YNAB You Need A Budget

[timtimtimma]

Hello all,

I am in a little bit of a predicament....So I have incurred some very expensive unexpected costs over this month causing my budget to get blown nearly $400 over budget. YIKES.

I have been rushing this last week figuring out how to save as much money monthly from now on as I possibly can.

For example: Cable bill this last month was $173, they raised there prices AGAIN. So, I switched to Satellite and now internet and TV combine for ($96.99) but I plan on dropping my cable internet too and getting equal service from another company here in town for nearly half the price, so would effectively bring down tv and internet too $70 ($100 savings a month!)

Typically pay $108/mo for car insurance but recently canceled that insurance company to get with progressive for only $80 a month ($28 savings a month! PLUS $86 dollar refund check from old insurance company!)

And my wife and I have made the decision to spend only $50/week on groceries because of the unexpected expense and so far in two weeks we have only spent $68.56 (savings of $31.44 so far!) And that is with our two year old son!

Anyways, as you can see we are really working hard to bring the costs down as to make sure we have a little more breathing room next time, but this won't be enough...

Total over spending expected by end of month: $375

$375 overspent
-$86 refund
-$31.44 grocery savings
_____________
$257.56 overspent

I have decided there are two ways of dealing with this over spending:

1. I have a little over $300 in savings and could just take out what I need to take care of the remainder at the end of the month after I have scrapped to save everywhere I can.

2. Next month is a 5 Friday month which means +1 more paycheck AND a bonus check which typically is around $200-$250 effectively bringing in an additional $500-$550 next month. I was thinking I could perhaps move the overspending to next month and when the extra money comes in mark it as supplement for that month and that would take care of the overspending and I could add the rest to my savings account.

I know there are other potential options and I would like to hear what you all have to say/suggest but these are the two that come to mind when i think about how to fix this.

So I guess the main question is should I invade savings to compensate for overspending? All replies welcome ty

P.S. I do realize I could just make adjustments to next months budget however it is already very tight and I am not sure I can make many more substantial savings that would account for the entire balance change.

[WairereRose]

I guess the big question is whether you have the funds right now in your account to cover the overspending, or whether you're going to end up incurring fees if you don't pull that money from your savings account now.

If you do have the money to cover it right now and won't incur any dishonour fees, then rule 4 (rolling the expense to next month) is the way to go. Good on you for the savings you have managed already.

If you don't have the money to cover it right now, and dishonour fees are a real possibility, then get those savings across now. Next month's budget is tight already you said, and you don't want to squeeze it further by adding 'stupid taxes' to it. Using the 5th pay to reimburse the savings at that point would be what I would recommend so that you're at least staying even.

Hopefully the cuts you have made will make ongoing months easier, but you may need to look at raising your income somehow if this is going to be a regular occurrence.

[timtimtimma]

Ya I have the funds in there I am just digging into next months buffer a little bit. So I guess I will just roll with the punches

[MALMomma]

That's the YNAB way... Roll with it! Soon enough, you'll look back on the days when you HAD to roll with them and go man, so glad I'm not there any more!

[hdsportyguy]

I might be a little late in suggesting this, but when I was first starting out in trying to cut back spending, I cancelled the cable all together. I have netflix for 20 bucks a month, which gives me unlmited movies (3 at a time out) It also gives me unlimited online movie watching, which if you already have the internet is awesome. If not, you can usually get internet for around 30 a month if you get in on a special, which would only bring that to 50 a month or so. Hope that can be of some help.

[LeNea]

I keep some of my savings money stashed for a rainy day, just for situations like this one. It's savings *for* the unexpected things in life (the really unexpected things, not the cute purse on sale unexpected things). That way, when there's a higher dental bill than expected or a death in the family to travel for, I can draw from that rainy day money, not stress out about the budget that month, and over the next couple months rebuild the rainy day fund to where I want it to be. Kind of a prolonged rolling with the punches. If you're saving for an emergency, and an emergency need arises, don't feel bad using what you set aside for that very situation. Just make sure you replace it sooner rather than later. Making cuts to monthly expenses is a good way to be able to save more every month...if you don't have a "life happens" savings budget, maybe start putting what you're saving on cable, etc into that for a few months so the next unexpected expense emergency doesn't make you lose so much sleep!