Written by Kenia, June 14, 2010

I've definitely blown my budget on several occasions. For me, the curveball account in my savings, plus the 'non-existant' cash cushion in my checking account, are what save me when I overspend. I also take care not to beat myself up over it. I think a lot of it is psychological. If I just accept that it happened, I'm much more likely to get back on track with my budget; and while I do, my curveball account builds itself back up automatically with automatic deposits into my savings every month. If I beat myself up over it, I might just want say, "Oh well! I already messed up, so might as well keep spending!"

Written by Steph, June 14, 2010

Usually it depends on the extent to which I've blown said budget. If I go a little over budget on groceries or a utility bill is higher than usual, I'll just adjust my allotment for spending money downward. If it's a bigger expense, like a car repair, I'll borrow the cost from my emergency fund to pay the bill, then crank up the automatic transfers to savings for a bit so I can restore that money to the emergency fund faster without even having to think about it. Ultimately the effect is the same (less spending money for me), but on a more gradual basis and without making a conscious effort to save. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Automatic transfers are my best friend. :-)

Written by Amber, June 14, 2010

well for me it seems like a never ending story to budget busting! I make a budget every week right before we get paid and I think "oh we will be fine" and it never fails that eating out once or twice or that trip to walgreens always bust us! I just really don't know what to do. But I think I will have to open and curve ball account.... and I need a medical emergency account also! For when our daughter needs to go to the dr unexpectedly and it usually cost $100 before its all said and done! ugh!

Written by Suzie, June 14, 2010

We gat paid weekly - I have added up all the bills for the month and divide by 4. Every week I transfer that amount into a "household" account, and I round everything up to the nearest dollar amount - this adds extra $ each week and when the once a year bills (car registration and such) come around there is usually enough $ to cover it - if there isn’t then its not a big impact on our budget. And the money we had left in the 1st account - that is exactly what we have for the week for food, car gas and everything else. We haven't bounced a bill payment since we started this system. :)

Also we drive older cars with no car payment, no cable, no regular phone (we have the phone over the internet and after the initial purchase and one yr service its going to cost us $4 a month). I get as much as we can use on Craig’s List, EBay and thrift stores. I pass around kids clothes with my friends. And I match coupons to store sales to save even more. And I make side money with my talents. It takes time, but in order to be a stay at home mom ... it’s worth it!

Written by Diane Tracy, June 14, 2010

Can y'all help me with some ideas of what to cancel? Our cable bill is part of our internet and the cable says it's only a tiny bit of the bill bc it's a pkg price. the only phone DSL avail is thru ATT and it was ugly when we tried.

we have voice lessons for my DD and the lawn dude (who's $100 a mo).

but what OTHER things have you all cut? FYI, we saw HUGE savings on the power bill by turning the AC up to 80ish and using fans.

Written by Daisy A., June 14, 2010

What do you cut when there is nothing to cut. I never had cable, phone and internet is with ATT and my cell phone is prepaid about 10.00 a month and less if used less. I get paid every week and my checks are always spent before I get paid. I started a garden last year and have an apple and lemon tree so that saves a little. I do my own yard work, wash my own car, don't when The last time I did some real shopping for clothes. I sew but it cost less to buy them already made now days.

I have my own business but that hasn't caught on yet so there is just a little extra from that.

Written by DeAnna, June 14, 2010

Our bi-weekly take home pay is about $1347, but when I write out my budget and figure out where the money goes, I only go off of $1300. The extra $47 every two weeks is a nice little cushion, for just in case. :-) Also when we do go over budget, I just cut back funds from our Misc. spending budget and Food budget. No eating out that week.

Written by DeAnna, June 14, 2010

Diane-

We cut off our cable and switched providers for interent. We got a deal that was going on with Qwest for our internet. For a 2yr. agreement, we locked in the price of $35 a month for 7 or 12 mbs (i don't remember which speed we got) We bought an antenna for the TV we get 3 out of the 4 main stations plus all the public channels. We just go online to watch any shows we miss. We also have a netflix account, so we watch movies online and get them in the mail. We have a cable that came with our TV to hook it up to the computer so our shows/movies are still watched on the TV. We also don't run the air/heat four months out of the year. April/May & Sept./Oct. (we don't have kids so we don't have to worry about them getting too hot/cold). I also plan my meals for the week based on what's on sale in the grocery circular. I just buy what's on sale and skip aisles that aren't on my list.

