How Do You Budget
By Jordan Lader
@JordanLader (6617)
Sparta, Tennessee
November 18, 2025 10:12am CST
So everything is changing on us now and I was so not prepared for it.
We filed bankruptcy yesterday and things with that are moving fast but I can't put anything in my name for at least six months. I'll probably wait longer just to be safe but that's ok.
It doesn't have to be in my name to help pay things.
With that being said, how do you budget?
Both of our paychecks vary so much and I really need to start putting money aside for these bills.
I have lists for both monthly and yearly bills and I really want to start envelopes again. It worked out so well when I did that. It was a lot of cash handling but it worked for us.
With the envelopes we had savings and the bills were paid well.
I'm pretty sure we're going back to that at the beginning of the year. We're going to stick to it too.
What about you?
4 people like this
3 responses
@LooeyVille (61)
• United States
9h
Link to a Dave Ramsey article on how to budget with an irregular income:
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/how-to-budget-an-irregular-income?_gl=1*1er1q45*_ga*ODEyMDk1NjMuMTczMDE0NTk1Ng..*_ga_02SXDH1H96*czE3NTMxOTU0MzgkbzY2JGcxJHQxNzUzMjAxMjA1JGozNiRsMCRoNDU2NzU5ODk5
2 people like this
@LooeyVille (61)
• United States
8h
@JordanLader I figured you'd know who Dave Ramsey was when you mentioned paying cash and using envelopes. It might not hurt to talk to a financial counselor to help hook you up with the right tools and resources to get your "refresh" off to a good start.
1 person likes this
@JordanLader (6617)
• Sparta, Tennessee
8h
@LooeyVille Actually I learned it from my mom when I was a kid and used it all the way up till about maybe 3 years ago. Maybe longer but I stopped because I was tired of going to the bank all the time but now we're going to go back to it.
It worked then and it'll take time but we'll get back to it.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (182008)
• Boise, Idaho
2h
When I was working, I made a list of all my bills and the dates each was due. Being a single parent, I had to rely on just my income. I then figured which bills I could pay with each of two paychecks during any given month. Then I committed to paying each bill on the date I calculated that I would need to pay it for it not to be late. Some months were harder than others to get them all paid.
@2ndchances24 (11124)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
4h
It's hard to budget when you don't know week to week what your
income is going to be to pay bills, but I would say if the envelope
method works I would do it & stick to it & get what bills you have
to get paid off "paid off" as soon as you can & don't get over your
head with credit debts cause that can ruin your credit score.
