Comments on: How I Make a Budget! http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652 Tue, 22 May 2012 18:24:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: SophieW http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-27106 SophieW Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:07:03 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-27106 Crystal - you can do one of two things. Either make it it's own piece of the pie, or add it to the 'life' slice. If it was me I'd create a new piece by borrowing from the other pieces. So if it works out to 5 percent of your net pay then take 1 percent from each of the other pieces. I'd be reluctant to make it part of the 'life' piece because I know Gail would say that you have to have fun too! All the best and welcome to Gail's community :) Crystal – you can do one of two things. Either make it it’s own piece of the pie, or add it to the ‘life’ slice. If it was me I’d create a new piece by borrowing from the other pieces. So if it works out to 5 percent of your net pay then take 1 percent from each of the other pieces. I’d be reluctant to make it part of the ‘life’ piece because I know Gail would say that you have to have fun too!

All the best and welcome to Gail’s community :)

]]> By: Crystal http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-27096 Crystal Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:20:53 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-27096 Hi Gail, My husband and I have recently bought your book and are working on it together. Right now we are filling out the "Build a Budget That Works" interactive worksheet and we have a fixed expense of Spousal/child support. Where should we put this? Thankd for your help! C Hi Gail,
My husband and I have recently bought your book and are working on it together. Right now we are filling out the “Build a Budget That Works” interactive worksheet and we have a fixed expense of Spousal/child support. Where should we put this? Thankd for your help!
C

]]> By: How I Make a Budget! « gailvazoxlade.com | Jack's Money Saving Blog http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-12176 How I Make a Budget! « gailvazoxlade.com | Jack's Money Saving Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:20:00 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-12176 [...] post: How I Make a Budget! « gailvazoxlade.com Share and [...] [...] post: How I Make a Budget! « gailvazoxlade.com Share and [...]

]]> By: Louise james http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11878 Louise james Tue, 26 May 2009 17:10:52 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11878 Gail, I I absolutely LOVE your show. I have often wondered if you keep track of or go back to some of the people who have appeared on your show to see if they continued with your plan and whether they eventually were debt-free. Gail, I

I absolutely LOVE your show. I have often wondered if you keep track of or go back to some of the people who have appeared on your show to see if they continued with your plan and whether they eventually were debt-free.

]]> By: Toby http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11850 Toby Tue, 26 May 2009 03:35:06 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11850 I started living on Gail's budget in February and have found it easy to follow and for the first time I not only have an emergency fund (3 months expenses so far) but also a fund for home maintenance/repairs. Thank you Gail! It's no wonder that people get confused...just today on a Calgary TV breakfast show I watched a so-called "money expert" say that if you have debt you should be paying it off and NOT building an emergency fund or other savings until your debts are gone. HUH? Following advice is partly what got me into trouble over the years, because I was so worried about paying off our mortgage (which we almost have) and maxing out my RSP that I did not save for emergencies or home repairs. Then every time something happened we had to use credit to pay for it, only going further into debt. Thankfully now I have no consumer debt other than a car payment, but that was not the case for many, many years. I much prefer Gail's way of thinking....I might not have my house paid off as fast, but at least if something happens to me I won't have to go in to debt to save myself. Gail, you ROCK! I started living on Gail’s budget in February and have found it easy to follow and for the first time I not only have an emergency fund (3 months expenses so far) but also a fund for home maintenance/repairs. Thank you Gail!

It’s no wonder that people get confused…just today on a Calgary TV breakfast show I watched a so-called “money expert” say that if you have debt you should be paying it off and NOT building an emergency fund or other savings until your debts are gone. HUH?

Following advice is partly what got me into trouble over the years, because I was so worried about paying off our mortgage (which we almost have) and maxing out my RSP that I did not save for emergencies or home repairs. Then every time something happened we had to use credit to pay for it, only going further into debt. Thankfully now I have no consumer debt other than a car payment, but that was not the case for many, many years.

I much prefer Gail’s way of thinking….I might not have my house paid off as fast, but at least if something happens to me I won’t have to go in to debt to save myself. Gail, you ROCK!

