I don't remember my first experience with money management, but I do remember my mom being religious about balancing her checkbook. To this day, she still relies heavily on keeping that book on point. But one thing we never really discussed is maintaining a budget. I've heard the term and understood the premise behind it, but never really new how to sculpt one out. It seemed like something that was rigid, fixed, involved Excel, and was very intimidating. When I was single I just made sure I had enough money to cover bills that were due before the next check came in, along with some fun money.
Then I got married and I still operated the same way. Just before our first child was born, my husband decided to go full time in the world of sales as a real estate agent, I left my full-time salaried position and didn't plan on ever going back. There we were, ready to be responsible for a tiny brand new human, with no clue as to when the next check would come in, and the market was still trying to make its way out of the sinkhole of the recession. Yet, I still didn't make an effort to create a budget. When you're in this position you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck, no matter how much money is coming in.
I would randomly search Google for "ways to budget with a variable income" and most of the time I was led to the envelope system or Dave Ramsey. There was something about the Ramsey site that immediately turned me off. I'm not trying to judge, and I'm sure it works for many others, but it felt like there was so much information coming at me and I just didn't know where to start. So I decided to give the envelope system a try, starting with those expenses that tend to sneak up on you throughout the year. It seemed like the most straightforward system and would work based on our needs. I went a little gung-ho and created this beauty!
But as you can see, I never really touched it, I just liked the excuse to be crafty and resourceful. I found this beautiful, durable folder at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree! I was already well on my way to becoming a budgenista! I got on the coupon train for a while too, but that all soon faded out (no surprise there). I never used the folder and I stopped being so relentless with coupon searching. Believe it or not, it can be ruthless out there in the world among all the coupon clippers! I didn't last very long. Ultimately it didn't seem worth the hassle to run around to different stores making sure I got to the stock of toothpaste that was only going to be .25 a tube, after the sale and with my coupon, before someone else cleared out the shelves. My one major success is that I still have a major stock of shampoo and conditioner from those days! Besides all that I recognized how important it was to maintain a budget. Because even though those tubes of toothpaste were only .25, I needed to ensure I had the $10 I needed to buy 40 tubes of toothpaste!
I then resorted to writing things down in a ledger, but all I was doing was writing down purchases and debt payments. I still wasn't managing the allocation of the money we did have. I made sure the bills were paid, but I couldn't quite tell you the amount of our monthly nut (as my husband refers to it). If my husband asked me if we had the funds to go on a fun outing with the kids, I couldn't confidently tell him we had the money for that because I really didn't know!
This is where You Need A Budget (YNAB) comes in and shakes things up in a good way. I can't say enough about this program. Simply stated, it's an app that allows you to create, reference, and alter your budget. You can also access it on a desktop by logging in to the website. It is extremely user friendly and has made me feel more confident with managing our money. I now know that having a budget does not mean you are stuck within rigid parameters based on your income. Fundamentally, YNAB teaches you to simply be aware of where your money is going and allows you to examine your priorities by always following the 4 Rules: 1) Give every dollar a job, 2) Embrace your true expenses, 3) Roll with the punches, and 4) Age your money.
I've been using it consistently since August and so far, it's proven to be extremely helpful! As of this post we've managed to fund some future trips and get slightly ahead on some bills for next month because I can confidently say that we have the money to do that! It's all right there in front of me! I'm looking forward to getting even more familiar with all the features the app has to offer and am continually soaking in all kinds of information from YNAB's resources.
They don't just give you the functional tool to set up and keep a budget, they offer free workshops, forums, docs, podcasts (also available through your podcast app for iphone users), weekly newsletters, weekly videos (whiteboard Wednesdays), and blog posts. By no means would I call my self an expert and I have barely begun to scratch the surface of these resources of all the cool things this program can do and the insight into our spending that it can provide. I am currently hooked on working my way through the podcasts; they are short and offer huge gold nuggets of information. I can't say enough about what this program has done for my relationship with money. I look forward to sharing so much more with all of you as my journey continues. I'm also curious to know what has your relationship with money been like? Do you have a system that you already use that you absolutely love?
I am in no way affiliated with the website, but if you decide to do a free trial, please use my link because if you sign up at the end of your trial, you earn yourself and me a FREE month! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
I would randomly search Google for "ways to budget with a variable income" and most of the time I was led to the envelope system or Dave Ramsey. There was something about the Ramsey site that immediately turned me off. I'm not trying to judge, and I'm sure it works for many others, but it felt like there was so much information coming at me and I just didn't know where to start. So I decided to give the envelope system a try, starting with those expenses that tend to sneak up on you throughout the year. It seemed like the most straightforward system and would work based on our needs. I went a little gung-ho and created this beauty!
But as you can see, I never really touched it, I just liked the excuse to be crafty and resourceful. I found this beautiful, durable folder at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree! I was already well on my way to becoming a budgenista! I got on the coupon train for a while too, but that all soon faded out (no surprise there). I never used the folder and I stopped being so relentless with coupon searching. Believe it or not, it can be ruthless out there in the world among all the coupon clippers! I didn't last very long. Ultimately it didn't seem worth the hassle to run around to different stores making sure I got to the stock of toothpaste that was only going to be .25 a tube, after the sale and with my coupon, before someone else cleared out the shelves. My one major success is that I still have a major stock of shampoo and conditioner from those days! Besides all that I recognized how important it was to maintain a budget. Because even though those tubes of toothpaste were only .25, I needed to ensure I had the $10 I needed to buy 40 tubes of toothpaste!
I then resorted to writing things down in a ledger, but all I was doing was writing down purchases and debt payments. I still wasn't managing the allocation of the money we did have. I made sure the bills were paid, but I couldn't quite tell you the amount of our monthly nut (as my husband refers to it). If my husband asked me if we had the funds to go on a fun outing with the kids, I couldn't confidently tell him we had the money for that because I really didn't know!
This is where You Need A Budget (YNAB) comes in and shakes things up in a good way. I can't say enough about this program. Simply stated, it's an app that allows you to create, reference, and alter your budget. You can also access it on a desktop by logging in to the website. It is extremely user friendly and has made me feel more confident with managing our money. I now know that having a budget does not mean you are stuck within rigid parameters based on your income. Fundamentally, YNAB teaches you to simply be aware of where your money is going and allows you to examine your priorities by always following the 4 Rules: 1) Give every dollar a job, 2) Embrace your true expenses, 3) Roll with the punches, and 4) Age your money.
I've been using it consistently since August and so far, it's proven to be extremely helpful! As of this post we've managed to fund some future trips and get slightly ahead on some bills for next month because I can confidently say that we have the money to do that! It's all right there in front of me! I'm looking forward to getting even more familiar with all the features the app has to offer and am continually soaking in all kinds of information from YNAB's resources.
They don't just give you the functional tool to set up and keep a budget, they offer free workshops, forums, docs, podcasts (also available through your podcast app for iphone users), weekly newsletters, weekly videos (whiteboard Wednesdays), and blog posts. By no means would I call my self an expert and I have barely begun to scratch the surface of these resources of all the cool things this program can do and the insight into our spending that it can provide. I am currently hooked on working my way through the podcasts; they are short and offer huge gold nuggets of information. I can't say enough about what this program has done for my relationship with money. I look forward to sharing so much more with all of you as my journey continues. I'm also curious to know what has your relationship with money been like? Do you have a system that you already use that you absolutely love?
I am in no way affiliated with the website, but if you decide to do a free trial, please use my link because if you sign up at the end of your trial, you earn yourself and me a FREE month! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
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