Written by Daisy A., June 14, 2010

I forgot to mention that I brown bag my lunch and cook dinner at home. There has got to be something I'm doing wrong. I do have 30.00 automaticly deposit in a savings account but it don't help that I still need to use my credit card sometimes to get by.

Written by TMC, June 14, 2010

@Diane
Call your cable company and see if they're running any specials. I do this about twice a year and can usually cut my Internet/Cable bill in half for up to 6 months at a time. The last time I did this the guy even reminded me to call again in 6 months because there is always a special.

Written by Kirsty, June 14, 2010

I just wanted to give a supportive shout to Daisy A!
I'm in the same kinda boat as you, no Internet, no cable, no gym, no eating out, no shopping and surviving on a tiny budget and not saving much. I'm even thinking of giving up my car and my flat to share with someone, hard times mean drastic measures. I may be giving up some things but I not giving up my determination to suceed!
Daisy if you can only manage $30 savings, it is better than nothing, keep going.
In the UK I have a bank account which 'saves the change' so all my debit card transactions are rounded up and the difference goes into a savings account. Doesn't make much difference on a daily basis, but the savings are adding up.
Work makes work so keep working at your business, things will get better.

Written by Jen, June 14, 2010

Eat at home,eat at home, eat at home! This has been and still is my biggest trouble spot. We live an hour from the nearest town, so going to town for almost anything means being gone past a meal time. A restaurant will cost this family of five $40. I can make most meals for around $5. We have made a great effort to brown bag lunch. We make easy heat casseroles for dinner that the local grocey will let us heat up and eat in their little deli area. We buy everything there, just cook it and bring it back to eat it. LOL Raising three kids, being a SAHM, on just under 20,000/yr, we have had to get creative.

We also live on a piece of land with a travel trailer and room added on. The land payment is only $220/mo.

One thing I finally came to realize, though, is that we need to get creative and find a way to make more money. We need a better home than our temporary one, and we simply don't make enough to do it. So I have started an online shop to sell the crafts that I make. It is going to take some work to get it going, but I can do it at home while I raise my kids.
Sometimes cutting back the budget just isn't enough.

Written by Jessica D. , June 14, 2010

I just cleared out the storage space I've been keeping for 5 years at $115 / month -- I just got a $115 / month raise, plus I got my security deposit of $115 back, AND I got rid of tons of useless stuff that I was holding onto for no good reason -- high school english papers (!), old clothing I have been holding onto, etc. I also took a bunch of that clothing and donated it, which always feels good to do, and for some of the more valuable items, I put them on consignment at a local clothing shop. Now if only I could figure out a way to cut out that pesky electric bill!

Written by Melissa, June 14, 2010

I have No Spend weeks - forget days. Since I commute via subway, I buy a monthly card and then bring lunch from home everyday for a week.

My roommate and I never installed cable, to keep the bills down; we do have internet though. Living in NYC our biggest expense each month is rent - we pay 1600 for a 3 brm apartment, and that's a reasonable rate.

Bills alone (rent, food, elec, internet) eat up over the majority of my budget, not to mention student loans payments (which will start next month). After I pay those (which you'll notice are pretty minimal) I have $200 left over for spending money per month. And that means savings, any extra expenses (lunch out one day? dinner with a friend?) is drawn from that amount. It doesn't work out to much.

Written by Victoria Drake, June 14, 2010

I don't ever see it as going over my budget because the truth is that it's impossible to budget perfectly. There's no reason to make yourself feel bad when something costs more. The two ways I handle this is to always budget at the highest extreme, so I'm covered on a purchase or I have money left over. Also, I keep a savings account that has some cute names attached to it like, the overage account and the 'til till. It's for these times when you need more than expected.

Written by crazyliblady, June 14, 2010

For several months now, I have carried around a 3x5 spiral notebook that I keep track of the budget on. Just having my checkbook was not enough. I needed to be able to see how much I had left for food, etc. when I am out somewhere as I would think I would have enough money for stuff, but forget I needed to leave room for a certain upcoming bill. I just recently upgraded my 3x5 notebook to a 4x6 size. I got it at Walgreens for $0.25. I take my lunch to work nearly everyday. Frequently, lunch is something like soup or something made from things like leftover vegetables, chicken or beef, etc. This week, I got everything for my lunches on sale and I calculated my work lunches out to about $1.98 per day. I do allow myself about $2.00 per day for extras and I try to pay for that with cash. I also have a certain amount from my pay automatically deposited to savings and retirement accounts.

