Comments on: Question of the Day – Budgeting

By: Chad

Chad — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:36:44 +0000

my lifestyle has changed a little but the effect and amount of change has been negligable. Since i’ve been on my own I’ve always been a tight wad. Actually the irony of this all.. Even tho we are in the worst financial shape in this nation, since 2001 or so (according to the news), and even tho my Income hasnt changed much, (a small 50 cent/hr raise last year), Because I started paying attention to my finances and actually started planning things out about a year and a half ago, Im sitting in the best financial position I have ever been in, Im debt free while renting a small apt, Have 6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund, and have actually begun to invest heavily in Growth Stock mutual funds over the last 2 months. Yea I worry sometimes that life is gonna crash, but until I have a reason to alter my main plan, Im just gonna keep on the plan i’ve been running. so far its working pretty well. It is interesting tho, the people at work are all chicken littling, fearful, scared.. always asking other people at work if they can borrow money till payday and whining they don’t make enough money. I tell them how I’m doing and they look at me like i have 3 heads and say I dont know how you do it. The scary part is my plan isnt all that hard to understand.. but it does take discipline.

By: K

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:32:17 +0000

Yes, I am making changes. I’m continuing to pay myself first, but in order to do that I’ve had to be cautious in other areas. No shopping for anything other than food and gas even though I wasn’t spending that much on “other stuff” to begin with. Travel plans for the summer will be changed. Normally, we go on a a few weekend trips over the summer to various cities. The gas prices will make those trips too expensive this year.

Luckily, these are all luxuries! I plan to continue to save in case of a REAL emergency – like not being able to afford food.

By: tony

tony — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:54:27 +0000

buying less coffe, less movies, drive slower, raised deductables, etc. came up with 400/mo and am using all 400 to buy stocks

By: Miguel

Miguel — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:40:09 +0000

In a word – no. Our lifestyle has not really changed as a result of recent inflation. Fortunately, the last couple of years have treated us well in terms of income, much of which we have aggressively invested. Which brings me to the topic of watching my portfolio lose value with each monthly statement as of late. That, plus the prospect of getting laid off – however remote the chance, has caused me to realize that we’re really not as liquid as we need to be and so I’ve shifted more funds into cash. But, only enough to create an emergency cushion.

I’d say that this cautiousness about the future and desire to prepare for the worst is the biggest change. And that caution has probably caused us to delay some of the really big slurges we might be tempted to make like a new car, flat screen TV, etc., but these aren’t things that we would really miss (since we’ve done without them just fine so far).

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:35:52 +0000

I tell you, I just returned from being overseas for two years. The food prices where I was living had increased about 50% within the past 9 months, so I noticed it there.

When I returned to the US, I don’t see people hurting. Just about every car I saw had only one person in the car during rush hour. I’m saw lots of people shopping in shopping malls and lots of people eating in restaurants. So, I’m asking myself where is all this jibber jabber about high prices, recession, etc affecting people’s bottom line. I remember growing up in the 80s, and everyone was car pooling, etc. I have yet to see a big move towards even something as simple as carpooling at the present time.

for us, we’ve allotted more disposable income in our budget reducing our savings from 94% to 85% of pay, but i’m not sure if we are going to actually spend the extra 9%. we are doing some crazy spending now, because we are overwhelmed by all the stuff you can buy in the u.s. which we haven’t had access to in two years. i ate my first donuts today. nummy.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:00:56 +0000

My wife and I are still holding the line on our monthly savings goal despite the fact that things are more expensive. To achieve the goal we have made two changes. I ride my bike to and from work, which save 40 miles a day on gas. Yes, my legs are tired, but I’ve lost 10 pounds and am getting in great shape for the summer racing season. We also buy groceries on-line to prevent any impulse buying. My wife is really good at finding on-line coupons, which are easy to apply to the bill. The savings more than offset the $6.00 delivery fee.

By: stngy1

stngy1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:34:02 +0000

Well, in an odd way the overall financial mess is benefitting us. Stable/bulletproof job; low, fixed mortgage; locked in low interest rates on some consumer debt AND a HELOC set at prime. Needless to say interest on the HELOC has plummeted recently. We are much more focused on paying off debt right now, since there are no “high interest” savings anymore and its so much more obvious what we should be doing. I’m also purchasing a bit of stocks/mutual funds cheaply that I’m pretty sure (!) will do well when things bounce back. Fuel costs: hubby uses his scooter, I use the Prius, so not a huge deal.
Ultimately, I think the biggest impact, though, is that all the bad news has scared me into taking control of every penny!

By: toniannette

toniannette — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:24:31 +0000

I’ve made some minimal changes. Most involve delayed gratification. I only drive to work twice each week because the bus is free due to the transhare program I joined. I drive when I work out at the gym just because of convenience. I’ve also changed my plans about a cell phone upgrade and delayed a nused car purchase.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:35:36 +0000

I would have to say that I have not change lifestyle very much. I still shop around just as much as I used to and have always compare items in the grocery store for the best value.

By: JLP

JLP — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:14:10 +0000

Alex,

I know what you’re saying is true. My point was not having a lot of debt allows us more flexibility.