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Often new visitors to the Australian Libraries Building will ask “how can I make money in Second Life?”.

Well, now I have an answer…”spend an hour and a half dancing with a mob of librarians in PJS and bunny splippers, and be voted as having the best female costume”. There’s 500Linden dollars for that one. Thanks if you voted.

Congratulations also to Rocky “Harley Fashionista” Vallejo, best dressed male.

Another snap from the evening. Note that Minnie Mouse in the front was tallying the votes, so ineligible.

Trip For How to Create a Working Budget

• The very first month you set up a budget, it’s probably not going to work for you, because if you’ve never kept track of this stuff before, you’re not going to magically know how much to put in each category. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED. The second month might be a little better, but most people don’t have a good, working budget until the third or fourth month. You didn’t ride a bike without training wheels the first time you tried, and you weren’t Michael Schumacher the first time you got in a car, either. Practice makes perfect!
• There are occasionally pay-periods where may make some extra money, and when that happens there is a surplus! It’s up to you on how to use that surplus. You could put it directly toward your goal, or you could let it sit in your bank account as an emergency fund.
• As time goes by, you will find that your original budget has some flaws. Some areas you underestimated, some areas you overestimated. Some things come up that you didn’t account for at all. That’s OK! Just make revisions as you get a clearer picture of your spending. Remember to keep your overall spending less than your earning so you can meet your goal.
• The first time I tried this, my spending was more than my earning, and that was without putting anything into savings! If that happens to you, do what I did: start making cuts in your spending plan. For instance, my first budget had $150/month for clothing. After making changes, I reduced my spending to $80/month for clothing. You might have to make many changes like that to be able to accomplish whatever goals you have set for your budget.
• If you keep your emergency fund in your checking (or savings!) account, it could be very difficult to avoid the temptation to spend it when you see that shiny new must-have item you’ve been wanting. Find a money-market account with a decent rate of return (4-5%) and check-writing privileges and you’ll be ahead of the game.
• A common problem people have when making budgets is that they’ll come up with an excellent plan, but then the car breaks down and the plan goes out the window. This is why you have the above-mentioned emergency fund. If you use the emergency fund money for an emergency, don’t forget to budget for putting that money back next month!
• Another common problem is people see the shiny new must-have item at (insert store here) and they buy it, even though it’s not on their budget. Maybe it was on sale and they couldn’t pass it up! This is why it’s good to have a budget category called "Blow" (or whatever you want.) No, it’s not for cocaine, it’s the category for impulse purchases! I highly recommend including this category.
• Don’t try and begin a budget for the first month after an event in your life where money was significantly spent or saved, such as a vacation or a move, or coming into an inheritance or winning the lottery. Wait until your finances have been "in order" or at a steady pace, usually from three to six months afterwards, before starting fresh.

1. Calculate how much money you earn in a month after taxes. For this budget plan, use your net pay or take home pay. Include tips, supplementary income, side-jobs, investments etc. This is your income.
2. Figure out your expenses. The best way to do this is to save receipts for a month or even a couple weeks. Knowing how much per month you spend on groceries or gas makes the next part much easier. If you want to start writing your budget today, and don’t have receipts, that’s OK, it’s just a bit more difficult.
3. Set your goal. Why are you going on a budget? Maybe you want to start saving for college, or maybe you want to get out of debt. Whatever your reason, define your goal clearly so you can determine if you are meeting it or not.
4. Break your budget up into some basic categories. Some categories you could use are: Housing, Food, Auto, Entertainment, Savings, Clothing, Medical, and Miscellaneous. You might want to organize your expenses into needs - such as your loan and electricity - and wants - such as clothing and entertainment.
5. List all your spending under each of these categories. Let’s take Auto as an example: $300/month car payment, $100/month insurance, $250/month on gas, $50/month on maintenance, 10$/month on fees such as registration. So, your total Auto budget for the month would be $710/month. If you don’t know the exact amounts you spend, try to make good estimates. The more accurate you are, the better chance your budget has of working.
6. Once you have broken down all your spending into your basic categories, add it all up. This should show your total monthly spending. Compare it to how much you make each month after taxes.
7. Obtain some kind of record-keeping method to keep track of your budget. Some people like to use computer programs like Quicken or Microsoft Money. If you prefer you could just use a good old-fashioned ledger book. You can find one at Wal-Mart for about $5.
8. Set up your ledger. Skip the first 5 or so pages for later, we’ll come back to it. Divide the rest of the ledger into as many sections as you have main categories. Put each main category on the first page of each section. This will give you room for lots of entries in each category. Some categories, like food, are going to need lots of pages.
9. Decide what period of time you want your budget set up for. I found monthly to be the most useful for me, since most bills are monthly. However, I decided to make the deposits to my budget categories twice a month. In other words, if my Auto budget for the month is $710, I showed "deposits" of $355 in the Auto section on the 1st and 15th of each month.
10. Show a deposit in each category at the start of each period, then show all the expenditures from that category throughout the period. So, for Auto, you would start off with $710 for the month, then show several expenditures for gas, one expenditure for car payment, maybe one expenditure for insurance(depending on whether you pay insurance monthly or not).
11. Use that first section of the ledger book to record income and then show the budget being subtracted from it each period. For instance, I get paid every other Friday, so there are corresponding entries in the income section showing income deposits every other Friday. My budget is ~$2800/month, and gets subtracted on the 1st and 15th. So on each 1st and 15th, the income sections shows a budget subtraction of $1400.

