Check out this video where Chelsea and Lauren discuss the 10 questions to ask yourself to build a healthy budget: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8YOMNXpH-gg.html
I am a student doing it debt free (I live in Canada. Education is cheaper than the US). I have a budget of $1200 a month. $600 goes to rent and electric. After all my other bills, I am left with about $375 for food and other things... I have been able to stick to this for 8 months and I will stick to it for another 8 months. I HAVE to be strict with myself. There is a lot of stuff that is going being put on the "after school" category, but no student loans sounds amazing.
This is a much needed video. I made my first budget in about March/April of this year, and I made it way too hard on myself. I went from spending like crazy to spending about $300 in the course of a month aside from rent. It has caused me to start spending like crazy again, but I'm more aware of it now. Sigh. Looks like it's time to revise and be honest about habits. Actually honest. Not optimistic honest lol.
My grandmother called me yesterday in panic because she dreamt that I spent all my money on crap. She offered to help me set up a budget book and a file system to keep track of my spending (think 70's home office station with pens and paper and lots of shelves or whatever), as she doesn't know anything about digital technology. I just thought it was funny and I figured I'd look for some budget inspiration online instead, so here I am. Thanks, gran. And thanks technology for letting me set up a budget with apps instead of having to write everything down by hand ^-^ Good tips too, TFD!
Toffnm I do both. At least once a week I check both bank statements/ daily transactions, and investments online. On a daily, I track cash on hand by writing in a budget notebook. It's far easier for me and doesn't take a lot of time or energy.
Since 1 January 2000, I decided to start a financial journal, where I trace what I spend & make day to day & I have to balance each evening. It took about 3 weeks to get into the hang of things, where I trace everything. It was a very necessary exercise, where I got to see how much I wasted money on everything. My kids used to laugh at me, but today, my daughter does exactly the same & see where every cent goes to. Most of us, when it comes to money, are guilty of the ostrich syndrome, as we don't really like to list our financial fails Greetings from Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Alicia Una Ryan Digital statements are easy to track on a daily. I do this when I need to make big purchases. However, if I don't have a big item to buy, which is most of the time, I track through writing in a budget notebook. It makes it easier for me mentally, emotionally, and physically. My energy is more efficiently used this way.
Hey Chelsea can you do a wardrobe-related video? Specifically, how to dress well (by well I mean professional and polished) at work without breaking the bank. I'm about to start working in a "business casual" environment after graduating college, and I literally only have 5 to 10 items that can be passed off as business casual.
You can sometimes get decent work clothes for a cheaper price at thrift stores, consignment stores, or discount stores like Ross, though it does often take more hunting before you find the right items. The other thing to try to do is save up a little at a time to be able to buy a more expensive item of good quality that is classic and versatile and will hopefully last you several years if you take care of it (a nice black blazer, for instance). It's okay if you don't have a whole lot of items at first. It can feel awkward, but nobody is going to fault you for have a short selection of outfits as long as said outfits are professional looking (or if they do, that may be a work environment that is worth getting out of as soon as you are able).
loveinseattle Go thrifting!! I just finished my business professional/casual internship for the summer. I had to buy some blazers, blouses, pants, + shoes etc for work + I bought everything I needed for under $150 (easily). AND a large number of items I bought were from name brands like Ralph Lauren etc. I have noticed that individuals often avoid saying that they bought their clothes from thrift stores (probably to avoid being 'uncool' or broke XP), but when the subject was brought up at my office a suprisingly large number of folks did on a regular basis. (+ my internship was in a pretty wealthy area).
I'm trying a capsule wardrobe, have reduced my wardrobe to just 37 pieces including shoes and jackets. Covers a smart casual work code as well as non-work clothes. Not sure whether it's going to save me money in the long run (I invested a bit to replace with some better quality clothing) but it sure is taking the anxiety out when my choice is so limited! I'd love to know the statistics in terms of how people saw a capsule wardrobe affect their spending, whether for the better or worse.
Pearl Jangjiravat lol i can relate my colleagues ask how on earth do i go out and get to keep 70% of my budget thats not included in saving. The simple answer i dont go out.
Pros and COns of a joint account with your sig. other?? You realise it makes 0 difference, by simply being married you pretty much have a right ot each others money and that is how it's looked at in divorce cases. Unless you have a good prenup that actually holds up in court, or one of you is far too tight or far too loose with a budget (as this might cause arguments but it will probably cause arguments anyway) it really makes no difference.
