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After signing up for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University it was clear to me that not having a visual budget and knowing where my money was going to keep further pushing me downhill from the goals that I have for myself. After looking through various Youtube videos and Pinterest pins I have come up with a solution to take control over my finances…..at least in a visual manner.
To get a copy of all these printables in a pdf version and all the resources listed here, rather than searching for them online scroll to the bottom of this post.
Step 1: Get a Pretty Binder to Organize Your Finances
This step is crucial as you will be opening this binder ALOT so make is something nice to look at while your finances may be in the gutter for the time being. You have to find delight when and where you can! Make sure you get at least a 1.5 in to 2 in binder. Here is the 1.5 inch binder that I got from Target for about 6 bucks.
Step 2: Find a Printable Calendar to Note Important or Special Dates
This is great to have so that you can see the month in one view. You can note birthdays, trips, or when your bills are due so that you can adjust yourself financially.
Step 3: Find a Recurring Expenses Printable
You can list out ALL of your monthly recurring expenses on one page and check them off month by month once they are paid or when the money is taken out of your account.
Step 4: Find a Monthly Expense Printable for each item on your recurring expense printable.
This way you can keep control of each expense individually, and you can see how much you paid each month (ie. Electricity for March vs April or Grocery/Restaurant costs).
Step 5: Find a Monthly Check-In Printable
This is optional, but trust me it is very beneficial. It will keep you accountable for your actions and allow you to reflect of the things you did great with and those you didn’t do so great with. It keeps you aware and responsible.
Step 6: Pay It Off and Save It Up Printables for Individual Expenses (an upcoming trip, a needed gift, etc)
These are optional. Using these are great way to organize payments for an upcoming trip or a gift that may be needed for a birthday present.
Step 7: Vehicle Maintenance Log Printable
This is great for keeping up with your car maintenance and cost that you are spending.
Step 8: Meal Plan Printable
Keep your grocery expenses in check by knowing what meals you are going to make week by week and what you need to get from the grocery store in advance. That way you can stay on target with your grocery list.
Step 9: Monthly Zero Based Budget
This is not a printable that you would find on Pinterest, but I have created a month by month budget worksheet through Google Gmail/Drive where I account for every dollar and ‘TRY’ to get a balance of ZERO. Click here to get access to this monthly zero based budget.
Step 10: A Tithing Tracker Printable
This would be great for tracking the amount that you are tithing to your church
Step 11. Account Info Printable
You will be able to share your account login information with others in your household if you are paying your bills online. ( I would leave out bank account information for security purposes)
Step 12: Goal Printables
Use these as a way to stay accountable for your finances. You can list your priorities and goals with action steps, along with motivational things you can tell yourself when things aren’t going the way you planned.
Step 13: Debt Snowball Worksheet
This isn’t a printable that you can find on Pinterest but with a Google Gmail/Drive account you can get this and updated your bills. Scroll to the bottom of the post to get access to this debt snowball worksheet.
“The idea of the snowball is simple: pay minimum payments on all of your debts except for the smallest one. Then, attack that one with gazelle intensity! Every extra dollar you can get your hands on should be thrown at that smallest debt until it is gone. Then, you attack the second one. Every time you pay a debt off, you add its old minimum payment to your next debt payments. So, as the snowball rolls over, it picks up more snow. “ DaveRamsey.com
I couldn’t have gotten all of this information on my own so in case you would like to see what else these wonderful people that have offer, here is a list of where you can reach them.
Hopefully with all of the resources listed above WE together can get our finances on point to live debt free lives.
Enter your name and email below to get access to a printable version of all the printables listed in this article as well as access to both the Monthly Zero Based Budget and Debt Snowball Worksheet (for those that have Google Gmail/Drive accounts).
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