February is the month for me to get my finances in order. Right now it is a train wreck. Truth is...I have no budget & no limit. I'm a slacker & I am gonna go ahead and shoot straight with you. By carelessly keeping track of my money flow - I am setting bad habits that could really hurt me in the future. This is going to stop...right now.
My GOAL: To only spend $100 a week. This is to include food, gas, misc fun. Everyone's situation is different. I hate to put a number on it - but I just have to. I am allotting myself a Benjamin per week.
I sat down and figured out my spending from January. I cringed as I was looking at my swiping. This month was a little different because of my vacation. The good news is that the money spent on it should automatically go to my savings account this month (which will be nice).
Now, I am to get an apartment soon - so my bills and due outs will significantly increase.
No questions, the misc. area is going to have to decrease immediately.
The rules are simple...
1. Every Sunday I will withdraw $100 cash out of my account ( I NEVER carry cash which is mistake numero uno)
2. I will not go into Wal Mart unless it is a serious emergency. If I do...I CAN NOT buy anything.
3. Groceries will be bought carefully. I am not a coupon clipper - but if I see something I must have then I will.
4. All toiletries will come from the Dollar store. Anything from dishwashing to toilet paper can be found there. No excuses.
5. I will transfer all unused funds weekly to my savings account.
6. I will save all receipts for reporting purposes.
OK, so most people may already do these things, but since I do not have a lot of bills to pay - it is really easy to not pay attention to the details. I am entirely too old to be acting like this!
What kind of financial goals do you set?
1 comment:
You sound like your getting your money in order. Cash is something we never carry..It is a mistake. It is so much easier to swipe that card...The only goals I am going for is less money spent on groceries. We have went from like $120 every two weeks now up to almost $200! There is really no excuse...We just buy lot's of food...And well junk food too, but dang it the kids need crap to eat, right! : )
Saving money is something we are also going to do this year...We never really have before, but since Zack has a new job, I hope that this is something that we can do on a monthly basis..This is important for emergencies..No credit card using and using that ER fund...
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