]]> By: sandra http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11846 sandra Tue, 26 May 2009 00:58:02 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11846 pol i took out the school insurance which is very very cheap (40.00 per year per child) and when my daughter chipped her two front teeth on the bottom of the pool and the other one chipped her tooth on a teetertotter and then broke her leg ice skating they covered everything. Even gave us 100. for breaking her leg. Do you have this insurance?. When i spoke to the people involved with the school insurance she said only 25% of the people given these forms in september actually register with them. You should look into it in september. They cover your child as long as they are in school. Even in university. Great site Gail. Love the posts. :) pol i took out the school insurance which is very very cheap (40.00 per year per child) and when my daughter chipped her two front teeth on the bottom of the pool and the other one chipped her tooth on a teetertotter and then broke her leg ice skating they covered everything. Even gave us 100. for breaking her leg. Do you have this insurance?. When i spoke to the people involved with the school insurance she said only 25% of the people given these forms in september actually register with them.
You should look into it in september. They cover your child as long as they are in school. Even in university.
Great site Gail. Love the posts. :)

]]> By: Ann http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11845 Ann Tue, 26 May 2009 00:40:49 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11845 My current budget spreadsheet goes back to 1995. (The one going back to 1993 was corrupted and couldn't be salvaged.) I'm 29 now, so you do the math. Is it weird that I enjoyed playing with numbers since then? My current budget spreadsheet goes back to 1995. (The one going back to 1993 was corrupted and couldn’t be salvaged.) I’m 29 now, so you do the math. Is it weird that I enjoyed playing with numbers since then?

]]> By: MarieC http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11839 MarieC Mon, 25 May 2009 20:22:14 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11839 I stared using a budget in feb of this year. Because i didn't want to go through endless months of paperwork i joined quicken online. I downloaded three months of prior transactions for all my bank/ credit accounts. It tells you your average monthly amount spent per category and you can set spending limits. I am no longer using the program because i didn't really like it, but it was a great starting off point. Because i had realistic numbers to start with (instead of just random numbers in my head) i have been able to stick with it since february. That breaks the old record of about 2 weeks! Like some ppl from above i really do enjoy planning more that implementing. I stared using a budget in feb of this year. Because i didn’t want to go through endless months of paperwork i joined quicken online. I downloaded three months of prior transactions for all my bank/ credit accounts. It tells you your average monthly amount spent per category and you can set spending limits. I am no longer using the program because i didn’t really like it, but it was a great starting off point. Because i had realistic numbers to start with (instead of just random numbers in my head) i have been able to stick with it since february. That breaks the old record of about 2 weeks! Like some ppl from above i really do enjoy planning more that implementing.

]]> By: Emma http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11838 Emma Mon, 25 May 2009 20:21:39 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11838 I don't necessarily use a "budget" per se. I track my expenses, but have no hard/fast rules about spending this much money for this sort of thing. For me, it's less about a rule of what I can spend where, and more of a "this is how much you have for the month, divvy it up as needed". I have monthly goals, but because I track all my expenses and know where my money goes, I also realize what is realistic spending for me - I go out for a nice meal once a month, see a few movies, and take dance classes. Once a year, my boyfriend and I plan for a nice (but cheap!) vacation, but I use my "extra" pay for that, and put the rest of that into savings or loan. Not having dependents (neither child nor pet), a car, or a home to worry about though really changes my situation, since I don't have as many emergencies cropping up as other people do. My "budget" is more like "$200 for entertainment (eating out, movies, theatre, shows, etc), $50 for shopping, and $45 floating cash for medical/toiletries/transportation (outside of the metropass)/gifts". If there's anything left out of that (and normally there is), it will end up into my savings. I think my worst habit is going out for ice cream every few weeks, or bringing treats into the office! Some months I allocate a little less to my student loan (given that I'm putting around 36% of my take home pay against it every month) or a little less to my savings (at least 11% each month, usually more, since I don't spend all my money each month), depending on what expenses come up during the month. For example: I have my brother's wedding in a few months and suddenly, I have a bunch of expenses (like dress, shoes, wedding gift, shower gift, etc), and I've planned the spending into my each month that I'll need the money for - but that means taking a bit from my loan repayment amount. Given that my loan is still scheduled to be paid off by the end of 2010, I'm not concerned, and if I end up taking an extra month or two and go until January/February of 2011, it will still be just over three years from when I graduated to when I get it paid off. I don’t necessarily use a “budget” per se. I track my expenses, but have no hard/fast rules about spending this much money for this sort of thing. For me, it’s less about a rule of what I can spend where, and more of a “this is how much you have for the month, divvy it up as needed”.

