I really need to get our family on a budget, but am clueless on where to start... Do any of you know good websites, etc. that I can get information or do you have personal advice that you can share? It would be so much appreciated!
Dave Ramsey is awesome. Even if you can't do the program you can buy his book. He explains how you should budget and even gives spreadsheets and percentages to really get bills paid down. We love him!
I would HIGHLY recommend you read "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. He has great advice not only on how to set up a budget, but also how to pay off debt.
S.,
This is totally something you can do! I did it for my family and now we feel like we have more money than before because we are more aware of how we spend it. Here's what I did.
1. I take my husbands check each month (I have to do it monthly because his pay changes, but if yours is consistent you could do it once)
2. I deducted all the bills (and wrote it out so we could see it)
3. Then I put a reasonable amount into savings and IRA's for both of us (do what you can here -but don't stretch yourself too thin - just put SOMETHING) Rememeber to ALWAYS pay yourself!! :)
4. I figure out how much I need in grocery (I was able to go through my bank statement to get an idea) and take that out in cash.
5. Finally, I figured out what was left and I take that out of the bank in cash. (this is kept separate from the grocery money) The cash is then divided into 4 weeks for the month and then we both know what we have to spend each week - this money goes for gas, clothes, eating out, entertainment, my husbands home depot trips :) etc.
When the Cash is gone it's gone - it makes you very aware of how much you are spending and for us we stopped spending as much. It also made us aware of things we oculd cut back on and I became a much more savy grocery shopper.
It took about 2 months to work the kinks out - but my husband and I both love it - took the stress away and now almost every week we have some extra money left that we are putting towards home improvement projects we've been wanting to do.
Good luck to you - it takes some time and patience, but it can be done!
Jennifer
Like a lot that have already suggested use Dave Ramsey, he is great. Another helpful site I use is the groceryshrink.com, she has created an e-book on frugal shopping for groceries. She spends about $300 or less a month for a family of seven. If you purchase her e-book for $10, you can also join her yahoo group, where you can post and read questions from others who are in the group and get a lot of helpful ideas and suggestions. She also has a newsletter that you can sign-up for free that has a lot of helpful tips as well. Hope this helps.
I am also a huge fan of Dave Ramsey! DH and I went through Financial Peace University and all of a sudden budgeting and making wiser financial decisions weren't so difficult. You can check out daveramsey.com as well as Total Money Makeover (the book or mytotalmoneymakeover.com). I took his Allocated Spending Plan and created an Excel spreadsheet that specifically lists our expenses - it didn't take 5-10 minutes and each month I print a clean copy, write out our monthly budget, and the whole process takes maybe half an hour now that we've got a groove going.
As for personal advice: DO IT! It's kind of painful the first couple months, but once you have a process lined out it makes the monthly budget and bill paying process quick and easy!
ynab.com is what we use. It's fairly straight forward and helps us assign our dollars at the beginning of the month and then record our spending.
Also Dave Ramsey - Financial Peace University.
www.daveramsey.com He is AWESOME! I was able to cut out 3 credit cards. I had over $30k in debt. I now only have my car and student loans to pay for. So it has been cut nearly in 1/2. My car will soon be paid off and my student loans have a few more years on them. I HIGHLY recommend this. If I see something I want I ask myself, do I really need this...or is it just a want? If it's something you can live without, then don't get it. Granted, with kids, that's a little bit harder because of what they "want". Set up an envelope system. Alot so much money to certian things, i.e.-gas, groceries, clothing/shoes, entertainment, eating out, whatever else you can think of that you'd go out for. If you take money from one envelope to accomodate more money for another envelope then you have to find another way of putting money back in that other envelope you took from. It's not complicated. It's more frustrating at first. And always estimate high at first. Trust me, this works. Every dollar has a name for something to be paid for. His website explains a lot.
I hope this has helped!
A.
Dave Ramsey is the BEST!! with his stuff we were able to pay off allour debts but our house and cars- we are working on those! go to his website! Good Luck!
Dave Ramsey's 'Financial Peace University' is awesome!!!!You can find out about it online & a lot of churches have the classes.
God bless!
I have also heard good things about Dave Ramsey, but something I would suggest reading is "Debt-Proof Your Marriage: How to Achieve Financial Harmony" by Mary Hunt.
The following website has a link to a budget worksheet that will help you get started. We have been talking about this a lot in our church lately and one of the things that has been suggested that I think is most helpful is to write down EVERY penny that you spend for 90 days. I know that seems like a long time but it will give you a good average of what you spend and where. It will also show you what your good spending habits and bad spending habits are and help you to eliminate some of the bad spending habits. If you don't have a program like MS Money or Quiken already, I also recommend getting one. It really helps to organize the bills and see where your money is going. Good Luck!
http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,74...
we use excell spreadsheets, if you would like a copy of them please PM me w/your direct email and i can send them to you.
the first is set up to my husbands paydays and what bills/savings that we pay on what paydays. the other is where we track ALL of our spending (things over and under budget, savings, "family fun budget"- we set a limit a month for entertainment/family activies and use this for dinning, activites w/the kids, or if they want a new family toy.
Hope this helps,
L.
Most churches offer free or cheap Dave Ramsey seminars. They talk about managing money and give you sample budgets to work with. Good luck!
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University...my husband is a financial advisor and he highly recommends this also.
Hello my husband and I took Dave Ramseys Financial Peace University course a couple years ago and it has saved our lives, financially! I would highly advise taking it, it was $70 at our church but several organizations in our area have offered it. It's very simply explained and enjoyable to watch Dave ramsey speak. It took probably a month or so to get a working budget for us anyway but it has really turned us around financially, helped us establish a savings account, retirement fund, etc... You can look it all up online if you google Dave Ramsey or Financial Peace University I'm sure his website will be easy to find. Good Luck!
I have a budget worksheet that was given to me by a representative of a financial advisor-type company. If you would like me to forward it to you send me your email address. It's an Excel worksheet. I personally haven't used it because I had already created my own worksheet in Excel.
once again... DAVE RAMSEY!!! The is the BEST!!!!
I facilitate these kinds of classes in my community. I have sent you a PM.
