Budgeting 101

No matter your income level, a certain amount of budgeting has to occur to be even the slightest financially successful.

A quick search online will net you a slew of articles and blog posts to help you find a place for every last penny you earn. But in all reality, you don't need a financial article or a hired hand to help you set a budget. Sure it may seem daunting, but once you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, you'll wonder why you haven't done this a million times before!

All you really need is paper, pencil, a calculator, pay stubs for the month, a general idea of how much you pay in bills each month, and an even more general idea of math. Or, use Excel or Google docs to do the math for you.

(Note: I am by no means a professional, so take it how you will.)

1. The first thing I do is calculate monthly take-home pay. (Since I only get paid monthly, this really isn't too hard to figure out.) I like looking at monthly vs. weekly (or bi-weekly) pay because it gives a truer sense of how much money you have. That, and most expenses are billed monthly anyway.

2.  I then figure out the totals for the absolutely necessary bills (sorry, your morning latte isn't covered in this section). Think more like rent/utilities, cell phone, car payments/insurance...You get the idea.

3. After I total everything up, I subtract that from the monthly pay total. This number gives you a picture of what you have left to spend. Can also be sometimes scary, no?

4. From this figure, I then subtract totals for food and gas. This part of the budget can be a real gut-check. Gas may be a bit easier to keep track of, but believe me, food is where you will begin to see your money dwindle. And fast. Food totals should include groceries as well as eating out and any coffee/donut/candy/pop runs you make throughout the week. 

5. By  now we should have covered all the important expenses you may incur throughout the month. Do you have money left over? Hoooray! You can chose to put a portion into savings (smart idea), leave it for any surprise expenses throughout the month (also not a bad idea), or you may divide the remaining money further. For example, I really like the idea of a cash envelope: the money there is "whatever" money for the week--this is where you could include coffee et. al and curb those habits (might as well kill two birds with one stone). 

If you have made it this far, you now have a better idea of where all your money goes! But hold on....now you actually have to do some planning. As in figuring out what to pay and how you're going to pay it and when it is due...the fun begins!

6. I like to break down the major expenses-rent, utilities, cell phone, car payment, car insurance-in order to know how much money per check you should be saving. Get paid weekly? Divide by four. Bi-weekly? Divide by 2. (For example, if your rent is $600/month, you would need to save $150/weekly check or $300/bi-weekly check to insure you have enough money to pay at the end of the month.)

7. As with the steps above, once you have the majors covered, you now figure in other important expenses like food and transportation. For food expenses, you can take the total you spent and divide that or you can allocate a different, more specific amount. This is where the budgeting really kicks in; having food to eat is a lot different than having enough food to eat. This is a great place to cut your spending down greatly, so take some time to determine what is necessary vs. what is not. Unfortunately, those donuts may not be covered... 

8. Once you have everything mapped out, now is a good time to figure how much money you want to allocate for everything else not covered. I don't think you should have every penny spent; who knows what will happen. Maybe you'll get sick and need money for a doctor's visit or medication. Or perhaps your car will decide to be really awesome and you will need money for repairs. Life is funny like that sometimes. In any case, make sure you have something set aside for little surprises. This portion of the budget is also the most variable month to month because it is so dependent on everything else. Bills can be fairly constant but take home pay can fluctuate, especially if you don't have set hours. So, it is always a good idea to have some savings built up in addition to the monthly left-overs. 

As with anything, planning a budget is one thing, but sticking to a budget is something else entirely. It will take a few months to get used to a plan, but once you do, I promise you won't regret it. :)

Friday Giggles

Quite true.... :)

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Intros....

Let's be honest here....I know I'm not the only one in this world who has realized this thing called a professional life is an uphill battle. Like, mountain-esqe.

I'm also starting this blog out of sheer frustration. I need a place to vent, ok?

Allow me to start at the beginning. I did two years at the local junior college, trying to find out what exactly I wanted to do with my life. Changed my mind about nursing, fell into journalism. Went on to a four-year to complete my Bachelor's in communications. Honestly, I still had no real direction. I grew to dislike journalism (the interviewing...the reporting...the horror!) but still enjoyed writing and media whatnots. Looking back, I really should have done more research and self-discovery before graduation....

After I graduated with my degree and a collection of respectable internships, jobs, and portfolios, I began the job search.....which lasted a year. I was gainfully unemployed for a year. Yeah. True, I was stubborn, selfish, and maybe a bit high on myself; call me crazy though: I had a four year degree, darnit. I shouldn't have to work at Target or Kohl's to support myself.

Anyway, I finally got a job at my hometown's newspaper, almost a year to the day that I graduated. And let me tell you...I hated it. I was reminded daily why I fell out of love with journalism. So while I was working, I was also looking for the next job.

And I found it! It was one of those jobs that you apply to just for giggles, knowing there's no chance you'll ever be considered. But I was. It sounded awesome...working in education, student interaction, summers off!

Turns out, it was a lot better on paper than in real life. No student interaction. My days are spent at a desk browsing Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook....all day. Every day. Not that it's my job (I wish...) but because they really don't have anything else for me to do.

So, I've been working for peanuts--seriously, my 17 year old sister makes 50 cents less than I do as a hotel housekeeper--getting paid once a month, and generally miserable for the last year. And because I'm slightly crazy and moreso afraid of being unemployed again, I renewed my contract.

Hi, my name is Misty, I'm 24, I live with my parents, and I feel stuck. And poor.

My aim for this blog is to share my struggles and experiences. I'll be posting links and articles that I think are informative, helpful, and/or funny At times I'm sure it will read like a diary and others like an advice column.

Keep your feet on the ground, folks. We're all in this together.