My Zero-Based Budget

This month I’m trying something new. I’ve read about zero-based budgets (in which every single dime is accounted for---there’s no escape for those rogue dollars) but had never even considered trying one---for some reason it seemed too restrictive. Since I’m doing very well at tracking every expense (I’ve been doing this since November), I decided to take the next step, and attempt to tell my money where to go, before it even leaves my fingers!

As I’ve mentioned before, my budget is tight, tight, tight. Over 50% of my net income goes toward my two mortgages, and there’s not much to work with once those payments go out. Basically, I’m making it work these days because I have a second job (soon, I’ll write a post about this life-saver). Part of my zero-based budget includes putting money into savings for costs that I can anticipate over the next three to six months, like tuition bills and auto insurance.

Here’s my February budget; keep in mind that this is highly speculative at this point. I don’t really know exactly how much my utilities will cost, and I can give a ballpark figure on how much my second job will bring in, so these numbers could change. As the month progresses and I have more information, I’ll fill in the ‘actual’ column. . . .