Ashley ASHLEYM no difference?🤔 those sound like gigantic cons right there. Financial issues are a huge coz of marriage splits, and most people get divorced nowadays so I’m pretty sure those are significant cons that are extremely likely to happen and cause u to lose ur money.
So true. At some point in my adulting journey, I admitted to myself that buying books on a regular basis was just something that I wanted to do and probably was going to do as long as I had some disposable income. I made a book budget, and now I don't have the guilt of having "overspent" on my vice. I know what I've set aside for that purpose. If I don't spend it, great. It can go toward something else. But if I do spend it, no big deal. That's what it was there for. Obviously if I got really strapped for cash, that would be one of the first items in my budget to go, at least for a little while. But I know that if I have some spending money, I'm going to do it, so I might as well budget for it.
My technique is to have a daily cash allowance similar when you're still a student. No matter how small my allowance was back then I could always save a bit. Maybe because I knew I had to work on a day to day budget which forced me to keep a tight grip on my finances. No need to make an overly complicated budget plan. Just calculate your daily expenses then add a bit for miscellaneous purchases but just enough to make it not feel like your punishing yourself. You'll notice that at the end of the week you'll have some extra cash that you didn't spend which you can then add to your savings.
ador757 Make short, medium, and long term financial goals as well. We start tracking our budget daily, but hardly ever for investing in retirement or dreams we may want to achieve.
So I do this thing where I set a monthly goal for myself and my financial diet. Last month, a no birthday month (I have 4 kids), I chose to make it a NO Spend Month. I paid rent, bills, kept my grocery bill low, and didn’t drive far. This month is lower the bills month. I shower the kids and myself at our health club 2 times a week after a fun time in the swimming pool. Lower water bill. I have kept the thermostat down 2 degrees. Nothing wrong with socks and a hoodie. Lower gas bill. I have no tv/iPad (don’t have to charge it as often) days. Lower electric bill. Next month is a no alcohol or juice month. My sweetheart and I will have Whisky or wine about 3 times a week. Our family has juice with breakfast on the weekends for breakfast. Instantly lower grocery bill. I like to this type of thing to challenge myself and it’s also a good tool to show my kids how blessed they are. We live just above the poverty line, but we have more than most in the world. I have some other ideas for monthly challenges and every now and then I will piggyback. And I actually DO SAVE the money. It’s for a family vacation.
I created a super simple excel file last November and have been tracking all of my expenses on it since then. Month to month I see where I spend my money and where I can afford to limit my spending. I have different categories for different expenditures (food, beauty, gas, random, target.) So I haven't really created a budget, but it's allowed me to stay cognizant of where my money is going. And it's been trending downwards each month as I've become a little more strict with my spending as a result of it. But it does trouble me that I spend sooo much money. Back in college I lived off of a monthly stipend of 300 dollars. And managed to save money. Like how the heck did I do that back then and how do I get back to that now?? I'm spending $125 a month on gas alone now (darn long distance relationship.)
Chelsea is there any chance you could do a video on how to save when you don't have a consistent paycheck? I recently left my job and am making money on the side through blog sponsorships and Poshmark . Even when I was at my part time job my income would vary a lot . I worked at a movie theater so while some weeks would be busy others not so much. Any tips?
It's nice to get financial advice from people who live in NY cause I've lived here my whole life and out of state people have no idea how high our cost of living is.
Do not put into place an all out ban on shopping. It won't work and you will feel guilty and horrible about any slight purchase you make going forward. Best advice I can give to anyone who is overspending on shopping: go home. Think about that thing you wanted to buy, for a few days or a couple weeks, and then go back and get it if it is still crossing your mind incessantly that you don't have it. I promise that item will still be there, and it might have even made its way to the sales rack by that point, and waiting it out ensures you actually want (and will use) the item you're purchasing. It helps you to avoid unnecessary shopping regrets. For things like clothes and accessories, focus on basics mostly (with minor splurges added in when you really want it) and replace things as they wear out. You only need one little black dress (not 5) and you only need one pair of good, wear-anywhere walking shoes. Only have the amount you need of things and replace them as they wear down or go drastically out of style. Then you aren't always feeling the need to browse for new items every week or month, because you already have something similar at home.
