Learning To Budget

My husband likes to say that I have impeccable organization skills. Oh, if he only knew! He would be so very disappointed! Ha!

One of the things I knew I would have to face when I quit my job was a budget and sticking to it! I really wish I could tell you that I was able to ace it last month, but I ultimately failed! Maybe failed is being too hard on myself, more like it was a learning curve.  I’m not discourage because I know it can take a few months to adjust. There were some categories I forgot to add and some I didn’t think were important at the time but were very important. I also put too little in some categories, one of those being food and household items. It will balance out, I hope.

When I say the word budget, I automatically think, limitations. A budget is giving me permission to spend. For instance, if I have $50 in my clothing budget, I have $50 to spend without affecting the integrity of my other categories. I remember one day I needed to buy a gift for someone. I had absolutely no issues paying for a gift because I had the money set aside to pay for the gift. In the past, I would struggle. I wasn’t sure if this purchase would make it more difficult to pay for something else later.

I use a few tools for my budgeting and bill paying. First, I keep a list of all our obligations. Then, using my Erin Condren Deluxe Monthly Planner, I use these stickers  to put the name and amount of the obligation on the coordinating day of the month. Some are color coded. For example, orange represents tithes, yellow represents offerings and the red color represents utility bills. I’m a visual person so this works great for me. When I pay that item, I simply put a check mark on it to mark it paid. Also, don’t forget to budget your spending money. Nothing should be left out.

One of my favorite tools is Every Dollar. I input our income and add the dollar amounts to each category. I adjust as needed until it all balances out. God always gives us what we need, we must learn to manage it properly.

I hope something here has helped someone. I have been needing to get very serious about a budget and now I’m amid prime need.

If you would like to try using the Erin Condren planners, use this link to receive $10 off your first order. I also receive $10 off my next purchase.