Lindaland
  Labors Of Love
  How do you budget your money? (Page 1)

Post New Topic  Post A Reply
profile | register | preferences | faq

UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone!
This topic is 2 pages long:   1  2 
next newest topic | next oldest topic
Author Topic:   How do you budget your money?
Aphrodite
Knowflake

Posts: 3638
From:
Registered: Feb 2002

posted April 14, 2004 11:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aphrodite     Edit/Delete Message
How do you budget your money?
Where are your sources of income?
What are your plans for the future?
How do you anticipate financing them?

IP: Logged

FishKitten
Knowflake

Posts: 786
From: beautiful, hidden mountain village, BC, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 14, 2004 03:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FishKitten     Edit/Delete Message
I don't budget. I'm just terrible at it. I give away more than I spend, but there always seems to be enough to afford decaf green tea and wild organic salads. Plans for the future? More writing, more archaeology, more research. Those are activities that I love. I don't have to finance them because I get paid to do them. I like to travel, but that is usually in combination with archaeology, so those costs are covered by whomever I am working for. I would like to buy a house again, now that I am not travelling and moving constantly, but I always chicken out because I don't like to feel tied down to one spot. I mean, what if I should decide to go dig up an ancient habitation in Tahiti or New Zealand or France or Scotland or.... I'd hate to feel that my freedom was restricted by property ownership.

What about you, Aphrodite? Are you budgeting for the future?

IP: Logged

silverbells
Knowflake

Posts: 1345
From: maryland
Registered: Apr 2003

posted April 14, 2004 03:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for silverbells     Edit/Delete Message
I spend until I feel uncomfortable.
I work one day a week at a job that I hate.
In the future I will be performing labors of love ie. showing people the inner workings of their "neigbour", I too will be traveling as I also like being free. By that time I will be financing myself from my L of L.
I know that sounds vague.
Why do you ask Aphrodite? What's up.
------------------
Loneliness makes you strong, only love makes you free - Michael Franks

IP: Logged

talaith
Knowflake

Posts: 271
From:
Registered: Feb 2004

posted April 14, 2004 04:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for talaith     Edit/Delete Message
momentarily my son and i are totally financially dependent on my husband for our survival. he makes decent money as a computer programmer, but most of it goes for bills. we have a little left over for food.

he recently received a bonus that was quite generous, and it's made life a little easier in terms of shopping at the supermarket, stocking up on vitamins and supplements and buying a few toys for my babe. making an attempt to sock some of it away.

he also makes a little money on a consulting basis, and usually, if he feels like it, will share this with us.

i would like to start my own business at home in order to support myself and my son in the future. my husband despises me utterly, has told me so, and has threatened numerous times to file for divorce and sue for sole custody of my son. i suppose the only reason he hasn't yet is that he can't afford it.

he says he relishes the fact that i am dependent on him so that he can make me as miserable as he wants without my being able to do anything about it. he works very hard at hurting me as much as possible without actual physical violence. he has a very short temper and often threatens my son with physical violence.

i try to get along with him the best that i can, while making as much a quality life for my son as possible.

anyway, i'm sure that my relationship with my husband won't last, and i really must find a means of support asap! i'm an aries sun and moon, so i'm fortunately optimistic and happy by nature. and my baby makes me profoundly happy!

the most important thing to me is first being a full-time mom to my son. i believe that it is possible to do so and to work at a business that will support us. i've read some very good literature discussing this -- that women can do both, and that our society must learn to accomodate women's work while allowing them to nurture their children full-time ('The Continuum Concept' and 'Primal Mothering').

it is daunting, but i have the faith! i don't mind being poor, as long as we can cover our necessities comfortably. but i will buy lottery tickets in the hopes of becoming rich!

as for the future, i hope that my husband will leave us amicably, and never enter our lives again. i wish him a successful and fulfilling life, and i prefer that he not provide us with any form of financial support whatsoever. as long as we are as far away from him as possible!

i hope to finance our lives via my own little business. a lottery winning supplement would be a complete blessing too.


then, i would love to marry (or shack up with) someone whom i truly love, and have a lot more babies!

