Saving the $200 all month for rent on the last day of the month
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
United States
July 2, 2012 12:12am CST
I get paid on the 3rd of the month. Rent is due on the 1st of the month.. so I have to take the $200 out on the 3rd for the 1st of the following month. I thought it would be a problem, but it's not a problem at all. I'm able to save it all month in my money box and it is safe.
If you remember I was posting about having to do that, but it's not a problem. It works out just fine. S asks me for my money and then he adds mine in with his and pays the rent to B.
It's a tight month, but I've been figuring up how I will divvy up my funds for the month. I got $25 for my birthday from my sister friend.. I'll use it to get my transfer chair for my tub. I will have to add about $30 to it to get it... but I think I can manage it this month.. I hope so.
How do you manage your finances? I feel better having envelopes and putting cash in there for certain things. I don't trust the bank 100%... they have robbed from me before... not really... but they have taken funds out of my saving because I took out my savings too often.. I didn't know there was a limit and they took $15 for every withdrawal.. so they took $45 from me and that hurt bad.
I'm over it now... all is good. Please share something about how you do things.. not too much.. just in regular conversation. I'm really nervous about leaving my money in my account anymore.. I know it is just my anxiety... but I can't seem to help it.
Back to you~~
1 person likes this
13 responses
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
13 Jul 12
hi dear PQ I have to admit that I leave most of my cash in the bank, on the checking account plus savings accounts.
I manage the finances just like you do with the envelope system for clothes, hairdresser, groceries and train pass. Luckily the rent is deducted from my checking account every 20th of the month for the following month so no worries there.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
13 Jul 12
Hi Ritter! I'm afraid NOT to take out my rent and save it. If anything were to happen to my checking account where it got low to that amount and then an automatic withdraw that I forgot about came through I'd be up the creek without a paddle. I'd be tossed out of here, I'm sure. His mom would not be very understanding. So I make sure I have it.
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
14 Jul 12
makes perfect sense to me when I take into consideration what I know about this absolutely greedy woman......... sigh.....
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
2 Jul 12
Years ago I also used the envelope method. I had an envelope for all of the major bills. Rent, electric, water, car, insurance all had envelopes. I also had envelopes for savings, emergencies, food, entertainment. I don't use the envelope method now because I feel safer with my money in the bank. Good luck with managing your bills and getting them paid successfully.
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
2 Jul 12
I feel best using the envelope method for my emergency fund and for my rent. I don't feel confident at all to just keep it all in my bank account. There have been times that I've had bad experiences with the bank... like taking money out of my savings too often and then getting hit with a bunch of $15 charges for each withdrawal.. I'd rather just take out the money I need and have it handy. Not for all of my withdrawals but for some.
@xtinelee (3371)
• Singapore
2 Jul 12
I usually just put it all in the bank. My pay goes into my bank as well, so it's easier for me to do withdrawal. I remember there was a time when I was really broke, that I tried to scrimp to eat one meal a day to make sure that I had some money in my account, and that was really a terrible period for me. I am glad that that is over.. for now! Yay.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
2 Jul 12
I take my portion of the rent out ($200) at the beginning so that it doesn't get spent by accident. I have made mistakes before where I had an automatic bill paid that I didn't expect and it caused my account to go into overdraft... so I'd rather get the rent out.. I don't expect that to happen, but anything can.
@jaiho2009 (39142)
• Philippines
2 Jul 12
I know it's really tough when it comes to budgetting.
Here in my country, the city life is very expensive.
Thou we are not renting (too lucky to have our own house) but the bills are too high still.
Yesterday we went for shopping and groceries (me and my kids) and had a little bonding at Sbarro (Italian resto)- and it's an extra expenses for us.
I have list of our monthly expenses and I try to check other extra expenses for the whole month especially with unexpected ones.
My earning online helps a lot for those extra and unexpected expenses :)
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
2 Jul 12
I will be glad when I can have a little left over for a trip to a restaurant or something.. right now I can't. I'm not even sure if the $400 I allotted for groceries and non-food items and dog food will last us for the month. I'm not sure what I spent over June but we ran out... I think it was over $300 and we ran out of food. Not fun.
