As a finance person, I built my own budget worksheet that's equivalent to zero-based budgeting methodology. It's very simple because I have a massive spreadsheet and can track finances easily -but- hubby wants no part of the calculations and/or tracking. I don't exceed the 5.5% allowable utilization per creditor and it has helped my credit score immensely!
NOTE: I redacted my scripture reference since I think it may be a violation (not sure) but just to be safe.
@babygirl1256 wrote:As a finance person, I built my own budget worksheet that's equivalent to zero-based budgeting methodology. It's very simple because I have a massive spreadsheet and can track finances easily -but- hubby wants no part of the calculations and/or tracking. I don't exceed the 5.5% allowable utilization per creditor and it has helped my credit score immensely!
NOTE: I redacted my scripture reference since I think it may be a violation (not sure) but just to be safe.
Zero-Based Budgeting 2021-06-15.png
Love this❤️ I plan to create something similar! Thank you for the blueprint!
This is good stuff! BTW, my hubby is the same way, 😂. But it's fine because I like doing it anyway.
I've been working on this unofficially for about a year and a half. I have the student loan left to tackle, though we have a mortgage that is last on the list. I used every penny I could scrape up the last 18 months to clear both remaining car payments, all credit card debt and remaining debt. I did it backwards I guess though because I did emergency fund padding and some retirement investment catch ups before starting this. After 2020, I don't regret that at all because of the peace of mind it gave. This zero based budgeting could likely help me to fine tune areas of overspend that I can divert to my student loan. I really want to see this through as quickly as possible.
@calyx wrote:I use YNAB - it helped me get some post-divorce-budget-madness under control and made me confident in getting credit cards.
I live below my means (and I have friends way below their means who also use it), but I still like how it gives me digital 'envelopes' for projects. I don't mind spending money for the sub because they're always updating and support is amazing. It works for me - to each their own.
I've heard about YNAB sofware. I checked it out and I like a lot of the features. I just don't want to add a monthly fee. I may give it a try just to see if it is something useful for me. I think they have a free trial period.
Awesome suggestion @calyx. I will check around in the next week or so to see what's out there. Thank you!
@ToxikPH wrote:
Zero-based budgeting is the type that YNAB runs off of and I'm sure there are a good amount of people that use it within this group. I personally use it and as long as you follow it properly it can be hugely beneficial. Just be willing to accept that you might be spending more than you should on certain things and paying attention will change your priorities.
I'm a fan of YNAB. If it works for your it's a game changer. But I know some people have difficulty getting started with zero based budgeting because you are not projecting.
@Tonya-E wrote:
@babygirl1256 wrote:As a finance person, I built my own budget worksheet that's equivalent to zero-based budgeting methodology. It's very simple because I have a massive spreadsheet and can track finances easily -but- hubby wants no part of the calculations and/or tracking. I don't exceed the 5.5% allowable utilization per creditor and it has helped my credit score immensely!
NOTE: I redacted my scripture reference since I think it may be a violation (not sure) but just to be safe.
Love this❤️ I plan to create something similar! Thank you for the blueprint!
This is good stuff! BTW, my hubby is the same way, 😂. But it's fine because I like doing it anyway.
I've been working on this unofficially for about a year and a half. I have the student loan left to tackle, though we have a mortgage that is last on the list. I used every penny I could scrape up the last 18 months to clear both remaining car payments, all credit card debt and remaining debt. I did it backwards I guess though because I did emergency fund padding and some retirement investment catch ups before starting this. After 2020, I don't regret that at all because of the peace of mind it gave. This zero based budgeting could likely help me to fine tune areas of overspend that I can divert to my student loan. I really want to see this through as quickly as possible.
Great thing about YNAB and their philosophy is that they also say you should build a month buffer and address retirement before aggressively tackling debt. It can be counter intuitive, but I know from personal experience having a one month buffer can keep you from going BACK into debt after paying it off. Good luck in your search
@Kidcat Thank you. I fought that for a while in determining what we should do. Some experts advise not to save while paying off debt while others say save first. I went ahead and did an 7 month EF, and an additional month in the account to start my zero based budget in. I figured that none of the remaining debt is high interest so it won't be as counterproductive. It left me a little short of my payment goals for the student loan year 1. But, I am hoping that will keep us from going backwards. I will likely use multiple budget sources as I always have. But I am definitely researching YNAB (assuming I can get a decent free trial) and I am going to revamp my spreadsheet to use that as well.