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September 16, 2011, at 6:00 am If you're new to BFS, please subscribe to my RSS feed. It shows me a vote of support and keeps me motivated to keep your attention. If you have any questions or comments for me, please contact me and I'll get back to you asap. Thanks for visiting! Our monthly budget runs from the 13th day of one month to the 12th day of the next since that is the billing period of our two main credit cards. That’s when I can see the complete list of our expenditures easily. So here’s the results of August 13th to September 12th.
Our Basic Budget followed by Our August 2011 Results
- Mortgage – $900 / $900
- Roth IRA – $300 / $300
- Car Insurance – $125 / $125 (Need to take defensive driving again for that discount)
- Gasoline – $185 / $140 (Yay for no commute)
- Electricity – $150 / $155 (Great for the summer, that $150 target is an average)
- Water – $30 / $30
- AT&T U-Verse & DSL- $115 / $110
- Sprint – $140 / $140
- Housekeeper – $130 / $120
- Lawn Services – $50 / $0 (I stopped watering so our grass is…ummm…crispy…)
- Netflix for Us – $10 / $9 (streaming only)
- Netflix for Grandparents – $20 / $0 (Grandma asked for us to put it on a temp hold while she gets a new list together)
- Groceries – $350 / $295 (but see below)
- Fast Food / Restaurants – $150 / $415 (Oops…Chick Fil’a, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, and laziness did us in…)
- Misc. Bills – $125 / $465 (We bought new clothes since we have lose a lot of weight and my husband needed reffing supplies)
- Toll Roads – $100 / $120 (grrrr)
- Car and Home Account – $500 / $500
- Joint Entertainment – $50 / $220 (We joined a bowling league so this will be high every 5 weeks)
- Hubby’s Fun Money – $100 / $100
- My Fun Money – $100 / $100
- Emergency Fund/Savings – $350 / $350
- Vacation Account – $50 / $50
- Tax Account for IRS and Property Taxes – $400 / $400
- Cash for Investments – $120 / $120
- Cash – $150 / $160
- Total Budget = $4700 / $5324
Thankfully we banked way more than usual now that I am self-employed, so going over budget didn’t matter much at all, but we will not be eating out as much in September. My husband’s paycheck was hit pretty hard with my medical insurance, so his take home pay is now at about $2600 a month. After blogging expenses and taxes, it looks like I will be bringing in at least $3500 in a bad month from my online income. We’re going to leave our budget at $4700 but we divide the monthly extra between savings (25%), investments (35%), our vacation account (20%), and our fun money accounts (10% each). You can see exactly how I budget by clicking on those words. 
How is your budget right now?
September 15, 2011, at 6:00 am
Even before I was a blogger, I loved money. I liked saving it away, splurging on things that made me smile, and I adored talking about it. I never understood why more people weren’t completely open about it since I learned so much from all of the random conversations I started. I have come to realize that my transparency has led me into all of the relationships I treasure today.
Meeting my Husband
Throughout my teenage years, I scared off a lot of people by being so open. At the time I thought I sucked. I am friendly, have a good sense of humor, and don’t smell, but I could never make a friend with anybody for more than a year at most. Then I started college. There are a ton of people even more open than me at college, but my obsession with budgeting was a little off-putting then too. My husband actually liked talking about plans for money as much as me, which was awesome. It was even more awesome that his plans included a healthy savings amount too. We bonded over board games and dreams of a fun but stable life in the future.
Developing Friendships
Despite the huge accomplishment of finding a great partner, I still didn’t form very many lasting friendships with others. I had to work on keeping alot to myself. I became a better listener. I tried to explain that my personal opinions of how I want my life to be don’t mean that I’d judge someone for wanting something different. I think I really learned how to communicate in my early-mid twenties.
Then I started making friends. I met some great people in a few board gaming groups and I started developing lasting friendships with individuals as nuts as me but in different ways. This has worked out very well for us. I can go on and on about blogging and money, and they actually listen. Then I really listen to anything and everything they want to talk about too. I think my budget-love is actually rubbing off on a couple of them, but they’ll never admit it.
