One thing that is super helpful about having a blog is having a bunch of different people’s input on a subject (provided that you want it. But I’m asking for it in this case).
I want you all – all of my readers who have an knack for the financials – to look at my budget, which I’ve laid out below, and let me know how much you think that I can save by January 1, 2012.
Below I’ve included my budget. It is what I believe to be realistic. As you can see, I’ve budget for gifts for Christmas. The “bank account balance” line is just a carry over from the “left over” lines at the bottom of each month.
I haven’t included any of my online earnings, and as you can see I’ve included savings that are automated – my vacation funds, ISA, and RRSP. Usually my car payment is $220, but I have an account for extra payments and an automated savings plan of $60/month extra. So that’s budgeted for as well.
My income on my budget is a VERY low ball estimate, and after taxes, pension, and many other expenses come off of it.
If I don’t cut back on anything at all in my budget, it looks as if I’ll be able to save $3,374.40. However, I want that number to be at least $4,000.
click on the image to make it larger
This is where you guys come in. I need to analyze my budget, see where to cut back, and make those cuts to make my savings $4,000. My internet earnings aren’t included as they will be going directly toward my insurance costs for January.
Now. If you were me, and you had my budget, what would you do to make my savings $4,000 by January 1st?
ok so you need an extra $700 at least, that seems pretty hard but here is what comes to mind
$160 for a phone?? Can you cut that? Mr moneymustache had a post last week about a $10 iphone plan if you cut the data plan and use pay as you go for calls.
Say you get something in between, for $50, that is $220 saved (probably too late for Oct)
Gas, can you walk, cycle, take the bus sometime? Maybe another $30 there?
Gifts you are very generous, maybe you can buy some right now, before the Christmas craze, and have time to think about cheaper thing that would please your loved ones just the same? Bake something, knit something, gift a babysitting night to young parents? $100 saving at least.
Fun, dunno what goes there but Christmas doesn’t have to be expensive, you can host a small party instead of going out with friends and they will probably return the favor. Say $50 less over 3 months.
Food is reasonable, try to buy more from scratch and freeze small portions $50 maybe
Gym are you really going to go over Christmas? Can you cancel for a month?
Clothes? Maybe ask for some of those for Xmas, you’ll make your family a favor by saying what you would like. $200 !
Just to add to Pauline’s recommendations,
Take a look at OOMA or Magic jack to help reduce your phone bills.
Use discount sites / coupons to buy gifts or your exsisting gift cards to buy gifts.
Could you cut back on the phone, gas, fun, food, or Christmas gifts? Why not stop the extra $60 payment for the car? If the interest rate is low enough, then it will not make too much difference if you pay it off early.
On the income side, could you pick up some extra Babysitting or Internet deals to make just a little more income than normal? What about purposely taking advantage of one of those $100 to $500 bonus offers for a credit card or bank account?
Assuming that saving the $4,000 is your number one priority and that other things are more negotiable, I would probably stop contributing to travel savings for the time being, go on a clothes-buying moratorium, cut the fun spending some, and lower spending on Christmas gifts.
Savings:
Clothes $200
Travel $50
Christmas: $200
Fun: $175
If you get extra money or have savings in other categories, you could prioritize these spending categories and add money back to them in the order you decide is most important to you. Bottom line, your current spending doesn’t seem unreasonable, but if the $4k is a priority, these are the things that seem like they could most easily go.
Cut back on gifts, and remove travel, clothes and fun.
No room for fun if you plan on gifting so much. I’d put gifting and fun into the same bucket — you will get gifts too right? That’s fun.
PS — the reason why I say to cut back on fun is because your necessities like fixed groceries are already at a minimum. Short if removing a fixed expense, you can only cut on the non-essentials
I would try and see if you can cut your phone bill, fun money and your Christmas allotted amount. I think you can get to $4,000, but it all depends on how badly you want to get there.
I would echo what Pauline and MMD say. I’d look at the phone bill, extra car payment, clothes and Christmas gifts. You could either ask for clothes as gifts, or simply cut it down some. What is the current rate on your car loan? If it’s low enough, you might benefit more from throwing that extra money at your savings goal. The phone bill also seems a bit high, but not certain what type of plan you have. I would also look for other ways to bring in income like the extra babysitting MMD mentioned or if you use credit card rewards put some of that towards spending to save your cash.
I would echo what Pauline and MMD say. I’d look at the phone bill, extra car payment, clothes and Christmas gifts. You could either ask for clothes as gifts, or simply cut it down some. What is the current rate on your car loan? If it’s low enough, you might benefit more from throwing that extra money at your savings goal. The phone bill also seems a bit high, but not certain what type of plan you have. I would also look for other ways to bring in income like the extra babysitting MMD mentioned or if you use credit card rewards put some of that towards spending to save
The phone bills seem insane. $279, $160, $160? We pay about $150 for 2 smart phones… that seems like an insane amount for a single phone.
