How to Set Up Online Budgeting for House Projects {Goal Setting} - The Inspired Room (2024)

This post was created in partnership with You Need a Budget

Do you ever feel frustratedby the limitation of finances, especially when you have big future dreams for your home (or goals for life, for that matter)? I know the feeling. I’m a live-in-the-moment girl and I’ll admit, I struggle with budgeting for future things. I like the satisfaction of now.

Even ifa fancy coffee is $5, quite a lot, it sometimes seems like a small price to pay for the joy of having it now, when the new kitchen appliancesI might want could be$5,000.

A lack of a plan is oftenhow decorative clutter builds up around the house, too. We might notfeel too bad aboutbuying inexpensive accessories on a regular basis,butwithout a budgetwe will never save enoughmoney to do the bigger things that mighttruly transform theroom. Pretty soon we have invested in a lot of accessories we might not evenlove anymore and our room still doesn’t feel right, you know what I mean?

But if money just slips through our hands and heads to whatever bill is currently screaming at us, or whatever our heart desires or even needs at any given moment, we miss out on the joy of being intentional about how we live and spend our resources.

I don’t know about you but on a frivolous level, I love going out to eat, getting newclothes, decorating my house, ANDsipping on$5 lattes. On a generous level, I love giving to support causes and ministries that matter to us or someone in need. On a practical level, I love feeling secure about my future. I love paying my bills on time and knowing I’m prepared for emergencies. Iwant to provide for our family’s immediate needs.

I thoroughly want to enjoyALL THE THINGS money couldbuy.

Money may not really buyhappiness, but weshould tell it what to do for us, or it might be spentsomewhere else, on something otherthan what we intended(maybe accidentally on a latte or a new throw pillow, instead of into our savings account for anew appliance or to add to our emergency fund, whatever thecase may be).

note: the budget images in this postare not of myownbudget :)

When we movedto Seattle, I knewwe’d have to be even more deliberateabout how we spend money. While it would be awesome if we had moved here with a big home improvement savings account, an inheritance, a financial gift or big winto make that happen, we didn’t. We knew we would haveto save our pennies if we wereever going to make our long term goals a reality, while still being faithful to giving and to keeping up withour immediate needs.

We love talking about home improvement projects around here, but often we ask ourselveswhat could be done“on abudget?” It’s actually impossibleto answer that question for someone else!

Being “on a budget” should not imply that you are poor, or frugal, or cheap, or anything like that, it should just simply mean you have decided to tell your money where to go. I think everyone who cares about how they spend money, whether they have a lot or a little to work with, should be on a budget!

We will all have different goals, different means and different needs. Youmay spend money on hiring help to do a project, someone else might spend money on supplies and DIY the sameproject instead. Neither one is necessarily a bad use of funds, if we each proceeded with our plans based on our own budget, we can feel confident in our choices.

That’s the beauty of setting up our own budget, we will havedecidedin advance where we want our money to go. We can make decisions about when to spend, when to save, when to splurge and when to be more frugal.

A budget isour handy dandy decision makerwhen we face that all too familiar conundrum:should we buy THIS chairor THAT chair, this month or next month, or neither.

I started using an online budgeting system that I really really love and it is PERFECT for setting goals for the future, like house projects. It’s called You Need a Budget. RIGHT? I do need one. You know you do, too. When I was approached about sharing You Need a Budgetwith you, I was elated not only because I had it for myself, but because I knew this topic of budgeting was one I feel passionate about, in light of the topics of this blog.

How can prepare financially todo home improvement projectson ourbudget?
Whenshould we spend, and where should we save or splurge?
How can we pay off debt andreach financial goals while improving our home?

Clearly ifwe don’t seta budget, we can and likely willend up off track, potentially making decisionsabout our home (and everything else) that don’tmake sense in light of our goals, or facing unexpected expenses that could have been avoided if we had made a plan.

You Need a Budget is the perfect solution. Ithelps you to be confident in your decision making because youtell themoney you have right now where you want it to go, and you will know exactly where it went. You can seta budgetonline, set upsavings goals (it has really helpfulfeatures to help you track your progress!) and even check up on your goals and current financial situation via your cell phone. It’s pretty cool!

Give YNAB atry! I think you’ll like it as much as I do.

***The first 30 readersto click hereto sign up for YNABwill receive the first 3 months free, so it’s definitely worth it! There are lots of video classes and tutorials you can take advantage of too, so sign up and take a look around!***