Expect Less

We launched TightWad a couple weeks ago, and I’m starting to figure out the best ways for me to use it and create my budgets, so I thought I’d share my approach. It’s pretty simple, and getting ready helped me reevaluate my budgeting and get rid of a few unnecessary expenses that I hadn’t reconsidered lately.

I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet for my monthly expenses in Google Docs, and every few months I go in and review it. I can’t remember where I originally found the spreadsheet, but of all the ones I’ve tried it’s definitely my favorite and the simplest. You can open your own copy and save it for yourself if you’d like to use it.

There are 4 columns, but only 3 need any input from you - Income, Fixed Expenses, and Variable Expenses. As you can see below, you only need to enter a few lines of information.

Income is what I get in paychecks, plus anything else that might come in regularly. This column is pretty straight forward.

Fixed Expenses don’t change from month to month, they’re things like rent, mortgage, phone, cable, electric bills. I aim high on things like phone and electric that can fluctuate, because I know I’ll definitely be spending the money, but it could be less than what I expected. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

Variable Expenses are how I figured out what budgets I want to have in TightWad. Groceries, dining out, going to concerts, and other miscellaneous expenses (like clothes) all made sense for me as variable expenses.

Once I was happy with my spreadsheet I pulled up TightWad. I made 4 monthly recurring budgets, one for each of the Variable Expenses in the spreadsheet.

Now that I’ve made the budget and set up TightWad, I’m making myself stay on top of my spending. I send a text message to TightWad when I’m out, or I post through the website when I get home. It’s already helping me stay more aware of how I’ve spent (I’ve already gone over in Miscellaneous this month!) and so now I can be diligent about living within my means.