BASICS DISCUSSION 101

[Middlespace Brat]

So you are a person who wants to manage money. Great! You also want to include your little side, and/or budget to include littlespace things. Also great, check out my other post after this for some things on that specifically! Let's get started. 

Budgeting your money is incredibly important for everyone, little or not. But sometimes treaties can add up, or maybe you don't know where to start. 

BASICS:
Make a whole month of tracking exactly where your money goes and comes from. Then you can assess how much you have coming in vs going out. Is there a break even? A surplus, or are you short? Important things to know! Also, try not to be too judgmental. It's not to turn you into a Scrooge, it's just to be more aware, so cut yourself some slack and be graceful when you realize how much you ACTUALLY spend on stuffies. (That part may or may not also apply to me!)

So you know the basics. Now make a list! 
- list of all necessary bills (rent, utilities, car payment, any insurances, groceries, gas, etc)
- list of "unnecessary" things that you could possibly spare to go without, but make you more comfortable
- list of things you DEFINITELY want to spend less on (cough cough, every Squishmallow that you see?)

Now set a budget for each category. Cut out where you can, especially if you spend more than you make, you don't have a savings account, you have forgotten about or unused memberships/subscriptions, etc. 

THE FUN PART
Find a budget tracker however best works for you, but here are some starter ideas. 

1) use a budget binder and the cash envelope method. This is often discussed by Dave Ramsey (some love him, some hate him, but definitely check him out!). If you aren't sure what all this entails, there are some great videos on the subject on Youtube. But the REEEALLY short version-
-have an envelope for each category of your budget. Put the assigned amount in there, in cash, writing the category on the top
- use that money and ONLY that money for ONLY that category. Out of money in the envelope? Out of money for it! 
- try really hard not to borrow from other envelopes. you'll see why in a sec
- reach the end of the pay period. Asses how it went. Do you have left over? Did you forget about something important? 
-REBUDGET!! This is a great way to ACTUALLY see how much you spend on each category. Be kind if things didn't go as plan. Try again!

2) use a different bank account for each designated purpose. I wouldn't suggest this for beginners!!! I have been doing this a while so it works for me, but it may not for you!! And no I do NOT mean all credit cards. I have about 5 checking accounts with debit cards, each with a purpose and specific card. That way it's a cashless envelope sort of method. My five categories:
- savings for true emergencies
- temporary savings for bigger events or expenses coming up
- daily expenses like gas, groceries, etc
- monthly bills like rent, medicine, etc
- subscriptions (MINOR ONES) on a credit card with automatic payments to rebuild my credit
AGAIN, not for people who are just starting off!!!!!

3) use a good old fashioned-checks and balances book. Write down ALL expenses, all money going everywhere, and just keep a budget in mind. This is not my personal favorite, but I know a lot of people who are much wiser with money than me do this and they LOVE IT. 

There are some many more ways to budget and keep track of money, I just wanted something super cut and dry for absolute beginners to look at and be able to start researching! Even I'm not the best ever with money, and money can be a touchy subject, but I would love to hear other people's thoughts as well

Things to Research once you get into the groove:
- how much should I save per paycheck?
- savings challenges
- types of banks accounts
- types of credit cards
- saving for your future self

(((((((Are you a little and want little-specific themed budgeting things? I have another post on the topic in this section!!)))))))
 

[shadowrider]

I agree a budget seems like a pain in the bum but is helpful especially to those just getting out on their own or trying to. 

For those more into tech there are some good apps out there too. I use TimelyBills and it keeps track of what bills I have every month and the due dates and also keeps track of my monthly expenses. It will let you link up accounts and pay them through the app but I'm not a fan of having my phone connected to my finances so I skipped that part.

[hotmesshermit]

Ooo thank you for this topic section!

Edited May 1, 2024 by hotmesshermit
No daddy helping but I'll use this to start helping me

[RavenclawPrincess]

I started using the cash stuffing method several months ago and it's made a HUGE difference with my finances. Once I got my budget down I was able to progress to having a savings binder for my unspent weekly funds and I've done really well with that. Turns out that as someone that has always had trouble with budgeting/overspending, handling my money in a tangible way with everything physically separated in designated envelopes works so much better for me than just mindlessly swiping a card. The biggest difference is that I'm so much more mindful of my spending and doing savings challenges feels like a game, so I really enjoy it. I also get to use a nifty calculator that makes awesome clicky noises, which I also think is super fun. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get started either. The fun binders and envelopes with the fancy envelopes and labels are awesome, but you can also start out using regular envelopes in a shoebox for savings, or get divided coupon holders/photo albums from the dollar store until you save up for nicer supplies. My accounting sessions are one of the highlights of my week and I always look forward to it. Once I've saved up enough to make a decent sized deposit into my bank account, I usually pick out a prize that'll fit into my budget (without touching my deposit or previous savings) to reward myself for being diligent about budgeting/saving. 

 

I've also incorporated planning my week by writing daily journal pages with my to-do list, meal tracking, sleep tracking, and self care tracking as well as any random notes that I need to remember appointments (or just the date because I'm bad at that lol). I use the daily journal pages as a sticker chart and store it in my daily use cash binder and that goes a long way to keep me generally organized alongside being more responsible with finances, so that's super helpful too. There's some great options for paper/budget sheets/various accessories that go with different sizes of budget binders.