Comments on: Five Steps to Making the Nuts and Bolts of Your New Budget Work

By: Trudi

Trudi — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:03:00 +0000

I must say I agree with you Jessica, learning to live off one income is definately the way to obtain financial freedom! Rememeber, one person could loose their job, becom ill etc what would happen then if you are only used to living on two incomes.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:34:59 +0000

Nice post! The key to a marital budget is good communication . . .

By: Carnival of Personal Finance: The House of Rose Edition

Carnival of Personal Finance: The House of Rose Edition — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:20:03 +0000

[...] from Being Frugal presents Five Steps To Making Your Budget Work, and says, “You have taken the plunge and decided that you are going to make your money [...]

By: Our Budget is Working…What Now?

Our Budget is Working…What Now? — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:11:54 +0000

[...] pointed out the five pitfalls you will need to avoid, the four benefits of a successful budget and five steps to putting the budget in place. You have listened and you are making it work and telling your money what to do. [...]

By: CindyS

CindyS — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:35:47 +0000

I think that the most important part of budgeting is to start, and as you point out, the second step is to make sure you and your spouse are on the same page. If you are willing to try and keep trying then it gets easier every month.

I checked out your blog and subscribed. Good luck and keep on blogging!

By: Brent

Brent — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:56:54 +0000

I think number 5 is crucial. Those first few months are the hardest, after you’ve gotten the hang of things it is so much easier and less stressful.

By: bob

bob — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:29:28 +0000

A crucial and more important part missing from the plan in the post is how much of the budget should you devote towards retirement. The very minimum is that 10% of your income should be going to some sort of retirement fund. Not an emergency fund, nor a college fund, but your retirement fund. If you manage to save $30,000 by the time you are 30 years old, that money will compound and grow to be worth well over a million dollars by the age of 60. So for the cost of a typical family car, you can have a secured retirement with a comparatively small initial investment. If you haven’t saved for retirement, then the more you will have to save in order to be able to retire. A retirement fund is the most important part of your financial well-being and should automatically be deducted from any budget.

There are numerous financial budgeting sites such as mint.com that provide tools that will make managing your finances easier. Plus a lot of these tools are free to start with and easy to use.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:09:41 +0000

Honestly, I think there are much better websites with budgeting information than this. The first step should be to look at 3-6 months of your financial records to determine where money goes– that should nto be step 5! And running out of money before the end of the month- means you spent more than you had, not that you “didn’t budget enough”. Savings should be an “expense” line in a budget- pay yourself principle which is well regarded in many institutions. Debt payments should also be considered a regular expense for people who have them. And finally, as for including both incomes in a two income household- I understand for most people this is necessary (this is how I grew up, and my parents used the envelope system but kept their money separate)—- BUT, learning to live off one income and using the other exclusively for debt payments, savings or investments is a good way to get used to living below your means.