Budget Examples

The following is an example of my time budget for the day. I do not plan on doing this forever, probably just for a month until I have some good routines in place.

Wednesday:
0600                Wake up
0615-0700       Walk Ruairi
0700-0745       Shower, Get ready for work
0750-0800       Go to work
1000-1010       Break (eat breakfast, multigrain cheerios 267cal)
1230-0100       Lunch (Subway 6" ham on wheat 290cal)
1500-1510       Break (cottage cheese 90cal)
1700-1800       Grocery store      
1815                Feed Stella
1820-1840       Walk Ruairi
1840-1900       Dinner (Soup 250cal, sauteed spinach 100cal)
1915-2030       Dog Training Class
2040                Feed Ruairi
2045-2130       Prepare/Package meals
2130-2200       Free time
2200-2230       Walk Ruairi
2230                Sleep

The following is an example of my financial budget for a month and there's a very good chance that it only makes sense in my head. The actual numbers have been changed but the idea is the same. For each paycheck, the left column is what I project to earn/spend and the right column is what I actually earned/spent.

	Paycheck 1			Paycheck 2
In (Work)	1050	1050		1000	950		Regular paycheck + overtime
In (Other)							Bonus, gifts, etc.
In (Rollover)	50	50			50		Leftover money from previous paycheck
Rent	600	600
Car Insurance				75	75
Pet Insurance				45	45
Chase				400	400		Largest payment for largest balance
Bofa				50	50		Slightly above minimum payment
Citi				30	30		Slightly above minimum payment
Car Pmnt	200	200
Water				15	7.44
Gas				15	17.66
Cable				80	74.45
DWP							Paid every other month
Gas/Auto	35	33		35	16.13
Medical
Pets				25	20
Groceries	75	80		60	50
Misc	50	45		30	57
Entertainment	35	35		35	40
Dining	40	40		40	21.44
Cash	40	40		40	40
Save-2
Save-1	25	25		25	25
							Account Balances after month's activities:
Savings 2		412.19			412.19
Savings 1		200			225
Car Pmnt		4200			4200
Chase		1500			1100
Citi		750			720
Bofa		1000			950

I'm taking the approach of paying off my highest balance/ highest interest card first and paying very close to the minimum payments on the other cards. I've formulated a lot of my budget ideas and goals based on CNN's Money 101. CNN Money has tons of good advice and articles.

"Money doesn't talk, it swears." - Bob Dylan