Spending Plan

I am so glad I started a blog because it gives me a place to voice my opinion. While I was living at the U of U I had absurd amounts of money and nothing to spend it on. Unlike most students I had few expenses and no debt.

I was so relaxed with no expenses

My school costs were covered by a wonderfully generous scholarship. My room and board were covered by my work as a Residential Advisor. The money I made at student jobs had no purpose. While I had dollars flowing into my bank account, I also had no spending plan. Over the three years that I lived at the U, if I didn't spend any money, I could have saved up over $7000. On average I earned just under $200 a month. I truly had no expenses. Instead I had unplanned wants. Those wants caused me to spend the majority of the money I made. When I kept track of where my money was going, I was SHOCKED! I spent a lot of money eating out and a lot of money on clothes. I don't regret those decisions because it taught me a valuable lesson. I am just grateful I learned that lesson when I was younger and before I got married. So what do I do with my money now?

Residential Advisers: Pam, ME with brown hair, Lisa and Lavender

I have a spending plan! A spending plan sounds so much nicer than a budget. Every month is laid out in an Excel spreadsheet. It has categories for everything I spend money on. I allot myself a reasonable amount in each category and keep track of it weekly. The monthly allotment is based on yearly income minus the amount I want to save. I also have a spreadsheet for my yearly budget. Each month gets adjusted accordingly. For example, the yearly budget for gifts is about $300. If I divided that evenly it would be $25 a month. However, if I spend $25 a month until I get to December, then everyone on my Christmas list will be getting an item from the dollar store. I allot about $100 for gifts in November and $100 in December, leaving $10 each month for the previous months.

Me in my dorky accounting glasses

How did I make my spending plan? First I looked at everything I had spend money on in one month. I based my plan on those numbers. For some things I cut back a lot. I had been spending close to $100 on eating out and that had to stop. I changed my monthly eating out plan to $50. Make sure you plan the necessities first and the wants later. Rent, utilities, insurance, and groceries always get planned first. If I had any debt that would be taken care of with the necessities. The left over money gets divided into the "wants/luxuries" categories.

Fake mustache for Halloween goes in the wants/luxuries category

How do I  keep track of what I spend? First, I only use a debit card. I have direct deposit so I rarely have cash lying around. If I get $20 or less in cash it is usually a gift and I treat it as something extra that I don't have to keep track of. If it is more than $20, even if it is a gift, I put in into my account so I can keep track of it. Some people prefer to only use cash when they budget. They put the amount for each category into an envelope and when it's gone you're out of luck. I have a hard time keeping track of receipts so it's easier for me to use my debit card and look at my account statement later. I would probably save more if I used cash, but I'm not super strict about the amount each month as long as it averages out over the year.

What do I do if there's a hick-up in the spending plan? Usually I readjust. I move money from one category to another. For example, this year I'm spending a lot more on pets than usual because we're getting a dog. I have spent less on clothing and entertainment so some of that money has been moved to cover the additional pet costs. If I didn't have extra in another category I would reevaluate what is most important to me and cut down my spending in less critical areas.

Be realistic when making your plan. Obviously you shouldn't be spending more than you make but don't be overly stingy especially if you haven't had a spending plan before. When I first made my plan I went over quite often. It helped me to divide the month further into a weekly amount, and sometimes even a daily amount. Whenever I wanted to eat out I had to think that I only had $1.66 for the day unless I saved it up for an $11 meal at the end of the week.

All that planning is worth it if you end up with a front yard like this

There is no right or wrong in your spending plan as long as you're paying off debt, saving money, and meeting needs before wants. I am far from rich but my savings plan has allowed me to live free from debt and financial burden with enough extra to fulfill my small wants.

My post today was inspired by this article. What is your savings plan like? If you need any help developing a savings plan or if you have any questions just leave me a comment below.

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality photos. They are all from college and taken with a low quality phone. I should have spent some of my extra money on a camera.