Written by Daisy A., June 15, 2010

Lets' stay strong ladies we will survive. Look like we have all did a lot of cutting back but you can only do so much cutting. Good for you Jessico D. that $115. a mount storage was a lot almost $7000 for the 5 years. That would have been a nice savings. Hope you were able to sale or donate what you could not use.
Good luck to us all.

Written by R. Martin, June 15, 2010

In our case, we have a family of 6 who have been surviving on a cook's wages in Utah (I'm a stay at home mom who can't earn enough to even pay for daycare)...the equivalent of $1200 a month during a crazy busy month. Obviously, that is just not enough. And since the recession really hit our economy, I finally just lost patience. We decided that if we couldn't find a way to get a job that would pay significantly more, then we would make our own jobs and start a new business from home. Obviously, things have been slow going at first. My husband is still working as s cook, and then as a family we find ways of making or growing things to sell. This has helped in two ways: we have less time, so we just don't have time to spend on extra activities (instead of trying to go out to a movie or packing for a fancy picnic, we spend our family time growing things in our garden to sell at the farmer's market or making different projects at home to sell at fairs); the other thing is that we've decided to find ways of helping people around us with the things that we make by teaching other people and helping them to sell the things they make. So now instead of my family finding all the things that we want to spend money on or moaning about the fact that we can't afford to spend the money we are bringing in extra money that we can save for the slow/bad months where we go over and also realizing just how much we don't really need.

There has been one other additional benefit to all this. When we first started trying to get it all up and running I was afraid that all the "family togetherness" was going to blow up in our faces. Instead it has actually done the exact opposite. Now my kids are excited to help with getting household chores done so they can work on their projects and do research and such...especially since they don't have the chance to get bored as each project they come up with is new according to the season. They have found the value in having many hands working on projects which has made for a much more peaceful and cooperative household. And when all this is including a young family with a baby and a 3 year old? I'll take it!

Written by Laura, June 16, 2010

This post is very timely for me, because I just went through a big "budget buster" last month. First, I had to take an unexpected business trip, and had several unplanned expenses to get ready for it. Also, my mother came to stay with the family while I was away, so my grocery bill went through the roof. And, of course, when she's here we go out a lot, and so I had more unplanned expenses (eating out, gas, presents for the family, etc.). How do I cope? Well, I pad my checking account by basing my budget in less money that I make. I also have several savings accounts: one is linked to my checking account, and is for miscelaneous expenses. The other accounts are targeted to different expenses that I know I will inccur at one time or another (car maintenance, gifts, etc.). I have all my savings accounts set up on automatic transfer every month, that way I don't see the money and don't miss it. It's still tough, but at least I'm not suffering as much as I used to.

Written by DeAnna, June 16, 2010

I'm always writing out my budget and then rewriting it. I have a sheet of paper taped to my desk right by my computer, that has our pay dates listed and what gets paid out of that check, how much and to where. I sat down one day made a chart of one month. What bills are due what date and went from there. Having this made out way in advance, I also put holiday/birthdays on the chart and how much $ i can set aside for those events.
Also we don't go out very often. And 1/2 the time we do, we either share a meal or take half our meals home for the next day! Portions are so big these days! We don't visit home as much either. Our families want us to come home every month! That's a 5-6 hour drive one way! Plus grabbing a bite on the road sometimes, gas, money to go out with while we are there. It's too expensive, I plan trips home into our budget and we only go every 3-4 months or longer!
Any little cut back can help, as long as you don't feel stifled by it! We also throw ALL our change into a big culligan jug for the really tough times!

Written by Evelyn, June 17, 2010

A little trick I've been doing for years is taking the savings from coupons I use and transfer that amount monthly into my ING account. I turns into a sizeable amount by the end of the year and generally will be used towards our vacation. However, if an emergency comes up, there is always 'a little extra' in this account to draw from!

Written by Katy, June 17, 2010

I was so sick of going over budget each month, between my husbands lunches, eating out at work and going over on the groceries or an unexpected invite to a baby shower or bridal shower, i decided to create what i call "our float" it is a little figure in my spreadsheet plan, i enter it as a bill at the beginning of the month, so the money is already taken out of our budget, and i pull from that when other things go over. it has worked out great. right now, our float is an extra $250 a month, it seems like a lot, but it is realistic for our family. it gives us wiggle room and keeps me sane and from snapping at my husband when he goes out to lunch and spends $20. then at the end of the month if the float is gone, then i yell at him and he is put on a spending freeze, but if it isn't gone, i don't tell him and i apply it to our retirement or an unpaid debt for the following month. does that all make sense? just my 2 cents.
thanks

