It's been a while since I originally posted my 26-week savings plan, so I figured it was time for an update! If you're anything like me, visualizing your goals plays a huge part in the success of a goal. When I set out to grow my blog to $7,500 per month (October 2015 earnings....income report to be posted soon!), I started with my end goal in mind. I looked at what my then-monthly income was and calculated how long it would take me to meet my goal if I simply duplicated my efforts up to that point. I visualized all of this on a whiteboard, then eventually moved it into an Excel spreadsheet Keep Reading
26-Week No Brainer $1,000 Savings Plan -Start with $26, End with Exactly $1,001
If you're anything like me, you have a habit of letting Christmas sneak up on you. I always know it's coming, and I always start worrying about it in October but for some reason I can never seem to get my act together and save for Christmas gifts ahead of time. This year WILL be different. I created this 26 week savings plan based on some other challenges I've seen out there, just in time to start it in time to save $1,000 by December (by starting in June). Here's the breakdown of how the savings plan goes week by week: Free Printable Savings Plan If you want to use this savings Keep Reading
{Free Printable} 52-Week Savings Challenge – Start with 50 Cents!
Recently I had some requests for an extended version of my 26-week savings plan. I decided to make this a 52-week long savings plan - it's so simple it's almost ridiculous! All you do is start with 50 cents in Week One. Then every week after that you add 50 cents to the amount you're saving for the week. That's it! If you do this, you'll have a cool $1,352 extra in one year's time! Imagine if you did double this?! $1,352 is plenty of money to buy all the Christmas gifts on our list when we're sticking to our Christmas budget, so that's what I'll likely use ours for. It's also Keep Reading
Cute Monthly Budget Printable – Free Editable Template
Today I have something exciting to share with you - it's something I've been hoping to give my readers for a long time. An updated, vibrantly colored budgeting spreadsheet! I don't know why I'm so excited about this. Maybe it's because the last budget template I published was as plain as can be and I see all these super colorful ones on Pinterest all the time. Now I have my very own! :) Free Monthly Budget Template Since this is my second monthly budget offering, I thought it would be a good idea to offer you the chance to download a really plain one if you'd prefer it to a colorful Keep Reading
$265 One-Month Money Challenge! A Fun Way to Save / Earn Nearly $300 Without Even Trying
This one-month money challenge will allow you to boost your savings! Today I have something super fun to share. It's a $265+ ONE MONTH SAVINGS CHALLENGE I put together to help anyone get a jump start on savings. It's a unique combination of saving money and making money that, if done bit by bit over the course of a month's time, will net you at least $265 in extra money! I am a strong believer that some people are just not cut out for strict budgeting. I personally fall into that category! I don't like feeling deprived ALL THE TIME. But I can do just about anything if it's a Keep Reading
Free Christmas Budget Worksheet
Download the free Christmas budget worksheet to control your holiday spending! If you’re anything like me, the approach of Thanksgiving means one thing – stressing out about Christmas shopping! LOL I don’t know why, but I always have a hard time just enjoying Thanksgiving for what it is. I just can’t get all my Christmas to-dos out of my mind. Maybe it’s because of all the commercialization behind Black Friday. I don’t know. At any rate, I thought the week before Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to nail down my holiday budget. Being a lover of all things Excel, of course Keep Reading
Free Sample Monthly Budget Templates
One of the first steps toward getting a handle on personal finances is to develop a budget. Over the years, I’ve tracked household expenses in everything from simple Excel budget templates that print on one sheet to elaborate income and expense worksheets with many tabs. One of the best monthly budget templates I've ever seen can be downloaded for free from Vertex42.com. Free Sample Monthly Budget Template This worksheet can be used with Open Office, Google Docs, or Microsoft Excel versions 2002 (XP) or later. This simple budgeting template is visually appealing and easy to Keep Reading
Sample Monthly Expenses Spreadsheet
When I first decided to start budgeting before the birth of our first child, I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know how much money we spent, and I am ashamed to say that I also did not know exactly how much money we had at our disposal each month after taxes and retirement contributions. Needless to say, I was paralyzed by the thought of analyzing everything! What I did know was that a proper budget worksheet could help our situation. Determining Monthly Expense Categories & Creating a Basic Household Expenses Worksheet Because I was used to using Microsoft Keep Reading