Katilyn Whitson We all spend money, but do we spend money wisely? You can either spend on mindless consumer products or you can spend on investments that will make money for you. Asking yourself this question every day tends to make us more aware of how we spend.
taoist40. Perhaps that is true. But it doesn't help "in the moment" when you're about to buy something you think you want but may not actually need. I try not to remind myself constantly about my investments because it automatically makes me feel like I should be investing more. Instead I just tell myself that I might not need that right now and go home and evaluate the situation of my wardrobe and think about that item. Like I said before, if I still want it in a few days or a week, I go back to get it. This method worked best for me when it comes to unnecessary purchases. Others will have their preferred method as well.
I like the analogy of diet and budgeting. I'm good at one, but not the other. Thinking this way could help me transfer my skills from one to the other.
I've started adding it to my planner/bullet journal. I looked at my spending for december (which was maybe a bit unfair because of christmas) and looked at how much I spent at different vendors and also by category (food, groceries, shopping) and paid attention. My plan is to compare each month this year to my average spent at different categories in 2017 that I would like to reduce.
I decided to keep track of my money this month to start budgeting and 5 days in I already spent almost half the money that I had thought I would spend in an entire month on food/clothing/toiletries/office supplies/decorating. Granted, I have been spending more than usual so I suspect the rest of the month will be only food and maybe some toiletries and maybe some decorating/organising trinkets. Damn, I'm both terrified yet somehow glad because if I haven't decided to do this, I would blissfully unaware spend this much money for who knows how long and now, knowing the terrifying reality, I can hopefully start budgeting next month and become more frugal!
What an eye opener!!!!! A budget is the same thing as people on a diet!!!!! Hearing you say this totally changed my life, i’m not joking! I used to have a lot a struggles with food, but it solved itself when I started looking at my body with respect and at food with love for the beautiful nutrients it provides me with!!! And right now I just feel there’s never enough money, I swipe my credit card with hate everytime... but I just have to see money with love, as something precious that allows me to have access to these beautiful things that facilitate my life 💗 Thank you!!!
I love this girl! not only does she talk with her mouth,she talks with her hands, she talks with her whole body. If you don`t like her good,common sense advise she is still fun to watch!
I don't even have a habit of shopping other than grocery shopping. I don't go out. I wear old worn out clothes because I don't earn enough to go shopping for new ones. I spend money on what I really need like food, medication and there's nothing left for things I wish I had. I'm changing my job next month. They won't pay me much more but I'll gain experience which might help me get a good paying job in the future.
The problem with keeping a budget with technology (apps and software) is when they become obsolete. I have been keeping my budget on Microsoft Money since the 90s, but the program has been discontinued. I still can use my 2003 version on my Windows 7, but when I finally must upgrade to Windows 10 it will not work anymore. I have almost 20 years of budget history in that program and I dread the day I will need to set it up all over again in a new program... And I dread choosing a program that will be discontinued soon. On the other hand, my friend keeps her budget on an Excell spreadsheet she created about the same time, and it's still going strong! KISS - Keep It Simple Stu is still a valid suggestion.
I agree when you tell people who are adverse to setting up a budget to at least track their spending. This habit alone was so helpful to me as I discovered exactly how much I was spending in different categories and it was always more than I estimated. It then became a self-correcting exercise as I started to rethink potential purchases in terms of how much value they were adding to my life.
I love this channel so much. I’m so bad at budgeting and spending and I never know what to do with my check when I get it. This channel is helping me gain more confidence and gain control of my life again
I always mean to make a budget but have never been able to fully convince myself that I actually need one. I always put away at least half of what I make each month though so I'm still not sure that I really do.
Maybe you're just naturally good with money :) I think I would be the same, as my parents have ingrained it from childhood. However, if you start needing to save up more money or have a change in your life like moving in with someone etc. a budget could probably be helpful :)
Would love to hear your take on subscription based shopping (amazon prime subscribe and save, etc). Personally, I've noticed miscellaneous spending has dropped since I basically cut out trips to large stores where random temptations are everywhere.
Ahh, I have skillshare account already. I'm in 1 month trial right now and I'm loving it. A little bit disappoint I didn't see this clip sooner so I can get 2 months trial.
I have a yearly budget and then every month I do a budget and I update it every week. So I am reassessing annually monthly and weekly every year throughout the year. I think this is probably the best way to stay on track. Particularly for me since I'm self-employed my income is going up and down every week. But I've done this method since I was 17 years old and I'm 54 now so it does work very well.
