Virgo, How do you manage your money/budget?

What's your best piece of advice? I'm trying to create a budget I can stick to but details drive me crazy. I'm trying to write down all my purchases as I make them.

Posted by xMoonMan
Well I'm not a Virgo but then, neither are you.
Budgets are easy but most people struggle with maintaining discipline.

Decide whether you want to do a weekly/fortnightly or monthly budget.
Weekly or fortnightly is usually more appropriate for a personal budget.

Write down your weekly income
In one column write all of your regular living expenses/costs, ie: food/power/phone/rent/mortgage/loan payment etc
Total all that up and hopefully you have some money left!
If things are tight, look at where you can trim the fat.
If you can, allow a little for 'entertainment' or pleasure, such as dinner out, or a movie, new clothes or whatever
and bank any spare money into a savings account.

Write down your short term and long term financial and/or life goals.
Set up a simple savings account you can add to regularly.

Writing down what you spend your money on as you said, is a good idea, especially if you are the type to live day to day or you're a spendthrift or compulsive buyer.
You need to know exactly what you spend your money on and how much you spend and why you spend, if you can't get a handle on this basic process you will never be able to stick to a budget.

I requested budgeting advice from Virgos because they always a step above stingy with their money. I am the worst compulsive buyer but with smaller items. I'll spend 11 dollars here, then 50 dollars at the market, and another 20 dollars at a drugstore all in one day and it adds up.

Thanks for the advice, simple and precise. Is there anything you do to earn extra income outside of your main job?

Kudos to you for thinking about this.

In order to get into budgeting, you have to divide your expenses into two things, fixed and variable. Fixed expenses are those that will incur even if you don't have income, i.e. rent, utility, internet, etc. Variable expenses are those expenses that are not in the fixed expenses.

The goal in budgeting is to get yourself a nice savings for emergency expenses. This should be 6 months of your monthly expenses to be really conservative.

I'd say give yourself 3 months of expenses then go back to those 3 months to analyze and categorize your expenses. This can get complicated so do yourself a favor and sign up on mint.com or ynab.com. It's pretty self-explanatory on their website. Also, msn.com has loads of articles on budgeting.

If details drive you crazy, try an envelope budgeting. This is same as cash. Figure out your fixed expenses, pay them first, then pay yourself generously (this is your savings) then withdrew the left overs for any variable expenses that may occur. Once you get the hang of this, work on reducing variable expenses and increasing the savings. Your goal is to spend the same amount of money every year. It can be done. Believe in yourself and thank you for asking.

Posted by xMoonMan
Yeah I kinda knew your thought process for asking here on the Virgo board, though I'm pretty sure Crabs and Cappies could give the Virgos a run for their money in the areas of finance & budgeting 🙂
Regards earning extra income outside your main job, well these days that's open to your imagination & skills

Caps? Yes. Crabs? Not so much. There is a reason why they are the opposite of Caps.
Both are hard working people who thrive at work. Making money is their forte. But Crabs are not like Caps who know how to use their money wisely.

I'm married to a Crab. It took a toll on me to persuade him to change his old ways. But my virgoness won't give up on him. Aarrgghh! He's all better now though so at least it is not all in vain.

VenusStar,

It should be Save first ( this should be in the bank atleast 20 % of your monthly income).

Example:

20,000 USD

-4,000 savings (20% )
-3,500 utilities expense
-3,500 rent expense
-4,000 food
-5,000 extra cash( gas expense or transportation expense, and other liabilities)

I do this several times... and I thank God I never experience scarcity regardless of my big responsibility.

In fact, I did invested my money to insurance and real estate and helping my siblings as well ( of course don't

just give and they take it, otherwise, they will do it over and over but ask them something in Exchange of my

money like land property or % of the money).

hope it helps...

Do you know the sign on the cusp of your second house and where that ruling planet is?

Being practical, the first thing to figure out is a plan that will work for you as an individual. If you don't get along with details and marking things down you're unlikely to stick with plans that involve those strategies long-term.

How do you spend your money and where? Cash? Only allow yourself to hold so much at any given time to avoid spending what you can't or don't want to afford. Credit cards? Cancel them or lower your spening limit. Debit? Treat the account the same as you would with your cash by limiting the available funds and investing everything you want to save in separate accounts.

I find that it also helps to keep some form of visual reminder of your financial goal somewhere that will remind you of it frequently. If you're looking to save up for a big budget item keep a picture of it on the fridge door. Or if you're simply looking to save for the future, make something to represent your increasing bank balances so you can feel a sense of pride whenever you get to successfully add to it.