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Snowball Method for Finances
I hope this post doesn't elicit too many sexual comments... ha.
I was wondering how many of you out there on a budget? I just spent about two hours figuring out my finances and creating a budget. My interest rates are relatively similar once I get the highest-% card paid off so I think I may use the snowball method for the rest.
Do any of you have any luck budgeting? Any good personal finance blogs you like to read that aren't too technical? Hate the fact that being in our 20's means being financially responsible? haha
Tags: budget
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tara on -
Last fall I quit my job to move across the country with my boyfriend..we had about a month's notice that our monthly income would be cut in half and had no savings. I ended up getting a job after 2 months but made a lot less than what we were used to so we had to get a budget together like yesterday. We use Excel to keep track of total income, bills, savings, paying off debt & all other expenses and it works very well for both of us. Even though our income was a lot lower, we managed to establish emergency savings, pay down credit cards (2 for him and 3 for me) and start saving for some fun trips and a down payment for a house.
For my credit cards I paid off the card with the lowest balance first and then rolled that amount into the next lowest card, etc. My interest rates were all about the same and paying off the lowest card first allowed me to pay of 3 cards in 6 months rather than paying a portion of 1 down..made me feel like I had gotten a lot more done even if I'm paying a little more in interest.
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Permalink Reply by Brittany on -
Wow, that is really encouraging, Tara. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I think that is what I like about it, too. Once I pay off the highest interest card the difference in interest is rather minimal. I just want to get rid of a couple so I have one less item on my "bill" list! I am surprised to hear you guys were able to have a savings! I guess I always feel like the reason I don't have a savings is because I don't make a lot. I will need to really dedicate myself to this because I am SICK of not having a savings. I put part of my budget toward savings because what happens is I'll do OK with paying off the cards, but then something happens and I have to charge it.
Well.... I guess this is growing up, huh??
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Permalink Reply by Allie O'Bannon on -
I've tried several different methods of budget control, but they haven't really worked for me. I'm re-thinking this approach and trying to find something that works with my totally NOT type A personality. The problem is that I'm one of those "free, floaty creative types" and anything too rigid is just not going to work for me.
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Permalink Reply by Tara on
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I'm writing this from my phone and for whatever reason it won't let me put it under my last post. Anyway..we are both HORRIBLE with our budget and waste a lot more $ than we should on shopping and Starbucks. The thing that helped me the most was having a Bills Checking anf a Fun Checking. I figure out what bills come out of each paycheck and put it into the Bills acct when I get paid and transfer $ to savings right away and then I know how much I have left til the next check. I originally started with $100/month to savings but then some months I had $ left over in my Fun acct so the next month I transferred more. It wasn't all at once but its a habit now and we get excited to see how much we can put in savings. Sorry to write so much I just looked for advice all over the place about this and couldn't find much so I want to pass along anything I learned from my experience.
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Permalink Reply by Allie O'Bannon on
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Tara, I love your idea of a "bills checking" and a "fun checking". It really appealed to me because despite the fact that I am an unorganized creative mess of a person, I enjoy being able to pack everything up in a little box and call it a moment.
I think I might have to try that. Are both your checking accounts at the same bank? Did the bank give you any weirdness over opening to checking accounts? Or is that normal and I'm totally out of touch...?
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Permalink Reply by Sara Nipples on -
I do the same thing. I have a checkings and savings account at my main bank, and I also have a savings account at a completely separate smaller bank which is where I keep most of my savings. I chose a small bank because it's not open much, and it doesn't have any way to check your balance online. I knew that if I could see how much I had in there at all times, I would be much more likely to want to get it out and spend it.
At my job, we get paid for lunch so every two weeks I get a check for a couple hundred dollars, and it gets direct deposited into that savings account. After a few months, I forget how much is probably in there and when I go in to find out, it's always a nice surprise to see how fast you can save if you forget it's even there.
Hope that helped some!
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Permalink Reply by Brittany on
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What a great idea! And I appreciate any and all tips, so I don't feel like you wrote too much at all :). I have lived off of student loans for the past three years so we get one check in the beginning of the semester and have to somehow still have money at the end. I started putting it all into savings and transferring a set amount every month. Of course, the $ they gave us was never enough so I would end up transferring over and over. Since I'm already used to having more than one place with money it, this might really work for me. I'll have to think about it :).
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Permalink Reply by Tara on
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I actually work at a bank and we LOVE when customers have more than one account. Your bank could also help you set up online banking to monitor accounts and do online transfers or automatic transfers to your savings account.
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Permalink Reply by Starshard0 on -
I love being financially responsible. I don't have any debt. I enjoy saving, investing, budgeting all that stuff. I dedicate Tuesdays on my blog to writing about personal finance topics. My favorite PF blogs are Get Rich Slowly, The Simple Dollar, and Early Retirement Extreme.
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Permalink Reply by Danyelle on -
Once I get a new job I'll start budgeting. It sucks but is a necessary evil.
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Permalink Reply by Sandy on -
I use Mint.com to do all my tracking and budgeting. I feel like it's really made a difference. I'm not particularly good at remembering to track things. So it does it on its own. And then yells at me once I've gone over or ignored it. My old roommate recommended books by David Bach. And as a theater major, she said they were easy to understand. (I've not read them, so I can't speak to them myself.)
I think saving a bit is not only smart but it's necessary with this economy. You never know what is going to happen. If you can even just save a little each paycheck, it can really make a difference.
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