In the end, my transparent personality about everything including cash actually helped me weed out a ton of people from my life that weren’t a good fit anyway. If I wanted to chit-chat with small talk my whole life, I just needed to remain quiet and composed. But to find the people that fit into the puzzle of my life, I had to continue being myself and see what stuck, lol.
If you have a passion, share it. The people you want in your life will stick around and the rest weren’t a good fit anyway. If I can find a support network of my own even though I talk about blogging, my husband, my dogs, and money 90% of the time, anybody can find great relationships.
Have you ever tried to change yourself for others? Did you realize that you didn’t want to ? How did it work out?
September 14, 2011, at 6:00 am
My husband is a football fan…a BIG football fan. He refs varsity highschool games every Friday night. He then usually has football on every Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And he watches replays and stories on all the other days, lol. What this means is that even if I am busy with blogging, I see parts of football games and football-related shows quite a bit. Yesterday I was about to head out and heard in passing of an NFL Rookie, Prince Amukamara, and his first vehicle purchase after receiving his signing bonus. I was dang surprised!
The NFL Rookie has Money Skills
Amukamara was surrounded by guys buying brand new Chargers or sports cars. But he pulled into the lot dressed down and on a scooter. He then asked to be taken to the used car lot and started looking for a SUV or sedan. He spotted a black SUV and a medium-sized sedan and decided to ask about pricing. The sales guy said the SUV was $13,350 and the sedan was less than $9,000. Amukamara wanted the SUV, so he sat in it, looked at the sales guy, and asked if he could have it for $10,000 in cash. He then added that if that couldn’t happen, he’d go with the cheaper sedan.
What?! A rookie player that can haggle?! Booyah!!!
My Reaction
You have no idea how proud I was of this young man. He was surrounded by flashy cars for cash, friends waving around their money, and yet he worked out a great deal on a very manly vehicle of his own. I was so happy for him!
Then I looked up more about him for this post and realized that he broke his foot in April and isn’t even able to play – how sucky is that! Sometimes life is just not fair. But, if you ever read this Mr. Amukamara, I am a big fan! You impressed the crud out of me.
I know that there are probably many financially prudent athletes, but I never see stories about them. I only hear about the stupid stories of millionaires being broke or being surprised when they have hardly anything when they can’t play anymore. It always makes me sad – what a waste. But at least a few of them may make some wise decisions along the way and be set for life. I hope Prince Amukamara heals perfectly, has an awesome career, and retires early in life with enough set aside to live well for the rest of his life.
What do you think? Are there a bunch of frugal athletes that I have just overlooked?
September 13, 2011, at 6:00 am
When I first took the plunge into self-employment in July, I had already set up a separate ING saving account for my blogging income. I also made sure it would be at or over $10,000 before I needed to start paying myself. Then my plan was to pay myself from that account just like I was employed regularly – it was my way of budgeting in self employment.
Self-Employment Pay So Far
My plan has worked out very well so far. I do pay myself $1650 from my Blogging Income account every 2 weeks. I then move $500 of that $1650 into our Tax account to go along with our monthly $400 contribution, so I will have more than enough to give the IRS quarterly. The trick has been how I should handle the rest of my monthly income.
So far I made about $7000 in July, $6800 in August, and am already at $5800 for September. My paychecks “only” have taken out $3300 each month (2 months a year will be about $5000). My expenses have been running between $500-$1000 a month. That means I have had about $2500 left at the end of the last 2 months that was just extra. My husband and I sat down and decided how we would break that up from here on out:
Monthly Extra in Blogging Income
We first move 35% of the extra into the Tax account.
The remaining part is broken down like our regular monthly extra:
| Emergency Fund |
25% |
| Investment Cash – Roth IRA’s and Stocks |
35% |
| Vacation Account |
20% |
| Crystal’s Fun Money |
10% |
| Hubby’s Fun Money |
10% |
This has worked out amazingly well. I also love seeing our savings and fun accounts grow so much quicker. It has allowed us a bit of lifestyle inflation when it comes to hobbies and vacations, but we don’t feel bad since we’ve inflated our savings too.
