[speaker001:] so uh do you keep a monthly budget or anything like that oh yeah
[speaker002:] yeah I I'm one of those people who keep a record of everything
[speaker001:] oh  so you you keep record of all the checks you write and all the credit card
[speaker002:] yeah and all the A T M transactions and everything and I've got a file for each of them and
[speaker001:] uh-huh  how do you categorize these things that's what always sort of stumped me when I sat down to do it right huh
[speaker002:] I I have a file box and each file has a little piece of paper on it and each file there I have a file for each month of the year
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] and then I also have files for like credit card receipts and when the bills come in for the credit cards they go in the month that they have to be paid for
[speaker001:] okay um so this insures that you know what your bills are and that they get paid
[speaker002:] right unless I get paid on time like like for instance if a bill is due on March fourth I'll just I'll put it in the folder with March and that way when I get paid in March I know that whatever bill is in there have to be paid in that month
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh  okay so that insures that the bills get paid before other things get paid for now do you uh-huh go ahead
[speaker002:] right and that and that way I keep a running list of what bills I do have and that way I know if I have any extra money or not
[speaker001:] uh-huh  okay and uh what happens then when you don't
[speaker002:] when I don't what
[speaker001:] have extra money
[speaker002:] then I don't do anything I've got two little boys
[speaker001:] oh okay oh uh-huh
[speaker002:] so I'm at home most of the time anyways but like once in a while like when my taxes came back I had extra money so I paid a babysitter to watch my kids for the day and I went to I went to goofing off and you know just something little like that but it's something that you really got to keep an eye on when you have kids
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh
[speaker002:] because you're always got to have money when you have kids
[speaker001:] oh yeah so do you do anything about you know saying hey I'm willing to spend this much a month on food and this much a month on
[speaker002:] well I have a I have a running budget for every month
[speaker001:] clothing or  uh-huh
[speaker002:] and on that budget I type up a budget for every month in the year and it has the bills that I know I have every month electric phone food the kid's pediatrician
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh my Visa bill you you know all the bills I know I have every month are on that budget
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and so once all of those get paid I go through my file and see if there is anything else and if there's not then I know that money the rest of the money is mine
[speaker001:] so is food in that list also and so you have a certain amount you spend on
[speaker002:] oh yes
[speaker001:] groceries that you expect to spend for each month
[speaker002:] right right
[speaker001:] okay and things like um now some some expenses come up you know twice a year or once a year like insurance
[speaker002:] right or well that comes up every six months for me or like tags come up once a year and you've got to figure that in too
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh  so you have an entry for each month for those things
[speaker002:] right whenever my tags come up uh there is an entry right there that says tags and then I just leave the space blank until I find out how much I owe for my tags and then I get them and that way I know I know that they have to be paid in that month so I'm expecting it
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh and and so you I mean each month before that do you put away you know one tenth one twelfth of it or
[speaker002:] no usually I just pay it out of whatever paycheck uh is in that month because after I pay my regular bills I usually have approximately a hundred and fifty dollars and with that hundred and fifty dollars I pay things that come up like insurance
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh  uh-huh
[speaker002:] or tags or whatever happens to come up in that month
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I could pay with that hundred and fifty dollars and then what's left I can do what what I want with
[speaker001:] uh-huh so now what about the uh long term considerations like retirement and college and stuff
[speaker002:] well I've got an annuity fund set up because I don't know uh just the way I was raised I look toward the future
[speaker001:] uh-huh  uh-huh
[speaker002:] not only for my kids but for myself and I've got an annuity for me and every two months I buy my boys each a savings bond
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] every since they have been born I've been doing that
[speaker001:] that sounds great
[speaker002:] so
[speaker001:] um so now what exactly in an annuity I've always found those a little confusing
[speaker002:] an annuity is an account it's like a uh it's it's a type of savings account okay but you don't touch it you just deposit money into it but you don't touch it other than that and it just sits there and gains interest until your retirement
[speaker001:] okay  okay now do you pay taxes on the interest
[speaker002:] not right now
[speaker001:] okay only when you draw it out
[speaker002:] if right
[speaker001:] okay
[speaker002:] and like if elderly people they have a choice of having an IRA account and they get special discounts on like the um
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] what's the word I'm trying to think of the interest charges and stuff if they have an IRA they get special rates on it and stuff
[speaker001:] you mean from the you mean from taxes or from from the federal government you mean uh-huh
[speaker002:] right right for the elderly people and stuff that have IRAs set up and they get special discounts on that but an an annuity is it's a savings account that you don't withdraw anything out of you just keep depositing money into it
[speaker001:] okay now I guess the question is is it better than an