Budgeting experiences

I recently had the need to document our budgeting experience so I thought that I would share it on the blog. Before I get into our own experiences, I found a very cool tool from Motley Fool for tracking your spending that may be of help to someone. It is a PDF file that you print off, cut out a section of it, use a little tape strategically, and you have a spending tracker that you can keep your credit or debit card in. Very good idea for some folks!

Through our almost 12 year marriage, we've moved from:
* about a year of not tracking anything but our major bills,
* to using and Excel spreadsheet to track our "spending" (not budgeting for the future but tracking our past),
* to using Excel to manage our budget (updating the spreadsheet once or twice per month),
* to now using a cash system for most of our key spending categories (and still using the spreadsheets to track everything).

The key benefits that we get out of the cash system:
* We feel more stable. We know where our money is going and we are in control.
* We feel more secure. We have a specific plan and know at any time how much money we have for each key category of our budget. Security is a key need of most ladies so this will help them tremendously.
* We feel more spiritually-focused. We're less apt to spend just to keep up with the Joneses, more apt to ensure our planning is Biblically based (like tithing first and ensuring good balance), and making us more accountable for practicing self-control.

Other notes about our budgeting experience so far:
* Using our spreadsheets we can track our spending on key categories over time and use that information to improve our planning and future budgeting.
* To determine our cash categories, we looked at some of the categories that were most out of control and temptations for us as well as what's practical (the electric bill is not a cash category).
* Using cash in those key categories forces us to plan our spending (especially since we only have one cash folder) and also insures that our spending is "pre-approved" with the other person.
* When we went to our cash only system for key categories, we reduced our spending in those categories by 31%!
* Our current cash categories are Eating Out, Groceries, Miscellaneous, Entertainment, Clothes/Cleaners, Child care, Gifts, Home, and Mad Money. "Mad Money" is for Heather and I to use at our own discretion so budgeting doesn't get too oppressive. We don't want to feel handcuffed but have some fun within reasonable boundaries.
* Changing behaviors (especially spending habits) is a learned thing and takes time to become a habit. It takes a few months to get used to the cash system or any new system (and getting receipts regardless of your system) but it's well worth it. Even our kids now ask for a receipt after they buy anything!

So, that's our journey so far and it'’s not too difficult for you to do. Remember the benefits of stability, security, and spiritually-focused living with your material resources.