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FirstMate
My lil cowboy
Member since 10/10 7790 total posts
Name:
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Money managment
For whatever reason, I am the one in charge of finances at my house which is ridiculous because I suck at it. That's not totally true. I was once fairly good at it but now I do not have a good handle on it. Anyone have any good method they follow for monthly budgeting/savings/expenses? Do you use just a regular savings account or do you use investments? Listen to any podcasts you find particularly helpful? Do you have a financial person you see regularly for help? I am open to any and all advice and suggestions! I need to revamp my system.
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Posted 10/18/22 10:19 AM  |
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Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
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Re: Money managment
I honestly have been doing the notebook thing for over 30 years. Many of my bills are the same every month so I work on that first:
Mortgage
Car Insurance
Car Payment
Cellphones
Oil
Cable
Water
Electric
Ring
Spotify
Life Insurance
Then comes medical bills, credit cards.
After that we have food money and spending money.
Try and have savings after that but very far and few between these days. If anything, we try and put away our 5th week for anything that comes up.
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| Posted 10/18/22 10:39 AM |
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TheWhiteRabbit
Thru the rabbit hole!
Member since 7/06 4412 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Im a CPA, so im not a financial planner but my clients ask for help so I try to guide them in the right direction.
I guess my first question would be: what are your goals? Like, do you you want to retire at 55 with 2 houses or work until you die and not eat cat food? Are you just trying to save for a new car, what is it you're trying to achieve with your question?
Assuming its retirement, no matter how much money you make (for most people) they spend what they have so i tell them to put the money in their 401k first so they HAVE to work with whats left over.
I have them make a simple budget of what bills they have every month and how much they make... if they're negative then they have to make changes. I'm just not sure what you're trying to achieve so it's hard to direct you to a resource
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| Posted 10/18/22 11:05 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Money managment
My DH handles the bill paying because he enjoys it so I have kind of stepped out of that role which is bad because sometimes I feel like a Stepford wife. 
Sometimes I don't even realize I got paid and he'll be like- oh you got paid the other day.
But I think it's easier to have one person doing it then too many chefs in the pot so to speak.
We don't really use any methods or budgeting.. he just has the bills that can be auto paid set up on auto pay and the ones that we don't use auto pay for he sets reminders in his calendar to pay X bill or pay Y bill.
He's also big on balance the books so to speak so any time he pays a bill or it gets auto paid he records it in an old school ledger.
Every month he puts some money into our DD's 529 for college and some into our savings account.
How much depends on the month. On months where we spent like crazy, obviously less will go the savings account but he's very anal about trying to save at least X amount each month.
In terms of investments we are both terrible with that in that we both really have NO idea what to invest in etc and we need to go sit with a financial planner to see what investments to get into because other than his deferred comp and my 401K we just put everything in savings and it really makes no money sitting in the bank like that. But I'm so risk adverse so it's hard.. ...
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| Posted 10/18/22 11:31 AM |
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FirstMate
My lil cowboy
Member since 10/10 7790 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Posted by TheWhiteRabbit
Im a CPA, so im not a financial planner but my clients ask for help so I try to guide them in the right direction.
I guess my first question would be: what are your goals? Like, do you you want to retire at 55 with 2 houses or work until you die and not eat cat food? Are you just trying to save for a new car, what is it you're trying to achieve with your question?
Assuming its retirement, no matter how much money you make (for most people) they spend what they have so i tell them to put the money in their 401k first so they HAVE to work with whats left over.
I have them make a simple budget of what bills they have every month and how much they make... if they're negative then they have to make changes. I'm just not sure what you're trying to achieve so it's hard to direct you to a resource
My goals are to have a better cushion than what we currently have. I would like to start an investment portfolio. I want to pay off the debt we have. It's not a lot but it just never seems to go away. We will pay it down and then it pops up again. We can't retire until 62 because of my husband's pension requirements. As far as retirement itself goes, I think we are okay. We both have pensions (mine is tiny) and we both have 401ks. We put money into them religiously. Ultimately I would love to own rental properties.
I have to manage my monthly expenses better and budget better. Lately I keep overdrafting into my savings. I'm not budgeting correctly or minding my money properly.
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| Posted 10/18/22 11:53 AM |
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FirstMate
My lil cowboy
Member since 10/10 7790 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Posted by NervousNell
In terms of investments we are both terrible with that in that we both really have NO idea what to invest in etc and we need to go sit with a financial planner to see what investments to get into because other than his deferred comp and my 401K we just put everything in savings and it really makes no money sitting in the bank like that. But I'm so risk adverse so it's hard.. ...
Same here. I'm afraid to put too much into the market with a looming recession. We don't have a lot to begin with. I need to bolster my savings.
I know the saying is to have 3 or 6 months of expenses in a savings account. After that, do you take that money and put it in the market?
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| Posted 10/18/22 11:55 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Money managment
Posted by FirstMate
Posted by NervousNell
In terms of investments we are both terrible with that in that we both really have NO idea what to invest in etc and we need to go sit with a financial planner to see what investments to get into because other than his deferred comp and my 401K we just put everything in savings and it really makes no money sitting in the bank like that. But I'm so risk adverse so it's hard.. ...
Same here. I'm afraid to put too much into the market with a looming recession. We don't have a lot to begin with. I need to bolster my savings.
I know the saying is to have 3 or 6 months of expenses in a savings account. After that, do you take that money and put it in the market?