I’d probably also cut the Christmas gifts down – there have been years that we’ve done the entire holiday season for about $200-$300 total.
Also, why does “fun” double in Nov/December? Could you fix this at $100 each month?
I think that’s where I’d start to scrimp more money out of it… but the make more money option is definitely out there, too. Sell stuff on Craigslist, babysit a bit more…
$800 on Christmas gifts? Lol okay. Way to embrace the true meaning!
I have a lot of people to buy for. Plus, the true meaning is religious, which I’m not
**Jan. 1 2013**
I would cut (100%): Gifts and clothes: 1000$ (why are you spending 800$ on Christmas gifts!?)
I would maybe cut: Fun, travel fund, ISA (700$)
Well – you either have to find more income (e.g. make more from babysitting – or pick up a seasonal job) or cut back on something like fun or gifts (perhaps offer favours for people instead of items, or just pick names instead of everyone getting one).
I agree that the cell phone seems way to high, but then I again I only use my phone to make a few calls and texts so it is nothing fancy. What I would do after looking at my phone bill, is cut back in the “Fun, Clothing, and Travel” funds first and then if I still needed extra I would cut back a little on the “Christmas” budget. I don’t know that I would be able to completely cut out the above mentioned funds, but I would reduce them for the sake of meeting a certain savings goal.
Good luck!
You have a smoking deal on your gym!
Bummer about the phone… I’m hoping this includes 2 phones or 2 phone lines? Are you able to drop a landline, if you have one? I would take the time and call your provider to see if they can analyze your history and see if there’s a better current plan for you. I really need to get around to doing that as well. We’re around $200 for 2 smartphones in my house.
I would do some crazy planning and deal shopping to cut back on your Christmas budget. I assume you have a list of people already? Can you pick up some board games on massive sale at amazon or Canadian Tire? I just got $40 awesome corkscrews for $10 each at Can Tire, they’re in my Christmas present stash now. Groupons for Christmas presents. Baking mixes in a jar with cute fabric scraps on top. You can often pick up mason jars at garage sales or thrift stores.
Other than picking up a few bucks from more work somewhere, or cutting your savings/debt payments or cutting the discretionary, I don’t see too many places to pick up the $700.
I noticed the cell phone and clothes. Are you really spending $100 on clothes every month or does that include make-up etc?
I’d echo Pauline’s sentiments above, but I’d modify the numbers a little. $50 for a smart phone in Canada might
be a stretch. My monthly smart phone bill including data is $100 (Rogers), and my boyfriend’s is $70 (Bell), so
I’d try and knock that one down a little bit. I think your increases in food and fun are realistic, but are you
able to claw back some of the November fun? Maybe try to keep the Christmas outings closer to Christmas? I’m
not sure how many people you’re buying Christmas gifts for or the price range per person, but is it possible
you could make some gifts? Now would be the time to start working on that sort of thing. I’ll post a really
quick and easy one this week that you could consider.
Dang $4K a month to save is a huge goal! That’s awesome!
Your food budget is really low…we probably spend $160 a week on food (min). That includes groceries and eating out….
What will you plan to do with $4000 in savings? Emergency fund, travel, debt repayment, lots of choices I guess. My values are different than yours but for me, I would not buy any new clothes for the rest of the year because I already have enough clothes for different occasions, and buying more at this point is simply a want, not a need for me. I would also cut back $100 per month on the Fun money for Nov and Dec. Lastly I would limit all Christmas shopping to $500 total. I spent $20 last year on gift giving. But then again, I don’t have a lot of friends haha. In any case, this should make you come out $700 ahead by new year, 2013.
How determined are you to reach your savings goal? Gifts amount is outrageous. Start reading Home Journal online for cheap but cute and crafty gift ideas.
Are you budgeting so much clothing because you need a winter wardrobe right now? Shop Goodwill and pick up a few warm sweaters for cheap. I found an Oscar de la Renta top for three bucks last year, buried in a pile. Other finds: Balenciaga, vintage Chanel. I ;heart thrifting.
Ok, so you need $700. let’s reverse engineer this:
If $4,000 savings is your highest goal, then this is easy
- Cut your fun money to $50 a month for 3 months (I do $20a month, so this is doable!) = +$250
- Cut your Christmas budget down by $200 total (to $600) (We buy gifts for 20 people and our budget is about $500 per year, so you can definitely do this. Make a list of people and put dollar amounts next to their names, and make sure that total doesn’t exceed $600. DONE!) = +$200
- cut your clothing budget out for 2 months (iHB has a post soon on how to eliminate this line item from your budget altogether) = +$200
- Forego your extra car payment for december = +$60
Bonus: Call your phone company and see if they have any deals. I always find deals when I call in, and sometimes you can get discounted text messaging and minutes just by asking.