WHy? I go right back to my plans, If I break a plan I assume I would break plans so I try not to beat myself up over it and just continue. I could never just throw the baby out with the bath water, like why? You could really do yourself in like that? ANd Id know for me at least I'd beat myself up to a pulp if I let it go because one (or two) break in the plan.
Good starting points covered in this video. The thing I have learned is to look at your spending now but don't judge yourself. Look for patterns and how to correct them. Take it slow, don't try and change too much at once.
A couple of days ago, I and a Canadian friend were discussing school. He mentioned he might go to the UK to study if it's cheaper and that got me thinking about going abroad for school...though I'm currently jobless, lol. As it turned out, the school he's already set to attend in Canada has the degree program I'd been considering, well...better. I was going to do an associate's for Office Administration. His school has Business Administration, which is a term I just recently heard when a cousin of mine got her masters in that. I've spent the last few days pouring over what I'd need to do to attend, student loans, getting a study permit, working off and on campus, staying in their townhouse residencies...and I'm wholly convinced that I want to go there. I room with my sibling and with us splitting bills, it's much easier to save. I'm waiting until I get another job though before I break this news to the family. They won't like it, likely, and for good reason. It's going to be expensive. Money and my family have never been close. But then again, more often than not, it's either me or my sibling who aren't working which puts strain on the household finances with our mom picking up the slack. I figured if I attend fall of 2019 starting from hopefully September of 2017 (the time frame I'm hoping to have a new job by), I should be alright with having a chunk of change saved up. Also, since you have to live the majority of six years in Canada to become a citizen, if I do a full masters program, that'll open up that option for me and I can carry dual citizenship. I'm willing to pay the cost of the experience to attend school out of the country and I'm crossing my fingers, eyes and toes the family doesn't give me flack about it. At the end of the day, I'm nearly 30 (I'll be 30 when I attend) but I don't want to cause friction or animosity. We stick together tightly during financial hardships and if I'm gone, that removes me from being a possible source of aid to them. But I desperately want this and it feels awesome to have a career goal again, something I've barely had since shortly after graduating high school, when Plan A of being a veterinarian fell through.
Fluffymiyster you need to do what's best for you! Even if it sounds selfish, it's your life and it's not like your family help you out. They need you and going to school will be great for you and your family !
DeniseG My friend, they DO help me. I'm jobless right now. My brother and mom pay the bills :) Previously, it was I and my mom working with my younger brother being jobless. We all help each other when we're in need. For example, I currently can't job hunt because my car broke down. My mom will pay for that (for the second time). Since my brother is working on saving up for a car, we've been reduced down to just one vehicle. Three people working, one car, and my mom's job is 45 minutes one direction. Me losing my last job was almost a slight relief in the sense that it makes it easy to have me around to shuttle both her and my brother to work since the times they go in and get off overlap. But...we'll need to get the car situation straightened with everyone in the next two years before I leave. So, this isn't a case of a family saying no just to be restrictive. Our financial history has shown that things can often get rocky. Keeping a job and keeping my car working are probably going to be the next biggest hurdles for saving but I'm committed to doing my absolute best.
thanks very much. I like your definition of DIET. I thought you were using it to infer " losing weight" or cutting spending. Instead, you are speaking of an ongoing "healthy diet. " I like this real life, balanced viewpoint. I put this video in WATCH LATER.
What I do is keep a spreadsheet with all of my expected expenses and earnings, what day they happen, and how much above or below my budgeted amount I actually spend or make. Example: I expect to spend $25 each week on date night, I record $10 of savings one week when I only spent $15. I then have a column for each expenditure category I really want to watch that can get out of hand (date night, gas from driving around too much, food, etc) this column tells me how far above or below budget I am in that category on any given day. This gives me some good info on how I actually spend but also gives me a number that helps reinforce how well I am doing. I try and make sure that this column is always below budget. I also have a column that tracks all savings or overspending, letting me know how I am doing overall. Finally, my last useful column is a true "available" column. It lists for any given day how much truly unspoken for money I have based on my expected future expenditures. This gives me a hard limit to any discretionary spending. One general rule I try and abide by is that I can only spring for discretionary things with money I have saved by being under budget. I make the budgets tighter and the savings account bigger as time goes on.
