Personal Budget Planning

Thank you to everyone who has submitted a request for budget coaching. I’ve now got the calendar booked through June. I’m looking forward to working with each of you. The first round of coaching starts April 1st.

Hello,
I have an idea I’ve been kicking around lately, free budget coaching. This would work by selecting just a couple people per month, and giving them 4 weeks of free budget coaching. I’ll help you setup my system, answer any questions, and get you running with a working budget system. This helps me by seeing what areas of my budget system work easily and which are harder to grasp. It also helps other users by providing your unique situations as case studies on my website.

Initially I’m thinking we spend up to an hour working together a week. We would primarily communicate through skype and email.

If you would like to signup for free budget coaching, please email at s@stackbacks.com.

I’ve been abusing my personal expenses account. It is easy to do so and make excuses. I trick myself into thinking I’m saving money by taking it out of my personal expenses account. Sure, if I spend it out of there, it’s not coming out of my planned therefore I’m getting purchases without budgeting more money. But if that is the case, I should reduce my budget and put the extra money into my planned account, otherwise I’m defeating my own cause.

Here are my current offenders:

• eMusic subscription $14.99 a month
  I set this up because I wanted to buy some music, and told myself it was a personal expense and didn’t want to budget any more.
• website registration / initial hosting ( approx $50)
  When I think of an idea for a new website, I register it and sign it up for hosting. What account do I use? My personal account, because this is a one off fee. I’m spending a little of my allowance on an investment.
• website continued hosting
  Since I originally used my personal account, it continues to bill me after the initial setup. I originally told myself I didn’t want to clutter up my planned expenses with these small hosting charges. Regardless of the size, if it’s planned it shouldn’t come out of my personal expense account.

How I just fixed it:

• eMusic
  I switched my billing over to my planned expenses account and I added it to my budget spreadsheet.
• website costs
  I applied for a new business checking account. These bills are business expenses and it’s time I start accounting for them as such. When the account is fully opened, I’ll switch over hosting to the new information and create a monthly transfer (budget) to fund new adventures (till the business become self sustaining).

A checking account is like a reservoir and the budget is the dam. Money flows into your account from your employer, it builds up here, and then it is restricted going out to your various debtors. The dam makes sure that the cash flowing through never sinks to low or rises to high.
A checking account is like a bucket. As money comes in, it fills the bucket. When you spend it, you open a spigot on the side and let a little flow out, but never enough to empty the bucket.

What metaphors do you have?

When you spend all the money in your paycheck and have none (or very little) left over, you are living paycheck to paycheck. It’s natural to spend the money you have and you are not alone. When you live like this you place a lot of your life in the hands of your employer. You risk losing your car or house if your employer misses just a paycheck or two. You also give up the freedom of being paycheck independent. If you disagree with the ethics of your position, see something at work that gnaws at your soul, or hear opportunity knocking, you have to think twice about whether you can afford to make quick maneuvers.

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