Category: Budgeting

What happens if you make a good income but can’t get ahead? (Or even fall further and further behind each month?)

Andy from Marriage Kids and Money recently discussed a question of the month from Julie that covered exactly that. She and her husband make a good income, but can’t get ahead. And she is clearly frustrated — both with the personal finance world and the current economy.

You can read her full question & Andy’s response here (and listen to the podcast) but I’m going to pull a few things from the question to respond to here. Because I have a lot to add.

Fair warning: there’s some tough love coming in this post. But I’ve also got some specific ideas that could help, plus food for thought in general.
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Ready for a cool budgeting tool? Meet the zero based budgeting template!

(I sometimes call it a reality-based plan too, because it helps you manage your money in a way that actually works in the real world. Getting real in a nice way!)

If you haven’t heard of zero based budgeting before, don’t worry about the “zero” in a zero-based budget. It has nothing to do spending all your money so you have nothing left. I repeat: You do not end with zero unless that is your goal. You can keep as MUCH money in your checking and savings accounts as you want to with this kind of budgeting. You just include whatever that amount is in your plan!

You can get your copy of the printable zero based budgeting form here for free later on in this article. But first I want to talk a little bit about how to budget and — more importantly — why budgeting can change your finances for the better.
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This is a post from Charlie Johnson, an online entrepreneur who paid off $25,000 of debt in four months doing things his friends thought were nuts. (Go Charlie!)

I know this sounds strange.

How can you save money by spending money? If you’re rolling your eyes right now or you think this is a joke – I don’t blame you.

But if you move on before reading this post, you’ll miss out on a POWERFUL method for saving money. I should know.

I used this method to pay off $25,000 of credit card debt in four months.

In order to do this right, you need to understand how spending and saving impact your debt freedom journey.

Let me explain…
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Have you ever gone to a restaurant and ordered everything on the menu? Of course not.

You can’t eat all that food in a single meal, and you know it. Plus, you may not even like everything on the menu. So you don’t waste the time, money, or food. It wouldn’t even occur to you.

Instead, you choose the food that you’re in the mood for, or that you think would take taste the best, or that you’d like to give a try. You choose what you want most.

That’s how budgeting works. Except you create the menu.
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