Today's post is kind of fitting for the New Year and Next Decade! Financial goals! During my divorce I was thrust into very unstable financial territories that left me depressed, stressed and at times hopeless about my future. I knew it wouldn't last though and that eventually I would get my footing again and regain momentum in that area of life but sometimes events can really put us under in the financial department. I spent months developing a budgeting system that best suited me and that was flexible for my income/needs.
I have tried to include my back story to this but it keeps coming out lengthy and i'm honestly sick of it all trailing back to my ex-husband in some way haha. Ahhh the chapters I hate to revist. Essentially I was never able to get a budget system formed during our marriage, we acrued debt and had no savings. Upon our divorce the debts got split and i had to live with a friend until I was able to afford to live on my own. During this period I set out to create a budget system.
The first step was reading up on some of Dave Ramsey's tips in his book 'Total Money Makeover'. I didn't use his method per say but I did read the book and read blogs/ watched youtubers that implemented the system in their own methods. Oh boy I watched soooo many Youtube videos on budgeting. I got inspiration and hope that it could be done.
From there I migrated to free download sheets to help me visually see my situation and path.
I had to Face my spending habits to see exactly what i was spending/where/why. I tracked and kept all my receipts and put them in monthly envelopes for about 6 months. I noticed my poor spending habits through this and began to correct them. This was my largest asset in getting my mind wrapped around budgeting. http://getbuttonedup.com/2010/01/06/tool-free-printable-monthly-spending-form/
I wanted to see my debts laid out. I am a visual person so seeing things laid out on paper works best for me to feel accountable and on top of things. : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1NqR9nHnp__Q0hYVmxXV3NLT2c/view (source: https://www.cleanandscentsible.com/family-binder-budgeting-printables/ )
I began to start a cash envelope system: : https://maybeiwill.com/5-diy-envelope-system
I started keeping track of my bills/payments. I love this one! I use this still, 2yrs later. It keeps me sane. I include car gas, groceries, child care and taxes as part of my monthly 'bills'. https://www.myfrugalhome.com/printables/bill-pay-checklist.pdf?2011b
I also keep a sheet in my binder that accounts for yearly costs that aren't regular monthly expenses. Ex: Car Registration, Massage insurance, birthdays/holidays, School expenses, Car maintenance, Annual Pet checkups, and so on.
As time progressed and I was finally getting spousal maintenance and working again (this took almost 2 yrs to reach a job situation that met my financial needs, i am so grateful for the judges ruling on spousal maintenance!) it was much easier to get all this budgeting underway. As of now I was able to pay off one debt and am only weeks from clearing out my 2nd debt. Only one left to go that I am hoping to have cleared out by the end of 2020!
I have revised my budgeting system multiple times the last 3yrs. At this time I have developed a system that I finally feel comfortable with and that is flexible to my income and needs. The biggest thing that I find is necessary for me to stay on target is to implement a form of the zero based budgeting (what is that?? https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/zero-based-budgeting-explained/ ).
I have also created a form of 'cash envelope' through my bank account. At my bank you can open unlimited savings accounts so I've opened accounts that fit my needs and have them labeled with specifically what they are meant for. I also have 2 checking accounts; 1 for my bills and any online purchasing needs and the 2nd for my daily spending needs that I don't allot physical cash to. I keep track of these with good old check registers! I also keep a binder with my budgeting forms in so I can easily refer to it as I need to each month/paycheck.
I also strive to live under my means when I can. I am human though and I do have my moments of splurging if I have a little extra that isn't allocated. I have taken some steps towards a more frugal form of living but that will be for another post.
I hope some of these financial avenues benefit some of you in your financial journey's. Taking control of our finances can help remove one of the biggest stressors in life. While unexpected life situations can happen and bring us under financially despite the best budget system it shouldn't be a reason to not have a system in place to help rebound you should something like that happen. And who knows maybe having a system in place can spare you from falling under during one of those situations (emergency savings yo!).
Here are a few youtubers I love:
Debt Free Dana!
Kate Kaden!
Debt Kickin Mom!
I hope everyone has a great amazing intro to this next Decade!
Cheers!!
Krista
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