Money Matters: The world runs on money. To get money is one thing, to keep it, another. With bills, debts, food prices, gas, healthcare, and on and on and on… It’s like there’s a shadowy figure lurking around every corner waiting to collect your hard earned money, leaving you with just enough change to lose in the couch. It’s time to switch it up.

Survey says: 80% of people who got out of debt used budgeting

Here is what on that portioned plate today:

👍 Budgeting - 5 Tips to lead you to success
📝 4 Budgeting Methods you Can easily start today
👌 Apps that make budgeting easier and fun
🤷‍♀️ What’s up for next week

Just How Many People Use Budgeting Now Adays?

That 80% number I mentioned earlier is actually for 2023…

And in 2024, the number is up to 89% of people in America use some kind of budgeting.

Budgeting is really step one in the great pyramid of building wealth and it holds several benefits that anyone can see once they start.

1. It keeps you from buying stupid stuff and overspending

2. It not only allows you to manage debt, but also build credit

3. It prepares you for financial emergencies

4. Allows you to start saving for retirement or other future goals

So what are the most common practices that anyone can do to set themselves up for BIG budgeting success?

4 Tips for Success

1. Set Realistic Goals - You don’t need to jump right to hard mode and in fact you highly increase your chance at falling off that budget train if you do. Review progress, find what works, and iterate on what’s been done.

2. Write. IT. OUT. - When is the last time keeping something important strictly in your head worked out? I can barely remember all the items I need at the grocery without a list! So, make it easy and write your plan out. Then review it weekly to track progress. Where performance is measured, improvement is made.

3. Build in Rewards - Listen, starting a budget is easy, but sticking to it for long periods of time without any reward is daunting. And honestly, its just plain not fun. But you can stay on easy street if you build in rewards after hitting certain milestones. Go to a nice dinner, see a movie, go on a day trip somewhere. Just something to give yourself a pat on the back!

4. Start with Bill Backlogs - Instead of aiming to build up an emergency fund, if you have past due bills, handle those first. If you don’t do this, it’ll be like running a 5k with shoes made of fire ants. So call the bill companies, setup payment plans, and get that knocked out first.

4 Budgets You Can Read About Now

1. The 50/30/20 Plan:

   1. Splits your income into Necessities (50%), Wants (30%), and Debt/Savings payments (20%)

   2. Its easy to start and widely accepted as a great starting line

   3. It does require review consistently

   4. Can be more abstract since there aren’t hard and fast rules restricting where you spend.

   5. If you choose this method, use an App or Excel Spreadsheet to track your progress and spending.

2. The Envelope or Cash Stuffing System:

   1. This system is also simple but requires some setup each paycheck.

   2. Divide up your spending into categories like bills, groceries, gas, fun money…etc and make envelopes for each category.

   3. Decide how much money you have for each category and for things that don’t require digital payment pull out physical cash in that amount and put it in those envelopes.

   4. The big advantage to this is that you can always physically see how much money you have left for each category and put a stop to frivolous spending.

   5. You know once you’re out, you need to wait till the next bill cycle or re-assess your allotment of cash for that category.

   6. This may require a few iterations to dial in and get right.

   7. Allows you to keep left over money in each category for future cycles.

   8. There are Apps that can assist with this as well that we talk about below ⬇️

3. Pay Yourself First:

   1. Probably the most simple of all but requires you to be knowledgeable about all your current expenses.

   2. Simply, put into savings or debt payments the alloted amount each paycheck. THEN, pay bills, get groceries, or have some fun money.

   3. Requires you to be strict on yourself and not pull from savings for reasons other than true emergencies.

4. Zero-Based Budget:

   1. The plan for overspenders and meticulous planners.

   2. Every dollar is tracked and “spent” through the month. Whether through savings, bills, or other expenses.

   3. This forces you to know exactly where each dollar is going.

   4. This still requires you to list out your expenses and make allotments to each throughout the paycheck cycle.

Each of these can be googled further to go more into depth on how they work!

However, before doing that check out some of the best companion Apps for some of these budgets below! ⬇️

The Budget App for Each Personality Type

YNAB (You Need a Budget): With an average app rating of 4.75, YNAB is a highly-regarded budgeting app that specializes in helping users manage their finances and get out of debt. It offers a zero-based budgeting approach, allowing users to prioritize debt repayment and track progress.

EveryDollar: With an average app rating of 4.3, EveryDollar is a budgeting app that focuses on creating a zero-based budget and prioritizing debt repayment. It offers a simple and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible to users of all financial literacy levels.

Goodbudget: With an average app rating of 4.35, Goodbudget is a budgeting app that uses the envelope system, which can be effective for debt repayment. It offers a free version and a premium version with additional features.

What’s Up Next Week

Next week article will continue in this series of setting up your budget with:

Our List of Essential Budget Categories!

We want to keep things light and helpful so if you wouldn’t mind tell us how we did today in the article but replying to the email.

If there are certain topics you would like to hear more on let us know!

Until next time, Peace Out!

-Hoot Squad