IP: Logged

Eleanore
Knowflake

Posts: 531
From: North Carolina
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 16, 2004 01:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Eleanore     Edit/Delete Message
Love and Light to you, talaith! You can do anything you set your mind to. Your heart is in the right place, as well. Don't ever lose faith. Have you ever read "The Game of Life" by Florence Scovel Shinn? She gives some really good advice on affirmations and image/ordaining. If you don't have it or can't get to a library, then let me know via e-mail and I'll be glad to type it out for you ... it's not too long, so don't worry. (I think the moderators can help with the e-mail thing.) Blessed Be.

IP: Logged

Aphrodite
Knowflake

Posts: 3638
From:
Registered: Feb 2002

posted April 16, 2004 02:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aphrodite     Edit/Delete Message
hello talaith,

you are a brave woman to undergo such treatment, in addition to caring for a baby.

i hope you win the lottery too!

my mom and i were in the same situation when i was a baby. she still feels sad about the time when she parted her own way, and had to work out how to feed us on $168 a month. this, after my father had also stolen about $5K from her. he talked her into opening a college fund for me, and walked away with the cash. she didn't speak english at the time and had to stay home to care for me. be careful with your money

love,

aphrodite

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted April 17, 2004 09:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

talaith
Knowflake

Posts: 271
From:
Registered: Feb 2004

posted April 17, 2004 09:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for talaith     Edit/Delete Message
love is the answer.

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted April 19, 2004 02:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
I pay myself a salary, so the bad news is I have to budget. The good news is that I have a great boss.

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Eleanore
Knowflake

Posts: 531
From: North Carolina
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 19, 2004 09:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Eleanore     Edit/Delete Message

IP: Logged

eightdegrees
Knowflake

Posts: 103
From: Burlington, VT, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted April 22, 2004 08:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for eightdegrees     Edit/Delete Message
I don't budget. Somehow it all works out.

I love being a Sag.

IP: Logged

pixelpixie
Knowflake

Posts: 4218
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted April 22, 2004 10:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for pixelpixie     Edit/Delete Message
~Talaith~
I was struck by how calmly you wrote that. I will bet you hate being dependent. Research natural baby foods... cloth diapers, and such. Show that man~ but mostly yourself, you can be independent. Your babe can help... he can be your test market.
Just an idea, as you mentioned it in another thread. There's always the lottery, but too many people have already sent that on up, and there's only hope after all....

Maybe it's my Venus in Sag, but I don't plan a budget. Things just work out. ( sometimes very tightly) But I needed that new body scrub and those jeans were on sale.

IP: Logged

Motherkonfessor
Knowflake

Posts: 392
From:
Registered: Oct 2003

posted April 22, 2004 09:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Motherkonfessor     Edit/Delete Message
Budget???

hehehehhhheheheheh

MK

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted April 23, 2004 01:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

skywych
Knowflake

Posts: 64
From: The beautiful farm land of N. MO
Registered: Apr 2004

posted April 23, 2004 04:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for skywych     Edit/Delete Message
Hi all!

I love this subject. Money and budgets are still subjects that are so personal that most people won't or can't talk about them.

Even though I am Pisces through and through, I up aside 15% every week. It's hard to get started but once you get in the habit. It seems odd not to do it.

I plan on building a small cozy office for myself next year. Right in the back yard. Just a small place. And in the future I plan on using it to for a reading room or doing quickie weddings. And I plan on paying for it as I go. No payments.

I did have some suggestions for talaith. I really felt for her, because I've been there and done that. Honey girl, there are lots of ways to make money from home. The first suggestion would be some type of mail order business. I had a mail order herb business and it did okay. Plus, there has to be a subject that you know inside and out. Write a booklet and sell it through classifeds. Everyone has a special gift and knowledge that some else needs. I've got a gazillion ideas for you. Let me know if you need some more.

Hope that helps some. Lightening bolts of light and love for you. skywych

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted April 24, 2004 03:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted May 11, 2004 11:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message
*bump*

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

LibraSparkle
Moderator

Posts: 2431
From: Vancouver USA
Registered: May 2004

posted May 11, 2004 06:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LibraSparkle     Edit/Delete Message
talaith ~ My heart goes out to you more than you know. I have complete empathy for you in your situation. I too am a stay home mama, and I love it. My husband has had issues with depression his whole life (which I talked a little about in another thread). My life was very much like yours for nearly 6 years. My children were young. I felt so trapped and lonely. I cried frequently.

