Budgeting. Whether you love it or hate it, budgeting is the best way to approach your finances. It organizes your money so that you can pay your bills, live life, and save for the future all at the same time. Making a plan for your money is the best way to have it all. A budget breaks that money down and creates a plan for each dollar.
Managing money is key to:
- Knowing that there is enough (or not enough) money in the bank
- Understanding your priorities
- Reaching your saving goals
There are many programs and apps out there that will help you budget, like Clarity and Mint, but I feel these leave out important pieces of your financial profile like small banks, IRA accounts and credit unions. I believe that it is important to keep track of your money and do a monthly budget yourself, manually. When you budget your money manually, you have to feel every dollar that you spend, and it makes you more likely to spend it wisely.
The basic formula for budgeting is:
INCOME
– EXPENSES
= Money you have left over that you can put towards spending, saving or paying off debt (unless you have a negative number).
Budging will help you figure out:
- Where your money is going
- Where you can reduce spending
- How to save up for your dreams
I have two different FREE budgeting worksheets available for you in my Freebies section to help you get started. One is an excel based budget for all of you spreadsheet lovers, and one is printable for you paper lovers. Head on over and get your free budget worksheet today and start making a plan for your financial life. You’ll be on your way to debt free and taking a dream vacation in no time!
If you need the password to access the Freebies, sign up for my newsletter and it will be emailed to you right away!
Other resources you might find useful are instructions on how to make a budget, instructions on how to use my monthly budget spreadsheet, and a video that will walk you through step by step on how to use my budgeting spreadsheet.