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A3thereal t1_j6indbr wrote

The amounts mostly seem okay, except water. I know this is highly variable by region, but I pay about $50 a quarter in a 2k sq ft home with 3 occupants, nowhere near 75 a month.

Beyond that, I ascribe to the 0 budget mentality. I would recommend adding lines for savings (tax advantaged retirement accounts being the first priority after funding your emergency savings and paying down your high-interest debt) as well as entertainment/travel/leisure/etc.

The entertainment/etc. lines would be rollover. Unused money from one month would go in to an account specific for this/these purposes and any spending on said category should never exceed the rolled over budget. It requires that you pre-fund any trips or leisure activities, avoiding the possibility of funding them at 24.99% annual interest rates.

With this philosophy, your expenditures should equal $3,605. You do lose flexibility, and some will advocate against. You can also create a 'slip' category in there of 5% of your income. This covers overruns in any critical category and any remaining funds here should go in to paying down debt or savings at the close of the month.

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weruroverlord95 OP t1_j6invco wrote

Thanks. I'll review my water bills and check for any discrepancies.

I'm focused on paying off debt right now so the wife and I have cut out "fun" money until then. I've halted savings contribution until then. Plan on having it paid off completely by July.

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A3thereal t1_j6iob2s wrote

>focused on paying off debt right now so the wife and I have cut out "fun" money until then

That's fair, but those additional debt payments should added as a line item as well. I would recommend caution in completely removing 'fun' money from your budget as it makes it difficult to follow your budget. One compromise can easily snowball to the point a budget gets ignored outright. Instead of eliminating consider leaving yourself $50 for a date night to allow the flexibility.

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weruroverlord95 OP t1_j6iopfp wrote

Thanks for that input. That makes total sense. I would imagine burnout after a month or two. Will look into including this on the budget list.

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A3thereal t1_j6iqfb6 wrote

Yeah. There's an excitement to creating a budget, the prospect of financial independence from high-interest debt. A honeymoon period if you will. It fades fast and the reality of adhering to it will hit hard. For some people it's a couple of weeks later, for some it's a few months. It almost always hits though.

Knowing it's in the budget makes it a choice not of whether to follow the budget, but how best to allocate that part of the budget.

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weruroverlord95 OP t1_j6iqphv wrote

Making a plan for every dollar and executing it. I appreciate the feedback, truly!

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