Most likely a tired topic to you older dogs but something I thought about randomly today.
Aside from friends and family who kept me afloat through all of the legal nonsense I've had to deal with over the last five years (and yes I'm still paying that stuff off) was the fact that I started 'projecting' my bills.
What does that mean?
I use Quicken but really any money managing program will do. If you are hourly take the lowest paycheck you've received over the last year and plug it in on the deposit date for the next three months if you are salary just plug in the number that you receive on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis, on the date your deposit will go through.
Then take a hard look at your monthly expenses. By this I mean bills. Not food money, not beer money, nothing but the bills that will get your power turned off or your car repossessed if you don't pay it. Plug the HIGHEST number those bills have been in on the due date every month for the next quarter (three months). There are two types of bills as I see it 'hard' bills (house payment, car payment, loan payment, Aces High) that are the same amount every month. Then there are the 'soft' bills (electricity, water, gas) that fluctuate. The 'soft' bills are the ones that I've found can get your rear end in a crack when you're expecting a $90 water bill and you get one for $150 (that happened to me this week but we'll get to that). Estimate your 'soft' bills at the highest dollar amount they've been in the last year. If you don't have records and don't bank online you can look through your canceled checks or use your memory. 95% of the time these bills wont touch what you estimated and you can apply the 'savings' to the next months bill. Example..... last month my water bill was $89. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised because I budgeted $150 for it. This month it was $141 which I'm going to question because we had torrential rains and I know I didn't use near as much water as I did last month. Bottom line is I had it budgeted for and it's not a strain on me.
Okay NOW plug in your weekly expenses. Set a hard amount that you think it's going to take to get you from one week to the next. You might have to up it some or, if you're lucky, you can lower it some if you find you have cash left over at the end of every week (you wont
). Gas, food, groceries, lunch money, and so on. It's amazing to see that, if you spend that extra $25 to $50 this week on something you didn't really need how it can affect you three weeks down the road. Another example. I budget X dollars a week for the aforementioned items and Squids allowance. As I type I have food and supplies for the week, bought some extras when I went grocery shopping this morning, gas in my car, some fall back cash in the bank, I just registered for the con, and $40 in my wallet just in case. By doing this I can actually afford some 'extras' for Squid and I, pay my bills and my loans, and not have to sweat being broke.
Just something to think about. I'm sure other Mongrels have systems that work for them and I encourage them to post what works for them. But, especially for you younger guys, PLAN AHEAD. I wish somebody had knocked me in the head when I was younger on this issue because I'd probably be retired. But then, I'd be on a beach on an island in the South Pacific, and I probably wouldn't have ever heard of AH.. or would I have? Maybe it was fate.
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Dicho
Trust me it's an eye opener.
I'm not Glen Beck and this pretty much goes out to you guys who live paycheck to paycheck but it's a system that really worked and works for me.
Friday nights (FSO) at 11 PM Eastern 
