#WHAT'S THE BEST BUDGET PLANNER FOR FREE#

It took us a while to figure out a budget that works well for our family, but the two things that we have used over the years and still do (and still love) are my Budget Binder and Personal Capital (online budgeting software).

One of the best things we did on the debt-free journey was to switch from our super expensive $150+ a month cell phone bill to a much more affordable plan! In fact, my cell phone bill is only $30 a month (my husband's plan is paid by his business)! Check out Mint Mobile here to see if you can save your family some money! Swagbucks is what we used to earn Amazon gift cards to help pay for Christmas or cash through PayPal to help pay off our debt faster. You can also do surveys and a few other things to earn points, which you redeem to purchase gift cards from them. I actually still do this to earn Home Depot gift cards for all our home projects. A simple way to earn a little extra money from home by using the Swagbucks site instead of Google for searching.

#WHAT'S THE BEST BUDGET PLANNER FOR FREE#

But I'll be honest, meal planning was such a struggle for me during that time, but it totally saved our budget when I did it effectively! I ended up using emeals for about two years which helped me not only meal plan better, but also helped me to create wholesome, healthy, and delicious meals for my whole family! You can see all the details and try emeals for free for 14 days here. During our debt-free journey we NEVER went out to eat because we honestly couldn't afford it, and now, even though we could afford it, we still don't go out to eat that often. I love writing about my family's journey towards financial freedom and about ways to optimize your life, save money, and live well! Here are a few more ways you can save money:

By keeping this goal at the forefront you’re more likely to achieve and you’ll probably accomplish in less time than you thought. And by setting your goals before the month even starts, you’ll be able to better plan out your budget based on your current life priorities.įor example, if you want to take your family to the beach this summer, you could list that as your savings goal for the next couple of months. I’m a huge fan of goal-setting and I believe that a truly great budget revolves around solid financial goals. My favorite part of this entire Budget Planner is the Monthly Goals sheet. I also personally like to hole punch our paper statements and include them under each section as well with the pay info (date, the amount paid, how paid, etc.)įor a complete video tutorial on how I organize my binder, head here to view the video.

JAN – DEC (I just have the Avery Monthly Tabs here and I divide up the sections according to the month.).

Emergency Meetings (this contains 12 sheets – one for each month – in case of an emergency and we have to discuss major changes to the budget).

Holiday Planning (this contains the holiday budgets and gift planning).

Tracking (this for all the bill pay, debt repayment, and savings tracking).

pdf): (The binder I use is this one here from Staples.) For me personally, I use my Budget Planner in my Budget Binder and since many have asked, here’s how my budget binder is organized (which is exactly the order of the.

What's the best budget planner