Budgeting

[Ennui.]

I'm moving to the downstairs apartment and have to start paying for rent, electricity, and heat. Then of course there's any other necessities for me and my guinea pigs. I'm probably going to mooch off my parents' wifi upstairs unless it stops working because I've gotten signal down there before.

I have a habit of spending frivolously thanks to the power of it being a mental illness symptom. Is there a good way to start making a budget for myself so I can get the necessities and still get fun things? I'm so bad at it, haha.

Mental illness symptoms are the worst! COVID led to a lot of overspending for me and a lot of debt. I am working on getting better.


The first thing you have to do is figure out how much the necessities are. How much of each paycheck will go towards paying the bills you can't hold off on. From there, you have to see what you have left and make a budget off of that. I have started making a habit of sending my husband some money for savings and you'd have to determine if you want to have savings or can (it isn't always possible).



It helps me that I get paid twice a month because I don't have to stretch my money for the whole month like some people do.

The first thing you should do is calculate how much your bills will be. How much is cable/internet/phone (if you have it)? How much will utilities cost, will it be a monthly/quarterly/twice yearly payment? How much will electricity cost. This one fluctuates the most so it's best to wait a year or two before you really settle on a number to put aside.

Compare the total cost of that — and for now, just assume your electricity will fluctuate between an amount you choose — with how much you get from paychecks per month. How much do you have at the end of each month, after all paychecks have come in and all your bills are cleared?

Pets can be the most unpredictable, even more so than your energy bill. Think about how much you spend on everything to support the quality of life for your guinea pigs. How often do you do it; ie, buy them new food, change out their cages, etc? It's also a good idea to consider previous vet bills and how much they might cost... I would put a significant amount of your income towards that just in case; but only do it every few months, not monthly... unless, of course, either one of your guinea pigs have an ongoing health issue.

The other thing I am thinking of is more for the long run; but consider setting something up — either at the bank or a chosen secure location in your new apartment — where you set aside a small portion of your paycheck and any other income (birthday money, holiday money, etc) to use as a sort of emergency fund.

As for spending things, ask your parents and anyone else to give you gift cards from now on instead of actual gifts. This doesn't mean they will never be able to give you gifts; but if you have, for example, Amazon gift cards, you can use that to pay for things instead of paying with your debit/credit card. I got a $15 gift card to Starbucks for Easter, it saves me from having to pay for about three cups of coffee. Just something to consider.

[MsNobleEleanor]

One of the easiest ways to budget is knowing your weekly hours and hourly pay. I am going to use a random number for an example only for this. You are paid $15/hr and you are working 30 hours a week. What you do is calucate the hourly rate by the hours, so it looks like this:

$15 X 30/hrs = $450

You will expect $450 for one week. If you are paid every other week, times this number by 2, which would be $900. If you're paychecks are dedcuted for taxes, you would receive less, so possibly in the upper or middle $800 range.

Taking the $800 and times it by another 2 for the entire month (we already calucalted two weeks and need to finish the rest of the month) you would receive about $1600 - $1700 in the ball park due to tax deductions.

It can be easy to know your hours each week to do this, whereas, if your hours change, it can change.

Knowing your overall income for the month can help with payments and savings.

Do you have a savings account? If not open one with your bank. Every pay put money into that account, get a savings account where you can access it for EMERGENCIES ONLY.

Determine all your bills. Could you lower your phone bill? Is there a better plan already with the same benefits that you don't know? Check. It can save you money.

Would you receive a utility bill each month or every other month? What will you be paying? Hydro is easy to save money on by unplugging things from outlets when not using and turning lights off when not in the same room.

Shop when sales are happening when you can save money on food costs. If you buy meat, buy family packs and portion out into freezer bags, it lasts longer and saves you money. Using coupons can also save you money.

Does your Guinea pigs chew on toilet paper rolls? If they do, put those in there pen and they can use the peices as bedding material. You could see about putting a little less bedding and putting toilet rolls in there and see if they will chew them to make bedding. You could also cut finely strips of newspaper to put in there as well with there bedding.

I hope this was helpful.

[Ennui.]

So I know what I HAVE to do but I stopped doing it for some reason, that's always the issue