hey, when you find out, can you teach me LOL?

we try to budget but there are just so many things that come up unexpectedly. We try and just put a bit away each week for a rainy day when we can.

I have a little box divided up into sections. I have a hole for regular bills, savings and extras. I place money in each hole every pay day. Excellent idea

We get paid fortnightly and I do monthly budget made up of the two fortnights to cover things due at the beginning of the month and end of month. I try to advance direct deposit for the electricity and rates so no nasty bills, and pay insurances fortnight!y or monthly rather than yearly. I’ve found online shopping helps me stick to a budget too.

I budget for the necessities such as rent, food, electricity etc. then I see what’s left in the budget, or how we can tweak it for other things such as clothes. I priorities what needs to come first.

great idea, we have a comfortable income, but like anything you spend what you get, we actually pay ourselves first, so our own spending money is allocated first, then housing costs, we own our home, so we have rates, water esl, etc, then I automatically transfer an amount to cover our bills to another account, I also have a goal saver acct that I put money in every fortnight, this I have only had to touch once in 12 mnths and it is my special savings acct in case something goes wrong, I have a list of all our bills and keep a book with what bills I have paid amount and date, it is a good reference to see what is coming up, I also budget for everything including donations. we put aside a set amount, I think it is important to make sure that you do not feel deprived but empowered that you are covering your bills with ease. good luck, remember it takes time, and you will constantly find things to add to the list as it takes time to remember everything we spend money on.

i only can wish i could budget and more importantly, stick to it

I allow up to $250 for each person for clothing, and $1,000 for presents. But these are the spaces that I try to find benefits in by shopping in op shops, and winning prizes to use as gifts as much as possible. So I often dont spend what I budget.

Budget for everything and also have a small ‘blowout’ budget for unexpected things.

If you have children school age you need to budget for uniforms (buy them a size big – they won’t take long to grow into them before they grow out of them. check witrh the school, They may have some second hand ones), shoes – regulation uniform shoes are not cheap. Don’t put your children in shoes that another child has worn as they may alter your child’s feet and cause damage. Each person “wears” down parts of their shoes differently. Make sure they fit correctly and they don’t continue to wear once their feet touch the end of their shoes as they become cramped and may force the toes to bend as happened to one of mine. School fees unless they have a fixed charge usually go up each year. You can get school socks easily enough unless it is a private school and they have special ones. If they have plain shirts/blouses you can buy them cheaper at places such as BigW. Uniform coloured track pants you can usually buy at Target, Kmart or BigW Unfortunately sports shirts and shorts sometimes have school monograms on then which is what makes them so expensive.

in order to write budget you need to know what you are spending on different things at the moment. i.e. bills, food, petrol, educational needs, parties and gifts etc. etc
then it is helpful sometimes to plan month by month to allocate money for different things like times of years with lots of birthday parties to attend can be expensive and then other months when not much is going on it is better and these are the months to try really hard to save for the more expensive months etc.

hi, have you like the suggestions here? you can probably also find a budgeting app for your phone that might be helpful to you

i keep a record to see where my money goes each month, you would be amazed where it goes. I keep presents to a minimum of only $20 , you will be amazed on what u can buy with only $20 , think out side the box. Cut out unnecessary things like the coffee on the way to work, why not buy a nicer coffee or put the money in the tin and buy a new coffee machine and take away cups. there are heaps of ways to save around the place , sit down and make a list on where you can save . Good luck

Keep a record of your spending for a month & see where your money is going. Then draw up a budget. Budget for essentials first like powers and water and phone, etc and then I usually budget for kids clothes, kids entertainment, takeaway, etc

We do budget for as much as we can . For items such as gifts we just do an estimate based on the previous year.

yeah i try and be organized and keep a record of all the spending. i love to budget and save money. my big contribution is cutting the price of our food bill. i won’t go crazy but i do try to plan healthy and affordable meals. i am still getting budget tips and they are handy. shop wisely and then soon enough you will be able to go shop free for a week or two and will save heaps there. work out your biggest spends and see how you can cut costs

We don’t have a budget as such but we have a list of all the presents we need to buy & try & shop during the year or when specials are on.
I’ve heard a good way to start budgeting is to write down literally everything you spend money on for a whole month (not including mortgage & bills) and work out what you can & can’t forgo, maybe set yourself a goal of cutting each thing by half, so if you spend $50 a week buying lunch ($10 a day) try & take your lunch from home 2 or 3 of the days, or cut back on coffees etc? Good Luck! I know it’s not easy!