Now that my husband is settled into his new job, it’s time to get serious about making a decent budget. Since we haven’t seen the exact figures of his take-home-pay yet, it’s hard to make a good budget right now. We can start by tracking our expenses, though.
I know I’ve tried this twice before and failed miserably. I’m confident that I’ll do better this time, though. I’ve Paid For This Twice Already told me about PearBudget, and it looks like a really simple tool for tracking expenses. I’ve played with it a little already, and it was really easy to set up. And best of all, it’s free! You can’t get more frugal than that!
My other challenge to myself this week is to update my checkbook every day. Spending two minutes a day on it is a lot easier than waiting a week and having to figure out what I spent $50 on at Target.
Between not eating out, tracking my spending, and updating my checkbook every day, I have enough frugal challenges to keep myself busy for a while!
What are you going to do this week to live more frugally?
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September 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 am
Yay PearBudget!
Hmm…. what am I going to do… well, I’m going to try to not have to dip into the emergency fund to cover the gap til payday. If I manage to do that, it’ll mean I lived frugally since there isn’t a penny to spare! lol
Good luck!!
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:08 pm
You can do it! And so can I! lol
September 4th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I am not the penny by penny type of budgeter and find I do much better with general funds (I know this is anti personal finance, but it works for me). This doesn’t work when you are on a tight budget, but works great when you have an income that meets your needs.
September 4th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I live for the day when I don’t have to be a penny by penny type of budgeter! There’s nothing wrong with general funds, as long as you are still able to live within your jeans.