Easy Budgeting Method for Moms
Doing a budget has been a challenge with a variable income. Also for years, I’ve felt like things are just too hard to balance. Budgets have so many categories and they’re so complicated. I needed something simpler.
Previous Success
Many years ago, I had quite a bit of success by limiting spending to only necessities for a while, and then giving myself a very small amount I could spend per month on wants, $100 per month. This worked for a while, and help me reduce debt, but I faded back into my normal habits before too long.
Needed to Figure it Out As a Mom
However, after years passed and I became a wife and mom wanting to reign in spending again, the same method didn’t seem as practical. With kids to buy for, and a household to run, it felt impossible to keep up with all of it. I just resumed my “normal” spending habits. I would try to do budgets here and there, but with a variable income, I found it so hard to do.
Groundbreaking SUPER Simple Envelope Method!
This is something I’ve been really praying about and I wanted to do better, but with everything in life to manage, it felt too hard. Until…. I came across this video a few weeks ago:
This video is about 8 years old, but I happened to see it and try the method shown in it, by Jordan Page. It’s so simple and it works! I am almost a month into doing it, and it has helped me so much.
Watching Spending is Acheivable Now
Watching my spending finally feels achievable and it’s not so complicated. For me the issue before was I never knew how much to allot to a category because the income varied too much, etc.
Just Track Groceries and Other
However, after watching her video where Jordan Page said just give yourself an amount for groceries and other each week, I did just that. Having that number has helped me so much. I have found myself being a much more strategic shopper because I want to stick to my amount. I also have been waiting until my week starts again for my “payday” of my money I’m allowing myself to spend it reset. Before, it just felt so confusing and overwhelming, but this- I can do.
How I Do It:
Here is what I did to implement the easy budgeting method after watching her video:
- I looked over our income (which varies) for the past year and came up with our average take home pay.
- I deducted the bills that we typically pay each month from that.
- With that info, I came up with the number that I need to be under to make sure we do not spend more than we make on average each month.
- From the amount I have for the month, I divided to get my weekly allowed amount for groceries and other.
- I am allowing myself to borrow side to side (groceries to other or vice versa) and I’m allowing myself to use surplus from previous weeks in the month, but never allowing myself to borrow from a future week in the month.
- I record each transaction and place the receipt in the envelope. At the end of the week I write the total spent and circle it. I’m checking as I go also to make sure I stay under the allowed amount.
I Love This Budgeting Method!
I love this easy budgeting method so much! I finally feel like I can keep it up and not just quit or forget to do it. Also, if I need to do a return, I have the receipt right there. I keep this envelope in the same spot all the time with a pen next to it, so it’s ready to go. I bought cute colorful envelopes to make it more fun, I think it helps!
Give it a Try!
If you’ve struggled with a traditional budget, but would like to do better with controlling spending, I highly recommend trying this easy budgeting method. It’s so simple! I love it! Praise God I saw that video, because it’s just what I needed to do. Let me know if you try it. What tips do you have? Comment below. 🙂
