First You Need a Budget
My first budget was perfect. I used a spreadsheet, tracked every penny I had spent the month before and used that to budget for the coming month. It made for a perfect budget, right? WRONG!
Budgeting is hard!
I made the mistake of creating the perfect budget and then never looked at it again. It is hard to follow a budget without referring back to it.
There are dozens of different ways to track your money. You can work with an app, a budget printable, in a bullet journal or with a spreadsheet.
I wrote all about how I work through my budget now but I know that everyone is different. I figured I would share some of the other solutions I’ve found online. Some are free, some are paid, some are budget printables and some are spreads for bullet journals.
There are even some ebooks and ecourses to help you create and follow a budget.
Free Budget Printables, Worksheets and Templates
90 Budget Bootcamp – The Busy Budgeter
DIY Cash Envelopes – Penny Pinchin’ Mom
Free Budget Spreadsheet Template – Life and a Budget
Free Better Budget Toolkit – Mama Fish Saves
Family Budget Worksheet – A Mom’s Take
The Ultimate Money Saving Workbook – The Busy Budgeter
Free Printable Monthly Budget Worksheet – I Should Be Mopping the Floor
The 2017 Financial Freedom Binder – MintNotion
How to Teach Kids to Budget Their Money – Self-Sufficient Kids
Free Printable Debt Snowball Worksheet – A Cultivated Nest
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Paid Budget Workbooks and eCourses
2017 Budget Planner – The Frugal Fit Girl
Budget by Paycheck Binder Printables – The Budget Mom
LWSL Budget Two-Page Spread – Living Well Spending Less
The Signature 2017 Live Rich Planner – The Budget Mom
Soon-To-Be Debt Free – Better Life Budget
Real Life Money Plan – Jessi Fearon Real Life on a Budget
The Debt Slaying Challenge – Young Yet Wise with Candice Marie
Bullet Journal Budget Spreads
How to Budget in a Bullet Journal – Hello Deborah
Budgeting Bullet Journal Set Up – Design is Yay!
Build a Budget Tracker for Your Dream Vacation – Little Coffee Fox
Organization Goals: 11 Inspiring Bullet Journal Budget Trackers You Need to See – Apartment Therapy
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The most important part of this process is to actually use the budget printable or spread you choose. If the first one you try doesn’t seem to work, pick another one!
I’ve used a ton of different printable and spreadsheets over the last few years. I finally made my own budget printable that works perfect for my family. Take some time to figure out what works for you. Don’t think that you can’t budget at all if you fail at one system. Just pick another one and try again!
What’s your preferred budgeting system?
Budget Worksheet
Want to keep track of your budget? Grab this free worksheet to get your started!
Thanks for putting all these resources in one place! I’m still trying to figure out the best system for our family because neither my husband nor I are natural planners! But over time we find things that work, and these tools might help with that! It takes work for sure. Thanks!
It’s so hard! I’ve been trying to find a system for 10 years and finally feel good about what we are doing now.
I always had a hard time finding something that would actually work for budgeting. I now use the totally free EveryDollar.com and it’s matching app. Totally free, takes less than 5 minuites to set up, and it’s been just over a year now and I cannot believe how much it had helped me. I would say us, but since I’m the one that does the bills each month, it’s me. Maybe it would be useful for you or one of your readers!
Found you at a link party. Anything about budgeting or frugal stuff always catches my eye!
Thanks for stopping by! I’ve used Everydollar too, great program!