# Anyone plan to review the household budget in the new year?



## NextTimeAround (Dec 15, 2011)

My husband and I reconsidering our cable service.

What about you?


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## Satya (Jun 22, 2012)

Short answer: most definitely. 

At the start of every year, I download my statements from last year, itemize on spreadsheets, and compare to my spending in the year before that. I make note of all events that happened the prior year to help "walk through" the reasoning behind expenses (if they were greater).

I also list all subscription services (like Adobe, Pandora, etc.) and give a mental rating (must have vs. nice to have, also frequency of use/usefulness) for the upcoming year. I usually drop several.

I also go through my password vault and make sure I have all recent info/passwords periodically updated.


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## NextTimeAround (Dec 15, 2011)

I subscribe to adobe as well. I'm teaching myself photoshop.


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## chillymorn69 (Jun 27, 2016)

Of course


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## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

We usually review things twice a year - before taxes (so early in the year), and early/mid fall. We cut cable TV over a year ago, kept internet, and now just watch stuff from amazon Prime. We also changed home and auto insurance, for significant one-time savings. It's good to know where the money goes, and how much goes to unavoidable expenses, and what's discretionary. The latter can be surprising, and we try to adjust those to match our current priorities.


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## DTO (Dec 18, 2011)

I just did my review. I follow the 50/20/30 rule: I keep mandatory expenses to about half of my pay, save a big chunk, and the remaining 30% gets spent however I feel like. By keeping your mandatory spending low and saving up front, you don't need to sweat the rest. 

I make sure to allocate monthly for irregular expenses, like basic car/home maintenance or taxes. It may sound obvious, but I know a few people who don't and get caught flat-footed when something comes up.

So, I look at what money has come in and where it has gone, and see whether anything is changing this year. Did I plan well for those expenses that don't come up often? Is my rent / mortgage going up? Is my take-home income going up (raises, if known) or down (pay cuts, tax status changes)? Did my spending and savings adhere to the rule (mine do, or I'd get them into line)?

The second step is to set goals for the year. What do I want to accomplish this year with that 30%, and what will it take to achieve that? I rank stuff in order of priority to me. There's no right or wrong answer, since this is all discretionary to begin with.

In essence, I create a rough sub-budget for this discretionary spending. This way I'll know what I can spend where and make sure my goals are reasonable. After that, I just execute my plan and monitor every month. It's important to know that you'll not be spot-on your budget every month, so you'll need to tweak spending as you go along to stay on course.


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## GuyInColorado (Dec 26, 2015)

I spend every dime. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so live life to the fullest.


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## happy as a clam (Jan 5, 2014)

Yes! 

I’ve never been too keen on tracking everything, but this year I’ve decided to allocate every dollar “somewhere.” In other words, beyond the normal expenses like property taxes, utilities, groceries, etc. + potential household and auto repairs, the remainder is being assigned to specific categories such as vacation/travel, Christmas/gifts, hobbies, home decorating, and the like.

Basically the Dave Ramsey plan.

That way, if I decide to drop 5 grand on a trip I won’t feel guilty at all because the money was sitting there all along, earmarked.


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## NickyT (Aug 14, 2017)

We ditched cable about 8 years ago. It was a good decision - just spoke to my nephew who was telling me he pays almost $200 for cable and premium channels. Holy toledo. I review the budget midyear rather than at the first of the year. We are still paying holiday bills, etc. so things look a little more sane then. That's when I plan for the next holiday season.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

I'm the patron saint of apartment rental companies. DD1 has a 'hood apartment, DD2 has Trump Towers South and wife has Trump Towers East. Thankfully both Towers are utilities included. 

Save? Good one. Hopefully we'll get free medical exams and bandages once DD2 graduates med school ($50k/yr). At least wife got a spectacular pay raise in her new job. Now all we need is the retainer for a shark lawyer and we're set.

Follow this advise. You can't save your way to prosperity. Dropping cable and the such is peanuts. If you're young, invest in yourself. Get better at what you do. Much as I malign my wife's job hopping, she's earned a 20% pay raise in 2 years, and she was paid stellar wages to begin with. 20% of six figures is a lot of cable cutting. 

Right now she wants to go back to school to get some classes on financial engineering, since her financials industry knowledge isn't like pharma or insurance (hey, what's a trading floor? We have one at work). She's 58. 

Bottom line. Invest on yourself.


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## Red Sonja (Sep 8, 2012)

Yes, I do. I must because my health insurance premiums go up every year (increased $200/month this year) and my income fluctuates because it is all from dividends, interest and business partnership distributions.

So far, I have decided that my car satellite radio subscription is going to be cancelled. It’s not worth the price any longer because I walk or bike to most places (I live in an urban area) and I have noticed more radio reception black out areas of late.


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## DTO (Dec 18, 2011)

john117 said:


> Follow this advise. You can't save your way to prosperity. Dropping cable and the such is peanuts. If you're young, invest in yourself. Get better at what you do. Much as I malign my wife's job hopping, she's earned a 20% pay raise in 2 years, and she was paid stellar wages to begin with. 20% of six figures is a lot of cable cutting.
> 
> Right now she wants to go back to school to get some classes on financial engineering, since her financials industry knowledge isn't like pharma or insurance (hey, what's a trading floor? We have one at work). She's 58.
> 
> Bottom line. Invest on yourself.


Love this advice. Reminds me of when I did my MBA full-time while job searching after I got laid off. People were advising me to just take a job - any job - and grind away until the economy came back.

Thankfully I recognized how idiotic that advice was. The economy hasn't come back for people without enough education, and I'd be struggling if I had foregone B school.

ETA: Job hopping is the only way to get good raises these days. Most companies these days seem to be complacent and are content to pile on the work while keeping your pay pretty much flat. Kudos to your wife for taking charge and bucking that bit of erroneous conventional wisdom.


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## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

@john117 is absolutely correct, and it's rarely too late to do this. I went to great schools and have had a lucrative career, but I'm only moderately ambitious. I've wanted to enjoy life along the way, and I have.

However, while investing in yourself is wise, you also need to live below your means (which I have), and invest in stocks and the like with that money, and a 401k if you have that option. I've always done these things - and done some speculation as well, to my profit - and I will have a _very_ comfortable retirement in a few years.


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