Budgeting Made Easy By Following These Simple Steps

When you think of budgeting, I want you to think about a 5-minute task while you’re relaxing. Maybe you’re having a beer with your spouse after a long day or you’re cozied up in bed about to dig into a great book.

That is what budgeting can look like when you have a system in place and goals that you are working towards. You are no longer stressing about a bill that’s due or working the math to figure out when you get paid next before you can go grocery shopping.

These are the tasks that I do on a regular basis to ensure my budgeting system is working for me versus the other way around.

Weekly I categorize my spending and readjust areas I overspent in. When I overspend, I look at categories that have a little extra money that I can pull from so I am not negative in any area of my budget.

Monthly I create a new budget based on what I have going on that month. Whether it’s a graduation party or date night to a baseball game, I set money aside to make sure I don’t have to put these expenses on a credit card to pay later. 

Quarterly I update totals for my net worth and (if you have any) debt balances. Seeing these balances change each quarter will keep you motivated to continue to build wealth and pay off debt.

Annually I plan for the year ahead and readjust categories in the budget for what’s to come. Whether it’s a vacation or big house project, I add the category and start saving.

By putting a little effort into creating a system, you are ensuring that you reach your goals while reducing the effort that you have to put in on a regular basis. 

So what does budgeting actually look like? After I make a purchase I categorize the transaction. Sometimes I do this while standing in line at the checkout or while I am pumping gas, other times it’s a few days later when I get a minute to login to my budgeting app. 

If I overspent in a category, which will happen more as you start out with budgeting, I move money from another category to cover the overspending. So maybe I had $100 to spend on groceries but I spent $115, I’ll move $15 in my app from a category that will be ok without the $15, sometimes it’s Vacation or Extra Fun Stuff, it really depends on what’s going on at the time. 

I continue categorizing my transactions all month and as money comes in, I put that money into categories for spending later. And once a new month hits, I make sure all the categories make sense and I continue where I left off.

So that’s it! If this seems like a lot, I promise it will reduce so much stress and uncertainty you have around your money. It will become a routine that you don’t give much thought to, like grocery shopping or mowing the lawn.

What systems can you put into place to make budgeting take less than five minutes each week?