BONUS Field Report: How to Stay Financially Stress-free On a VISTA Budget

Hello There VISTAs,

However, the transition in to VISTAhood doesn't have to be as traumatic or hard on you financially, provided that you use your new found poverty (or stable paycheck!) as an opportunity to develop a strong spending and budgeting regimen.

In this field report, I'll give a brief overview of an automated Monthly Budget Calculator (attached at the end of this report) I'll also share with you the awesomeness of stress-free bank account automation - a nice little series of hacks to take the stress out of paying your monthly bills, build your savings and STILL have a little left over for that *Deluxe* bowl of Top Ramen.

Understanding Your Budget

Part of staying stress free during times of financial hardship is having a clear understanding of your financial obligations and limitations. It's also nice to know where you might a have a little more 'wiggle room' for those enticing moments (or unexpected expenses) that inevitably come along the way during these times.
Included at the end of this report is a *Monthly Budget Calculator. You will notice 4 columns in it: Income, Fixed Expenses, Variable Expenses and Totals.

Income:
In this column, there are two sub columns. One is simply for labeling your income source(s) - my hope is that you take this calculator with you where ever you may go. I've conveniently entered in 'AmeriCorps Stipend' for you as well as the monthly income ($800) for a VISTA serving in San Diego - this may be different dependent on the city and state you are serving in. You can change the $800 amount to fit what ever yours is.

Fixed Expenses:
Here is where you will list each of your fixed expenses and other monthly bills, like 'Rent', 'Savings', and 'Cell phone'. I've entered in some 'filler' numbers for these - change to fit your situation.

Variable Expenses:
These are expenses that can vary by month. Food is sometimes the most variable of these which can be either a good thing or bad thing (do let your supervisor or VISTA Leader know if you are running low on food - they're there to help and there are plenty of resources out there). Transportation is another one, like if you decide to bike to work one day instead of taking the bus or you end up carpooling. I usually try to round this up a bit, just in case - any extra left over can either go to my savings or for some extra 'discretionary income' (see below).

Totals:
Here is where all the magic happens. If you've been changing the numbers around in the other parts of the spreadsheet, you may have noticed that the numbers here change AUTOMATICALLY to reflect the changes you've made. Immediately, you can see where your money is going, the total of your expenditures as well as any 'Discretionary Income' you may have left over. This is income you can use as you wish: a visit to the book store, the movies or maybe even partially back in to your savings - savings are after all, an investment in your future.
Now that you've got a tool and framework for understanding what your monthly budget is, where your expenses are going and even how much 'extra' money you have available, the next step is to ensure that the right money goes to the right places and that you can do this all on time - without stressing.

Think you can't do it? Read on.

Getting Bills Paid On Time = Less Stress = Happy VISTA

A major cause of financial stress is bills. Well, not necessarily the bills them selves, but having to PAY them - especially if there is some unexpected expense that comes up during your VISTA year. While you can't do away with these completely, there are a few things you can do to be in strong financial standing.

Hack Your Bank: Automating Multiple Checking Accounts are Key to Avoiding Financial Stress

An oft over-loooked fact about most checking accounts is that you can set up automatic withdrawals and deposits. You can divide and disperse deposits made to your bank account across multiple checking/savings accounts, pay bills to specific utilities automatically and even mail checks - all by specific dates. All of these can be further set up to occur on regular, repeating dates (which works nicely as your AmeriCorps stipend also occurs on a regular, repeating date - hint, hint).

You can also set up multiple accounts to work in concert with your saving, checking and bill paying automation. When you first got your bank account, you most likely got a checking account and savings account. Referring back to our Monthly Budget Calculator tool, you can also set up another checking account for 'Fixed Expenses' - think of it as your specific 'bill paying' account. Used in conjunction with the automatic check dispersement of your VISTA Stipend deposit mentioned above, automatic bill payment from this new account takes the hassle out of writing and mailing a check or paying over the phone close to the time your bill is due. Just be sure the monthly amount in this account matches what you came up with previously in your Budget Calculator.

Setting all this up is usually free, takes just a few minutes and can work wonders for reducing stress.
All this so you can enjoy the finer things in life, like whether to get 'Oriental' flavor Top Ramen or 'Deluxe Oriental' flavor Top Ramen.

What are some other ways that YOU maximize and manage your VISTA Stipend?

*This 'calculator' is in Excel format (but you can open it in any program that read .xls files).