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Old 09-05-2009, 08:32 AM   #41
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I have both tracking of expenditures and a budget. Tracking is now in Moneydance but used to be in Quicken. I never liked the budgeting portion of Quicken and found it less than useful except for finding out what I was spending on a particular category. The budget is in an excel spreadsheet. I started the detailed budget about 5 years ago. Once I got it in good shape, I started projecting out about 5 years. By doing this, I get a good grip on my projected spending with my retirement income folded in. This exercise gives me a lot of confidence that my retirement will work for me.

Over the last 3 years or so, I've tweaked the budget spreadsheet with each change so it is up to date and still shows me that my plans will work. For me, the rewards are well worth the trouble, which isn't much anymore.
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Old 09-05-2009, 08:44 AM   #42
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Never tracked expenses or set up a budget. Saving on a monthly basis is on automatic and any bonuses/windfalls are tossed into the taxable account, with perhaps 5% skimmed off the top. Other than that, outgo has to be equal or below the remaining income or there had beter be a good reason (or at least a conscious decision).

When I get within a few years of FIRE I will invest the time to track expenses closely for a few years, but don't have the time or inclination right now.

Also never balanced my checkbook in my entire life...
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Old 09-05-2009, 01:17 PM   #43
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I'm a like Tesaje, I track expenses uses Mint.com but set a budget at the start of each year. I start by taking off my savinsg first. Then I have a group of non-discretionary expenses (some fixed, like mortgage, or an allocation for irregular expenses, like insurance or prop taxes). Finally I start with the discretionary expenses. I include any major purchases (like computers or TVs) that I plan to make that year. I also have a "wish list" of stuff, that, if I get a windfall or end of underspending in an area, that I can go ahead and buy. Also, if I have to make a large unplanned expense, than usually one of the major purchases will have to get pushed off. For example, last year I had planned to buy a new laptop, but my old 27" TV died on me, so I bought a new flat screen TV instead and deferred the laptop purchase to this year.

This is why I do the annual budget...to make sure I'm thinking about the major purchases as well as the day-to-day expenses, which at this point I have dialed in enough that I probably wouldn't need to budget just to control those...
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Old 09-05-2009, 06:50 PM   #44
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Never tracked expenses or set up a budget. Saving on a monthly basis is on automatic and any bonuses/windfalls are tossed into the taxable account, with perhaps 5% skimmed off the top. Other than that, outgo has to be equal or below the remaining income or there had beter be a good reason (or at least a conscious decision).

When I get within a few years of FIRE I will invest the time to track expenses closely for a few years, but don't have the time or inclination right now.

Also never balanced my checkbook in my entire life...
This is exactly the path I followed. Started tracking/budgeting once I retired and have continued since.
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Old 09-05-2009, 06:56 PM   #45
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I started tracking expenses ~3 years prior to retiring. Used that as a base for a budget in retirement and continue to budget and track. Excel spreadsheet with 30+ categories.
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Old 09-05-2009, 07:07 PM   #46
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I've never kept a budget but I do track expenses after the fact (44 categories here)
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Old 09-05-2009, 07:49 PM   #47
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Uh oh, just looked at my budget. The funds left in the booze category are getting slim.
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Old 09-05-2009, 07:51 PM   #48
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We have a weekly budget that is reevaluated quarterly. 25-35 categories most on a spreadsheet on auto pilot the remainder is cash in envelopes. I can get DW to confess her status between monthly and quarterly. Bonuses typically have 66-33% to savings and we debate spending for the rest. Fairly common that we run a deficit and the bonus discretionary is used to clean that up before we consume.
Fortunately our income leaves a lot of room for errors. Despite the borderline execution I think we would be saving $10-20,000 a year less if we didn't use the budget.
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Old 09-05-2009, 08:09 PM   #49
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Uh oh, just looked at my budget. The funds left in the booze category are getting slim.
Time to start homebrewing.
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Old 09-05-2009, 08:37 PM   #50
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Time to start homebrewing.
Now that is a hobby I could get into....
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Old 09-06-2009, 06:32 PM   #51
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We're natural LBYMers, so there's no need to use a budget to keep expenses down.

