I make sure I have a back up fund in case I cant work or have unexpected expenses. If I dip into it then I pay it back when I can.
Budgeting is pretty simple. Make your rent and bills before you go out spending. Pay bills immediately so you are not tempted and avoid walking past your favorite stores on the way!

I make sure I have a back up fund in case I cant work or have unexpected expenses. If I dip into it then I pay it back when I can.
Budgeting is pretty simple. Make your rent and bills before you go out spending. Pay bills immediately so you are not tempted and avoid walking past your favorite stores on the way!

I do this too, and try to have enough set aside to live on for three months just in case (accident or illness, long break - even if I suddenly decided I'd had enough and needed to get a job). I'm really lucky because I don't have housing costs beyond maintenance payments and this makes it easier to save, but even when I was on minimum wage I managed to stash a little bit away every week - you sometimes just have to bite the bullet and change your habits.

Writing down everything you spend is a brilliant way to shock yourself into tightening your belt - I'm not brave enough but if you keep regular records you will start to see patterns emerging which you can then do something about. There's a difference between being a cheapskate and just not wasting money when you don't need to - if you can't even work out what you spent it on, it can't have been that great  .

It just seems hard to tell. I mean, if someone is having multiple bookings per day...well obviously they are going to be able to budget and save more than someone who is making only 1-3 bookings per week. I mean, how can one save when they have to pay bills as soon as they get it, and then 3-4 days go by without getting anything. Its ridiculous.

Thats what I mean Hazel...

Something happened couple months ago which everytime I think about it, I wanna    

I had an overnight...and got paid hundreds more than I have seen even the best reviewed and expensive escorts charge. But, the weeks before the booking were so slow and I got behind on the bills and stuff I needed. I had aspirations to chose between 2 things I have been wanting to get done for years.

Well, after I caught up on bills and other 'little' things...I only had enough to take a tour. The tour sucked and in the end I was broke and at square 1    The money went so fast. I could have sat on that for this entire slow ass month of December. It was alot of money! What makes it so sad, is that I dont know when something like that will present itself again. Nobody has given me that type of money before. There is a possiblity it could happen again in 2010, but I'm keeping quiet about it...

Thats why Im going to look for a 2nd income for the meantime, so I can enjoy more of my escort money  

Joey, everyone would rather have a couple of grand than not. I don't see your point.

Saving a dollar a day isn't going to get you anywhere fast, but if that's all you can afford how do expect to put away a lump sum? Are you relying on big jobs? If you do that then you're relinquishing control, and aspirations won't make any difference since you're leaving it all to chance.

Not saving doesn't necessarily mean that you've failed at budgeting. If your income's low enough that you're just scraping by, then having your bills paid every month is a success. If you have more than the minimum you need to survive but you decide that small luxuries like going for a night out are worth more to you than saving money, then as long as you stay within your means you're also succeeding at budgeting.

Saving money on a variable income requires some flexibility and we've mentioned ways to deal with that in this thread. In your case it's also probably going to involve making some sacrifices and/or getting another job. Wishing really hard isn't going to make things happen.

I'm with Paris - envelope or cookiejars technique, rent, car, council tax, tax, etc plus one for rainy days, rest is mine to squander and if there's none left I don't squander.

Simples xx