Mommies! We have to budget. So I have decided that Mondays are for BUDGETING!
Like seriously? Let's get excited about this.
I know you already know this. I've known this for years and I'm ashamed to say it hasn't always been my forte. I mean, we have to spend so much doggone time doing everything else, who the heck has time to budget- and budget meticulously at that???
Well you have to make time, mama- because if you don't, you'll pay for it later. The best thing about a budget spreadsheet is you can make adjustments. You can see a visual of where and when those adjustments will effect you. I know it's hard to stick to a budget when raising kids- there are so many unpredictable expenses. However, if you write it all out, you can project where you may need to do something extra to make up for extra money spent.
I remember 12 years ago, looking at my father's laptop and he had the most DETAILED spreadsheet I had ever seen in my life. Like ya'll, this man had his whole family's life planned to a T! I was so impressed. I've never forgotten that. I have always admired his dedication to planning and not spending frivolously. See the thing is, when you budget you can tell your money where to go- rather than wondering where it went.
The most beneficial thing about budgeting for me is that it helps to relieve my anxiety. Yes, I said it. It RELIEVES anxiety. How? Because instead of always feeling like you DON'T have enough or WON'T have enough, you can go to this pretty little spreadsheet and actually see exactly what you need. I remember a couple times in my life where someone may have asked me "how much do you need?" And I've always thought that this was the oddest question. I am ashamed to say, that but it's true. Like how the heck am I supposed to know? Anything helps right? Wrong. If you don't know how much you need, that means you really don't even know WHERE you are putting that money. And in the end, even though you receive some free money, you really aren't even sure if that is extra. You could be asking for $200 because it sounds good, when in fact you need $253. And we all know when it comes to kids, $53 makes a HUGE difference.
With that being said, I have created this little budget spreadsheet in Excel. It's been awesome. I've downloaded budget templates in the past, but none of them worked for me. So I literally used to budget weekly by writing down everything- whether it was in my phone or in a notebook. I had everything written that was coming in AND everything that was going out each week. This spreadsheet mimics that process. I literally look forward to opening it every day and balancing everything out. So, I thought to share it with you gals (and guys)! So here's the link to download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/48ras7mgrydazk0/Budget%20at%20a%20glance%20template.xlsx?dl=0
Now, I'm no finance guru, but having three kids has forced to become disciplined and plan ahead. The spreadsheet is pretty straight forward and it is already formulated to subtract and add income to expenses. Each week you can just adjust the dates and keep reusing it. Or, feel free to make it your own! Simplicity works better for me. I hope that this was informative to someone or at least inspired someone to crack down on their money spending habits.
Til next time!
Budgeting Bo
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