However, I think I understand the OP. It might have been good to have a "fun account" as a way of getting expenses UP.

We do track expenses retrospectively. I used that history to make myself comfortable about committing to a new house, college tuition for the kids, and picking a retirement date.
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Old 09-06-2009, 07:13 PM   #52
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I haven't budgeted or tracked expenses. Too effin' lazy. In fact, after reading this forum, I purchased quicken to buckle down and start at least tracking expenses. That was about 6 months ago. At least I installed it....maybe I'll get to the next step after Xmas

Sad thing is, I would bet at least $10 (or that BYU will win over OU), we would be better off/further along in our goals if I/we had tracked expenses. The 'going out to eat expense' has got to be in the 5 figure range (yearly). Maybe I am too afraid to track expenses
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Old 09-07-2009, 03:45 AM   #53
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....maybe I'll get to the next step after Xmas

New Year is a good time to start, actually!
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Old 09-07-2009, 10:38 AM   #54
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The 'going out to eat expense' has got to be in the 5 figure range (yearly).
I do not believe that my entire food expenditure get up to this amount each year. But, everyone needs a hobby...
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Old 09-07-2009, 12:09 PM   #55
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I do not believe that my entire food expenditure get up to this amount each year. But, everyone needs a hobby...
Well you should see my belly. My hobby should be reducing it, then I won't get mistaken for two people.
Plus the damn kids eat a lot, they've graduated from the kids menu. Part of being to effin' lazy and obese is the not making meals at home but going out to eat. Now I have a few New Year resolutions to work on.
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Old 09-08-2009, 11:25 AM   #56
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I don't keep a budget, but I have all of my saving done automatically, so I basically know I can spend whatever I have left. And my savings gets split into a few accounts - one I can "never" touch (until retirement); one that is for big ticket things like cars, vacations, home improvement; and one that acts like an emergency fund.

I know how much I generally have available after all the $ are saved and bills are paid, so I know how much I can spend on "other" things. I usually try to have fewer "other" things in the month or two before a vacation or if I have a specific project I want the money for, but other than that, as long as I am saving at my goal rate, then I don't worry about it.
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Old 09-08-2009, 02:08 PM   #57
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Yes, and I rule it with an iron fist.
A basic template (Excel spreadsheet) that morphed into a customized list of expenses, coupled with cash inflows/outflows that were w*rked into bottom line calculations. Budget contains line items for actual and projected expenses (usually house or auto maintenance and seasonal lawn care). Amounts are entered either as a monthly or annual basis with corresponding formulas.
It is very easy to maintain when a bill increases.
Another column auto-calculates the percent diference between actual & projected spending so we can "slosh" money between categories without breaking the bank.
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Old 09-08-2009, 02:12 PM   #58
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I've been doing some "sloshing" lately. Peter and Paul come to mind...
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Old 09-08-2009, 02:26 PM   #59
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I track expenses far better than I keep a budget. In reality, the budget is just a reflection of the expenditures. I have found that the amount spent jumps up and down every month and really depends on wheteher we are traveling or not. I find it really tough to amortize large spending over a 12 month period when it's all spent in one month. I know in my mind that it's proper accounting, but the reality in my bank account is that I'm way over one month and then way under the next. I think I'll have more control when I'm retired, but right now we spend it and save it as fast as it comes in. The only thing I rigorously follow is the share that goes to savings, 20% off the top before taxes and I never see it, so I can't spend it.
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Old 09-08-2009, 04:16 PM   #60
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... I find it really tough to amortize large spending over a 12 month period when it's all spent in one month. I know in my mind that it's proper accounting, but the reality in my bank account is that I'm way over one month and then way under the next...
For my budget, instead of trying to account for when certain months are either way under or way over, I just take the average expense for the year of each category knowing that some months will be off.

I know I won't be exact each month, but the budget still allows me to see that by years end, I haven't gone over what I've planned on spending for the year.

For the expenses that aren't paid monthly, as long as I stick to the budget, there's enough to cover the expenses because I go under budget for those months until those irregular payments are due.
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