hdYb: Senior Budget

Meet Justin Low. Justin is a recent graduate of the University of North Alabama and works full-time at the Marriott where he gets paid twice a month. He is also married and supports his wife Meredith as she attends UNA full-time. For our last blog on budgeting we will take a look at what it takes to not only support yourself, but a spouse.

I think we have well covered the basics of a budget in our previous hdYb blogs. So we will start off just after Justin has tracked his income and his expenses for a month or two, and he has written out his bi-monthly budget plan. In other words, he has tracked his income and expenses, and has balanced them out in some kind of spreadsheet. Justin's budget consists of three goals: "get bills paid, save money, & stay organized".

Step 1, Get Bills Paid.

Justin does everything online, pays bills, check his account, etc. So he set up his budget online using his calendar (Outlook, iCal, Google, etc.) and Bill Pay (at Listerhill.com of course). Justin has set up every bill with Bill Pay through his online banking, even rent. But he was strategic about it. He didn't set all of his bills to go through at once. He split the bills well enough apart so that his bi-monthly paychecks would cover a specific bill (or two or three). Also, when using Bill Pay, he was sure to give the bill time to make it, so he set the bill to go through a week or more ahead of the due date so that it gets there on time.

Step 2, Save Money.

Since Justin is budgeting for his family, it is even more important that he prioritizes saving money. So, Justin has decided to budget savings as if it was a deduction each paycheck. Justin went to his branch and setup a transfer deduction for every paycheck. For example, if he budgeted $50 from each paycheck to be saved. It would automatically transfer $50 from his check to his Savings account. This way he forces himself to save and protects his family by building his savings.

Step 3, Stay Organized.

Justin knows there are more expenses than monthly bills, there are regular expenses such as groceries, gas, and entertainment, etc. So for these guys, Justin keeps his eye on his bi-monthly budget plan and his online banking. He tracks each expense and categorizes it as it comes in, to track it with his budget plan to be sure he doesn't go over and whatever is left is either transferred to savings  or used for entertainment.

Justin's budget is all about convenience. He doesn't have to write a single check or even see his local branch. He saves money instantly, and he keeps track of his budget by always checking his account online to keep things organized.

How do YOU budget?

Chris