Other Big Blogging Expenses
We probably won’t have as much extra from here on out since I have been spending and will be spending a bit more here and there on blogging. My plan is to continue buying more sites, like I just did with Money in the 20s, and grow my income streams. That means I will be spending a bunch in the short-run to hopefully help myself out in the long-run. I also will be attending more blogging conferences, which will run about $1000-$1250 each. Lastly, I will have large expenses pop up like laptops once in a while since they don’t last forever. All of that will be taken out of my Blogging Income account before I even look to see if I have any monthly extra over my $10,000 of padding.
Are you self-employed? How do you deal with irregular pay?
September 12, 2011, at 6:00 am
The following is a guest post about budgets by Lisa at Frugal Living, an Australian personal finance blog created to talk to readers about frugality and living below your means.
Creating a budget – and sticking to it – can be made simpler by finding a system that works best for your household. If you’ve ever had the desire to start budgeting, save money, or plan for retirement, formulating a straightforward plan is the first step to take. Here are three different ways to go about implementing a personal finance strategy – from super-simple to full-on bells and whistles.
Don’t Break the Bank
Ledger notebook or spreadsheet. Sounds simple, right? It is. Use a notebook or ledger book – or create an Excel spreadsheet on your computer. List every bit of income you earn each month, and write down all your financial obligations. Be sure to include everything from the mortgage payment or rent, to fuel for your vehicle, and work lunches if you’re unable to take your own. Writing down everything you spend can have a profound effect in pinning down exactly where your money goes every month. Save your receipts and reconcile your simple budget book each week to keep a good handle on your expenditures.
Budgeting Online
Web-based Financial Management. Simple (and free!) web-based software can be a step up from creating your own spreadsheet or using pen and paper to stick to a budget. Mint.com (similar to TurboTax and owned by Quicken) is Intuit’s Web-based, money-management package. You can view your financial snapshot via a personalized dashboard, and see all your accounts in one place. Mint is the most mobile-friendly of the three sites, supporting your personal finance quest with apps for both Android and iPhone, which let you access your account while you’re out shopping. Mobile alerts can keep you informed of payments due, low balances or the fact that you have low balances, payments due, or budget-busting expenditures coming down the pike. Payoff helps you adjust your spending so you can stick to a budget and achieve your goals. Payoff also has an online community component. If you’re looking for personal finance software plus a financial support group, Adaptu might be a site you’ll appreciate. Like Mint, it lets you link your financial accounts and gives you an overview of your money – and it’s also a good place to identify with other people who are facing the same financial situations. Participating in their user forums is a great way to get support as you make your way down the road to financial freedom.
Get the Good Stuff
For a fee, you can purchase premier personal finance software – like Quicken, YNAB, and Bank to Budget are applications that import your banking transactions, allowing you to create a personalized budget, categorize, and view your monthly net gain or loss. Charts and tables provide valuable tools to view your finances and recent activity. Bank2budget allows you to import and archive unlimited amount of data as well as to change banks and still continue to import your banking activity. YNAB (You Need A Budget) helps you gain control of your budget with a user-friendly interface, along with all the perks one would expect from a paid software application. The paid version of most popular personal finance software programs also support use through mobile Apps. YNAP and Bank to Budget are only downloadable online, while Quicken may be downloaded online or purchased through Amazon, Best Buy, or other outlets.
All in all, using a personal software plan – whether its pen and paper or software which tracks your finances – can help you stay on track with your budget, and connected to others who face the same difficulties.
Which way do you track your personal finances? Have you found some ways to be better time savers, or not even worth it? Share your tips with us!
September 11, 2011, at 6:00 am
The Saved Quarter Challenge Update
I joined The Saved Quarter Challenge this year and was aiming to save at least $21,000 by the end of 2011, but we hit that goal in mid-June!!! My new goal is to save a cool $42,000 by the end of 2011 instead! That would be a tiny bit more than 50% of our GROSS pay from our two full time jobs (my husband’s and the one I had before I quit in mid-July)!!!
