Recently for Money Monday we talked about detoxing your finances in the New Year and I received some follow-up questions from you guys after that post. You asked things like what method I use to write everything out for my monthly budget, how I actually track my expenses and how I purposefully focus on growing my savings.

I absolutely LOVE connecting with y’all more in depth about the different topics I write about here on the blog. It makes my heart happy to see that so many of you are focused on your personal finances just like me! Money and budgeting has become such a priority in my life over the past year and even more so since starting this Money Monday series. Being able to share my personal financial journey and experiences to motivate and inspire you to be financially successful is incredibly rewarding!

So today I thought it would be beneficial to share with y’all just exactly how I plan my monthly budget and track my expenses. In no way is my method perfect or the right way to do things. As with most things in life, I think it’s important to do some trial and error and really figure out what works best for you.

So without further ado, let’s dive into how I plan my monthly budget and track expenses!

TRACK DATES OF INCOME AKA PAYDAYS

The first step for me is taking note of when money is coming in each month. For me, I get paid every 15 days, give or take, based on how the weekends fall. It’s not your standard bi-weekly payday every other Friday and does change from month to month, which is why noting the dates for planning purposes is so important for me.

TRACK DATES OF FIXED EXPENSES

Next, I take a look at and track the dates of when my fixed expenses are due. Fixed expenses are any recurring expenses each month that do not vary. These include things like rent, mortgage, car payments, loans, utilities, etc. By noting the dates that each of these are due, I’m able to strategically plan when I will be paying each of them based on when I get paid.

As I mentioned before, because my income is not the traditional bi-weekly payday, it’s important for me to know exactly when I’m going to be paying my bills, etc. Sometimes based on paydays, I’ll need to pay a bill earlier than normal or perhaps it can be split between each monthly paycheck.

TRACK VARIABLE EXPENSES

The next step in planning my monthly budget is paying close attention to my variable expenses. Variable expenses are any expenses that change month to month like groceries, gas, credit cards, entertainment, dining, etc. This is an area that I’ve really tried to dial into more and more lately and be extremely attentive to and cautious of what I’m spending.

One main reason behind the attentiveness to variable expenses is because I want to pay off all of my loans as quickly as possible while also continuing to build my savings up significantly. I try to focus only on needs when it comes to variable expenses but also remember how important it is to live a little and treat myself, like a weekly coffee shop visit that I truly look forward to so much!

When I grocery shop, I think of how I can use things in multiple meals or dishes throughout the week to get the most bang for my buck. I also pretty much don’t eat out so that saves me a ton of money by making meals at home.

We all know my love for clothes and shoes runs deep and something I’ll probably never stop buying let’s be honest! I’m now more strategic in my purchases though. If I buy things, I leave them in the bag on the floor and if I don’t grab them to wear in the next few days or just completely forget about them, they get returned - no questions asked. When looking for clothes, I try to find things that I know I will get a ton of use out of for multiple occasions or seasons, and avoid the one-time-wear items that used to fill my wardrobe. I’m finding joy in having less and end up valuing the pieces I do purchase and have even more.

Through my bank account, I receive a daily email first thing each morning with my account balance. This not only helps me keep track of when any variable expenses clear, but I can also keep an eye out for any odd activity or fraud. It also helps me manage my budget and spending seeing my daily balance. Since I’m focusing so much on paying off loans and building my savings, it shifts my mindset to not want to buy all the things just because and focus more on putting that money towards my goals and my future.

PLAN FOR DEPOSITS INTO SAVINGS ACCOUNT

As I’ve said before [I probably sound like a broken record], building my savings is a prime focus for me right now. With that, it is something I keep track of each month and account for in my monthly budget. I’m doing a 2020 savings challenge on top of my typical monthly savings plan. I picked the $2,020 savings challenge to tackle this year so by the end of the year, I know I’ll have an additional $2,020 in my savings before my personal savings plan. I picked this plan because the weekly amounts are consistent, with the exclusion of week 1, week 26 and week 52 of the year. This makes it easy for me to account for and track what I’ll be adding to my savings each month, in a sense making it somewhat of a “fixed expense.”

I also like to transfer money to my savings account 1-2 times a month outside of the savings challenge. I first make sure I’ve paid all of my bills and any credit card balances, and then see what I have remaining. I like to leave a little bit of a cushion on my debit card in case of emergencies or unexpected things, so I’ll do the math to figure out what I’m transferring. I consider these transfers to my savings account as paying myself and that has helped make them more and more important to me.

Another way I’m adding to my savings with very minimal effort is through a keep the change feature through my bank. Anytime I use my debit card, it rounds up the charge to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference to my savings account. How great is that?! Because it’s such small amounts of money each day, its something I don’t even have to think about. I started this feature back in the summer and since then have had over $430 transferred to my savings! I use my debit card to pay for basically everything, so the savings really do add up quick and every penny and dollar counts!

AVOID HAVING CREDIT CARD BALANCES

As a tangent off of tracking variable expenses, I really focus on not having any credit card balances. When I want to purchase something, I take a look at my budget remaining after fixed expenses and realistically ask myself, “Can I afford this right now?” I focus on paying off any balances as quickly as possible, usually within a day or two of purchasing something once the charge shows up on my card.

Since I’ve cut way down on my variable expenses, this process has become easier and easier over time. I’m not perfect at it by any means and sometimes larger variable expenses come up, like flights galore to go home for the holidays. When that happens, I make a plan to pay off large chunks as quickly as I can and always pay above the minimum, like I do with my loan payments. I don’t know about you but I find it extremely rewarding to have a $0 balance on my credit cards! It’s like seeing your inbox hit zero. I only have two credit cards, Target and Banana Republic, and really only use them on an as need basis.

HOW I TRACK EVERYTHING: SPREADSHEETS & NOTES

With all of this tracking, different paydays, different due dates for bills, it is crucial for me to have a way to visually see all of this. I also like to have flexibility to add, remove or move things around as I see fit. I bounce between using a spreadsheet and the notes app on my phone to track things. I like to use the notes app on my phone for quick financial reminders like “pay self $500,” meaning I need to transfer $500 to my savings.

I use a spreadsheet to track my overall monthly budget. For my monthly budget, I have a tab for each month so I can see everything in real time and as a quick snapshot. For each month, I have a section for income, fixed expenses, variable expenses and savings. I note due dates, what the bill is and the amount due, totaling everything up per section. Since I overpay my loans, I also leave a column to be able to note that so that I can accurately see what money I have remaining.

I also have a tab that I separately track my loan balances and remaining payments. I’ll mess around with changing the amount paid per month to see how even an additional $5, $20 or $100 knocks down the principal balance, cuts down interest paid, and ultimately pays the loan off faster. I’m also able to do this through my loans website, where I can change the number of monthly payments remaining and it will calculate what my monthly payments will be. It truly is eye opening how even just a small increment in your monthly payment makes a huge difference in the long run! I really am truly focused on paying the rest of my loans off as quickly as possible. I do not want these things lurking around for 90 more months, and if I have to be more frugal to pay them off in 30 months instead, I am so ready for and willing to do that!

So there you have it, a breakdown of how I plan my monthly budget and track expenses. I hope this helps give you a real life look at budgeting and as I said in the beginning, this is not a perfect method but it works for me! Do you have a dedicated plan or way that you track your monthly budget and expenses? If so, share below in the comments and let’s bounce ideas around to help each other!