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I couldn’t agree more Dustin. My wife and I went out and bought Quicken the first day we were back from our honeymoon. A few months later we switched over to using YNAB and we will never go back. It is without a doubt one of the best ways to manage your budget. And I love having my budget on my iPhone!
ReplyThanks, Rob! I can’t wait for YNAB to get their Android App released so I can use it on my phone. Our financial intimacy has been one of the best parts of our marriage.
ReplyDustin, I could not agree more about having a budget. Although I get really annoyed when authors (such as Dave Ramsey and others I have read) give a sample budget and everything works out perfectly. My husband is in school full time and works 2 part time jobs. I work 3 part time jobs. We have no debt except my student loans and some medical bills that we pay no interest on. We are bare bones in terms of how we spend money. Writing down the money that we spend on bare essentials to survive still exceeds our income! Authors and financial guru’s never touch on our type of situation, except to say live on less (I can’t possibly imagine where exactly we are supposed to cut expenses, especially when it is all bills and food). And no, I am not one of those women who is in denial about spending money on clothes and shoes. For one, I hate shopping (my husband loves that about me), but I can’t remember the last time I bought new clothes. We still write out a budget, but we have to call it a “faith budget.” We work hard and do our best to make money so we can survive, but we have to trust that God will supply the resources to bridge the gap in our budget. And you know what? God ALWAYS comes through!
ReplyThanks, Sarah. It sounds like you guys are working your tails off to make your ends meet as well as possible. It’s very impressive that you have such limited debt given your current situation, and I hope that your husband’s schooling will pay off with a significant salary increase when we completes school.
I can understand your frustration with personal finance books, but I also see that they can’t address every situation and must keep the material relevant for *most* readers. I think Dave Ramsey would advise you to sit down with a financial counselor in your situation, which again is frustrating because it costs money. It all boils down to income vs. expenses, and it sounds like you may be struggling on the income side (you control expenses very well), so I hope that will improve for you over time.
I appreciate your Faith as well…thanks again!
ReplyDustin, I know authors can’t address every situation. And yes, Lord willing, we will be better off when hubby is done with school. He is going into software engineering (really the only field that hasn’t had a significant impact due to the economy) and has already had a fantastic paid internship that offered him another summer internship next summer that could turn into a full time job when he is done with school. Also, he gets 5 grants, 3 scholarships and we only use the subsidized loan if we need it for living expenses. SO, he will graduate with minimal student debt.
ReplyHi Sarah,
I listen to Dave’s podcast quite frequently and his advice in situations like yours is usually to write out all your bills in order of priority – that being food, utilities, mortgage, transportation (I think that’s the order, could be wrong), then keep going down the list with loans and other debts. Start allocating money from your budget to the top ones and work your way down until you run out of money. Then just stop. If you don’t have enough you don’t have enough.
I don’t mean to say this to tell you what to do, but I believe that’s how Dave addresses this.
If that still doesn’t work, I’m pretty sure Dave would tell you that you just need to make more money. When you’re working as hard as it sounds like you are I’m sure that’s almost an insult, but with 5 part-time jobs between you, maybe there’s an option out there you haven’t considered that could bring in more income in the same time you’re using now.
ReplyI was the last one to jump on the budget bandwagon, but when we used a budget to help save money for our first home, I saw the importance of it. I am proud of Dustin for showing me how to spend our money wisely and helping us become debt free. I agree that communication is key when incorporating a budget. Talking about goals and dreams gets us fired up to save for our future!
ReplyMan, I could really get used to these kind of comments. 🙂
Thanks, darling, for having faith in my crazy financial ways over the years!
ReplyYeah, budgets!! I grew up in a big, poor, single-parent, no-budget home. Now I love budgeting, and I encourage my six siblings to do the same. As with Sarah S., my wife’s and my income fall just short of our living expenses – but the Lord ALWAYS fills in the gaps! I love to hear that someone else is seeing those red numbers in their Excel projections, and looking right away to the Lord in faith.
best!
~ j oliver
I just started writing about my own journey with my wife through Dave’s plan and can attest 100% to everything you said about budgeting being crucial to building trust and a sense of TEAM.
For those of you just starting out, it took us quite a few months to get it right, and it requires constant adjustment and tweaking, so don’t get frustrated.
In fact, the first time we finished our monthly meeting without a fight we high-fived we were so excited with ourselves.
It’s a great feeling to be building a plan and following through every month, and the benefits far outweigh the hassle.
Thanks again for a great post.
Thanks, Evan! Your story about your early attempts at budgeting sure sound familiar, and it can be a real struggle to get headed down the same path. However, as you know, it is so worth the effort! Keep up the great work and please continue to share your insights with our community.
ReplyI’ve had a “budget” for years, but I forgot to do that part where you track what you’re spending. So it’s an excel sheet full of fiction at this point. The good news is that the light bulb finally turned on, and Hubby and I are tracking our expenses for the first time this month. Nothing like a spring resoultion, right? Anyway, I’m looking forward to the first “money date” that Hubby and I have, where we can actually see where our money is going!
ReplyMy husband and I attended a class a few months ago at our church about managing money. (It was not FPU, btw.) The teacher gave an analogy that resonated with us. He said most people want to be successful financially and that it’s like building a house. Your income is like the building materials that get delivered to the construction site every month. Most people have a vague idea of what they’d like to accomplish which is like a sketch of a house. You cannot build a house with a sketch! You have no idea where to put each piece, and it would be impossible to reach the desired result (a house). A budget is like a blueprint. You shouldn’t see it as constricting but as a map of where each dollar of your income is going in order to reach your desired result. That analogy was so helpful to us, and now we see budgeting as a freeing tool to help us reach our goal of financial peace.
Just thought I’d share. 🙂
Laura
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Reply[…] 1. Accept that in the beginning it may taste like cod liver oil. Yes, putting ALL your debts, expenses, and income on paper is painful, but it’s far better than continuing to live in ignorance. Been there, done that. Trust me on this, and please, just take this step. Dustin has a great how-to on the basics, and more on why to budget here. […]
ReplyGreat post, Dustin. After 29 years of marriage and 29 years of stress in the finance department we finally decided to start a real budget. I had toyed with it some years ago but found it cumbersome. We recently purchased YNAB software and I LOVE it! The word “budget” always sounded restricting to me but what I’ve realized now is that family budgeting brings freedom. Now we know exactly where our money is going and my wife and I communicate about money regularly so we’re on the same page and we can plan, for the most part, what our money needs to do each month. I’m only sorry it took me so long to figure this out. Thanks for your encouragement.
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