are some major things that have helped save some $$$?

The biggest things I see guys blow money, and being on a hunting forum we are all probably predisposed to this, is toys they just don’t need. If you need a loan to purchase a boat, you should get a smaller boat. The shooting range every weekend could cost you $600-800/month. Do you really need a new x, y, z or just want one?

Simple changes, like being power bars in bulk at the grocery store for $6 a box rather than the gas station at $4 a bar add up qui

Last big adjustment a lot of guys could make, and arguably the dumbest in my opinion, is alcohol, nicotine, and gambling. All can literally suck your money away while providing nothing but negatives for 99% of people.

 

[rayporter]

one way i saved is to learn to live on what you make now, then when you get a raise to put that raise away and not see it.

 

[cb122]

There are 5-6 well known budget strategies that people can research and see what fits their personality/goals. Personal finance is not a one-size fit approach. Define your goals first and then reverse engineer how much money it will take to accomplish that goal. I have found that the pay-yourself-first is the strategy that works for us to build wealth.

If you want to see where your money is going, there are free internet based platforms that will track your spending and categorize it (Empower/Personal Capital, Mint,) are a few.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in January. I'll be 37 and her 34. Our expenses will certainly change but our core financial fundamentals will not.

The Millionaire Next Door is an excellent book to read.

 

[sbaker0029]

and I was never really worried about budgets or money before then...Now reality is starting to set in.

That reality is inflation man.

My little girl will be two soon. We decided that my wife would stay home and quit work after baby was born.
We had a budget before and put a good amount in savings and stuck to the budget and would slurge on a vacation every so often. We crunched the numbers and readjusted the budget and 6 months before my wife quit we just saved her income and lived off my income and new budget with baby stuff included to prepare. At that point in 2021 we were fine.

Fast forward, I've gotten a couple of small raises since but nothing to keep up with inflation. Really starting to feel it. Sh!t has just gotten stupid expensive across the board. Struggling to save half of what we were saving. I'm working more OT than I did before as well.

So no man you're not in the minority. Some of us are just feeling the squeeze of inflation more than others.

 

[Fullfan]

Sorry can’t help ya. Never had to budget anything in my life. If we want something we just buy it. Even when our 3 kids were growing up. Retired at 49 and living my dream.

Good luck w the decisions you have to make. Kids always come first.

 

[TxxAgg]

Several already touched on it... Pay yourself first. Learn to live on what's left. Repeat.


If you like forums, bogleheads.org is a good one for saving/investing/budgeting

 

[stanginthe11s]

the first question you need to ask is why do you need to budget? be honest with this question.
what do you think you need to live happy? if its money, then you need to overcome that mentality. I understand having kids is expensive, but they don't require as much as we think. of course, there's a line with this and we all want our kids to have what we didn't but new toys and fancy clothes that get thrown out in a few months are a waste of money.
1) one big thing that can save money is learning to do things yourself. if I had to pay for any of the work done on my home id be broke 10x over lol.
2) why eat out when you can learn how to cook? we hunt so we have food, steaks are expensive.
3) instead of putting down a 12 pack be happy with 3 lol.
4) if you want something new, sell something old.
5) do side work for your toys, your real job is for paying bills and family, not for fun.

 

[gabenzeke]

Sorry can’t help ya. Never had to budget anything in my life. If we want something we just buy it. Even when our 3 kids were growing up. Retired at 49 and living my dream.

Good luck w the decisions you have to make. Kids always come first.

If it comes down to having to budget versus being able to live like this, I choose this. How'd you end up in that position?

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[roadrunner]

Turn one of your homes into an asset and don't keep it as a liability. That's the first step in being money smart. The second is to look more into investing your money into assets, not necessarily "saving". That's the mistake I made in my 20's.

Assets make money. Liabilities lose money.

Second, 50/30/20. Live on 50, invest 30, save 20 (or whichever combo works best for you). Retiring early means you do without earlier on. Simple rule in economics.

Third, identify what necessities are and know the difference between decencies and luxuries. A decency is a new vehicle, and the luxury is the trim package. The necessity is the vehicle, maybe just put a new engine or transmission in when it's time.

 

[go_deep]

Dave Ramsey, check him out. You don't have to agree with every little thing he teaches, but once you exercise what he teaches and make a lot of head way, it's hard to argue with what he teaches.

 

[cnelk]

Suze Orman is good too

 

[Crowmangler]

As mentioned above there's tons of resources online to create & manage a household budget but to address the big picture issue (not enough money) there's really only 2 things you can do:
1. spend less
2. earn more
There's only so much you can do to spend less without living a miserable life so find a way to earn more (I know, thank you Captain Obvious). There are tons of opportunities for side gigs out there that can help supplement the bank account. If you're not comfortable starting something on your own I promise you there's small business owners who would love to have a dependable person give them some hours every week.

One thing specifically with kids, you can get most of their clothes at Goodwill, etc. There's no reason to spend over a few bucks on everyday & play clothes.

 

[Fullfan]

If it comes down to having to budget versus being able to live like this, I choose this. How'd you end up in that position?

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Joined the military right out of high school. After my tour I worked a few odd jobs. Realized I could not live a good life. I chose a career that was rewarding, offered 25 years and out at 75% oh my highest paid year. Met my wife and knew she had potential, she did not disappoint.
Retired at 49, put my 3 kids through college, been enjoying every day.

Just spent 23 days in Idaho chasing bulls DIY style. Wife drove out w me, spent 9 days and flew home.

My career choice was not for everyone.

You have to be happy and not afraid of the unknown.

We live on 298 acers, built a new home 18 years ago. Both have Diesel trucks for play. And Honda accords of daily drivers.

Will be debt free in 14 months.

Life is short and we don’t get to do this again.

 

[thegrouse]

I keep a spreadsheet for my budget. I know exactly where every dollar goes. This is helpful for knowing where you are wasting money. It takes a little time but it gives me great confidence.