week 1 - deposit into checking account for monthly bills
week 2 - deposit into mortgage account
week 3 - deposit into mortgage account
week 4 - deposit into 2-3 different accounts for saving
In addition to this month being different because March has 5 paychecks for me, last week threw a small wrench into my works because I missed a day of work due to a snowstorm. So the paycheck I got this week is only for 32 hours instead of the normal 40 hours. I also had to leave work after only 5 hours (instead of the normal 8 hours) on Wednesday of this week so next weeks paycheck will be a little short as well. Ok.... today's check would normally go towards paying my mortgage, but since its not a full paycheck I'm going to alter my usual plan to this...
week 1 - deposit into checking account for monthly bills
week 2 - deposit into mortgage account
week 3 - extra paycheck held aside to pay hospital bill
week 4 - deposit into 2-3 different accounts for saving
week 5 - deposit into mortgage account
I usually like to save extra money on 5 paycheck months but because of my gallbladder surgery I'm going to have some hospital bills coming in soon. I actually just got a huge envelop of those 'This is not a bill' explanation of benefits things from my insurance company and based on those the total amount I may owe my providers is $615.90. As much as that sucks it could have been much worse so I can't complain to much. Hopefully the paycheck for next week covers a good portion of that and I don't have to stress about where to get the money for the rest of the bills to much!
Even though this weeks regular paycheck ($477.60) is 'extrta' and being set aside to pay some bills I'll probably get next month some still went to my 401K and I did still do my $20 vacation transfer. I also got a small bonus check that was part of an incentive program my job offered based on last years production. The company didn't do very well, but we still got a small bonus and since its free money I'm not complaining at all. My bonus check is for $264.61 and I will be setting that aside with today's regular paycheck for my medical bills. That means I have $742.21 which should be more than enough to pay for all my surgery related bills without negatively effecting my regular budget.
Having that 'extra' paycheck & bonus set aside is a good example of how pre-planning your budget on a monthly basis can be helpful. Most people find a weekly budget to work better & they just take a certain amount of each weeks pay and put it towards all their large bills, but looking at things on a monthly basis just works better for me. Which ever you do just make sure you're covered for all your bills by the end of the month!
Sadly I haven't really had any deposit cans/bottles to return because a little over a month ago I stopped drinking soda. We do still have some cans from the soda my wife drinks, but I was drinking 5+ cans a day so there hasn't been enough cans to make a trip to the recycling machines worth it yet so no new money has been added to the piggy bank in the last few weeks.
Here is the week 11 wrap up:
$48.16 to my 401K (total from this weeks regular & bonus checks)
$20.00 to my vacation fund
which makes the 2013 totals:
$298.11 in my 401K
$220.00 in the vacation fund
$20.05 in the piggy bank
$50.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
*Last week a friend of mine was making fun of me because I actually use my checkbook register and I go to the bank instead of having direct deposit, so as this weeks added bonus I'm going to show you a picture of the insanity that is my checkbook.
What you see below is pretty much my entire budget. Inside the checkbook cover is the register to keep track of my balance, some actual checks, the yellow paper I keep track of my weekly pay amounts on, the yellow paper I keep track of my vacation transfers on, a few random but relevant notes & a book of stamps. The yellow paper on the outside is a list of what I owed to my credit cards and a few other bills, that paper is thrown away or updated as bills are paid off. The envelopes behind the checkbook are bills that were not paid yet. I keep them with my checkbook until they are paid and then I throw them away. Lastly the 3 pens (red, blue, green) are to help me keep my checkbook balanced. I write in all my deposits and withdrawals in blue. As things clear to & from the account I check them off with the green pen. When things go badly and my balance is negative (even though its not actually overdrawn because of the 'hidden' money in the account) I write the balance in red. Once again folks... I admitted from week #1 that I'm crazy!
Having 3 pens and using a checkbook register may not work for you and that's fine, but I still can't stress enough that no matter if its in a jar, envelope, bank account or under your mattress you should try to save some money once a week. Cut out one meal out, trip to Dunkin Donuts, a pack of cigarettes or a soda. Any little bit you can save will help and probably motivate you to save even more!
Since you're old school with the checkbooks and the "actually going to a bank" I'm curious - do you still mail checks for all your bills or do you pay online? I have to admit, my money matters are almost fully online these days.
ReplyDeleteGood question Kevin... I don't actually have many bills that I have to pay. I pay the mortgage, my credit card and other random bills from time to time (doctors, registration etc). The rest of the house bills are in my wifes name and she pays them almost all online. Shes not like me with her banking at all!
DeleteI pay my mortgage and credit card online mostly because I'm cheap and I like to save the stamp. If I had the option and time to drop the bill somewhere and pay it in person I would probably do that.
For Doctors bills if I can pay online I will, if I can use a credit card, but have to do it on the phone then most of the time I will mail a check.
It can also be noted that I dont use any 'reoccuring payments' or 'automatic payments'. I go to the bank website and I make the $20 transfer every week instead of setting up a weekly transfer to automaticly happen.