Monthly Budgeting System

Here is my monthly budgeting system that takes about 20 minutes total.

Creating a budget is only half the battle. You have to actually track your spending and use the budget to make it work for you.

Here's my system for budgeting throughout the month. It takes me about 20 minutes total. It will take longer when you're first getting started, but once you get the hang of it, then it's pretty quick.

BEGINNING OF THE MONTH = 5 MINUTES

I plan my budget for the month. Here is the spreadsheet I use, BUT this process works the same for any budgeting app you might prefer.

I simply plan how much I think I will spend in each category for the month. This stays pretty consistent month-to-month {because lots of bills and subscriptions don't vary that much}. BUT I do make some changes. For example, if the kids are out of school we might increase our 'entertainment' budget.

You can see this process in action in this video below if you want to see what it looks like for me:

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END OF EACH WEEK = 5-15 MINUTES

At the end of each week I'll update our spending. I just look over all my transactions for the week and categorize them.

Doing it each week helps me to stay on top of the budget. Also - if I wait until the end of the month I can't remember what I bought at the store so it doesn't get categorized right.

This takes about 5 minutes at the end of each week.

END OF THE MONTH = 5 MINUTES

At the end of the month I look over our entire budget for the month. I see how much I actually spent in each budget compared to what I planned. This let's me see where I went over or where I stayed under budget.

I use these numbers to help me plan for the following month. Most things stay the same, but I make a few tweaks.

In the video below you can see what the end of the month looks like for me:

https://www.youtube.com/live/S...

Note - these videos take a LOT longer than me actually doing it. I'm walking through the reasoning behind everything.

Categories: : BUDGETING