You can have really harsh budgets for short periods. When I first moved out of home I did an ideal budget and a realistic budget I’d stick to the harsh budget for a few months and then fell back to the realistic budget when it wasn’t working for me. It was great, I’d save a lot of money for a little while and then not have to dip into those savings when I wasn’t being super harsh even when I was pretty much an alcoholic I was still saving. Nowadays I don’t have to have a budget because my spending habits are really good anyway although I’m thinking of doing that harsh short term budget thing again next year.
I started watching TFD and it kickstarted me to get my finances together. I sat down today to get a fricken' budget done, and saw this video. Thanks for the help!!
I recently found your RU-vid page, and I'm hooked. I appreciate how real you are, not sugar coating but also giving real, honest advice. Also how you talk about your own experiences. I subbed! :-)
5:00 i look at my budget everyday. Sometimes adjusting it if i have to spend more in a certain category. Mostly stick to the original except for one or two categories. Usually savings & loans gets cut or added to due to payday amount
Excellent tips Chelsea. Thanks for another great video. Can you please do a video on loaning money to friends? I'm talking large amounts if they are in financial hardship and if you are in a position to help them out. What are the pro's and con's and what are the things both of you need to be aware of? Thanks!
I first started a budget when I was basically living off side hustles. I forced myself to record all my income and track expenses. I actually did this in my Google calendar added everything up over the month and used the info to approach spending in the following month. Still do it that way but I could probably benefit from an app or 2
This was such a useful video, thank you Chelsea! Budgeting is actually fun with all these apps and videos available to inspire one to start saving money!
Great video. I don't tend to budget how much I'm going to spend, but I obsessively track how much I do actually spend and work from there. I think, ok, so you're spending $100 on groceries every other week and in the weeks in between it's $30 on groceries. Where do we go from there?
Thank you for this. We were paycheck to paycheck - six kids, 2 autistic,but with very good life Insurance and my husband literally overnight lost his job. We are now on WIC, food stamps, and the SSI that my 18 year old son gets. Literally overnight.
Great tips! I'm a finance major and an awesome budgetter but even I know you cannot force yourself to cut back so much cold turkey. I go through phases where I give myself $100 a week for play money and phases where I have to really shrink that down to $40 a week but I never do one right after the other. I always prepare for a tighter month by cutting my play money a little each week.
Natalie Sanders Try cutting down as many fixed expenses. Electricity, garbage, basically utilities. Cable, gym, even car maintenance. As for rent, that's a bit tougher. Sometimes you can negotiate a lower price by adding a deal. For example, I have a friend that pays $500 less a month than everybody else by bringing out everyone else's garbage and recycling bins out to the curb before garbage pick up as well as watering the apartment complex lawn. It takes a bit of time, but this adds value to the owner of the property and landlord. Looking to make a deal sounds fishy, but if it adds value to the owner of either the apartment complex or house, they will usually agree to giving you a better deal on rent.
taoist40 yes, definitely good ideas. I've already got out utilities as low as possible and our house is paid off. But I'm always looking for better deals
I rarely go out. Most of the money I spend I spend on food and monthly supplies. I even tried to cut down on some of the supplies or rotate what I need each month.
I've been watching your videos and just love the way you explain each topic. Thank you. BTW just love your décor. You should do a video on decorating on a budget.
I find pen and paper to be the easiest way to budget. Also keeping a running list of how much I have left in each category in my phones memos. Helps me see as I shop then add it to my writen list at night and at each 2 weeks total it all up and review how I did.
Actually, I returned to look over the subsection title cards: I can only spend [insert drastically cut-down number here] on going out this month. I'm just not going to spend any more money on X or Y category. This is the budget I'm using for the year! Now I've made my budget; I'm ready to go! I'm not the kind of person who can keep a budget! As I'm not currently using these excuses in my own struggles, I guess it's kinda a mute point.
I found that simply concentrating on cutting costs rather than giving myself a certain amount to spend tended to be more fruitful. When there were rules... I could find a way to break them. If I was simply focusing on taking each item I used and using less of it, I was a whole lot more successful in saving more and therefore investing more.
My fiancé and I used to go out to eat or get take out wayyyyy too much about a year ago. We had an impossibly small kitchen to cook it, and we were full time students working 30-40 hrs a week each. So the last thing we wanted to do was cook. What we learn were easy quick dinners that don't take much time but are still healthy. And when we both of the same day off, we will go out to eat once or twice a week. Which is so much better for our wallet vs twice a day almost every day.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mint, it is the best way to see an overall picture of your finances. I hate seeing all of my debt in one place, but it makes me that much more focused on paying it off! :)
This video is really awesome! Your explanations are clear and your scenarios are relate-able. I started a budget, got to hard on myself and then dumped it!. After watching this video I have a better mindset to start all over again. Thanks!