Written by rea3142, June 17, 2010

Let's face it, friends and family can be your worst enemy when it come to you keeping to your budget. Especially if they are married and you aren't. It's so easy for them to try and convince you to go to lunch, go to a jewelry party, go to a movie. They plan things with the idea they can convince you that it will be okay. Yes, they mean well, but they are not there when you are writting that check to pay a bill at the last minute because you caved into pressure. You will hear them say they have to cut their budgets also, but you sit back and watch and they go out to lunch several times a week, go shopping for things they don't need, go out to dinner, and the list goes on. Even with the layoffs, they don't take the budget seriously. You just have to stay true to your goals. It's amazing that bringing your lunch to work and going for a walk at lunch really changes your attitude and you get exercise too. I don't buy anything that isn't on sale and usually with coupons. Always ask yourself, "Is this a want or a need."

Written by Linda, June 20, 2010

Great psychology - have a no spending day - it is possible to have 2 a week in my life.
I don't regret Cancelling our telephone land line as I have a great pre paid cell phone package from Net 10 which is so cheap - calls are 10c / minute 24/7/365, texts cost 2.5c ea and calling my family overseas to (100 destinations to choose from) costs me 15c/ minute. I am so happy with having saved at least $390 over the last year from switching from a contract that I will never look back. If you want to win $500 cash or appear in a Net 10 commercial you can go to their website www.net10laughoff.com and tell NET 10 how happy their packages and products make you by signing on and giving your vote.

Written by emma, June 21, 2010

We get paid monthly so we worked out after bills what we could afford. I take $100 a week for groceries/lunches/going out for dinner etc plus one extra $100 to cover unexpected expenses. I withdraw that on pay day then split it in my purse by week. At the beginning of each new week I take out any change that is left and put that in our saving pile. (sometimes it is only coins but sometimes it can be up to $50 not spent if we don't to out much) then I put the new money in my spending section. By doing this it really adds up and when we have unexpected things like the fridge dying we don't have to stress because we have the money ready.

Also we have a rule that if there is an unexpected "want" that is in a place that we go to regularly and it isn't on a special that is about to end then we get it next time we go to that shop. Amazing how much you forget about if you just wait.

Plus we take overseas students in our spare bedrooms, when we have two the fee they pay covers our rent plus extra so I get a part time income while I stay at home and look after our one year old! We have to just provide breakfast and dinner, make sure they have a bed/desk and wardrobe. Don't know what it is like in America but in Australia lots more people are taking students now as they realise it is a fairly easy way to bring in extra cash as long as you live within 30-40 minutes of a college or language school.

Written by gina, June 22, 2010

I'm starting a new cash only budget next week when I get paid. I have a very detailed budget, I use Mint.com and focus on finances A LOT! And yet I can't pay off my credit card debit, I go way over my budget and don't make much headway with savings. So I decided to take th plunge and live on cash only.

I figured out what I have to pay online (bills, mortgage, etc.) and budgeted what I WANT and SHOULD spend on living (food, personal care, dog, etc.). I get paid monthly, at the end of the month, so I am going to withdraw money for the month for everything except food, which I will withdraw weekly amounts. I am going to use an envelop system and separate all my budgeted amounts.

I will (hopefully) carry over money in some areas from month to month since I don't spend the same amount for things like entertainment or personal care each month. I just figured the average amount. When the money is gone, NO MORE SPENDING!

Wish me luck, it is a pretty big endeavor for me.

Written by helen mcdevitt, June 24, 2010

my husband and i have been flexing our budget by cutting back on our cellphone usage. we found out that the average cell phone user lets 40% of their minutes go to waste each month. we evaluated our usage and realized we were in that percentage. we've now switched over to pay-per-minute phones and are saving in a major way! we still have nice new sleek looking models that do everything (besides making calls) that we need them to. we found out, from a short little video clip at http://bit.ly/freemoneysavingclips how to get out of our cell contract early without paying the early termination fee!

Written by Nancy P, August 09, 2010

The trick is to not fall victim into believing if you're spending big money you'll be happy. All my monthly costs go on a credit card, then I pay off the card monthly (a must!). And get free stuff on the card due to points. I download bank and credit card transactions into excel and then sort via autofilter. Can see where every penny goes. For every purchase bought at a thrift store or garage sale (I refer to them as boutiques) I save tons of money and everyone asks where I bought them - so beautiful. No longer do I spend money. It's simply not necessary ;)