Ready for spring

SO, I am totally ready for spring. many exciting things coming up: my 25th birthday, trip to see my sis in Los Angeles, the Indy 500, weddings that I'm in, bachelorette parties, etc! Lots of fun things! Mostly, I'm sick of the snow and the cold and the pesky runny nose that I've had since November....and now my throat is hurting really BAD! ugh!! :(

Well, last night out of boredom and some excitement to plan something,anything (i love planning), I made a budget for the hubs and I. I never really made a budget that was very specific-just listed monthly income, monthly bills (too many), fun money, etc...well last night I decided to do what I've read is good advice.

You take 60% of your income and that if for your fixed expenses and food (so house/apartment payment, groceries, utilities, car payments, loans, insurance, etc) and then 40% goes something like this: 10% to paying off debt and then short-term savings when that is paid off, 10% to e-fund (which should be 3 or 6 months fully funded), 10% to retirement, and 10% for your fun money (going out, latte's, clothes, concert tickets, etc).

So, I did this last night and it works out pretty well!! Except I used the 10% retirement for the short-term savings because the hubs and I both have retirment accounts at work and would like to use the short-term savings for our vacations.

So, now we are ready to see the fruits of our labor! I have to say this is a great plan because before I did this (and I'm sure this is like most people), i spent way too much on random things here and there. I'd go shopping and buy whatever and not really budget. Now that the hubs and I have a fixed amount for our fun money, i will make sure i love whatever I use it on!!

Try it out with your finances and see if you like how it looks! It will also help you to see if you are paying too much in your house payment or car payments, and then you can scale back accordingly!