How to Create Your Own Zero Stress Budgeting and Savings Plan.
This is one of the most powerful lessons you’ll ever learn when it comes to managing your money.
This is a systematic approach for exponentially more effective money management, more cash reserves and more savings building faster so you can finally get ahead.
I made this video to show you why this works SO much better than traditional budgeting
I want to tell you why I’m so incredibly passionate about helping people save faster and get ahead with their money.
10 years ago we knew we had a problem with money.
We were mortgaged over our heads and both self-employed. We didn’t know whether we were coming or going financially, and felt totally out of control.
It wasn’t a happy time. We constantly felt like we were fighting fires with bills popping up left right and centre, and then having to rob Peter to pay Paul. Our stress levels were sky high and we were starting to resent each other.
I would listen to the TV personal finance gurus and they would all tell me to do a budget, and that that would sort us right out.
And so that’s what I did. I read books. I created excel spreadsheets to help us track what we were spending. Collected piles and piles of receipts and diligently entered them into my budget journal each week.
And doing that was great for three things –
- It told me how much money we’d spent that month (a scary insight at times).
- It showed us that it was POSSIBLE to spend less than we earned (but didn’t show us HOW to do it)
- It helped us accumulate a ready supply of firestarters from all the boxes of receipts under the bed.
Unfortunately, looking back at the past didn’t help us plan our spending for the future or be able to stick to the plan. It didn’t help us factor in all the unexpected expenses. It also didn’t help show us how to manage our cashflow when all our bills were turning up thick and fast, and then some emergency would happen!
It did show me, however, that not all ways of managing money are created equal.
Most people who are unsuccessful at managing money usually fall into one of these three categories.
Do you recognise yourself in any of these?
- They don’t have a plan (that was me before budgeting)
- They have a plan – but the plan kind of sucks. (that was me after budgeting)
- Their plan is okay, but they kind of suck at following it.
Hazy spending habits can make you feel really out of control, even when you aren’t spending that much money. If you don’t have a plan then you don’t really know how you’re faring financially and this can lead to lots of unnecessary worrying, stress and arguments.
I totally get it. That was us to a T.
Many of our clients say that once their plan is set up they stop worrying and can start to focus on building wealth. Their careers take off because they feel so much more confident.
Stability with money is a wonderful platform to do life from.
And who has the time (or wallet space) for tracking and keeping all those receipts anyway?
Truth is you don’t need to do that.
What you do need is a forward-looking budgeting tool (a plan)…
…that gives you the exact number your bank balance needs to be every day of the year to cover all those future expenses, be they predictable or unpredictable.
And someone to help you set it up.
If you had someone holding your hand every step of the way to set up a customised plan to fit your lifestyle, do you think that would help?
Someone to ask when you get stuck on something.
Do you need help setting up a budget and saving money?
Only a very small handful of people will succeed by downloading an app or reading a book on personal finance. Most of our clients are so relieved when they can finally sit down with a real live human being and get help in setting up their Spending Plan.
And once it’s set up, it’s set up for life. Then all you have to do is tweak it for life’s ebbs and flows.
The First Step in Setting up an effective but simple budget
You can make a start on setting up your Spending Plan today by downloading this free transaction checklist and starting to fill it out.
Once you have this filled out you have the building blocks for your Spending Plan.
This expenses checklist covers off absolutely everything you could possibly ever spend money on in the following 6 categories of expenses –
- Weekly Expenses – Food, Fuel, Fun & Incidentals (FFFI)
- Bills – or Non-weekly repeating Predictable Expenses
- Product Purchases – (items that support your life and items that you desire)
- Repairing items that support your life
- Replacing items that support your life
- Major “Once in a lifetime’ Occurrences
This checklist is also one of the first things we get people to do in our Spending Planner program. So you’ll have a head start on them!
In my next video I’m going to teach you how to make sure all your bills are paid on time EVERY TIME and avoid those savings-sucking late fees.
Definitely look out for that one.
And let me know how you get one with your Expenses worksheet!
Wishing you every success with planning your money.
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