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5 January 2018 - Budget 101, Jot that down

Today is a very wise almanac entry.

Get Your Homemaking Needs into the Family Budget!

By a show of hands, how many people have a family budget?

....

If you raised your hand, good on you!

If you sheepishly kept your hand down wondering if you are being judged.....you are.

Just Kidding!

2018 is the year to get your family expenses on track!

I say Family because if you are in a family the money coming into the family belongs to the family. Just because I get a paycheck doesn't mean I selfishly hold on it explaining how this is mine.

Spoiler alert.....I'm a Christian.

Technically all the things you have like money, shelter, food etc. first belonged to God. Since if first belonged to Him then we are only stewards of what we have here on earth. These things in our lives won't last forever. We all have an expiration date on earth. So don't get spoiled before that date arrives.

So as I stand back from my podium let's talk about that budget.

Creating a budget is fairly easy.
Income vs Expenses

Create a spreadsheet, find an app, or write it all on paper. Just do something!

We use the EveryDollar app. It's free and we are big Dave Ramsey fans. 
If you don't know about Uncle Dave just give him a Google.

So let's take another look at the title of this section. 
Homemaking NEEDS!
Not Wants!
 NEEDS!

What does your family financial goals look like for 2018?
What does your family need that having these goals can accomplish?

Sit down togther
Family
Kids
Spouses

List goals, needs, and maybe wants are at the end of that.

Instead of a vacation you pay off some debt.
Instead of buying all the brand name wants at the grocery store you switch to generic.
Maybe you will need to do some home repairs. Start goals for a savings budget so you wont have to put that on a credit card.

Now when you begin to get these goals and a budget planned out you might start feeling a little overwhelmed. You may begin to doubt you can do this.

But I'm going to leave you with some wise words to close this post


Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 10, 2018 at 12:22 PM

    Setting and actually using a budget is one of my goals for this year. I've tried to use Every Dollar in the past, but we couldn't keep with it. I'm trying old fashioned pen and paper for now, we'll see if that works any better for us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A.R. EckhardtJanuary 10, 2018 at 5:04 PM

      Let your budget be the boss of you! Don't be the boss of your budget. If you make a goal to stick to your budget line items you will become more disciplined and it will be easier to achieve those financial goals. Don't give up!

      Delete

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