I have monthly goals, but because I track all my expenses and know where my money goes, I also realize what is realistic spending for me – I go out for a nice meal once a month, see a few movies, and take dance classes. Once a year, my boyfriend and I plan for a nice (but cheap!) vacation, but I use my “extra” pay for that, and put the rest of that into savings or loan. Not having dependents (neither child nor pet), a car, or a home to worry about though really changes my situation, since I don’t have as many emergencies cropping up as other people do.

My “budget” is more like “$200 for entertainment (eating out, movies, theatre, shows, etc), $50 for shopping, and $45 floating cash for medical/toiletries/transportation (outside of the metropass)/gifts”. If there’s anything left out of that (and normally there is), it will end up into my savings. I think my worst habit is going out for ice cream every few weeks, or bringing treats into the office!

Some months I allocate a little less to my student loan (given that I’m putting around 36% of my take home pay against it every month) or a little less to my savings (at least 11% each month, usually more, since I don’t spend all my money each month), depending on what expenses come up during the month.

For example: I have my brother’s wedding in a few months and suddenly, I have a bunch of expenses (like dress, shoes, wedding gift, shower gift, etc), and I’ve planned the spending into my each month that I’ll need the money for – but that means taking a bit from my loan repayment amount. Given that my loan is still scheduled to be paid off by the end of 2010, I’m not concerned, and if I end up taking an extra month or two and go until January/February of 2011, it will still be just over three years from when I graduated to when I get it paid off.

]]> By: Michelle http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11836 Michelle Mon, 25 May 2009 19:45:09 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11836 After making the final loan pmt the beginning of May, I am happy to report this is the first month in YEARS that I have not gone into O/D! I used to wonder how I could fill up my jars for the upcoming month when I was busy trying to catch up from the previous month (always a month behind), but for June I've decided to take some good advice from others here and put a float on my PC credit card so I can still collect points AND not have to catch up next month for this months' groceries. I'm so excited about the road ahead...a small (very small) EF is growing by leaps and bounds the 3rd of every month, my RRSP is continuing to grow again, the kids RESPs are RESPectable (oh, they'll still have to work or take out some loans, but it won't kill them to learn to budget for repayment of things when it's their turn I'm sure...between Gail and me, we'll learn 'em good!), AND the debt is still being aggressively paid down. I've not felt so secure in a long time. I still have things to work on, like one of the other posters with her supplements, I too am a vitamin and herb junkie rather than a clothes horse I guess. But I'm learning not to go into a panic when I can see the back of my pantry (not that I can yet, but we ARE getting through cereals now before I go buy 5 more boxes just in case the sky falls tomorrow). After making the final loan pmt the beginning of May, I am happy to report this is the first month in YEARS that I have not gone into O/D! I used to wonder how I could fill up my jars for the upcoming month when I was busy trying to catch up from the previous month (always a month behind), but for June I’ve decided to take some good advice from others here and put a float on my PC credit card so I can still collect points AND not have to catch up next month for this months’ groceries.

I’m so excited about the road ahead…a small (very small) EF is growing by leaps and bounds the 3rd of every month, my RRSP is continuing to grow again, the kids RESPs are RESPectable (oh, they’ll still have to work or take out some loans, but it won’t kill them to learn to budget for repayment of things when it’s their turn I’m sure…between Gail and me, we’ll learn ‘em good!), AND the debt is still being aggressively paid down.

