A new year, a new thing, new experiences, yada, yada, yada. Budgeting and/or getting your finances in order may be one of your New Years’ resolutions, and if it is, welcome. I’m continuing, but I do want to be more intentional about doing some things this year.
Let’s take a look at my paycheck budget for January.
A few things to note:
- I decided to move away from using actual cash envelopes for some of these categories (in part because I’m changing my planner lineup for 2019 and it won’t be as easy to carry). I also hate carrying cash. Not as much as I hate going to the grocery store, but it’s still more trouble than it’s worth oftentimes. I used actual cash for the past couple of weeks and ended up with two handfuls of change in my purse. That’s additional weight. Who needs that? Also, I make most of my purchases using debit cards that give me cash back monthly. May as well earn some money while I’m giving it away.
Disclaimer: If you need the discipline of actual cash and you’re a more normal person who doesn’t mind carrying cash, by all means, DO IT!
While I won’t be using actual cash for the most part, I plan to use the Fudget app on my phone to track my cash envelope balances each pay period. While trying to track each expense was a bit much for my overall budget, this is the kind of baby step I can get behind.
- More categories for the cash envelopes – these will probably change over time, so I changed my layout a bit to account for this.
- I’m not paying every bill in full, but this only applies to the bills which are due after the 15th. Every bill gets at least the minimum payment.
- Yes, I am a Falcons fan. A realistic fan, but a fan nonetheless. I want to save for season tickets.
- While I plan to limit myself and not get so out of control, it was silly to not have hobby as its own category when I obviously need to budget for it. Congratulations to me for not taking advantage of Erin Condren’s year-end sale which I had an additional 20% off coupon for. I applauded my restraint. Small win!
- My eating out and grocery envelopes are $100. It’s just me that I’m budgeting for, but we will see how it goes. I tend to eat out a lot, but I’m going to work on that. Seventh circle of hell and all that, but every journey begins with a single step. Was going for a record on how many clichés I could fit in a single sentence or paragraph. How’d I do? 😛
- The bills due on the 31stI moved to their proper place because this is the check from which they are paid.
- The $5 savings fee irks me to my core, but hopefully I will get past it after a while (read: have enough in savings to have the fee waived).
- I’ve got goals! For this month, if you look at the header picture, I’ve actually got three things I want to prep for and pay off. I’m hoping writing them down will help keep me focused.
How is your budget changing for the new year?