1. Calculate your regular income. Include that of your spouse also, as well as regular income from other sources.
2. Make a list of all income sources and amounts. Do you receive regular overtime or a large bonus? Is it guaranteed? Can you calculate average amounts by using past bank statements or pay slips? Try to be accurate and get to an average ‘net’ (after taxes) income.
3. 
   

   Write down every daily expense no matter how small the amount
   Calculate your regular expenses. Save all receipts and expenses for one month. Ideally, you need to carry around a pen and small pad with you for one full month. Write down every amount you spend, what it is for and where you spend it. Much of the spending will be on large, regular items (rent, utility bills and grocery shopping, for example), but there will probably be many small regular items too (newspapers,magazines,coffee shops, snacks, haircuts and entertainment)
4. Look at the figures. Money coming in (income) and money going out (expenses). If your expenses are more than income, you need to take action!

• If your savings time frame is very long, such as for retirement, you may want to structure your monthly savings so that they grow larger later in life when you will (hopefully) have more income coming in. On the other hand, money invested while you are young will have more time to compound. Start when you are in your teens!
• Consider setting up an automatic weekly or monthly transfer from your checking account to your savings account. With many banks, this can be accomplished online.
• Read the Wiki on how to ladder your Certificate of Deposits (CDs) or find out at www.bankrate.com.
• Make sure you don’t buy unnecessary things. For example, lets say you buy an exercise machine that’s on "sale". You might think its a good deal, but after a few weeks, you will most probably just leave it sitting in the corner.
• Stop buying newspapers, movies, books and magazines. Borrow from the public library.
• Cook more, eat out less. Use less salt, less sugar and less oil when cooking to stay healthy and avoid health issues and medical bills.
• If unexpected expenses cause you to deviate from your budget from time to time, cut unnecessary expenses before you cut money from your savings goals. Other than the bare necessities, your savings goals should be your top priority.
• In this day and age, many of us have cars, so saving money on gas can contribute to your effort considerably. Consider getting rid of the car altogether if you can. Another option is to avoid maintaining multiple cars. Failing that, drive less and shop around for insurance even before you buy a car. See "How to save Gas".
• If unexpected circumstances render you unable to meet your savings goals, reassess them and figure out which ones you can delay or cut out. Get back on your program as soon as you can.
• For very important or very large savings goals (such as a down payment on a house or saving for your kids’ college tuition), consider opening up a separate account. You’ll be able to keep better track of that particular goal, and you’ll be less tempted to dip into it.
• If you receive unexpected cash, put all or most of it into your savings, but continue to set aside your regularly scheduled amount as well. You’ll simply reach your savings goals sooner.
• As you satisfy the payment of a car loan, or your mortgage, you will have extra money. Set aside that money into savings. This way, the money you used to pay to somebody else now goes to you.
• Use a piggy bank or jar for your coins. Coins and change may look insignificant but when accumulated over time they can help you save. Some banks now offer free coin counting machines. When you redeem your coins, ask to be paid by check so you won’t be tempted to spend your newfound cash.
• Don’t save money solely for the purpose of spending. Setting some amount aside for emergencies can keep you out of a lot of trouble. Decide on some number of months’ worth of salary as a cushion, and make a point to replace this stash anytime you must use it.
• Interest on debts, especially high interest rates on credit cards, is a huge, unnecessary expense. If you are in debt, pay off your loans right away to get out from under that debt as fast as you can.
• One option to get started saving is to find out what your take-home pay per hour is (net pay divided by hours worked) and save the "change" from each hour. For example, if you worked 25 hours and your check is $164, you would be making $6.56 "take-home" per hour. Save $14 that paycheck, and you have saved all the "change" per hour. If your hourly take home pay is an even number somehow (like $6) then just save $1 or 75 cents per hour.
• If you need to have credit cards but you don’t want the temptation of having them available to use day-to-day, there is this method: put the credit card in a tupperware box with water and store in your freezer. Thaw your card only when you really need to use it. Your card will not be damaged by freezing and forcing yourself to use cash will greatly help your budgeting.
• Save pop cans when you get done drinking them and recycle. Some places pay money for cans to recycle.
• Reduce your long distance phone bills. There are a lot of options for phone service these days, including internet-based providers. Shop around and see if you could save money.