So, what are you saving for?
All the budget cuts I would suggest have been written already, so I’ll make a different kind of suggestion instead.
Since you want to come up with an extra $700, transfer a few hundred from your checking into a linked savings account (whereever you’re putting the rest of your $4k) each month or with each paycheck. That way when you see your balance dwindling it’s easier to tell yourself not to spend. If you really, really need something you will have to transfer the money back from your savings account and that will be painful enough to be an incentive to find your own creative ways to cut. But definitely don’t just save the leftovers from your checking account – pay yourself first!
Like Emily all the budget cuts are the ones that you can control such as the extra payments, entertainment,clothes, cell phones, Christmas gifts etc. Depending on your total grocery budget that is another area potentially you can save some money. I don’t know your situation but that’s your call on what you eat and what you can cut or how you can save money. We spend $190 a month for 2 adults. The other option is like My Canuck Buck mentions is to get another job. You can buy clothes as secon hand shops and like IHeartB says call your phone company and see if they can make you a better offer. Your fixed expenses are what they are “fixed” but your variable you can slap around a bit so go for it. If you want your 4K make a plan and go get it. You can do it!!! You have alot of great info above. Cheers Daisy! Mr.CBB
So you need $625.60
Cut Christmas back to $500 – this saves you $300 and you need $325.60 more.
Cut Fun back $25 this month and $50 next two months that leaves $200.60 left to find.
Cook all the random food in your pantry to save $50 over the next 2.5 months. $150.60 left to find.
Cut the travel fund for 3 months and start it back up next year and catch up. $75 left.
Cut clothes back to $125 over the next two months. You saved enough to get to $4000!
While I think that it’s great that you have a budgeting/expense spread sheet to work with, I think that anyone should look at where they can make adjustments at home too. Altering things at home can go a long way, just by doing petty things such as changing ones’ hydro bill to equal billing, making good use of things at home opposed to buying them, (i.e. using grocery bags for garbage bags, having a buddy-buddy system & buy produce in a larger quantity then splitting the costs, changing cel phone plans to a lesser amount, etc.) A lot of savings can be made by paying attention to where one is most wastful right at home, & changing that behaviour.
I agree with cutting back on Christmas gifts but I think you need to make more money if possible. What about a part time job? It is Christmas coming up. How reasonable is it that you won’t buy any new clothes or go out with friends or family to celebrate? December is expensive for us always without including the cost of gifts. I would try to make more money by either babysitting or maybe a part-time second job.
Geez I don’t know. Honestly to me you’re doing great!
$160 for the phone is huge! I pay less than that for my wife and I together plus our home phone.
The other thing is clothes, if you really want to save you probably don’t need to buy $100 worth of clothes every month.
I think you should put at least some of that $4000 into RSP/other savings or investing. As for the rest… depends on what your next goal is I guess. If you’re travelling next summer, you could boost those savings a bit.
I’ll be contrary to other posters and say that I think your fun money is OK – that’s how much I give myself per month, and I use it on coffee, eating/drinking with friends, movies, etc. I do think your clothing budget is a bit high. I budget $50 a month for myself and it usually accumulates until I need to buy a larger item, likes shoes or a new jacket.
You are a brave woman, Daisy! The phone bill is high, but I know in Canada it is ridiculous…so that one might be difficult to cut. Also, do you have a contract? Everyone is telling you to lower that, but is that even possible? I’m not sure. You could always look into that. Then, fun money. Jeff and I have all but completely cut out our fun money! I know that long-term it would be depressing to do so, but if it’s only for a couple of months…why not cut out the fun funds for just a bit? Good luck with your goals!
One of the best Xmas presents I ever got was during a really hectic time in my life when my newborn kid was having a lot of health issues. My sister in law called me and said, “let’s not buy gifts for each other this year, and I’ll call a few other people and get them on board.” I know it sounds kind of grinchy, but at that time in my life when I was traveling hundreds of miles to go to hospitals, it was a godsend to have that extra time that I would have had to spend shopping/wrappng, etc.
Personally, I could easily spend $0 on clothes for 3 months. Those would be the 2 categories I’d chop. I’m impressed by your food budget. I can’t even get in and out of a grocery store under $100 and you’re spending that in a month.
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I would see if you can find some coupons for christmas shopping.
$100 a month seems alot for clothing. I would cut that out completely for both months. Savings 200
$ cut the fun money in half so that is a savings of 200 for nov and dec.
and see if you can drive less and maybe use some coupons for food. While this will be difficult i think it is easier to do.
It might be hard to cut your cell phone as some have suggested esp if you use it for your website and make the online income. Internet might be hard to cut as well.
I look forward to the January post to seeing that you made it!!!
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