Prices of food is so high. Right now the supermarket has a sale going on for the 4th of July.. bread is 98 cents a loaf and watermelon is just a little over $2 each.. those prices will go back up after the 4th.
Walmart bread is $1.19 a loaf... so right now Ingles is cheapest.. it's not always the cheapest though.
Yes, working online does help out a lot.
@randylovesdar (4932)
• United States
7 Jul 12
If I remember correctly, you moved in with your sister and she would not allow you to pay on the third of the month. Am I right? I bank with US Bank and love them. They are great and have never had any trouble with them. I have a savings account where we automatically put 25.00 in a month and when we roll up our coins that goes into the savings as well. I am also in the process of looking for a place to live and am hoping to move out in September. I am hoping to start selling some of my crafts online and that money will go into savings as well. I like your system of the envelopes. I use excel and make a spread sheet of all the bills we need to pay, the amount allicated for food and gas. This month's paypal amount will go towards Randy's bday gift and after that I will start saving again. I am also looking into a work from home job that will help me generate more income.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
2 Jul 12
I have almost everything automatically deposited in the bank, but I have several avenues of income so some of it goes to Paypal and some of it comes in the mail. I keep track of things on paper rather than have to put it in envelopes or anything like that.
What goes into the bank is used for regular expenses like utilities and food. I cash some of the checks and use them for clothing and other expenses.
Paypal money goes first to tithes then the rest to a savings account that I use for annual expenses like Christmas and property taxes.
I know it's kind of weird, but I keep "Paypal money" and "bank money" and "cash money" totally separated in my head, as if they were three different things. 
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
12 Jul 12
I like to make sure i pay my bills asap when i get paid. Then i try to put money into my savings account. give myself cash for fun stuff and "squirrel" the rest away as much as possible. Since i opened my business 2 years ago i find it hard to save and squirrel away because...some months i dont/cant pay myself after ive paid all the rent etc.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
2 Jul 12
Sounds like u live about like i do, lol. I use to say i had to rob peter to pay paul back when my boys were home & it was just me working & raising them. Have things a little easier now that's it just me. I am a firm believer in living within your means something some people never learn & stay in debt all the time. I do not like to live like that.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
2 Jul 12
It's hard to keep hold of cash for almost a whole month because the temptation to spend it is huge. But I find that if I put all of the money that I need to pay the bills in a completely different bank account then I would never be able to spend it because you just can't get at it at all. Get an automatic transfer the day after you get paid (to make sure that it doesn't try to take the money before it goes into your account) into another account, and pay all of your bills from there. That is what I do, and it is great because you know that the money you have left in your account is money that you can use for whatever you like, which is obviously a good thing.
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
4 Jul 12
Hi PQ, it seems like the withdrawal fees that your bank charging is too high. As for me here, the withdrawal fees is not that high for local transaction. Regarding my saving method, what i always do is i always buy things i needed in bulk. Thus, i am saving quite a lot in the long run. Because i don't have to spend more money into buying the same thing when the price is much higher than the promotion period. In the month where i don't need to buy that particular thing, i will save those money for other purposes.
By the way, i seems only able to make posting to certain discussions only. Are you having the same problem like mine?
@911Ricki (13588)
• Canada
4 Jul 12
Good to hear its working out for you. Could you make the $30 in online earnings?. I usually use my online earnings for things for me so I don't have to spend it out of my paycheque or let it add up and trasfer it into my bank. I haven't had much issues with my bank and I've opened a high interest savings account and earned $.68 cents this month. I have been putting away so much each month for savings then to pay back the government. I find writing my money things down is easier and more realistic. So if I go shopping ill subtract that from how much is in my account and after I pay my bills. This month I have to get the stickers for my car and a new passport so I'm glad I have a little extra money. But I'm looking for another job like I did before having $1,000 extra each month for savings so I can move out faster.
@Jennib1 (62)
• South Africa
2 Jul 12
Earlier years I would have to go into a store to pay their accounts. This only led me into temptation to spend money again, especially if it was a clothing store. These days I pay all our accounts electronically via the internet. My husband has his own business and therefore doesn't have a fixed salary. This makes it a bit tricky as the money comes in during the month always at various times. As it comes in I make sure that the bills gets paid.
