Let's Talk Tools

So, budgets.

Define budget and you get: An estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.

And girls, I am so motivated to budget again!  Why?  Because there are so many amazing ways to spend our money and it is so easy to miss out on these opportunities if we don't plan (aka: budget).  For me, I can walk into HEB and drop huge amounts of money on food I really didn't want or need.  If you ask me if groceries are my biggest aim in life, I'd of course tell you no, but how I spend my money says the opposite.

Matthew 6:21 says: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When I step back and look at where my money goes this year, I want to feel good about how much and what % went where.  To do that, I first have to have a budget (or an app...I'll list some favorites below) to even see where my money went, secondly I have to know where I want my money to go to set a realistic budget.

It may be a great idea to do a little goal setting first.  Think about these questions:

1. What do I want?
2. Why do I want it?
3. How will I achieve it?

Come up with a few goals for 2013 and this will help so much with your budget!  You have to know where you want to go to get there!  Plus, what a motivator!  When you say "no" to extra groceries or that extra trip to Anthropologie, you can feel this awesome power that you are taking control of things and achieving your goals, not just moping about doing without.

For me, I have framed and prominently displayed Proverbs 31:20 in my house to remind me of what is most important to me for 2013.  It says: She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.  If this (and being known a woman of prayer) is what I am remembered as, I can die knowing my life was well spent!

This is my goal for the year and I want enough margin in my budget to do that well. 

So, now for those tools:

Now, for my husband the engineer, he loves Excel.  He has created the most extensive budget you have ever seen. I on the other hand like simple and colorful apps.  Here are my two favorite:

EEBA: This app is based off of the envelope idea Dave Ramsey suggests, but this one allows you to use your debit card.  You can set up as many envelopes as you want (and split single transactions into multiple envelopes, it won't link to any bank accounts (super safe), and you can see a running line to show you if you are on track for the month or if you need to slow down to make sure you have enough to last till payday.  Very customizable and you can print reports online.

MINT: This one will link to your accounts and each purchase will show up and will automatically be filed in a category.  Great for general budgeting, but its harder if you shop at someplace like Target and want to file your groceries in one category and say clothes for your toddler in another category.  Also compatible with quicken.

My next post will be tips on where to go for fashion for less: all my favorite ways to score a super sale and my favorite way to shop thrift for clothes.

What is your goal for 2013? What gets you excited about spending less on what matters less, so you can spend more on what matters more?