My husband and I first realized we were a a bit financially clueless when we got engaged. I was 100% debt-free, loved to shop, and had zero plans for what to do with my paychecks to make them grow long-term. My husband was up to his eyeballs in debt with student loans and a car payment, hated shopping, and also had no idea about financial planning for the future.
Ah, but we were young. We’d figure it out…right?
Now it’s a several years later and we’ve added a mortgage and babies to the mix. We realized we needed to get serious about paying off the student loans and car payment so we could focus on planning for retirement, our kids’ college funds, and hopefully the opportunity for us to travel more. We were motivated but overwhelmed about how to start. Through many failures (which also means many times we lifted each other back up to try again) we figured out some tricks for making a budget that have helped us make serious progress on our financial goals. I’m sharing why we love having a budget and some of the best lessons we have learned these past few years!
Lesson 1: Just start!
I’ll never forget the evening early in our marriage when I glanced at our checking account and saw a startling low number. Where had our money gone?! Had we been hacked?! I started combing through purchase by purchase and realized my husband and I had eaten over $500 worth of restaurant food…and we hadn’t even gone anywhere nice! (Those quick stops at Chick-Fil-A add up quickly!) We were embarrassed we hadn’t even realized that and decided to make a budget immediately. We used the free monthly cash flow budget sheet from financial guru Dave Ramsey to get us started. This helped us focus and plan on all the ways we used our money each month. We now use an Excel spreadsheet so we can see multiple months at a time for longer range-planning, which helps us to stay on track month-to-month. Don’t be discouraged if you make a budget and it turns out to be a disaster the first month! Keep trying and you’ll get a lot better about figuring out how to make your money matter where you need it the most. Oh and STICK WITH YOUR BUDGET. You put all the hard work into creating it – make it count!
Lesson 2: Be in control
Remember how earlier I said I loved to shop? Having a budget helped me to truly think about my purchases and not just impulse buy, which led to less clutter and more appreciation for what I had. My husband, who again, hated to shop, learned that it’s ok to spend money and enjoy some of your paycheck when it’s planned out. Making a budget also helped us to be intentional with meal planning, mainly cooking at home but still enjoying some of our favorite local restaurants every once in awhile. We used to be guilty of throwing out a lot of food each week because we just didn’t plan well, but having a budget helps us to only buy what we need and encourages us to actually use it for meals each week.
Lesson 3: Plan ahead. Like way ahead.
Think of birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and any other special occasions where you will be purchasing gifts. What’s neat about these is that they always fall on the same day of the year, which means you can start saving now and avoid budget disasters later. This last year we had our entire Christmas budget saved up ready to go by September! This eased a ton of stress when all of those amazing Black Friday sales started!
Lesson 4: Find the support you need
My husband and I found a wonderful resource at our bank: a Financial Education Specialist who helps us build our spreadsheets – for free! Her analysis of the budget tells us which time of each month we can afford to throw money at debt so we can get closer to saving and investing. She has been a tremendous cheerleader for us and is another set of eyes to see all aspects of our budget. Since our goal right now is to pay off our debt to start investing more in our future, I’ve also found social media communities to keep me motivated! Nothing like scrolling through Instagram at all the lavish influencer posts and then see one from #debtfreecommunity about saving and budgeting to stop me from swiping up to purchase something I don’t need!
Lesson 5: No excuses- it’s time for discipline.
I know it’s easy to think if you just had more money that a budget would be easier to stick with, but the truth is it’s all about developing better spending habits and having the discipline to stick with them. Make up your mind about your financial goals and then get after it!
