Comments on: It’s Okay to Go Over Budget :)

By: Sandy @ yesiamcheap

Sandy @ yesiamcheap — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:00:43 +0000

If she’s tried and can’t make the budget then one of two things is happening 1) The budget for that category isn’t realistic, 2) they’re not paying close attention to everything that they’re spending 3) the budget for the other categories is too high.

With kid #3 on the way, she def. does not need to stress but it would be one less thing to think about if they could get a handle on it.

By: Janet

Janet — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:45:12 +0000

Lol, I guess it was the combination of the warning beginning followed by the disclaimer in the end. Nice touch.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:23:55 +0000

Did warning you up front help? Or are you talking about my daily posts? haha… either way, much obliged.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:29:02 +0000

Good call, J. Money! Budgets are like diets … you have to have some wiggle room.

By the way, as a copywriter, I’m typically annoyed with improper grammar and punctuation. But you can definitely get away with it. :)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 07:13:31 +0000

Exactly. You have to be able to ENJOY life and have some fun or what’s the point??? I’d much rather go over budget here and there than have a perfect balance sheet and be miserable. And with a family of 5? Shooooot, she’s totally doing a great job in my opinion.

By: Wade

Wade — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 05:10:54 +0000

I agree that it is great that she can live on only student loan and mortgage debt with her, a husband, and soon to be three kids. Now to the question at hand, I actually agree with J. Money on this one. I actually feel fine about going a little bit over budget once in a while, as long as I know that I am enjoying my life. I would find it difficult to stick to a strict budget that did not allow room in dining and entertainment. I also liked the idea of trying to make a little more money on the side (by any family member). This is what I am trying to do to increase my family’s ability to save. In the end, it’s all about personal preference and it is great that many of you want to nail the budget 100% all of the time.

By: The Saved Quarter

The Saved Quarter — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 22:44:14 +0000

I’m coming at this from a slightly different angle, since we’re on a really tight budget and can’t let two line items slip by $100 a month without incurring debt.

Check out Groupon and restaurants.com for entertainment and dining out. Groupon and similar sites like Living Social are great for saving on entertainment. I recently bought a gift certificate for 4 rounds miniature golf, water slides, arcade tokens, and buy one get one rounds of mini golf and arcade games, for $21. That will give my family at least three days of entertainment. Another great deal was a family zoo membership, including parking, for $40 for the year. Watching for deals like this, we’ve been able to make a lot of family outings for very little money.

Similarly, my family of four generally is able to go out to eat for about $20, including tax and tip, by buying gift certificates on restaurant.com at the end of the month when 80% off coupon codes roll around.

I also do mystery shopping to extend my budget, get free stuff, and make extra money. We routinely go bowling, get the oil on our car changed, eat out, and get household and personal care items for free this way.

Household expenses like diapers and shampoo can be sourced cheap and even free if you follow the sales and use coupons. It’s not too hard once you get a system down, and there are plenty of websites that do all of the work for you; just show up with your list and coupons. I particularly like iheartriteaid.com, iheartcvs.com, and iheartwags.com, where they post the weekly ads in advance and tell you which coupons to match for the best deals, and weusecoupons.com for previews of the upcoming coupons. My family of four has a $50 budget for household items, which is almost always sufficient, and we have a child in diapers.

It takes creativity and a little time to sleuth out the deals, but they’re out there and can save a good deal of money if you’re careful. You may feel like you deserve a treat, but you don’t deserve to have the stress of going over budget, so make sure you can afford your treat! Cash may make you feel like a teenager, but the method works! Give it a try and see if it helps you to stay within your goal.

By: Edward 22

Edward 22 — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:25:28 +0000

First Jen, please let me congratulate you on supporting a family of four. The numbers don’t look that bad.
Now I don’t know what the 8 out of 10 are but with what you stated you have 2000 on a school loan and a mortgage. The others I’m assuming are Food, heat,electric, household items entertainment monthly expense. I need help with the rest.
What it sounds like to me is you need goals.
Hear me out, Your retirement budget is covered for now. But you may want to look at how much your putting into retirement and if what you are putting in will meet your future goals or will it overdue what you are expecting. Seek advice from a retirement specialist. Not a Salesmen. Someone you trust. Take a look at what you are saving now verse what you expect to put in when the kids get older.
Your Philly fanatics so if it fits keep it.
Personally, Working weekends puts stress on a marriage and cuts down on quality time. Plus the games are on during the weekends. Not a solution.
Especially with your unpredictable work schedule.
So with the new child coming (again congrats) Can you see six years out, when all the kids are in school, being the time I would figure that your husband would then get another job, can you make it on the budget you have now guessing that food and gas prices will continue to rise probably faster than your salary. Just a thought.
Now all that being considered here are some options that I see, (not professional by any means)
I would look at the 2000 dollars first. Is there a way that you can put more money on that bill to pay that off faster and get it down to nothing. Thus freeing up I’m guessing 75 a month that you could split between entertainment and savings.
don’t know, again just a thought.

Best Wishes to you and yours,

By: Barb Friedberg

Barb Friedberg — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 13:37:08 +0000

She’s doing GREAT! She needs to cut herself a break. Striving for perfection is overrated. (this one’s good-going in my round up)

By: Sense

Sense — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 01:18:41 +0000

Did everyone else miss the part where they’re expecting another child in April? That budget is about to get a lot tighter…

To Jen: I think you’re doing an excellent job, living on one salary supporting 4 people! Not many people can say that these days. That said, I think there is room for improvement to help you feel more financially secure:

You are sooooo close to living within your salary!! If you are spending $100 more a month than you predictably take in, you are living in debt because you don’t know if you can afford to pay that extra $100, right? A total of $100/mo really isn’t a big deal, unless it is $100 more than you take in a month. If that means cutting cable, do it! It’s a zero-sum game.

It’s obvious that you are trying to very hard to get this under control, but that your spending is nonetheless pretty stable in each category. You’re a good calculat-er of your regular spending, since you know pretty much exactly how much you’re going over in each category. So, bump up your budget in the two categories to reflect that reality–and figure out a creative way to take in as much as you’re spending with the new total. Can hubby take in another child during the day once in a while to make more money? A little bit more predictable income would really solve a lot of the problem.

Good job on the retirement, but I didn’t see where you mentioned an emergency fund, which is very important, given that you have 3 dependents and another lil one on the way–what if (God forbid) something happens and you need to stay home for a while? You do mention socking $7K-$10K a year in unpredictable income away–AWESOME! But does that money stay in the savings account for any length of time, or does it get dipped into regularly to pay for your $80/mo budget overage, car registration, etc.? The fact that that $$ is unpredictable worries me–& you need a definite plan for every penny! It sounds like it gets spent in the long run rather than ‘saved.’

That extra money each year is the key–it could be what saves you or what breaks you. What does it normally get spent on? If it gets spent on predictable items like car maintenance or similar expenses, you’re actually spending way more than $100/mo overbudget and that needs to be reflected in your budget.

Your first priority for that $7-$10K, save up your EF–6 months worth of salary–is that possible? Do you have that already? The rule is to not dip unless it is for unpredictable emergency medical care or you need to feed your family with it.

Second, when that extra money comes in, can you put a little away (say…$100/mo worth?) in an ‘entertainment fund’ in ING and use that to cover your monthly overages? When it runs out, you aren’t allowed to go out, it’s that simple. Pay for your extras upfront…

Next, when will that student loan be paid up? Would it make you feel better to pay it off totally with some of that unpredictable income, and then save that money each month instead? Is that an option right now (ie do you have an extra $2K laying around on top of your EF?)?

Good luck! and congrats on the upcoming bundle of joy!!