Electronic Transfers

JPB my friend....I've relied on the envelope system too...still do....sometimes I think people just think it's not sophisticated enough, or not cool or something.

When my step daughter was going to get married, I definately used that "Wedding" envelope to put aside as much as I could to avoid sticker shock.
That's the same premise as my sacred shoebox.

I too did the "going somewhere with airconditioning" thing too. Also, the "the fruit's on special because it's overripe, guess we're having bananas for dinner" thing.

so how much per year. 100 200 500?

Printer ink should be tax deductable as an expense incurred in earning your income. If not use the schools printer.

On gas. gas is a minor expense. Tyres, servicing, insurance, and registration are major expenses. Look up your motoring association web site and find out how much per mile it costs to run a vehical of your size.

My vehical costs me around 50 cents per kilometer. I travell around 20,000 km per year. yep $10,000 per year.

Get reciepts for EVERYTHING you spend cash on and record this. its ok to have a column labeled discretionary spending but it is last in line after you have allowed a weekly amount for everything else.

The Ten Basic Rules of Money Management

1. Plan-Plan for the future, major purchases, and periodic expenses

2. Set Financial Goals-Determine short,-, mid-, and long-range financial goals.

3. Know Your Financial Situation-Determine monthly living expenses, periodic expenses, and monthly debt payments. Compare outgo to monthly net income. Be aware of your total indebtedness.

4. Develop a Realistic Spending Plan-Follow your plan as closely as possible. Evaluate your plan regularly. Compare actual expenses with budgeted expenses and make adjustments.

5. Don't Allow Expenses to Exceed Income-Avoid paying only the minimum on your credit cards.

6. Save-Save for periodic expenses, such as car and home maintenance. Save 5 to 10% of your net income. Accumulate 6 months to 1 year of your expenses in a reserve fund.

7. Pay Your Bills on Time-Maintain a good credit rating. If you are unable to pay your bills as agreed, contact your creditors and explain your situation. Get professional help from a Credit Advisor to explore options for getting back on track.

8. Distinguish the Difference between Wants & Needs-Take care of your needs first. Money should be spent for wants only after needs have been met.

9. Use Credit Wisely-Use credit for safety, convenience and planned purchases. Determine the total you can comfortably afford to purchase on credit. Don't allow your credit payments to exceed 20% of your net income. Never borrow from one creditor to pay another.

10. Keep a record of Daily Expenditures-Be aware of where your money is going. Use a spending diary to assist you in identifying areas where adjustments can be made.

I really should try the envelop or shoebox idea for the car insurance. And, maybe the winter gas bills.

Can you put your winter gas bills on the budget plan? Spreading the cost of winter heating over the course of the year rather than just during the cold months could give you some financial flexibility.

I don't use physical envelopes, but my Credit Union "Christmas Club" account goes for insurances and the "Vacation Club" is really "School Taxes".

As for the Sacred Shoe Box--a certain amount of friviolty is a necessity and you budget for necessities.

By all means, lobby vigorously for a petty cash drawer. You love those kids, but you're not in a financial position to be Auntie Moneybags.

I think everyone thinks the petty cash is a good idea. But, sometimes (or often times) good ideas are hard to maintain.

So, last night I spent 42 dollars and found 40. I split the found cash with Dasha. So, we ate at a great Chinese restaurant for lunch today - 10 bucks each before the tip.

That leaves $5.00 for the SS!!!

What'd ya have for lunch? (I love lunch)
The $42, was that for the play you were mentioning? Did you have fun?

You know littlek, you inspired me.
The entire house got disorganized over the last week because we were moving things around, doing some repairs. So, I'm spending the day putting everything back. As I opened some drawers, I realized there were some CDs in there I've never liked. In the past I would just leave them there. Instead I realized there's probably a bunch of other stuff I don't need/want. Jeez, I've found all kinds of weird stuff, perfectly good, that were useful at one point, but no more. I smell yardsale or craigslist.

My financial mess inspired you to clean your drawers? How?

The play was wonderful. We have some video clips. Oddly enough, we did pay for parking. That's never happened before.

Chai, I am on my last bra. And it is falling apart. I need to be spending that money on a bra. Or groceries.

The lunch place is in the Buddhist Cultural Center of Greater Boston (or something similar in title). So, the food is simple, healthy and vegetarian. It's also very cheap. The menu is also simple. The special comes with a bowl of soup which is always simple. Today's was a clear broth with a root crop (Dasha knows the name of it) and carrot cubes. The special itself is a heap of brown rice with 4 separate dishes arranged around it. The dishes were: perfectly steamed broccoli, curried potatoes, tofu and vegie mix, and tofu sheets stuffed with mushrooms and chives (guessing on the chives - it was something green). And a bubble tea.

no...not the cleaning of drawers....the yard sale to cash in on stuff I don't want/need anymore.

What's bubble tea? I'm so out of the loop.

Bubble tea is served cold or hot (usually, I think, cold). Basically it's tea (or flavored tea or flavored milky liquid without tea). The bubbles are little rubbery/jelly-ish starch-based balls often cooked in sugar water. The drink is served with a fat straw so you can suck up the bubbles (also called tapioca tea or pearl tea).

Awk - hard to explain. Here's a link: http://www.bubbletea.com/

Kolrabi

Ah, yes, kolrabi is that rootcrop - like daikon, but maybe more mild.

Kohlrabi - German: Kohl ("cabbage") plus Rabi ("turnip") :wink:

Bubble Tea....you kids today...

We do the online banking and it can take several days for some transactions to appear, even when it occurs during the week. Using the debit card at the gas pump seems to take the longest to post for some reason. And, sometimes it can take 3-5 days to be posted with no real connection as to whether it was paid using the same card as a credit or debit card. I think it has to do with the time it takes for the merchant to report.