Whether you want to go on a vacation, buy a house, or enjoy a comfortable retirement, you’ve got to learn to save money. Unfortunately, many of us tend to spend whatever we earn or more. We know savings are important for unexpected emergencies or major life changes, but we just can’t seem to put some cash away for a rainy day. Want to stop living from paycheck to paycheck? Read on and start saving today.

Steps

1. Don’t buy things you do not need. Sure, it’s easier said than done, but sometimes you might want to forget that extra bottle of soda or bag of candy at the supermarket exit, or anything else that won’t benefit you in the long run.
2. Figure out what you need to save for and how much you need to save. For short-term goals, this is easy. If you want to buy a video game, find out how much it costs; if you want to buy a house, determine how much of a down payment you’ll need. For long-term goals, such as retirement, you’ll need to do a lot more planning (figuring out how much money you’ll need to live comfortably for 20 or 30 years after you stop working), and you’ll also need to figure out how investments will help you achieve your goals.
3. Set savings goals. Once you determine how much you need to save, establish a timeframe (i.e. “I want to be able to buy a house two years from today.”) Set a particular date for accomplishing shorter-term goals, and make sure the goal is attainable within that time period. If it’s not attainable, you’ll just get discouraged.
4. Figure out how much you’ll have to save per week, per month, or per paycheck to attain each of your savings goals. Take each thing you want to save for and figure out how much you need to start saving now. For most savings goals, it’s best to save the same amount each period. For example, if you want to put a $20,000 down payment on a home in 36 months (three years), you’ll need to save about $550 per month every month.
5. Add together the installment amounts (monthly, weekly, or per paycheck) for all your savings goals. Can you afford to save this total each period? If so, great; if not, proceed to the next step.
6. Pay yourself first. Savings should be your priority, so don’t just say that you’ll save whatever’s left over at the end of the month. Deposit savings into an account (or your piggybank) as soon as you get paid.
7. 
   Keep a record of your expenses. Write down everything you spend your money on for a couple weeks or a month. Be as detailed as possible, and try not to leave out small purchases.
8. See where you can trim your expenses. You’ll probably be surprised when you look back at your record of expenses: $300 on ice cream, $100 on parking tickets? You’ll likely see some obvious cuts you can make. Depending on how much you need to save, however, you may need to make some difficult decisions. Think about your priorities, and make cuts you can live with.
9. Reassess your savings goals. If there’s absolutely no way you can fit all your savings goals into your budget, take a look at what you’re saving for and cut the less important things or adjust the timeframe. Maybe you need to put off buying a new car for another year, or maybe you don’t really need a big-screen TV that badly.
10. Make a budget. Once you’ve managed to balance your earnings with your savings goals and spending, write down a budget so you’ll know each month or each paycheck how much you can spend on any given thing or category of things. Try to leave a little room for minor unexpected expenses.
11. Stick to your budget. A budget won’t do you any good if you don’t follow it religiously. Build some self-discipline, and remember why you’re on a budget in the first place.
12. Open an interest-bearing savings account. It’s a lot easier to keep track of your savings if you have them separate from your spending money. You can also usually get better interest on savings accounts than on checking accounts (if you get interest on your checking account at all). Consider higher-interest options such as CDs or money-market accounts for longer savings goals. You can also open an online savings account with one of the companies that offer them. Look around for the best savings interest rate and try to find one that adjusts its rate as the federal interest rate changes. You can then set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your high interest savings account. Many employers allow you to deduct savings from your paycheck. The money is directly deposited in your savings account so you never even see it on your paycheck. You can also have investments for retirement taken directly out of your pay, and the taxes may be deferred with this option. If you typicaly keep a large balance in your checking account, consider moving most of that money into a linked savings account. Keep the money in savings until it is time to pay bills, then transfer enough from savings into checking to cover your bills. Make sure you check with your bank to see what the minimum balance requirements are for your checking account so you don’t get hit with additional fees.
13. Don’t use your credit cards. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce spending. Use cash for as many purchases as possible - you’ll be more conscious of what you are spending your money on.
14. Kill your debt. Simply calculating how much you spend each month on your debts will illustrate that eliminating debt is the fastest way to free up money. Once the money is freed from debt payment, it can be easily re-purposed to savings.
15. Make sure you are not paying for things available for free. More and more companies are offering free versions of their products and services on the Web. Sites such as http://www.FreeForToday.com monitor the growing list of products and services available free on the Web.