January - June Expense Budget - 2010

[bbbamI]

So how are you doing on your budget the first half of this year?

I'm 2% below....not much, but at least I'm not over.

 

[NW-Bound]

I still don't have no stinkin' budget, which would not include expenses to fix the leaky roof anyhow...

 

[REWahoo]

I'm over 4% - but I've got some great excuses.

 

[bbbamI]

I'm over 4% - but I've got some great excuses.

That sounds like something my DH would say.

Ehhh...I don't like keeping an expense budget, however this way I'm not the bad cop...the spreadsheet speaks for itself.

 

[aaronc879]

My budget is $1250/mo. So Jan.-June would be $7500. My actual spending is $7409. That's 1.2% under budget. July is going to be about $900 so i'm improving. I recently figured out my budget for 2011. It'll be $12,000 for the year. With my mortgage paid off i'm confident i'll be under that.

 

[REWahoo]

You're saying you've only spent 20% of your budget?

 

[W2R]

I'm under, by a bit. If you just include living expenses, it looks pretty deceptively good (46% of my budgeted amount, or 62% if adjusted to compensate for the fact that property tax and insurance are paid in the last half of the year). But my Venza cost more than I had planned (well, obviously I saved much more but had not planned to spend this much on a vehicle), so if you divide that excess cost by 12 and add to my monthly expenses then 92%. However I have been engaged in some frivolous spending this month (the best kind!) and intend to spend some more so it's probably a little higher than that.

In other words, I'm not exactly sure but I'm still in safe territory. REWahoo tells me that underspending is normal for new retirees so I may spend more as time passes.

 

[simple girl]

$1650 over budget for Jan thru June. This is the first year I am recording everything (in prep for FIRE to see what our expenses TRULY are)...so we either will need to set our expenses higher or live a bit cheaper.

 

[Bikerdude]

Right to the penny.....so far.

 

[Moemg]

I had to go back and check mine again because I could not believe how below my budget I am . I have spent less than 1% . We went on a cruise . I visited my daughter and spent like crazy on my grandson . We have done lots of upgrades to the house and I have done my usual shopping for gifts ,clothes ,etc.. and I am still way below budget .

 

[REWahoo]

I had to go back and check mine again because I could not believe how below my budget I am . I have spent less than 1% . We went on a cruise . I visited my daughter and spent like crazy on my grandson . We have done lots of upgrades to the house and I have done my usual shopping for gifts ,clothes ,etc.. and I am still way below budget .

This leads me to believe you did a lousy job of budgeting. Congratulations.

 

[NW-Bound]

I had to go back and check mine again because I could not believe how below my budget I am . I have spent less than 1%... I am still way below budget...

Oh man, less than 1%. I couldn't believe it either. Do you need help?

 

[Moemg]

Oh man, less than 1%. I couldn't believe it either. Do you need help?

Me either , I checked twice . This is my budget from my investments . I also have a medium sized pension and SS benefits so my investments are the icing on the cake and I am way below budget . My intial yearly investment budget was 60,000 and I spent under $ 5,000

 

[SecondCor521]

Mr. Q says $28,629.61, which is just about what I thought it would be. Of that amount, $21,379.67 is taxes, kid stuff, and interest payments.

2Cor521

 

[NW-Bound]

Thanks for the clarification. So, you have SS + pension on top of the $60K. You are one rich lady! Of course you can't spend it all.

 

[Moemg]

Thanks for the clarification. So, you have SS + pension on top of the $60K. You are one rich lady! Of course you can't spend it all.

But I enjoy trying !

 

[kramer]

So how are you doing on your budget the first half of this year?

I'm 2% below....not much, but at least I'm not over.

I am surprised that I am spending less than 2% of my stash on an annual basis and I have lived in 3 countries during that time. And this is including a fund for gifts, computers, taxes, etc., and all travel costs, basically 100% of all long term expenses. I feel blessed I may start spending more. But it is not easy to loosen up when you are only mid-40s, no pension, and live only off assets.

Kramer

 

[bizlady]

9% under-- a good thing since we are still "test budgeting" this year in anticipation of April 2011 retirement.

DH had a major medical event that laid him up for 2 months- so he could not spend-which helped. But related medical bills likely offset that and we still are under budget- so I guess it is so far so good! Tested last year too with essentially the same dollars, and ended the year under budget, so feeling the budget will be realistic for us going forward. 8 months and counting....

 

[youbet]

I'm exactly on my "revised budget." I mean right to the penny.

Doing the revision was easy. Tracking expenditures so that I knew what to revise it to was the tough part.

 

[bbbamI]

I think I've revised our budget at least four times this year. I haven't added any money, but I've pulled from one area and shoved it in another. I think I'll be pullin' and shovin' until the day I croak.

Life happens....

 

[rescueme]

I'm exactly on my "revised budget." I mean right to the penny.

Doing the revision was easy. Tracking expenditures so that I knew what to revise it to was the tough part.

I am on target with no variance; however like you, I do adjust on a monthly basis, as needed.

Revisions are simple for me. I simply take my budget worksheet, run a report on Quicken for the period, and match my forecast vs. actual.

I just open a new sheet on Excel every year, copy the prior period sheet, and update as needed. That way I can calculate (to the penny), my "personal rate of inflation", year over year.

That's the advantage for me, since I do have a quite anal personality when it comes to "money stuff" ...

 

[Dawg52]

I haven't added any money, but I've pulled from one area and shoved it in another. I think I'll be pullin' and shovin' until the day I croak.

Life happens....

Former gov't employee I see.

I left my budgeting skills behind when I retired. Flying by the seat of my pants now....................

 

[VaCollector]

I left my budgeting skills behind when I retired. Flying by the seat of my pants now....................

I like the way you think....ditto here....for 3 years now.....

"Budget.....I don't need no stinkin' budget!" ......well....at least not yet....

 

[MichaelB]

I track our expenses the same way wall street analysts track corporate profits - based on the most recent guidance and excluding extraordinary items. So, by that measure, we're ahead of plan and the future looks great.

 

[ERD50]

I still don't have no stinkin' budget, ...

+1

No budget here, haven't even updated my NW spreadsheet this year. But the cash balance in the checking account/MM is growing, even though I have a fixed amount transfered in each month, and I have not changed that since I set it up ~ 2004.

Some of the excess is going to be worked off to replace our 18 yo stove and fridge, and granite to replace the 18 yo formica. But we won't need to cut anywhere to do that, its just a build of of cash from spending less than monthly deposits for a while.

BTW, I don't think the granite is such a 'luxury' as it may seem - My FIL and I did the existing formica, and materials for that are cheap, but I designed the kitchen layout with a big peninsula and some odd angles and curves, so there is a lot of labor and a lot of edging. With granite, that is really no big deal - they just program the saw to cut the slab and bevel the edge. No charge for the standard bevels, so really no extra labor hit for all this fancy stuff. I didn't price out formica, but I bet it would be pretty high to get the edging we would want to come close to granite in finished look, and it still wouldn't.

-ERD50