Budgeting: How to Get Started

Budgeting. It's one of those distinctly unsexy words. It used to make me think of stretching the money you don't have to pay for stuff you don't value until every dime you had was swallowed up. I hated budgeting and because of that I didn't do it. 

Without a budget to guide me I was shocked each and every two weeks to find my money only stretching far enough to get me to my next paycheck, no matter how much overtime I worked. Begrudgingly, I busted out my laptop and started gathering up my expenses

I was absolutely floored to discover that even though I never felt like I had enough money (and I didn't really, not enough to make huge changes), I had much more that was unaccounted for every paycheck than I thought I did. It turns out that money was getting frittered away on purchases that didn't bring me joy. Amazon packages I barely remembered ordering, fast food that I regretted later, and a whole host of other nonsensical purchases. 

Once I made this discovery I realized I had to go all in on the budget. There are tons of different approaches to budgeting such as cash envelopes, 50/30/20 budgeting, zero based budgeting, etc. (See this article for an overview on these budgeting methods)

I tried a few different methods but I found all of them difficult to stick to. I needed something that kept me on track, but didn't require me to keep track of every penny. I landed on a loose version of zero based budgeting. I simply budget for the month by paycheck, splitting my expenses across each paycheck based on what is due in that time period. I include my savings and investing in this budget as well, treating them like bills that I pay myself to different accounts. When all my bills are paid and my savings and investing goals are met the rest of the money is mine to spend on whatever makes me happy. 

This had two major effects. 

#1: I stopped overdrafting my account every two weeks 

#2: I stopped feeling guilty when I did want to spend money

This was a revalation. Budgeting wasn't some dusty old practice to make me feel bad about money, it was a tool that empowered me to figure out where all my money went and it allowed me to spend without guilt. 

I've included a template to the budget that I use below. Feel free to make a copy and customize it to fit your life. Get in touch and let me know what you think!

Get Your Free Budget Template Here!