As you probably already know, we budget out all of our money (as best we can) every month before it’s even in our hands. Some (like Dave Ramsey) refer to this as a “zero-based budget.” Some call it a “goals-based budget.” Whatever you choose to call it, the gist is that you make a plan for your money before the month even starts so you can avoid that awful question of, “WHERE DID ALL OF OUR MONEY GO???” Have you ever felt that way? I KNOW we have. Well, here’s the thing. Even if you’re a “budgeting expert” you aren’t perfect, and this month, we are a great example of…
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That Crushing, Drowning Feeling: A Peek into a Private Conversation
Last week I had a DM conversation inside Instagram, and it was one that made me think, “If she has these questions, I’ll bet she’s not alone in her wonderings!” So I’d like to share what we discussed with you here. Cool? Great. Her questions were these: Are you debt free aside from your mortgage? If so, what is your motivation for frugal spending? Is it because of a frugal upbringing (or in spite of your upbringing, maybe)? She shared that for her, she knows that before she can truly get “on board” with some things, she really needs to fully understand them and know that they are “just” and…
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What We Spend in a Month as a Family of Four
When I was still in the research phase of figuring out the best way for our family to budget, track, and actually make progress toward our financial goals (without being trust fund babies or both of us having to work around the clock), one of the topics that drew me in the most was being able to see examples of other families’ actual budgets and their actual routines/management of those budgets. Considering that, I want to share a bit of our own budget with you, but before I do, I need for you to promise me something. Promise me that you will not try to build your own budget based…
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If You “Budget” This Way, You’re Wasting Your Time
Before I started organizing our monthly budget with my current system (using The Sustainable Budget Blueprint), in order to know exactly how much we were spending in each category each month, I had to choose an impractical or unreliable tool to rely on: A. the automatic breakdown of our online banking tools (which just guess categories based on the location of the purchase) B. spending hours going back through all of our spending to try and make my own best guesses as to which category each purchase should go under. Have you ever tried to categorize a purchase from Amazon, Walmart, or Target? Without the actual receipt, GOOD LUCK. Seriously.…
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How to Convince Your Spouse to Stick to the Budget
Anyone else ever felt the age-old struggle of dragging a fallen horse through the mud in the sense of trying to convince your spouse to JUST FOLLOW THE PLAN and stick to the budget?? Just us? Nah. Can’t be. Can I share with you the best, easiest, most effective way to get them on board? Find a goal to work towards that actually motivates them. What is something that they really would love to purchase, a trip they would really love to take, an experience they would really like to share with the family? If they aren’t working toward a goal that is more important to them than the joy/relief…
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MUD: The Secret to Consistent $ Tracking Through The Month
I am constantly hearing about how easy it is for my clients/readers to “fall behind” the tracking of their spending throughout their months. It causes them to feel like a failure, like they aren’t “good at” budgeting, and like they can never get enough traction to make their budgeting efforts worthwhile. THAT IS THE WORST! It’s also, unfortunately, not surprising because it IS one of the most challenging things about budgeting. Consistency. It’s the cornerstone of making progress with your financial goals, but it’s also the one thing that is SO easy to fall to the wayside in the midst of your busy LIFE. What’s the answer? What I call…
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How I Failed Last Month… Yet Still Managed to Save $415.81!
That’s right. I failed. But you know what? Even though I missed my CRAZY goal of spending only $150 on groceries for the month of December (I knew it was nutso going into it, but hey… shoot for the moon so we fall among the stars, right??), I still came out WAY ahead! In October 2018, when I first started implementing this Monthly Meal Planning system for our family, I had just taken the time to figure out our ACTUAL average grocery spending… and I swear my eyes have never bulged from my head like they did when I read those numbers. We had been averaging about $1200 a month…
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The Secret to Functioning Adulthood in the Midst of Survival Mode
I came across this lovely gem of a photo thanks to Facebook’s Memories feature, and just feel like my face captures so much of early motherhood: The first thing I see in this photo (besides that pretty little squish with her signature mohawk hairdo) is my facial expression. It says, “I’m here! I showered! I may not have any makeup on, my eyebrows may be almost invisible (thank you 90’s over-plucking popularity), but my hair even looks decent. I’m with people I love, and I really am happy. However… I’m also dying a little inside because my 7 month old never lets me put her down without screaming like I’m…
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7 Reasons Budgets Fail & How to Succeed!
Do you ever start the month thinking that you’re good to go, have plenty of money, and by the end of this month, you should have plenty of money leftover in the account to put towards that vacation/getaway/pedicure/shopping trip/etc. you have had your heart set on… But by the end of the month, you’re just standing in shock saying, “WHERE DID ALL OF OUR MONEY GO??” Only this seems to happen month…after month…after month…after month… Does this sound familiar? Well, let me share with you some hard truths, my friend, so that you can STOP this cycle of insanity, get your feet under you, and make some traction in your…
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Don’t Forget About These December Costs!
It’s December!! Time to prep your new month’s budget (if you haven’t already). We need to be sure and account for some extra things in December that we don’t typically have to worry about… Don’t be caught off guard by any of these items. If you have already written out/planned your December budget and you did forget to add in any of these, go back today (or if not today, put IN YOUR CALENDAR exactly when you will…) and add them in/rework your budget. Anytime you recognize a mistake in your budget, the sooner you tweak/fix that plan, the better off you will be. DO NOT PUT IT OFF. It will NOT be easier to…
