Showing posts with label Financial Planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Financial Planning. Show all posts

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Financial Planning for Toilet Paper

With my new goal of paying for school, I had to come up with a specific budget plan. Previously, I had a general idea of what I spent on a weekly basis, but I didn't pay super-close attention to it. Now, though, I have a dollar amount in mind so I must be vigilant. I check my bank account often to see what the running totals are, but after reviewing my spending for the past few months, I realized that more money was leaving my hands than I thought. To combat this problem, I've added a new checking account to my banking system. It is as follows:

Checking Account #1: Food
Checking Account #2 **new**: Monthly miscellaneous items (toiletries, household products, movies, haircuts, etc.)
Checking Account #3: Rent. Only one check leaves this account monthly.
Savings Account #1: Short-term. Can dip into this as needed, but low amounts cause me stress.
Savings Account #2. Oh @#$% you lost your job/are in the hospital money. Nothing's wrong? Don't touch - save for school.

When school does happen, I'll create another savings account and split Savings #2. Some people might think this many accounts is excessive, but it helps me ration. Previously, I had one checking account and it drove me nuts when my landlord didn't deposit my check right away. So I took it out of the daily spending equation and put it on autopay. Now there is much less stress in my life, because I don't have to worry about how much money is actually in my account. Since my food and misc. expenses are separated as well, I'll know exactly how much I can spend in either category. This weekend, I was planning to make a Costco trip to stock up on a year supply of toilet paper. However, I might buy a semester bus pass instead, which will use up all of my "misc." money. Therefore, toilet paper will have to wait for two more weeks (which will be ok). I kind of like the awareness budgeting brings to my spending habits. I'm sure Future Amy will appreciate it as well.