Here’s how I’ve done this week for the Saved Quarter Challenge:
I received my last regular paycheck on August 3rd, so my blogging income is not considered savings automatically anymore. I’ll know after the 14th of every month how much of it can be socked away like it was this week.
The new $42,000 goal is hopefully going to be reached solely through 100% true savings – 401(k), Roth IRA, emergency fund/savings, home and auto maintenance account, extra cash for investments, and blogging income up to August 6, 2011.
Total This Week: $300
We can save what we do because we live off of a little more than my husband’s salary as a school librarian ($38,000 take home pay). That means we save most of what I make blogging from home and what my husband makes from his hobby job of reffing. Reffing usually brings in $2000-$3000 a year and blogging is bringing in $50,000 or more a year (we’ve already hit more than $30,000 for January-August 2011), and I get to keep about two-thirds after taxes.
Total to date: $36,013 guaranteed, $5,987 to go.
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Newsletter Update
You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter with exclusive, subscriber-only giveaways by using the subscription form in the right sidebar! ———>
My current goal is to reach 150 subscribers by September 30th, so please spread the word as you see fit! I appreciate it.
Just for kicks, here are the current newsletter stats:
- Number of Subscribers: 77 (Thank you!!!)
- Open rate (how many subscribers ended up opening the third newsletter): 38 of 70 (54.3%), which is 38% higher than industry standard, woot!
- Clicks (how many people have clicked a link inside the last newsletter): 11 (15.7%), which is 12.5% higher than industry standard, woot again!
- Countries Reached: United States, Canada, and New Zealand
Thank you so much to my subscribers!!! I appreciate the vote of confidence and Jesse and I will make sure they don’t get boring!
Additonal Info
I will continue posting monthly and yearly blog statistics and income updates, so stay tuned at the beginning of every month!
In case you didn’t know, Alexa traffic rankings are determined by the numbers of hits a site gets by people with the Alexa toolbar. If you want to be part of this ranking community, you can download the Alexa toolbar here.
If you don’t already, you can follow me via RSS, Twitter, or like my Facebook page by following those links.
To learn more about the Yakezie, the blogging group that has helped me in SO many ways, check out my Yakezie page! Feel free to email me if you are a Yakezie member or challenger and don’t see yourself on the list!
If you are interested in seeing how I went from an 8 million plus Alexa rank and 3 readers to where I am today, you can see My Blogging Checklists, which breaks down everything I do related to blogging. If you want to see how I have started bringing in more than $6000 a month in less than 18 months, you can check out How I Make Money Blogging.
I have also started a new site, http://howimakemoneyblogging.com/, which will cover how I currently make money blogging and my transition to a work-from-home blogger!
THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING THE BEST READERS EVER!!!
September 10, 2011, at 6:00 am
Weekly Updates
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Luckily I didn’t need the money since I now run the advertising for more than 50 blogs. Thank you to everyone who is allowing me to help out and have fun at the same time!
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I have bought 6 more domain names for niche sites that I am having put together right now. Thanks Jesse! I will let you all know about them as they are completed – they’ll just be informational sites, not full-fledged blogs.
My Favorite Posts this Week
Guest Posts at BFS
Thank you for helping me out and for the great post!
I Still Staff Write at…
Giveaways
Blog Carnivals
If you are hosting a carnival that includes Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, please email me so I can include it in my roundup. Thanks!
Top 5 Referring Sites to BFS from Last Week:
- The Financial Blogger
- Yakezie
- Free Money Finance
- Get Rich Slowly
- First Gen American
Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.
As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too. 
I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as me!
Please subscribe to my new newsletter to receive weekly updates and links to exclusive, subscriber-only monthly giveaways! There’s a $25 Amazon Gift Card up for grabs right now!
I am aiming for 150 subscribers by September 30th!!!
The newsletter subscription box is at the top of the right sidebar —————>
My Other Sites
I have started a new site, How I Make Money Blogging!
Let me know what you think!
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DISCLAIMER I am not a professional or a financial advisor. BFS posts are informational opinions only. Please make your own financial decisions based on personal research or see a financial advisor.
Also, there are paid links on this site. There is no obligation on your part to purchase any products advertised on this website.
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