Our "rock bottom" came about 8 months ago when I "woke-up". THAT WAS IT! I meant it. I wasn't emotional what-so-ever. To know me is to know that is not normal. I was calm. I was cool... and I was done putting up with his abuse. The interesting thing is that when I say "woke up" I mean it in the figurative and literal sense. I woke up one morning, there had been no specific offense. I just woke up and was done dealing. I knew the next verbal or physical altercation we had was going to be our last. It wasn't long before it came about. I told him that I refused to allow his abuse any longer. I told him I realized that I don't NEED to be with him. I can maintain this household with out him. Things escalated to the point that I had to leave. The children were in bed, so that I just grabbed a 6 pack (bad idea, I know... I'm not actually much of a drinker, but I had some serious numbing to see to) and headed to my girlfriend's house (thank god for good girlfriends!!!). I stayed the night there.

After I went home the next day to get my children off to school, I had a lot of alone time at home to think about things. I felt good. Empowered. I was going to be OK because I was going to see to it. Money wasn't an issue, I could go to work and rent out a room in my house to make ends meet. Of course there would be child support. (Kudos to you for not wanting anything from him... you're a much bigger woman than I am in that respect). I felt spent, but good.

My husband came home from work that night a different man. It's bring tears to my eyes just writing this. He was apologizing, which he'd never done. He was saying he was an abuser, which I would have been choked for even insinuating in the past. I had never seen a more broken man in my life. He begged me to help him. He didn't know what to do. He was so scared and humiliated. I felt we/he/I needed therapy, he really wanted anti-depressants. So, we sorta compromised and had mini therapy sessions with our family doctor who also prescribed anti-depressants he felt would suit his anxiety/depression. Hubby did all of the talking and listed many of the terrible things he had done. It took a few sessions with the family doctor (who hubby was very comfortable with even before "rock bottom"), while the doctor and I both expressed our concerns (he was suicidal also) and both urged him to seek therapy. He's sort of a maintenance program now with the same psychiatrist for about six months now, and is weening off of Effexor. He is growing with leaps and bounds. I can't express how proud I am of him.

I hope my story helps you see that you are not alone in your feelings, and that you will be happy again

How do I budget money? Ha! Single income (until Friday... I start work at Nordstrom) paycheck to paycheck is our budget.

Hubby's the only source of income, aside from some babysitting I do here and there that pays $3/hr.

The future? I would really like to work in holistic medicine. I am also torn between massage therapy and chiropractor.

Finance. There are lots of grants for "displaced home-makers" like myself. The rest will have to be student loans.

I'm not ready to work and go to school until my children are a bit older. Being only 7 and 6, they need mama around more often than older kids. I really don't know when the will be old enough. I suppose that depends on the child.

whew! that was long winded

IP: Logged

sthenri
Moderator

Posts: 2141
From: Montreal, Canada
Registered: May 2003

posted May 12, 2004 10:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sthenri     Edit/Delete Message
Good Question. I budget other people's money and it helps me budget mine. By managing other's resources I automatically add to mine. Plus I am too busy to spend. I put aside money each month through checking, but skip it if I need to pay a credit card bill.

Credit card bills are most important followed by car payment. The highest interest payment is first, followed by mortgage and anything left over goes to savings. After that is food, entertainment, travel.

Right now I am not using credit cards as I paid off four big cards after my divorce, most run up by my ex and I let him out of guilt. I paid off most after we sold the house, so that's how I solved that problem. I still have one left. I financed only the minimum with the car.

I didn't want to sell our house but it was necessary since I sat around trying not to sell it for a year and it wasn't working financially. My ex stopped paying the mortgage and I had to sell.

Now I try to make sure my mortgage is covered with rental property but still, I am working on my plan bit by bit.

My life plan has changed a million times this year and I no longer set it in stone.
I am relying on Canada basically to support my mother and I when we are retired, since there is no health care or retirement in the US. Most women tend to live with someone and I can't stand living with someone again so soon unless I'm related to that person.

