on budgeting better

It makes me cringe how disorganized my budget has become. I'd never let my house, my child or my hair become this untidy. Yet I somehow ignored my budget problem until it has permanent bed-head and spinach stuck in its teeth. What a mess! Luckily, I'm not the only person who has let their finances run amok. There are websites, books and self-help pros just waiting to help me. Also luckily, my budget isn't that far gone that it needs professional help. Yet.

I had set up a system of paying our bills and debts years ago when we got married that still kind of exists today. Each month I would print out a calendar, write when each bill was due and put an asterisk if it was on auto-pay. Then I would add up all the bills that came out of each paycheck, subtract it from the incoming money and write the surplus at the top of the page. That way I knew what was coming in, what was going out and what was left over for things like groceries and gas. And that worked. For a time. Then I found that this didn't allow me to keep an exact total of what we were spending on miscellaneous items like groceries. Instead we spent a TON on food, way more than we ever needed. 

You're thinking, why not write it all down in your checkbook to keep track? You know, like a normal person. And I would, if I ever kept my checkbook on me. But I use it so infrequently that I keep it in a drawer and not my purse. So instead I found a website to be my tracking system. Budget Simple uses Excel spreadsheets to keep a running total of expenses. Enter in what you spent, where and when, and it automatically deducts it from your allotted budget amount. It allows you to add new categories apart from groceries, gas, phone, etc. I've added things like "prescriptions/co-pays" and "Target" because I'm trying to be realistic about where my money goes. I can access it from my phone, adding to the convenience. They can even send you daily, weekly or monthly emails as reminders. I'm hoping this will help me keep track of everything being spent so I will no longer be surprised where our money goes. Spending only what I've budgeted is something I'm really horrible at. And I'm not using this website to see how much money I have. My bank statement can tell me that. This is my way of seeing where my money is going and how much I'm really spending. So far it's been simple and effortless. 

Let's see if it lasts the month.