I’ve not felt so secure in a long time. I still have things to work on, like one of the other posters with her supplements, I too am a vitamin and herb junkie rather than a clothes horse I guess. But I’m learning not to go into a panic when I can see the back of my pantry (not that I can yet, but we ARE getting through cereals now before I go buy 5 more boxes just in case the sky falls tomorrow).

]]> By: winkwink http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11834 winkwink Mon, 25 May 2009 19:11:03 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11834 I think it's fair to research both what you *do* spend and what you *should* spend. When I started working on my budget (work in progress! I am more of a planner than an implementor) I used my bank account history and credit card history to piece together what I was generally spending my money on over the last 6 months. Then I researched how various people recommended you divide your money (%s) to get an idea of how I should be spending my money vs. how I was spending my money. Obviously, you need to prioritize based on your current situation and your goals, but I found it really helpful. I think it’s fair to research both what you *do* spend and what you *should* spend. When I started working on my budget (work in progress! I am more of a planner than an implementor) I used my bank account history and credit card history to piece together what I was generally spending my money on over the last 6 months. Then I researched how various people recommended you divide your money (%s) to get an idea of how I should be spending my money vs. how I was spending my money.

Obviously, you need to prioritize based on your current situation and your goals, but I found it really helpful.

]]> By: Jamie http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11832 Jamie Mon, 25 May 2009 19:07:46 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11832 I also find I have no problem writing up a budget, but following it, is a completely different thing. I've been trying to keep track of all my spending since the beginning of the year and some months I do great, other months, I completely blow it! Re-starting the jars June 1st and hopefully I can stick with the jars, the budget, and tracking. I will stick with it this time! I also find I have no problem writing up a budget, but following it, is a completely different thing. I’ve been trying to keep track of all my spending since the beginning of the year and some months I do great, other months, I completely blow it!

Re-starting the jars June 1st and hopefully I can stick with the jars, the budget, and tracking. I will stick with it this time!

]]> By: ioana http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11830 ioana Mon, 25 May 2009 18:25:06 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11830 *pol - ouch! hope you'll all be smiling again soon. *pol – ouch! hope you’ll all be smiling again soon.

]]> By: Jessie http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11829 Jessie Mon, 25 May 2009 18:15:32 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11829 Great re-cap post Gail on how you set up a budget. The sticking to it is always the hardest part for me - but it will come! Great re-cap post Gail on how you set up a budget.

The sticking to it is always the hardest part for me – but it will come!

]]> By: *pol http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/652/comment-page-1#comment-11828 *pol Mon, 25 May 2009 18:03:47 +0000 http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/?p=652#comment-11828 Crap DOES happen, very very expensive, ugly crap. I am so glad that I have been living with Gail as the money voice in my head for a while.... this weekend my 12 year old son had a little mishap on his bicycle. No broken bones, just completely smashed out front teeth.... They are his adult teeth, and the first thing the emergency ward doctor says to me is "this is going to be expensive". We don't have much dental coverage, and already there was the after-hours emergency dental surgery and it will be a week before we know how many teeth were killed when the bone broke. It is devestating to think his handsome smile is ruined. The dentist said he will certainly need (at least) one root canal and may need several prosthetics as he grows. $$$$$ Thanks to Gail's sage advice, we have an emergency fund saved up, this painful experience will not have to go on credit! Crap DOES happen, very very expensive, ugly crap.

I am so glad that I have been living with Gail as the money voice in my head for a while…. this weekend my 12 year old son had a little mishap on his bicycle. No broken bones, just completely smashed out front teeth…. They are his adult teeth, and the first thing the emergency ward doctor says to me is “this is going to be expensive”.
We don’t have much dental coverage, and already there was the after-hours emergency dental surgery and it will be a week before we know how many teeth were killed when the bone broke. It is devestating to think his handsome smile is ruined. The dentist said he will certainly need (at least) one root canal and may need several prosthetics as he grows.
$$$$$
Thanks to Gail’s sage advice, we have an emergency fund saved up, this painful experience will not have to go on credit!

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