Hey! Hey!
I get emails and/or in-person questions about how we afford x, y, and z somewhat regularly. Soooooo I thought it would be fun for the whole month of May, on The Funky Fork, to be focused on budget stuff.
Today, I mostly want to share the software that Mark & I use to keep our household finances on track. (We have a guest blogger that will be writing about some budget- friendly fashion stuff as well as a couple of tips and tricks coming at you later this month!)
(This is NOT a sponsored post. I love this company and their software and therefore want to share it with everyone that I can. I do not profit from anything I say and all opinions are 100% my own!)
I wrote this post a few years ago, regarding the way that we got out of a ton of debt using You Need A Budget (YNAB).
We still use and love YNAB. Thanks to their app and computer program, we always know how much we spend in various categories and stay on track for anything we’re saving for. We follow their 4 rules of budgeting and feel totally in control of our finances.
It doesn’t matter if you make $1,000 per month or $10,000 per month. You are giving every dollar a place in your specific budget.
It has especially helped us a TON in the “dining out” and “fun money” categories. We used to overspend by a lot in both of these areas. Now, we make much more responsible decisions based on reality and not how we are feeling: For example, if we budget $200 for the month for dining out and someone asks us to go to dinner, we check to see what we have left in that category at the time of the dinner invitation. If we only have $10 left in the “dining out” category, we say no and propose dinner at our home instead. This way, we make responsible financial decisions without missing out on the time with friends. The same goes for fun spending. I love pedicures, however, if I’ve spent all of my budgeted fun money on new clothes or a massage, I can’t get a pedicure.
Your have to be disciplined! This method of budgeting definitely forces you to move away from instant gratification! I routinely have to turn down social stuff that will cost more than I’m able to spend or not buy a new dress for an upcoming event. However, I never feel like I go without. We do and buy everything we want, it just doesn’t happen the moment we feel like it. Sometimes I have to save up for 4 months before I can buy new workout gear. We’re also saving, slowly but surely, for multiple trips that have been in the works for a year or more.
Here’s an example of some of the more fun categories from our own budget:
This is the ONLY method that allows us to meet certain financial goals in a certain time period.
You can try YNAB free for 34 days. If you decide to purchase it after your trial, it is $50 per year. (there are coupon codes all over the internet– most of them are for 10% for your first year!)
It is, hands down, the best $50 we spend each year.
xo
