My boyfriend would probably call me nuts if he read this
So I hope he won't :) but to be completely fair, I honestly enjoy thinking about budgets and creating different budgets for different reasons. In the past, I've been on a budget before (several times to be honest). Sometimes because of the actual need to survive and other times because I just loved seeing the savings amount grow rather than going out for dinner constantly and spend it all. Lately, a budget hasn't been needed but I'm always keeping a close eye on the spendings so that I at least know what's left and how we're doing.
When we were struggling, I was pretty strict
And probably often annoying when I said "no, you can't spend it on that" while it was his hard-earned cash. But I didn't do it to be annoying of to piss him off, I did it because I wanted us to not feel the stress about getting through the end of the month until the next paycheck. I knew if we would be a bit more careful in the first two weeks, suddenly the last two weeks wouldn't be such a struggle or burden. It was like playing with the devil when I made a plan to do an end spurt of earning some money by the end of the month because we'd always end up having something to disturb my plans when I depended on it. For example illness in the house or the internet failed on me or I had terrible migraines for days. You name it. It was like the universe was teaching me a lesson to NOT delay but take opportunities right away.
As soon as my boyfriend's salary arrives, I pay all the bills
Not only the usual rent and health insurance but also some stuff that I pay from my personal account like the income tax that is due monthly. Even if these things have different deadlines, I make sure it all gets paid the day money comes in. Do I hate it to see the money disappearing instantly? Yes, I do, but it will make sure that everything is covered, and if I was to get ill, or anything happens these bills are paid. I can't forget. It gives me peace of mind. And honestly, it's also a good motivator to make sure that I will add more earnings from my side rather sooner than later. I feel the urge to contribute more than ever.
To some, it may have seemed like a stupid decision to resign
Heck, even my boyfriend questioned my judgment and gut feeling this time, haha. But, I can now say 100% certain that my gut feeling was spot on as the job was going to end in two weeks anyway, not just for me, but for all of my colleagues. They do expect everyone to dedicate quite a few hours these last weeks though, which I luckily don't have to do anymore as I resigned. Instead of pulling a dead horse, I've been making huge progress on my projects and I feel super inspired to create things. All sorts of things, inspiration is flowing towards me and I love this creative flow I'm in currently. Everything is unfolding just as it's supposed to be!
Yesterday, I took money from the bank and made budgets
Making budgets work best if you keep them in cash, there's still room for card transactions, but I try to keep it as clear as possible by creating budgets in an envelope using cash and keep track of what was spent. I decided what was reasonable withing the salary of my boyfriend only so that everything that comes in from my side is extra and for emergencies. I can also decide to add a little more to one budget (most-likely I will need more for our 3 dentist appointments this month total, so that's a good example of one that I will refill during the next weeks).
Not only about spending less money
Budgeting is not only about spending as little money as possible. I'm also on top of avoiding food waste. I let this slide for a bit, and I've noticed we were wasting some meat and veggies in the past weeks. Which I hate, as it's not needed to waste these things. To make this waste as little as possible, I will start making weekly menus again, as with a tight planner there's little waste. At least that's my experience. On top of that, will also be more aware of items that we used to eat a lot during the lockdown, but come in big packages, like ham to put on a sandwich for example. We used to eat that all three of us, but now, it's only me. With only a few days of keeping it fresh, I will have to throw it away for at least 50 or more %. Today, I took half of the package out and portioned it to put it in the freezer. On top of that, I will put leftovers in the freezer as well as that was forgotten a few times during the past weeks.
I'm aiming at doing a no-spend week as well this month
But first, there are a few things that we have to get done and I will have to make sure we have enough food in the house as well plus enough for lunch at work (boyfriend) because otherwise, the no-spend week will fail before it started. I'm sure though, that with a bit of planning and keeping leftovers in the freezer, this is going to be doable!
To earn some money, I'm selling items I don't need
This has been overdue for a while, as I started it before moving places, during the summer. Unfortunately, most summer items won't be sold anymore but will have to wait until next spring. But, the good news is that I found quite a few items that I didn't sell yet, and are still good enough to sell and help me out budget-wise as well. These sold items will not only give me some new space in the house (clear mind) but also make me smile as I can add some money to our dentist budget sooner than planned.
Budgeting should be a lifestyle, and partially it is for me. I know myself good enough though to admit that during the summer, I have loosened the ties a bit so that we were able to enjoy the weather a bit more often because we both work for it and we deserve to have some family time as well. Now that the fall has arrived, I think it will become more important to me to keep ourselves to budgets, even if not needed because. in the end, it will give us some savings which give us a good feeling.