Dave Ramsey famously tells us to "give every dollar a name" when we budget.
I tried that this month.
My problem is that other names kept intruding into my budget.
Which makes me want to use a lot of names that one shouldn't in a family-oriented blog!
I went the extra mile to delineate every expense I could think of--the "every six weeks" haircut, a grandchild's birthday, stamps, etc.
I even hauled out my envelopes to carefully keep all the expenses separate.
Good plan, except there was no envelope when my 16 year old grandson called to say he failed his driver's license exam and needed $20 to take it again. I failed to name the dollars needed to buy a baby shower gift for a colleague at work--heck, I didn't even know she was pregnant. And why is it that water bills are handed out quarterly, not monthly, so that I'm always surprised when the bill comes? Neither a name nor an envelope for that, either.
So, of course, I purloined the named dollars from the food budget and the gas budget, all of which explains why I'm pretty much out of names but the month still has another 9 days till payday.
Expect some major whining to ensue!
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7 comments:
Grace,
I don't know what it is or what's happening or maybe it's something in the air BUT, Murphy visited my house again! Yesterday, DH was cutting the lawn and a rock got spewed through one of our windows and smashed it to smitherines. WTF?
And I forgot we have to go to a wedding of a friend of our daughters (we don't even know the people) and DH has to buy a suit, I have to get a dress and we have to give them at least $200 as a wedding gift. It wasn't in the budget! I'm fit to be tied. Ugh!
In Sept when the kids go back to school It feels like I just open my wallet and let the bills fly out as if they had a mind of their own. My DD has already gone through all the money she earned this summer and called to ask for help on a couple of school things. We are supposed to go to visit my brother for his 40th birthday surprise. Looks like the surprise was on us. My DH discovered the payments he set up to the electric company did not go though in the last 2 months. He paid it in full but that was the trip money. Where does September go???
It happens. If you read dave Ramsey, he also says it takes around 3-6 months to get a budget really worked out. To find out all the unexpected or unplanned expenses. It's not an overnight thing, like the water bill! Bet you won't make that mistake again.
Stuff like that.
Living Almost Large is right, it actually took me almost a year to get a budget that sings along the way it should - but I still have unexpected things pop up occasionally. This week it is a little gift for a friend who fixed my computer for me (for free) and another for someone who just moved into a new home. I have a gift budget, but wasn't expecting either of these.
Grace,
I laughed at this post...(not at you!) This is very typical for me...I'm feeling defeated with all of the major expenses that are occurring in our home...The kids' expenses seem like nothing in comparison...
Go ahead, whine all you want, but only if I can join in too!
An envelope called WTF is this for? Almost like an emergency fund per month. Add to it whats available at the end of each month?
Just a thought.
But then Murphy always calls when you least expect it. Good luck, and it's ok to whine with some good cheese.
See Ya
What a great concept, that of giving every dollar in the budget a name!
Thanks for that!
John DeFlumeri Jr
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