Budgeting is Hard

So budgeting they say is the first step to getting out of debt, and it is hard. As I’m doing it, it is blatantly obvious how I have so much money falling through the cracks. Here are my reasons whyI think budgeting is hard and some of my remedies to make it easier on me.

1.  Not every bill is a fixed amount-
For example my electricity varies. I’ve only lived in this new place for 3 months and the electricity lingers around $240-250. Winter is on its way and I’m not sure how much it’s going to go up since I don’t have much history with this house or with this area that I live.
What I’ve decided to do is just use the higher number for now, than adjust to the higher number later if it goes up. A $10 difference doesn’t seem like a lot, but I’m nickle and dining it right now just to complete babystep 1. If my electricity bills is under $250 then that extra money will go towards my emergency fund, if it’s over then unfortunately it will have to come out of the extra money I put towards debt.

2. When is the last time I bought toilet paper?
I had such a hard time separating my grocery budget and my household items budget. Toilet paper is a good example of something I don’t know how much I buy or how much I spend on it, I just buy it when I need it. That kind of makes me sound spoiled, like I just buy stuff when I need it and don’t worry about the cost. Well that my friend is exactly the reason I’m in debt, or one of them anyways. To make this easier, for now at least, I decided to just combine the two. My grocery budget and household budget are now my shopping budget. I can spend $900 a month on shopping and I’m hoping to get that down. To get that number down, I ll take a closer look at what I’m purchasing, and know exactly how much I spend on toilet paper.

3. How much do I spend on gas?
Way more than I thought I did, that’s for sure. Since moving to this new town I drive so much! The total commute to take my kids to school is an hour, and after school they have soccer and gymnastics and dance, and often we have to go out of town for games. So far in my budget I’ve estimated $600 a month on gas. It’s hard to budget because sometimes I drive less, and sometimes I drive more. Really my only hope on saving money here is that gas prices go down, which I heard a rumor that was going to happen.

4. Kids
I feel like having kids makes it almost impossible for me to budget.  It seems like a surprise fee comes from somewhere every week, but school did just start. I’m thinking next year at this time I’ll add a random fee section to my budget.

5. When do I start?
My months kind of blend together, like my rent due on the 1st comes from my paycheck I get on the 18th the month before. This basically just took a little adjusting the first month of budgeting, and should be set the rest. For example at the end of August I have enough for my rent and $142 left. For my September’s budget I left out the rent that was  about to be paid and just added one to be paid at the end of the month. Then I rolled over the $142 as extra income for September. I hope that is not too confusing.

These are mostly the reasons why I’ve put off a budget for so long. I think assigning realistic numbers is key, and checking it every purchase or day is so important.  Also, getting excited about it helps me a ton. I budgeted some money for a babyshower gift for a shower I’m attending in a couple weeks. I made the purchase and stayed under budget. It was the first purchase in a long time that I felt good about, and didn’t suffer buyers remorse afterward. That was due to picking a responsible limit and sticking to it, and believe it or not, that feels good!