Budgeting - Ugh

So I posted my initial blog (Gordon Ramsay vs Dave Ramsey - Both are scary.)

 and thought this is a cake walk!  Little did I know that Dave Ramsey, being the evil man that he is, had more in mind than here's a list of what I'd like to spend per month.  Check out Sam's step by step instructions on How to create a zero-based budget for more information and to begin your budget!  I have since established my budget and well it's complicated.  Dave said give it a few months to figure out what is realistic and iron our your budget.  I won't go through the whole thing, but here are the common household expenses and how I'm doing.

Expense              Budgeted Amnt          Spent Amnt          Difference

Groceries            $150.00                       $98.53                   $51.47

Eating Out          $100.00                       $236.39                -$136.39

Fuel                     $120.00                       $212.41                 -$92.41

Shopping*           $100.00                       $113.49                -$13.49 

Entertainment   $100.00                       $165.62                -$65.62

*Shopping - $53.91 of my shopping budget was spent on Dave Ramsey's new FPU kit, so it's kind of his fault that he made it so expensive and more than 1/2 of my budget!!!

Total I am off Budget - $256.44

Unfortunately I am off budget, but I may have been a little aggressive in month one and know that tracking what I spend on a regular basis really made a huge difference in comparison to what I normally spend!  There are 7 days remaining in the month, so have to do my best to not go over anymore! 

That means yay for ramen!

(Source)

Gordon Ramsay vs Dave Ramsey - Both are scary.

I've been fortunate enough to have people in my life tell me to make some wise investments, but I am clueless when it comes to managing money, saving, planning for emergencies, not living paycheck to paycheck, and planning for retirement.  Therefore I listened to Buffalo Bleu when he mentioned Dave Ramsey.  All I could picture was Gordan Ramsay, the British chef that drops the F-bomb every 5 seconds.   
Dave Ramsey    

Gordon Ramsay

Dave Ramsey isn't much different.  He does refrain from using the F-bomb, but he doesn't beat around the bush, he is blunt and tells you exactly what he thinks!  People are stupid and need people to beat the truth into them sometimes.  I am one of those stupid people therefore I signed up!

I attend Financial Peace University every Monday night.  There are 7 Baby Steps that Dave Ramsey suggests you follow:

1. $1,000 In An Emergency Fund
2. Pay Off All Debt With The Debt Snowball
3. 3 To 6 Months Expenses In Savings
4. Invest 15% Of Income Into Roth IRAs 
5. And Pre-Tax Retirement Plans
6. College Funding
7. Pay Off Your Home Early
8. Build Wealth And Give!

I am currently on Baby Step #2-Pay Off All Debt With the Debt Snowball.  Fortunately I have very little debt (excluding my mortgages) therefore am not to worried about that.  The hard part is my monthly budget. I imagine it will take a few months to get a firm budge in place, so here is month #1's budget.

Entertainment (eating out, drinks, movies, etc.)-$100

Grocery Store-$150

Internet-$50

DirecTV-$63

At The Beach - Spray Tanning :)-$63

Bally Total Fitness-$18

Haircut and dye-$25

Fuel-$100

Cell Phone-$100

Unity Fax (fax to email)-$6

Chiropractor ( I go every 6 weeks)-$30

Shopping (Clothes, hair products, make-up , etc.)- $100
Rent-$600

TOTAL -$1,405

Due to the fact that I just made my budget and well it's the middle of the month, operation live like a poor person, poor but tan, commences on June 15th.  Wish me luck!