Layout:
Home > New budget, first payday

New budget, first payday

January 27th, 2011 at 07:04 pm

Today was the first payday that we had while on our new budget. You are probably thinking this is no big deal, but this is the first time that the end of month/beginning of month pay period has not made me panic. Let me explain. Traditionally, the paycheck that comes at the end of the month or near the beginning of the next month goes to pay the mortgage, due on the 1st of the month. DH gets paid every 2 weeks, so this means that we only have the portion of the check NOT dedicated to the mortgage left to live on, so we go into "crisis mode", only spending money on things that are ABSOLUTELY necessary. The funny thing is, after doing this every month for over 2 years we are getting pretty good at it. We have managed to make it 2 weeks on less than $200 for a family of 4! However, now that I am using YNAB and giving every dollar a job before it is spent, I know exactly how much we have to make it through until the next payday and what it will need to be spent ON. Luckily, very few of our bills are due during this time period, so we just need to pay for food, gas and other items needed to live our lives. I also know exactly where the NEXT paycheck is going and that is a wonderful feeling as well.

I feel a sense of peace for the first time in a very long time. And I hope DH never gives me that mean look he tends to send my direction when I had to tell him to only put $10 worth of gas in the truck again.

2 Responses to “New budget, first payday”

  1. North Georgia Gal Says:
    1296157025

    It is a great feeling to have everything planned out. I have a tentative budget for a month in advance and then I tweak it throughout the month. But not a payday comes that I am not prepared for and know where everything is going. Eventually you will be able to alot enough to gas so that you can fill up each time. That is my measure of success on a budget, I no longer have to just get enough to get by, I can fill up everytime because I allotted enough for it. Keep up the good work and you will get there!

  2. Savings Queen Says:
    1296168775

    Congrats to you! I know JUST what you mean as this is our second paycheck since I started my SPENDING PLAN January 1. My DH got paid today and I get paid tomorrow and we have lots of money left in the checking account. I am budgeting through MINT.COM though and I need to not spend the excess in the checking account, I need to let it ride as our budget contains items like clothing and vacation fund for items we don't spend on every month. I need to leave the money in there so it can roll over for our use in the future in those areas. It feels great, doesn't it??

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]