Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
What to find in our Budget Binder....
Hey Guys!
So in the begginning of this new year we decided to put together a budget binder to start 2015 off with a bang!
As we have been doing this, our only regret is that we waited a year and should have done it when we got married.
But we did it now!
We love having this binder, it keeps us on track! It helps us to know where our money is going, and helps us to tell our money where to go. By the end of our pay check every week all our money is in the right places/accounts ect. So we arn't just blowing money like we did in the beginning of our marriage- randem trips to Target, that movie from walmart or that lunch out.
Finances and Marriage can be a touchy subject because I'm sure like us you have probably stumbled over a few arguments regarding money.
And debt is such a burden on a marriage.
Starting this budget binder and following tips and Strategies that we have learned from Dani Johnson a successful business woman who went from homeless to a millionaire in 2 years. Check her out on http://www.danijohnson.com I highly reconmend her war on debt- In two months - Maria Cristina Tollens paid off $5,500 of debt after plugging into Dani Johnson! We are on track to becoming credit card debt free! Our next goal is to pay our mortgage off and be completely debt free! Freedom.... we cannot wait!
So what is inside this book?
Let's have a look....
Majority of the pages found in our budget binder we actually got off of http://justagirlandherblog.com/2015-budget-binder/
They were FREE printables and they work great!
When you first open our budget binder before getting into all of the different months we have a page called "Our Financial Goals." We added at the top the word "yearly 2015" because we wanted to have one page about our over all 2015 goals! This page keeps us on track everytime we open the binder we are reminded about all of our goals!
After our yearly goals page when we flip over there is another page that have our monthly/ bi-weekly and weekly bills.
These are all of our bills weither they are monthly, bi-weekly or weekly bills they are all included on this page. Then we have the amount that our bills are each and every month when all the bills have been paid we just put a check mark for january, or febuary what ever month has been completed. This helps us to know what bills we have paid and what bills still need to be paid.
Now when you flip through each of our months the first page that you will see is a monthly meal planning worksheet from http://frugalliving.about.com/od/grocerysavings/tp/Free-Meal-Planners.htm
We go grociery shopping every week, and we make sure to have everything eaten during that week before we go to the grociery store- so that we are not wasting food! So every week we sit down and plan what we want to have. Then we mark it on the right day's and make a grociery list according to that particular week.
Seriously this helps so much when you go grociery shopping and just helps you not waste money or food!
TIP*** never go to the grociery store when you are hungry- you will buy tons of crap you do not need!
Then we have our Financial Goals and these are goals for that particular month. So some of our goals have been to not go over our food budget at the grociery store and to pay off a particular amount of debt for that month. (examples)
It does really help to have monthly goals along with your longterm yearly goals. Having our monthly goals helps us to see where we are improving and what areas we need improvement on.
After our monthly goals sheet we have a page for Reoccuring Expenses.
So for just the month we would put down our monthly bills and what day they are due on during each month so that we never miss a payment and through out the month as you pay off one bill we would put a check mark (in the highlighted green area for that particular month)
This helps keep us on track of what bills we have paid so far for each month and what bills still need to be paid.
This next page is called "Tracking our monthly expenses"
This kind of keeps track of where our money has been going throughout each month. So for example in January we wrote everything that we spent money on weither that is bills, paying off debt, buying grocieries and our tythe. This way we know where our money is going!
And not wondering where the heck our last pay check went!
Our second last page in our binder is call the "Monthly Check-In"
This page is basically to see how you did the last month? So you just put what month you are reflecting on (ps this is a really good time to reflect with your spouse about your finances). There is a section for you to talk about the things you did well on and the things you could improve on.
Maybe you paid of so much debt that month which is great, and then maybe you splurged and bought an impulse buy- so you could improve on that.
And then there is a section for specific goals for that month and any notes you want to make.
Our last page for each month is our "Full Debt Overview."
So we keep track every month of how much money we put towards our debt and then how much debt we have still remaining.
This is a great place to be able to see where you are at especially if your goal is to be debt free!
This page I added this week where I can actually fold this up and take to the grociery store with me- It has each section of the grociery store so produce, meats, juices, ect that way it is easy to look what you need and find it in the grociery store and not have to go from one end to the other end and then back to the other end again because you forgot something. (we like to get in the grociery store and get out fast- no distractions)
I recently found this page on http://hellocuteness.com/2012/12/free-printable-lets-go-shopping-grocery-list/
They had a free printable and so I thought I would give it a shot- and I did this week, it was so awesome! If your anything like me I hate having to double check my list wondering if I got everything!
So this is our budget Binder- I know this post is farely long but I wanted to show you guys what you would find in our budget binder.
It has really helped us with our goals and then being able to reach them!
We know where our money is going each week and each month and so far we have been able to see so much freedom in that!
I hope you guys enjoy this post!
Not everyone cares about budgeting and that is okay- but this is for the people who have been budgeting or are wondering how to even start!