A Budget Worksheet for When You Suck at Budgeting

Shares 245

Why budgeting has always failed me

I’ve set up so many budget worksheets. I’ve used apps, paper, spreadsheets, but they all had one thing in common…I failed to stay on track. Most of them were created and immediately forgotten. The few I tried to stick with were so confusing to use I gave up in frustration.

Part of my problem has always been that my husband and I haven’t been making much money. It’s gone up and down but we were always just getting by… truthfully, sometimes we were sinking slowly. Then in November my husband started a new job and for the first time in our adult lives were had a little extra.

Need to earn a little extra? Check out Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Small Scale Business

I’m not talking thousands of dollars, but enough each month to start paying down our debt. Enough that my kids birthdays didn’t send me in to a panic. We could finally breath!

I knew we needed some help and accountability to get on track with our budget. We are pretty responsible spenders but I wanted to make sure that we were putting as much towards our debt as possible. So we hired Tasha at The Frugal Fit Girl to show us how to budget.

The game changing bi-weekly budget worksheet

Tasha is a budget blogger and Virtual Assistant. We talked via Skype and I sent her all our expenses. She helped us to set up a budget and figure out how much extra we could put towards our debt each month. The best thing she did was have us budget for each pay period instead of each month. Using a bi-weekly budget worksheet was a game changer!

Budgeting for the pay period really helped me to see where our money had to go. For the first time I really felt like I had a handle on how each paycheck needed to be allocated.

Now, after four months and a really good tax return, we have paid off two credit cards, some medical bills and a loan from my parents for fixing my van last year. It feels so amazing!

We still have one more credit card to pay off, then we will start on my van loan. My student loans are at less than $20,000 but my husband has over $100,000 from his undergrad and graduate degrees combined. Those will take some time to pay off.

The game changing bi-weekly budget worksheet. #budget

Click To Tweet

Our budget process

Now that we are in a groove with budgeting it is easier to see how the process works. We are in no way perfect but are so much better at budgeting then we ever were before. Here are the steps that we are taking to get our finances under control.

Step One: Find out how much you spend

This part sucks. The math, the tracking, the receipts, it’s all so overwhelming. There isn’t much you can do to make it easier at this point, you just have to track everything you spend for a month. If you don’t use cash much you can take your bank statement and credit card statements and use those. If you use cash then you need to write it down or save receipts.

Step Two: Create categories

Once you have all you spending you need to categorize them and figure out where your money is going. You might be surprised. When my husband and I first sat down to do this years ago, we realized we were spending more on coffee and snacks than on groceries for the week. That was a bit of a shock.

Once you have your categories and know how much you spent last month in each of them you can decide if that is reasonable or if you want to try to reduce spending anywhere.

Step Three: Set budgets

Set a budget for each category. This is the point I like to create a spreadsheet. I love spreadsheet, they feel so organized and useful. Currently, I am using AirTable to keep all my spreadsheets in one place.

In my budget spreadsheet I have a tab for Debt, Fixed Expenses, Misc. Expenses, and Savings. I have all my bills listed in Fixed Expenses by date so I can see what is due between paychecks. I keep track of our category budgets under Misc. Expenses.

Step Four: Set up your bank accounts

One of the best changes I made was to have two separate checking accounts at our bank. The first account is for all the Fixed Expenses or bills. My husband’s paycheck is direct deposited in to this account and we leave a set amount in there to cover all of our bills.

I then transfer the rest of the money over to a second checking account that is attached to our debit cards. This money is for the expenses that change and for our cash envelopes.

We also have a savings account for emergencies at the bank. We keep $1000 in that account only to be used for true emergencies. At Ally Bank we have two online savings accounts. One gets $25 per pay period to save for Christmas and one gets $25 per pay period to save for car repairs.

Step Five: Cash envelopes

I withdraw my spending money and use it for clothing, snacks, coffee, etc. My husband does the same. It really cut down on categories when we started doing it this way. If I want a new pair of Lularoe leggings it comes out of my cash. If I don’t have enough I don’t buy them.

It was a big mindset change for me, not that I was ever a big spender but to actually pull out my wallet and see if I have the money for something shifted how I spend. Cash envelopes are great if you need a reality check when you go to purchase something.

We have our personal cash envelopes and then I also take out cash for babysitting and date nights. We don’t always spend this money but it is nice to know it is available if we need it. At the end of each pay period if there is money left over in these categories it goes straight towards our debt.

Step Six: Write it down

I use a paper budgeting system now. A few days before my husband’s paycheck hits our account I sit down and plan out the next two weeks. I look at my calendar for any events or miscellaneous expenses coming up. Then I look at my expense spreadsheet and figure out which bills we will need to pay during this pay period.

It all gets written down on my budget sheet. Then I add it up and figure out how much extra I can add to my debt payment. I like to leave a little extra in our checking account so we don’t hit zero but everything else goes to which ever debt we are working on paying off.

Because I love my readers so much I am sharing the bi-weekly budget worksheet I created for my personal use. You can grab it by entering your name and email below.

Budget Worksheet

Want to keep track of your budget? Grab this free worksheet to get your started!

Step Seven: Keep at it!

It’s not going to always go smoothly. You might forget to fill out your bi-weekly budget worksheet, or have an expense come up you didn’t think about. Whatever happens just keep using the system! The only way to get good at this is to stick with it.

This is my fifth month of using a paper budgeting worksheet and I’m sold. I’ve never stuck with a system for so long! I’ve messed up, budgeted late, over spent in a category and missed obvious expenses. But having a written budget has helped me to fix all those mistakes without giving up.

I hope this has been helpful as you set up your own budget system. It can take a while to work out what will work for you and your family but don’t give up! If this worksheet doesn’t work for you maybe one of these 20 other worksheets will!

Having a budget can change your outlook on money. Remember the most important thing is to keep at it!