I'd get married again but I don't need to out of security and men my age (34) don't want children.

My mother is financially dependent on me and she is not good with people (Double Scorpio with Uranus conjunct Ascendant), so Canada is out best bet. My adopted brother (Aqua) will go to high school and college in Quebec. I support him as his real mother and father abandoned him in a motel when he was five. Budgeting for his food, clothing and entertainment is tough.

Right now he is working a summer job so he can buy his own video games and watch dvd's. Otherwise he gets his clothes at wallmart like everyone else.

Budgeting is done by me since I run a wholesale fabric business and I paint. I pay in this order:

Suppliers
Banks
Mortgage
Credit Card
Advertising
Car
Food
Travel

I do not spend money on beauty products except to wash my hair and condition it, I rinse it with Chamomile Tea and I wax myself at home. I buy T-shirts in the boys department at Wallmart Size 12. I am petite so that works.
$3.50 Each!

I get a hair cut every two months, see the dentist every four months and see the doctor twice a year out of my own pocket. If I'm really sick I go to Canada where doctors are dirt cheap. I will be moving back to Canada for good this summer.

Natasha
Taurus

IP: Logged

Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 19041
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted May 13, 2004 01:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

trillian
Moderator

Posts: 2458
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003

posted May 13, 2004 01:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for trillian     Edit/Delete Message
Has anyone heard from talaith? She's been MIA for a while, and I know some of us are worried about her, given her situation.

LibraSparkle, an for you and your family. Good luck to you...


I don't budget much, either. Things just work out. That's gotten me into a wee bit of trouble now and then, but again, it works out.

Currently, I work full time at a salaray that keeps me afloat. I do a little free-lance work that affords me some extra pocket money. When I'm paid, I always pay the bills first, immediately. Then I know what I have left for groceries, play, etc. The past few years have been good, comparatively. I've been able to splurge on some goodies.

My plan is to manifest new Labors of Love, more abundance in my life. I plan to buy a home, and finance another trip to Europe in the next 6-9 months. I've also considered moving further south than PA, as I am not fond of our long cold winters.

I'm nearly done with the 2nd draft of my first novel...so as soon as it's published and on its way to best-seller status...
and when that happens I will buy my cottage on the west coast of Ireland.

I do have some money saved, some in banks, some at home, a few thousand dollars. There for a really rainy day or if I need a little extra cash.

IP: Logged

Yin
Knowflake

Posts: 384
From:
Registered: May 2004

posted May 13, 2004 02:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Yin     Edit/Delete Message
Natasha, would you be my financial advisor?
I love your post!

IP: Logged

juniperb
Knowflake

Posts: 5408
From: www.Heaven.Home
Registered: Mar 2002

posted May 13, 2004 02:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
What money??

------------------
If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

IP: Logged

tahariel
Knowflake

Posts: 165
From: south wales
Registered: Jan 2004

posted May 13, 2004 08:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for tahariel     Edit/Delete Message
How do you budget your money?
We don't unfortunately. Am trying to get teh boyfriend to start sorting out his finances rather than just pay things as they come in and never check on anything. I even offered to do it !

Where are your sources of income?
Badger, the boyfriend....the odd bit of work or donation ! I don't spend much anymore so don't need much money. I have found more money rolls in when I do things out of love.

What are your plans for the future?
Holiday in Florida, travel the USA, get Handfasted, get a new home.

How do you anticipate financing them?
Hopefully saving for them if the boyfriend will budget. If not, I'll figure out another way.

Talaith: I hope you have a version of Women's Aid over there, they help UK women get out of these types of situation.

IP: Logged

trillian
Moderator

Posts: 2458
From: The Boundless
Registered: Mar 2003

posted May 13, 2004 08:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for trillian     Edit/Delete Message
Oh...and I always round up in my check book, that way there's always more money in there than I think there is.

I know, it makes accountants cringe...but it works for me.

IP: Logged


This topic is 2 pages long:   1  2 

All times are Eastern Standard Time

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic
Post New Topic  Post A Reply
Hop to:

Contact Us | Linda-Goodman.com

Copyright © 2004

Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com © 2000
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.46a