Our income from week to week varies. My dh can work overtime sometimes and other times not. Or if they get sent home early they don't get paid. And I do daycare and it varies because I have part time families that hours vary so that makes my pay vary and I also have another part time job that the hours vary too. One week I might only have 5 hours and the next week 15.

Any ideas on how to make a budget work on something that is not constant?

I have tried writing on a calander how much at a minimum we take home weekly and all the bills that are due that week. But it is not seeming to be working very well.

I think you have to base your budget on the minimum amount you could make. The rest is just gravy.

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~Happiness is a large family~

We also have a fluctuating income and it can make budgeting very difficult. Most experts tell you to budget what is average, but then in a low month, there is not enough (We get paid once a month). We usually budget for the lower averages and then in a higher month, we'll put the surplus into an ING account where we take it right back out again in a low month. The difficult thing about fluctuating incomes is that they tend to be tied to the economy and this year isn't looking so good so far.

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My husband and I worked in restaurants for years--our primary source of income was tips, and those fluctuated quite a bit from day to day. We made a budget calculated on the minimum we could expect to make, and always paid bills in order of importance (rent, electricity, water first; satellite, cell phones, etc. last.) Money above the minimum was spent frugally on food, household items, etc. Any money left at the end of the month was allocated between paying off debt, savings, and fun.

Ahhh the life of an hourly employee! I think people put too much emphasis on the word "budget". Dh is hourly as well and trust me, there is no way to make a "budget". What I do is use a regular calendar, mark down when the bills are paid and how much. If he has a really good week, I might pay into the next week or two or pay more on something. Then if its a not so good week, I dont feel the pressure so much. You just need to pay things based on what you have at payday. Its rough living this way but it doesnt have to be that stressful. Also, I would start a cushion if you dont already have one. Put some money into your checking account but dont account for it in your book - that way if you have to write some checks one week that you didnt make enough to cover, you'll have the cushion to cover it, then in a good week, it works its way back in. It sounds nutty but it works.

First, I would take a chunk of money on a good week and put it aside rather than pay on a credit card or whatever you might have done.

Then I would religiously track expenditures in detail. Every dollar. That tends to keep them at a minimum by focusing on it.

Then, after a couple of months, I would attempt to create realistic budget amounts and use an envelop type system. You might need to dip into the set aside money in order to fund the envelops initially.

This is the best way to save for the future expenditures as well as accumulate for ordinary expenses during lean weeks.

Good luck!
Cathleen

We have a similar situation...Some checks DH may have as many as 40 hours OT on a check and some checks may be 10. I take the minimum amount and budget with that. Any extra goes towards a CC payment, or I pay a few bills that aren't due out of this check, but will be from the next one, just incase that check isn't enough to cover (ie, Sprint bill is due on the 8th every month, so I may pay it early (end of previous month) b/c I have extra $$ from this check, but we don't know if he will have OT in the next check that it normally would come out of).

HTH

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I worked as a Waitress and Worked with a Lady who was 56 Yrs. Old - and she Had Raised 5 Kids ( Husband Left her in the middle of the night when they were Younger )
She used this exact Method for Yrs.