I have done literally all of these. I think my unwillingness to have a budget stems from the anxiety I get every time I check my bank account. Which is bullshit because if I budgeted better (or at all) then I wouldn’t have that anxiety in the first place. Thank god for this RU-vid channel, slowly but surely I’m starting to resemble an actual adult
I'm only 21 right now, and I have a lot of trouble sticking to a budget right now, but I'm doing my hardest to engrain some good habits little by little while I'm young (investing little bits here and there, taking out cash and only paying in cash when I can, automatic monthly savings, etc).
I like these videos and ofren find this channel helpful.. But am I the only one who's a bit paranoid about these budgeting apps? I don't really want to give some random company access to view my spending habits, I feel like it'd just inevitably feed into more targeted advertising. Or be akin to signing up to a new website only to find your details have been sold off to a spam email list. How do you know if they're trustworthy, or if they just pay enough to get mentioned in a video?
I'm lucky, I'm naturally so good at making a budget. I have always been saving my money, since I was a little girl. We Catalans have this reputation that we're so greedy, and I definitely am.
I was in...10th grade? And in my social studies class, or whatever it was, we had this big project that we had to do that was making up an imaginary budget for ourselves (we may have been given fictional salaeries). Either way, it was extremely fun for me. I thank my teacher for that. But biggest shout-out to my mom who I learned most of my budgeting habits from.
My budget app runs in my head ;) (Although I do have a spreadsheet to help me out with remembering all those numbers.) I've always been like this, even when I was a little boy I "budgeted" my candy etc.
Please do a video on 'financial management' and also, if possible, job opportunities for the "international students" in the US who are not sanctioned to do jobs on their Student Visa.
Is there any way to do videos on IRA's (or retirement in general) and the best places to get one, and what to watch out for when making one (like annual fees etc)? It would be really helpful if you did!
I always love your guys videos, I don't think there's anything like your content out there on RU-vid.. abolsutely love it, keep going:):) xx greets from London:) xx
I like the advice about cutting only 20% of your spending at the time. BUT sadly it won't work for me. I earn very little but I have about 4 months worth of monthly salary saved up and I'm debt-free but even with all that recently I got into all sorts of money problems: my fridge broke, my computer broke (and I need it for work and school, a cheaper and one with worse specs won't do even temporarily), 2 of my windows have cracks in them that I taped over, not to mention that my windows are 30 years old and were very poor at protecting from cold even before 2 of them had cracks so I have to replace thembefore winter; I fell and broke 3 teeth (one had to be extracted, the other 2 require a very expensive treatment), my roof is leaking (so the roof has to be fixed and the ceiling has to be replaced too because it turns out it's been rotting for months due to the leak but it shows only now) and my cat needed surgery and my doctor found some tumors (don't know yet if cancerous) on my thyroid. Fortunately paying for some of these things can be stretched in time (like paying for the fridge in installments and getting the tooth implant in 3-6 months and having a only a temporary cosmetic but not functional tooth implant for that time) but I calculated it and in order not to go into debt, I have to reduce my food spending by 60% (and I've been frugal in buying food all along) and have to reduce my going out money to max 4 coffees a month or equivalent (not to mention cutting out things like theatre - or swapping it for those coffees) and not accounting for other money emergencies I have to live like that for 16 months unless I find a better paying job.
Chelsea, I'd love to see a video on ways to increase income. I'm imagining something with information and perspective on ways to turn a hobby into some income, or how to reassess your current job to see if there is anything you can/do to be earning more doing it. Are there tools online you recommend? Are there some general concepts we should keep in mind? Thanks for the awesome videos, it's really helping me and my wife a lot!
tips on how to budget money: pay for a SkillShare subscription. yes, some classes are free, but if you want to get far you have to pay for it, which is a contradiction to what we were just taught. I was using Skillshare until I was charged literally $99.99 that i couldn't afford to lose and it hurt me big time. Skillshare is not free.
Googledocs has an already formatted budget spreadsheet. Also, who couldn't benefit from 2% more income? Well, when that annual review comes around and my rate is increased by 3%, I call Human Resources and ask to have my 401K deduction increased by 1%. That offsets the tax load from the raise plus a little extra take home pay. Do this every year and be amazed.