The. Six. Letter. Dirty. Word.

BUDGET.

 

It's a dirty word to some, a mere thought bubble to a few, and a way a living for others.

 

 A New Year, means a new start.  

A fresh start.  

And for some, that means getting finances under control.

Spending less than what we make.

 BUT...

If you have never made a budget, you may not know where to start.

Or, you may need to recheck the budget you have previously started.

Below are a few things I do each month:

#1: I make an excel spreadsheet of all our bills.

I include:

 The predicted amount due

The due date

And the actual amount paid.

I also include the predicted amount of income and the actual amount paid.

Outside of expenses and income, I include another column for savings.

I put a specific amount into savings each month BEFORE our splurges.

#2: I break the monthly bills, into a weekly budget.

Outside of our monthly bills (mortgage, insurance, etc.) 

we live on a specific weekly budget.

 

#3: Our weekly budget is CASH.

Our budget is Sunday to Saturday.

If our cash is out on Wednesday, it's all gone.

#4: If you are starting a budget, leave money for some splurges.

If you like going out to eat, buying a People Magazine, or manicures; 

leave money in your budget for that once or twice a month instead of every week.

 

#5: CASH MONEY

  

If you are trying to get your spending under control, want to save more, 

or want to see where your money really goes;  

 try a cash budget for two weeks.

Set a specific amount, create categories, and challenge yourself to keep to it.

We break our categories into: groceries, gas, baby stuff, and miscellaneous.

*Remember this does NOT include monthly bills like mortgages, insurance, cable bill, etc.*

So... those are some things I do each month to help us stay on budget and save money.

What do you do to stay on budget?