Bear did the "We have $XXX in the bank" thing to me for years, forgetting that he has not deducted the gas, groceries, or whatever else from the account that was done that day and does not appear on the banks online accounting yet.

We also use Quicken. If our bank does it, BoA probably does,too. I simply download all transactions from the online banking site to the Quicken program and from that I can catagorize each transaction, click on reports and get a complete look at what has been spent on each category. (groceries, gas, clothing, kids lunches, insurance, housing, electric, dining out,etc.) I can also ask it to sub-total by month, quarter or year to see what I should budget for each item based on actual money spent. The Quicken proram is about $29, but well worth knowing where funds are going and determining a budget based on your individual spending habits.

The hardest part, and believe me we have been there, is feeling like you are having to deny yourself a simple pleasure like a Friday night drink, ESPECIALLY when you are working two jobs. Geesh! That sucks, big time, IMO. What's the purpose of working so hard if there is no pleasure in life to show for it?

One of the Rich Dad authors has said to pay yourself first. Put "$5 in the shoebox" (or savings account or envelope, or whatever you use) EVERY paycheck. Consider yourself a bill that has to be paid first or something aweful will happen, just as if you would get evicted for not paying your rent or have the lights shut off for not paying the electric company.

Look at your budget and determine how much you think you could put in the shoebox. Now double it, put that amount in as soon as you get your check, and forget about it. You won't miss it. I promise. Cross my heart. Consider it a tax, a bill, a requirement of some sort. Everything else should already be budgeted, including clothing and entertainment, so the shoebox fund is for savings. You'll be amazed how quickly it grows. You'll be amazed how after a couple of months you start challenging yourself to do a little more so it grows a little faster. You'll start thinking, yeah, I paid for the kids hot chocolate and that money is already gone, so when the reimbursement comes I'll just stick it in the shoebox.

After a couple of really bad incidents with autopays, we no longer do those. Health insurance deducted for several months (+$1000 each time) AFTER we had cancelled it. Took nearly six months to fix. But, I know some places of employment make auto deposit a requirement and some businesses make auto pay (insurance) a requirement, so it isn't always easy to get away from those.

Neh, it's not that new. Tapioca tea has been around since the eighties. It might be a newish fad thing in America, i've no idea. Never cared for what's popular or not. I only know that i loved the tapioca tea from the first time i tried it. Nothing like milky almond tea with tapioca pearls!



and the Kohlrabi (aka Kalerab in Slovak)

sorry, that was an educational detour.

As far as Quicken goes, we have a copy at the office, i could bring it home. for me it's too detailed, i can't be bothered to spend much time accounting my finances. i prefer if i mess up every now and then.

What's that expression about every journey starting with a single step?

Oh yeah....Every journey starts with a single step.

The thing is, that first step is the hardest, since you are that "body at rest tends to stay at rest". After you do actually move beyond that thinking about it stage, and actually put that $5 in the shoebox, it gets easier, because "a body in motion tends to stay in motion".

Ok, not being judgemental at all, really and truly, I do have a few questions. These questions are ones I would ask my best friend if she was with me right now. It's not so littlek feels she has to defend herself, maybe so she can ask herself these things. Right upfront, this is not meant to be taken as trying to keep the joy out of someones life. It's just that some pieces aren't fitting together for me, as far as goals and thought processes. I guess I'm just playing armchair pychologist here.

You said previously that you don't put $5 aside (forget the amount, I'm just going to say $5) because something comes up that you have to pay, I'm assuming like a necessary bill.

You plan on spending 40ish to go to a play, have a good time, since you seldom do this, and by God, that's just what you did.

You find $40 and keep $20.....spend less than $10, plus tip (let's say $11), so you're left with $9.....but you need a new bra, which BTW, I'd like to know where you can buy a bra for $9.00.

Basically, you're in either the same or worse shape than before you found that $40.00.

How? You're going to go out and buy a cheap bra, that'll be more than $9, and won't have anything if a bill comes up. That $9 bra is gonna itch and pull and be all uncomfortable.

or...you could have had $20 for emergencies...or a decsent bra.
You'd just had a splurge, why and immediate 2nd one?

I'll admit, I'm a real homebody. I really prefer being in my home than running around. The manageable debt I have to 95% for things I got to make my home more comfortable and beautiful. That's because I lived in a really uncomfortable, hideous home before.

I'm always trying to understand why people make the choices they do.

Chai wrote


Hey, it's flushd. Problems with my account so I'm a pancake for now.

No idea about the transfers, little k.

Just wanted to comment on what Chai said. Making a few little changes that she has mentioned changed my life so much. Not to be overly dramatic at all. It's true. From broke as a joke to having a good chunk set aside, plus enough for large purchases and more throw around cash then before.
I was scared of finances and now get a kick out of Chai's missionary zeal. Would love to hear more hints(maybe in a diff thread?).

It's not easy. You will do it though.

The shoebox. I use a pail. Yes, a pail. Whatever works.

Instead of allotting the money I knew or thought was coming, paycheck to paycheck and such, I started to look at as 'what do I need so I can get what I want?' first.

Makes a huge difference. Almost sick the difference.

I think it's because it forces a person to make the touch choices about what they care about. Not always easy at all.

I'm glad to hear your crunch has some relief in sight. And finding 40 bucks is a bonus!

mushypancakes...

Hey mushypancakes! <heehee>

Chai, 9 bucks can't buy a bra or much in the way of groceries. I didn't say it was going to. I said I had to buy those things. That 9 bucks,m plus the 50 I have in my bank account will get me through (prolly no bra this week) until the big start-of-month pay day.

I will try to set aside cash for very specific things. I'll try to do this for the car insurance and winter bills.