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Budgeting! Since Brian and I got married, we have been horrible at keeping a budget! After opening our wedding cards and counting our cash, we both had more money than we had ever had in our bank accounts before. Honestly, as poor college students, that wasn’t too hard to do, but still, we were excited. We spent nights going out to dinner and movies when we should have been saving.
A year later, we had spent all of our wedding money and didn’t have much money left in our bank account. We had lived off our wedding money our first year and we lived well! That first year of marriage everyone had talked about being so hard, didn’t seem so hard! We had basically given ourselves a free ride! I was attending beauty school and Brian had taken the summer off to really study the LSAT so while we were spending and living, we weren’t making anything. And to top it all off, we had a baby two months after our one year anniversary.
Soon after Jamie was born, we moved to Kentucky so Brian could attend law school when reality hit us like a brick wall. It was finally time to put our adult pants on, reassess our situation, and make a change. We now had bills and responsibilities which included taking care of Jamie. All hundreds of miles away from our families, a completely new experience for me altogether.
It’s hard to break a habit, especially when you’ve done it for so long. Saving for us was and still is extremely hard. Both Brian and I love experiences! Whether that be a weekend trip or just going out to dinner we love it! But we had to make a change, and the change was good! We buckled down, paid our bills on time, and we always made sure Jamie had more than enough but we were still spending more than we should.
Just recently we had to take a step back again. We saw how much we were spending and saw not just how it was affecting out bank account, but how it was affecting our health!
Since we got married in March 2015, I have gained 72 lbs! And it all had to do with our spending (can you say take out?) and the excuses I made to justify it. So not only were we stressed about money but we were unhappy with our health!
That’s when we decided it was time to really crack down. No more credit cards, no more spontaneous spending, and no more excuses! We sat down made a budget and are committed to sticking to it. Even though it hasn’t been long, I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Now I always know how much I have to spend for anything, and we even have a budget for those fun things we want to do! You can still LIVE while living on a budget!
While the money is coming back slowly, my health and confidence is increasing by leaps and bounds! I’ve lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks so far! It’s crazy how little accomplishments like this can make you feel like a million bucks!
So to help you get your crazy life back on track, or even just a little more organized, I’m sharing with you 3 free budgeting worksheets to help you budget like a boss! You can do it!
Download Instructions below!
Budget OverviewPDF
Monthly BudgetPDF
Bill Pay Checklists PDF
How to print your budgeting worksheets:
- Click on the link under the image of the worksheet you want to print.
- Right click and download the pdf.
- Open the downloaded file.
- Print and get your budget on!
We all hate it, but it makes your life easier. As strange as it sounds, I actually love the process of writing down the budget. It’s a small high from a small accomplishment but an accomplishment nonetheless.
Try it for yourself! Set a goal to establish a budget and get it on paper! That’s the easiest part after all! Remember, a year from now you’ll wish you had started today!
Let me know what other printables you want to see in the comments or even shoot me a message via email or social media! I believe in you! [themify_icon icon=”fa-heart-o” link=”http://”] Cassie Jean
