Ah, the budget. It is such a scary thing to tackle finances...or it used to be. I decided one day that in order to stay on top of my finances I couldn't rely on receipts. Receipts cause paper clutter. And it builds up until I can't deal with it anymore and just throw it all away, which results in us totally forgetting our budget and buying extra Blue Bell ice cream, which is not good for your figure OR your wallet. This resulted in me making a very small printable for my wallet. It was about the size of a dollar bill and I taped it to my check book. Any time I bought anything, I would record it on the piece of paper. [Cameron would let me know if he spent anything as well.] Once a week, I would update our budget totals and share them with Cameron so we were on the same page. It worked brilliantly, but it was a lot of work. I found myself re-totaling everything up all the time. I needed a ledger. And I needed a little more space to keep things clean.
Enter the binder. [Click image to download blank printable version.]
I'll spare you the actual details of our budget for September. It's not very impressive...we're on a student loans salary right now. But I will say that it saves me so much time! My binder goes with me wherever I go. I write down the total while the grocer is bagging my groceries or right after I get back in the car from pumping gas. I can make sure all of our utilities and insurance payments are on time and I know exactly what date they were paid. I know immediately how much we have left in each budget. There is no guess work.
Finances aren't such a daunting task when they're done as you go!
In my binder, I printed 3 of these, front and back, so I have enough for a year. [4 to a page, cut in half]. I am blown away by the peace of mind this little piece of paper gives me. It also allows me to have more fun, because I can purchase fun things guilt free when I know where the money is coming from!
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ReplyDeleteHey Kristin! This is amazing, thank you so much for sharing! Budgeting is always something I have struggeled with and in the past, have chosen to just be super frugal and knowingly underspend, then to know exactly where my money is.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad other people have the inspiration and the platform to share their ideas! You are so talented!
I can't wait to try this system out!
Kristin - First, thanks for sharing your life & faith with us. Second, I have a question -- what does "fast offering" mean?
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey! You are very welcome. :) I'm glad you asked. In our faith, we give tithing [which is 10% of our income] and then a fast offering. Once a month, we fast by giving up 2 consecutive meals, and then we pay a fast offering, which is the cost of those two meals. That money goes toward local families in need of help. There's more information here if you're interested! --> http://mormon.org/commandments [about 3/4ths of the way down the page it talks about "the law of the fast"]
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