It's January, time for a fresh start, a couple of weeks ago my husband and I sat down and reevaluated our budget. So far following the Dave Ramsey method for 1 year has allowed us to pay off my car loan, save for my travel, save to pay for car insurance in 1 payment instead of monthly, save for birthday and Christmas gifts so we don't have to go into debt at the holidays, save $1000 in a cash emergency fund, and now we are throwing huge sums of money at my remaining student loan and expect to be debt free by summer or sooner!!!
Did you feel like you came up short on money or even had to go into debt these holidays? Hate that feeling? Take a cue from Megan and I. We are using variations on a tried and true method - budget! Megan can weigh in on her process if she'd like, but here is what we are doing.
How much do you want to spend on gifts for each person on your list next holiday season? Add that up, divide by 12. This number is what you have to save each month in order to have enough for your gifts in December. Delightfully easy. This is the method we use for everything. Car insurance is due every 6 months so we divide the premium by 6 and that is how much we need to save each month.
There are lots of free tools online. We have been winning with Dave Ramsey, there are other schools of thought out there too. The bottom line is assign every dollar to something - food, gas, rent, mortgage, loan, travel, etc.etc.etc. I don't actually use the Dave Ramsey forms linked above, but use a basic spreadsheet. You should try a few of the options on for size to see what fits your math brain and budgeting needs best.
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