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Offline VivisMom

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I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« on: March 14, 2008, 07:58:49 AM »
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3004356

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mdmc  (1000+ posts)       Thu Mar-13-08 04:59 PM
Original message
I've never had a budget before in my entire life
 Advertisements [?]I used to have a lot of money and never even needed to balance my checkbook. Then I hit a slump in 2000, and lost a lot of my income.

Now I work, and I have very little money, but I still don't have a budget.

I see my girlfriend making these "worry sheets" budgets. She uses them to make her money stretch to the greatest degree.

I pay all my bills and usually have very little left over. I live paycheck to bi-weekly paycheck.

I am not terribly stupid, but would like some advice. How can I make a budget?
 

The first reply is priceless:

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taught_me_patience  (849 posts)      Thu Mar-13-08 05:02 PM
Response to Original message
1. Start by buying everything on credit cards
 then at the end of the month, you can see exactly where all of your money is going.

So that $100 bag of groceries, with interest, will end up costing you $200. Good call!  :loser:

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Bucky  (1000+ posts)       Thu Mar-13-08 05:05 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. Except that buying on credit cards encourages buying more.
 If someone is in a financial crunch, using charge cards is THE worst advice in the world. That's the reason so many stores offer their own credit cards. The physical act of handing over hard cash triggers psychological motor control mechanisms that are absent in the use of plastic money.

But recording purchases made everyday is certainly a good idea. I'd just say go "all cash" and carry a notepad. 

Whose mole is this?

Quote
taught_me_patience  (849 posts)      Thu Mar-13-08 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #4
10. That's why American Express green would be good
 you have to pay it off at the end of the month. I guaranteet that someone who doesn't do any budgeting would not be able to suddenly record all of their cash transactions. It would be like going from crawling to salsa dancing. Gotta start witht he baby steps!

Wanna make a bet? My hubby and I did it, and it worked fine.

I'm just baffled at the OP. Who doesn't know how to make a budget??
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Offline mamacags

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2008, 11:43:33 AM »
ask and ye shall receive.....
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Choosing-a-Budget-Method.id-595.html

Budgeting for DUmmies from DUmmies.com :-)
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Offline Zeus

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2008, 11:44:12 AM »
It's truly amazing the number of folks that do not realize making & sticking to a budget as close as possible is the first step in becoming debt free and/or Financially independent.

If you don't know where your money is going how can you possibly make changes. As an example folks that drink sodas may thing they only drink 3-4/month but when they keep track of it they realize it's more like 3-4/week. cut back to the 3-4/month and cha-ching ya got $20 +/- that can be applied else where.

The number one rule of budgeting is Pay yourself first,even if you can only start with $5 do it and get into the habit of doing it you can always increase your pay later.


IMHO It has for a long while been my contention that the majority of folks don't have a money problem they have a priorities problem in what they choose to spend that money on.
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Offline DixieBelle

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2008, 11:48:09 AM »
My first piece of advice would be: nuke your DU account! Start participating in the real world. Buy a book or two on financial planning. Use credit wisely. Don't spend more than you earn (or can pay back in a timely manner). Put down the bong and cheetos. :-)
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Offline BlueStateSaint

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2008, 12:10:35 PM »
Quote from: DixieBelle on March 14, 2008, 11:48:09 AM
My first piece of advice would be: nuke your DU account! Start participating in the real world. Buy a book or two on financial planning. Use credit wisely. Don't spend more than you earn (or can pay back in a timely manner). Put down the bong and cheetos. :-)

Ummm . . . Milady, I count six pieces of advice there.  That's five more than you stated in the beginning.  I hope you're charging them extra for that.  :tongue:
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Offline franksolich

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2008, 12:15:56 PM »
Well, cutting off the internet would save, what, about forty bucks a month?

That's $480 a year, which isn't chump change.

Not to mention the cerebral cells that would be saved, by not venturing onto Skins's island.

And that probably has a monetary value too.
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apres moi, le deluge

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Offline DixieBelle

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2008, 12:24:19 PM »
Quote from: Muddyemms on March 14, 2008, 12:10:35 PM
Quote from: DixieBelle on March 14, 2008, 11:48:09 AM
My first piece of advice would be: nuke your DU account! Start participating in the real world. Buy a book or two on financial planning. Use credit wisely. Don't spend more than you earn (or can pay back in a timely manner). Put down the bong and cheetos. :-)

Ummm . . . Milady, I count six pieces of advice there.  That's five more than you stated in the beginning.  I hope you're charging them extra for that.  :tongue:
Tee Hee!!! I can't help myself. DUmmies need lots of schooling.
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I can see November 2 from my house!!!

Spread my work ethic, not my wealth.

Forget change, bring back common sense.
-------------------------------------------------

No, my friends, there’s only one really progressive idea. And that is the idea of legally limiting the power of the government. That one genuinely liberal, genuinely progressive idea — the Why in 1776, the How in 1787 — is what needs to be conserved. We need to conserve that fundamentally liberal idea. That is why we are conservatives. --Bill Whittle

Offline Bondai

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2008, 02:20:47 PM »
Quote
I've never had a budget before in my entire life

Sounds like our government...... :censored:
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Offline BlueStateSaint

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2008, 03:03:04 PM »
Quote from: DixieBelle on March 14, 2008, 12:24:19 PM
Quote from: Muddyemms on March 14, 2008, 12:10:35 PM
Quote from: DixieBelle on March 14, 2008, 11:48:09 AM
My first piece of advice would be: nuke your DU account! Start participating in the real world. Buy a book or two on financial planning. Use credit wisely. Don't spend more than you earn (or can pay back in a timely manner). Put down the bong and cheetos. :-)

Ummm . . . Milady, I count six pieces of advice there.  That's five more than you stated in the beginning.  I hope you're charging them extra for that.  :tongue:
Tee Hee!!! I can't help myself. DUmmies need lots of schooling.

I know, it's your giving spirit . . .  :innocent:
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"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

"All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, don't sit looking at it - walk!" -Ayn Rand
 
"Those that trust God with their safety must yet use proper means for their safety, otherwise they tempt Him, and do not trust Him.  God will provide, but so must we also." - Matthew Henry, Commentary on 2 Chronicles 32, from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

"These anti-gun fools are more dangerous to liberty than street criminals or foreign spies."--Theodore Haas, Dachau Survivor

Chase her.
Chase her even when she's yours.
That's the only way you'll be assured to never lose her.

Offline PatriotGame

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Re: I've never had a budget before in my entire life
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2008, 03:06:42 PM »
The DUmmy Hippie Budget:

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