Oh I cannot wait for the day to become full-time so that I get a regular paycheck; it would make budgeting SO much easier! I try to save a lot on the higher income months and spend very little on the low income ones. For instance, this month in particular I likely won't have any income, or VERY little. I was paid on December 20th for the last two weeks of school before the break since I was in a contract. I get ZERO income over the holidays and finally when school starts again on the 6th I will have to wait until January 31 before getting paid (IF I get work in those first two weeks back). Therefore if I didn't have savings FOR January I would definitely be going into debt this month.
This is how I lay out my monthly tracking. I changed a few things since last year since I no longer pay hydro (instead just heat through oil), I did not use my Christmas savings this year so they are still in my ING account and will just accumulate until next Christmas so it was removed.
So here is the working budget:
Category | Average |
INCOME | 2200 |
EXPENSES | |
Rent | 500 |
Oil | 70 |
Internet | 50 |
Car | 230 |
Gas | 180 |
Phone | 70 |
Food | 160 |
Restaurant | 60 |
Personal/Medical | 50 |
Clothing | 60 |
Gifts | 50 |
Education | 100 |
Entertainment | 75 |
Everything Else | 75 |
TOTAL | 1730 |
SAVINGS | |
TFSA | 250 |
Travel | 50 |
Furniture | 50 |
RRSP | 120 |
TOTAL | 470 |
Let me know if you have any suggestions for it.
Its certainly a good idea to have a budget based on average income and cut some when you make less and add more when you make more. I think Gail had suggested for those with variable income to have an A,B,C budget ... A includes everything you'd want in your budget for those higher income months, B includes those things you need and a few of your wants, and C includes mostly needs and maybe a few wants but not much. You could also decide to put so much into different budget categories based on percentages. So instead of $500 per month would go to savings, 30% of your income would go to savings so that when you've made very little, you save less but when you make more, you save more. Just a couple of suggestions but the budget you've set above seems reasonable.
ReplyDeleteNot a suggestion for your budgeting ...
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if I brought it up before, but when I was underemployed and tutoring, I carried business cards to pass out. I made a box of 500 through Vista Prints for less than $25 and they mailed it to me in less than 4 days!
http://www.vistaprint.ca/
Consider it if you're going to different schools. While business cards itself aren't particularly useful in itself, standing out and having a physical reminder helps reinforce a strong impression of you as a professional.
Sticking to a budget can be difficult for some. But in my opinion, the best way to do it is to have a good plan, just like yours. Dividing them in different categories was a nice touch, since you can mark which ones to prioritize. This will certainly make it easier for you to track down all your savings and expenses over the year.
ReplyDeleteMandy Goodwin @ Appletree Financial Solutions