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Spending Problem! Budget?

 
Old 12-01-2013 at 01:00 PM   #1
stephsings
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Spending Problem! Budget?
I started living off campus this year, and realized that I may have a spending problem. Every time I get my credit card bill I can't help but be a little scared. Anyways I was just wondering what kind of a budget people have for monthly expenses?
Old 12-01-2013 at 01:48 PM   #2
starfish
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Keep track of ALL of your expenses for a couple of months.

Take a good hard look at where your money is going, and where it is "excessive" relative to the amount of money you can afford to spend.

Eg, if 75% of your money after rent+utilities is going towards eating out, then maybe you should stop eating out as much.

Taking other people's budgets usually doesn't work very well. You need to figure out what works for you.

For me, $200/month on food (including eating out, which I rarely do) is reasonable. I also spend $20/month for fancy drinks from Second Cup/Starbucks, $15/month on food+litter for my cat, $350/month in living expenses, $50/month on personal items (shampoo, conditioner, face wash, etc), $30/month on household items (dish soap, lightbulbs, toilet paper, paper towels, etc).
Old 12-01-2013 at 02:34 PM   #3
qwerty91
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Try using Mint, a free service that tracks all of your expenses. It works on web browser and smartphones/tablets. You tie it into your bank/credit card and it will keep track of everything like where the food came from and what type of category like restaurant , groceries, alcohol etc. You can also set alerts on your expenses so that you are notified if you go over budget in a particular category etc.
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Old 12-01-2013 at 03:59 PM   #4
ZSimon
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use your bank's app to pay your credit soon as you buy something. make it a habit. when you notice your account dollars going down, you'll control yourself. most banks have unlim mobile transactions.

enjoy.
Old 12-01-2013 at 10:21 PM   #5
Suspect
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If you're like me, you spend a lot more than you have to on food. I buy takeout/fast food even when i have cooked. My worst habit is going to fortinos to pick up say tomatoes or onions and coming out with $40 worth of items. My advice to you is put away the cards, use cash. Go to the bank, get a certain amount of cash to use for that week, use only that amount.
Old 12-05-2013 at 10:25 PM   #6
dreamer21
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As another poster said, keep track of your spending and what exactly you're spending your money on for a few months. Then you can decide where you are over-spending and where you can easily cut back. You can make a monthly budget for yourself on Excel and record your expenses for each month on it. Since you said you're often afraid to look at your credit card bill, you can pay it off soon after you put a purchase on it and/or limit your use of it in general.
Old 12-05-2013 at 10:31 PM   #7
dreamer21
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Also, try to cut back on unnecessary expenses. For example a lot of people buy coffee or tea out every day and that adds up fast, especially if it's from somewhere like Starbucks. It's so easy to make it at home and take it in a travel mug. Same goes for eating food out, etc; easy to save money buy making and bringing your own.



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