Personal Finance Begins

I did a basic budget last Thursday, with some help from Marc.  Here it is:

 

 

 

Bill	Amount
Rent	$700
Car Payment	$432
Car Insurance	$75
Student Loan	$64
UWF	$125
Gas	$75
Grocery	$275
Credit Cards	$135
Gold's	$22
Total	$1903

 

I make $825 every two weeks, bringing my monthly income to $1650.  I am making $253 less than my monthly expenses. 

So in order to become financially sound, and since I really can't increase my income, I have to decrease my expenses.  This is how I intend to do this:

 

Marc is going to help me by reducing my rent/utilities to $600. 

This is a huge help.  This is a fine example of my brother helping me out in while I get on my feet financially.  This would not be possible if I were living by myself.  I must not take this for granted, and work hard to get where I can fully carry my weight of the rent and utilities. 

 

I am going to cancel my membership at Gold's Gym.

This makes a bit sad, but it must be done.  I simply do not need a gym to exercise.  I can do all cardio and resistance exercise either at home or outside.  I actually prefer cardio outside anyway!  As for weights, this gives me a chance to experiment with body weight exercises.  Plus, I still have all the P90X discs and my pull-up bar and all the dumbbells.  I will be starting marathon training in about a month, so I will be limiting my weight training to 2 days a week anyway. Also, I won't be cancelling until next week when I have a day off during the week, and I believe I have to give them 30 days notice, so I will have a few more weeks to workout at the gym.  This is the first expense that I can cut that is an example of a want, not a need.  This is an attitude I must keep up if I am to close the under-employed gap.

 

I can no longer buy any out meals.

This means NO out meals.  The only time I can buy a restaurant meal is when I can't avoid it, which hasn't happened yet, and then will come out of my grocery budget.  Coffee, sodas, vending machine, any food purchased must be taken from my grocery budget.  If this runs out, I eat what I have at the house.  THIS MUST NOT RUN OUT.  If it does, figure it out then.  This is a high priority category.  It is controllable, but I must eat.  This will be tracked carefully.

 

For now, there will be no purchases except for what I have in my budget.

Any purchase not included in my budget must come from somewhere.  Presently, I can not afford anything other than what I have in my budget. Any expense not listed, such as a haircut, will have to come from somewhere in my budget.  The only categories I could take from are grocery or gas.  This is not desirable, so I have to limit those expenses as much as possible.  I have a free haircut coming, and I can tip $2.  Also, although I didn't list it, I am allocating $25 a month for AA donations.  This is a necessary expense.

 

I will try to get more credit in the form of credit cards. 

I'm not really excited about this, but it will help me make ends meet.  That is, if I can get more credit.  This may not be the best move, but as long as I keep it on a need basis and not spend on wants, I should be able to keep it under control.

 

Which reminds me of something.  When I got on at Waffle House, I got all these credit cards with the intention of staying at WH, with the good pay and better future pay.  So I charged and charged, not thinking I would have trouble making the payments.  Well, that plan didn't work out, and here I am, making $25K a year.  Don't get me wrong; I love my stress-free job, and the benefits are excellent.  But the pay is low, and I have no idea when I will get a raise or how much it will be.  I am assuming I will get a raise after working for a year, when I get off probation.  But that is a while off, if it even happens.  So for now, I must do all I can to reduce my expenses.  This will be a learning experience, with knowledge gained from asking questions to Marc, maybe Dad, and Internet research.  Marc says if I put the energy I use on researching diet and exercise into researching personal finance, I should be alright.  Sounds like something I ought to do. 

I must keep at it, keep looking for ways to save expenses, or possibly increase income.  Thus begins my path of financial Independence.  I will blog about this regularly.  But I'll still blog about diet and exercise!  Especially with marathon training coming.  Stay tuned!