JacksonM wrote: I have a method, but I wouldn't call it a tight budget. I pay myself first with automatic transfers to my savings account and have things in the right place to pay each bill in full on time. The rest is more recreational with no direct plan.

Do you usually have a % target or $ amount to save each month?

I have a method, but I wouldn't call it a tight budget. I pay myself first with automatic transfers to my savings account and have things in the right place to pay each bill in full on time. The rest is more recreational with no direct plan.

Pinky wrote: I'm more of a loosey-goosey when it comes to finances. I pay my bills but instead of saving as I should, I usually just save a small portion of the excess and spend the rest on fun things for me and the kids. I didn't have the opportunity as a child to do much so I'm very conscious about doing things with my children.

That really doesn't sound bad because you're paying your bills first and you know what the remainder is getting spent on. Most people who blow through money make late payments on bills and have no idea where their payday went. As long as you're aware of what's going on, you can shift priorities as needed.

Update.

I am learning the importance of giving every dollar a name. I'm doing really good these days, so I went and made myself a spreadsheet. I have expensive bills and it used to get depressing. The spreadsheet though, right now, goes until the end of the year and is based on my base commissions only, of which I am locked into for the next 3 years. When you see your money laid out in the long term, it doesn't get as depressing. You can see yourself getting ahead of the game that way, instead of looking at it all week by week. It won't be long until I get 2018 planned out.

So yeah, I'm as tight as tight can be right now.

I'm more of a loosey-goosey when it comes to finances. I pay my bills but instead of saving as I should, I usually just save a small portion of the excess and spend the rest on fun things for me and the kids. I didn't have the opportunity as a child to do much so I'm very conscious about doing things with my children.

I keep a tight budget, mostly because my parents blew through money which taught me to be careful and wise with my own finances. The only time I loosen the reigns is when I'm helping a family member. Other than that, I run a tight ship. Of course, I'm not exactly suffering here.

I am definitely in the zone of loosely budgeting. I really like to be able to have fun and treat my kids to things I didn't have. Saving is important but is it important enough to budget so tightly that you can never go out and eat or to a show? I really have a hard time with this and it shows since my savings is practically non-existent.

I definitely see what you are saying, FrugalFran. It does sound nice in theory to save as much as you can, but then you run into the issue of not being able to enjoy it as you get older. My parents were a little bit like this and now that they are in their mid-70's they just don't want to do certain things now.

I think budgets become tight when you take on too many expenses. That was my case so I'm trimming the fat. This will leave me more play money and loosen things up a bit.

Very true! It certainty is a give and take. A splurge every once in a while is okay (especially if you can find cheap splurges!) and it can give you motivation to save more in the future. BUT you never want your current purchases to destroy your future.

Breakinger wrote:

FrankN wrote: I used to have a very flexible budget. However I have recently gotten married and we are trying to save for a house and for kids down the road so I have had to turn it rather tight. When you need to provide for other things, it usually tightens the budget quite a bit!

This is exactly what has happened in our situation, FrankN. Our budget never used to be tight until we purchased our house and had three kids. Now we have to make sure that there is enough for all. Hopefully, once everyone is grown up we can loosen our budget again. What do you think?

Breakinger, I think you're in the same boat as most people. Family responsibilities come along and you need to tighten up with the hope of having some fun money to spend when the kids are grown and on their own. That's just pretty much the way life goes, but I do agree with Frank that you need to use a little of it now once in a while. Being comfortable later on is important, but you can't save all the fun for the retirement years.

FrankN wrote: I used to have a very flexible budget. However I have recently gotten married and we are trying to save for a house and for kids down the road so I have had to turn it rather tight. When you need to provide for other things, it usually tightens the budget quite a bit!

This is exactly what has happened in our situation, FrankN. Our budget never used to be tight until we purchased our house and had three kids. Now we have to make sure that there is enough for all. Hopefully, once everyone is grown up we can loosen our budget again. What do you think?

The tough part of a very tight budget is we get tired of telling ourselves "NO" and we throw it out the window. So, some flexibility allows us to keep the home fires burning and yet have a little fun money. In light of playing catch-up financially, keeping the budget tight may be all you can do at this time. Remember, you need to have some fun (recreation) or you will explode

My budget is so tight you can hear it squeak in the dead of the night. I have a lot of financial catching up to do and I'm keeping my focus.

I used to have a very flexible budget. However I have recently gotten married and we are trying to save for a house and for kids down the road so I have had to turn it rather tight. When you need to provide for other things, it usually tightens the budget quite a bit!