I , too, am nervous of the stock market. Always have been but now even more so with the crazy economy. Though now is probably a good time to buy right?
But with my luck every stock I picked would tank and I'd lose it all. To me, it feels a lot like gambling and I am not a fan of gambling.
That's why we need a professional to help us- tell us what's best. Because I Have no clue.
And i feel like we have too much just sitting in a plain old savings account earning nothing.
Message edited 10/18/2022 1:07:22 PM.
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| Posted 10/18/22 1:03 PM |
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lululu
LIF Adult
Member since 7/05 9511 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Posted by NervousNell
Posted by FirstMate
Posted by NervousNell
In terms of investments we are both terrible with that in that we both really have NO idea what to invest in etc and we need to go sit with a financial planner to see what investments to get into because other than his deferred comp and my 401K we just put everything in savings and it really makes no money sitting in the bank like that. But I'm so risk adverse so it's hard.. ...
Same here. I'm afraid to put too much into the market with a looming recession. We don't have a lot to begin with. I need to bolster my savings.
I know the saying is to have 3 or 6 months of expenses in a savings account. After that, do you take that money and put it in the market?
I , too, am nervous of the stock market. Always have been but now even more so with the crazy economy. Though now is probably a good time to buy right?
But with my luck every stock I picked would tank and I'd lose it all. To me, it feels a lot like gambling and I am not a fan of gambling.
That's why we need a professional to help us- tell us what's best. Because I Have no clue.
And i feel like we have too much just sitting in a plain old savings account earning nothing.
If you are not a financial services professional, I always think that the safe thing to do is to invest in mutual funds. That way you can pick an investment strategy and not have to worry about the risk of having large sums of money in individual stocks.
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| Posted 10/19/22 9:30 AM |
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lululu
LIF Adult
Member since 7/05 9511 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Posted by FirstMate
Posted by TheWhiteRabbit
Im a CPA, so im not a financial planner but my clients ask for help so I try to guide them in the right direction.
I guess my first question would be: what are your goals? Like, do you you want to retire at 55 with 2 houses or work until you die and not eat cat food? Are you just trying to save for a new car, what is it you're trying to achieve with your question?
Assuming its retirement, no matter how much money you make (for most people) they spend what they have so i tell them to put the money in their 401k first so they HAVE to work with whats left over.
I have them make a simple budget of what bills they have every month and how much they make... if they're negative then they have to make changes. I'm just not sure what you're trying to achieve so it's hard to direct you to a resource
My goals are to have a better cushion than what we currently have. I would like to start an investment portfolio. I want to pay off the debt we have. It's not a lot but it just never seems to go away. We will pay it down and then it pops up again. We can't retire until 62 because of my husband's pension requirements. As far as retirement itself goes, I think we are okay. We both have pensions (mine is tiny) and we both have 401ks. We put money into them religiously. Ultimately I would love to own rental properties.
I have to manage my monthly expenses better and budget better. Lately I keep overdrafting into my savings. I'm not budgeting correctly or minding my money properly.
Depending on what kind of debt you have and what interest rate you are paying, it is probably wiser to pay of any high interest debt prior to starting an investment portfolio, especially with the market the way it is right now. When you are ready to start investing I would suggest opening an account at a place like Fidelity and investing in mutual funds.
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| Posted 10/19/22 9:32 AM |
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FirstMate
My lil cowboy
Member since 10/10 7790 total posts
Name:
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Re: Money managment
Posted by lululu
Posted by FirstMate
Posted by TheWhiteRabbit
Im a CPA, so im not a financial planner but my clients ask for help so I try to guide them in the right direction.
I guess my first question would be: what are your goals? Like, do you you want to retire at 55 with 2 houses or work until you die and not eat cat food? Are you just trying to save for a new car, what is it you're trying to achieve with your question?
Assuming its retirement, no matter how much money you make (for most people) they spend what they have so i tell them to put the money in their 401k first so they HAVE to work with whats left over.
I have them make a simple budget of what bills they have every month and how much they make... if they're negative then they have to make changes. I'm just not sure what you're trying to achieve so it's hard to direct you to a resource
My goals are to have a better cushion than what we currently have. I would like to start an investment portfolio. I want to pay off the debt we have. It's not a lot but it just never seems to go away. We will pay it down and then it pops up again. We can't retire until 62 because of my husband's pension requirements. As far as retirement itself goes, I think we are okay. We both have pensions (mine is tiny) and we both have 401ks. We put money into them religiously. Ultimately I would love to own rental properties.
I have to manage my monthly expenses better and budget better. Lately I keep overdrafting into my savings. I'm not budgeting correctly or minding my money properly.
Depending on what kind of debt you have and what interest rate you are paying, it is probably wiser to pay of any high interest debt prior to starting an investment portfolio, especially with the market the way it is right now. When you are ready to start investing I would suggest opening an account at a place like Fidelity and investing in mutual funds.
Funny you should say that because I actually do have a small investment portfolio with Fidelity in mutual funds. It's just kind of hanging out there.
I think I have more of a monthly money management issue. These kids suck every last penny out of me! I'm sure if I really sat down and looked it's $25 for the soccer fundraiser, $10 for bagels on the way to football, $32 for book fair, $150 on Halloween costumes, $25 to the class mom x3, etc and it all just adds up.
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| Posted 10/19/22 11:05 AM |
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