Several months later, I started getting freelance work, and making a decent amount of money. The money routine didn’t work at all because it took so much time, but not doing it didn’t hurt because we had enough money to make mistakes and not feel it (at least not right away).

A year ago, I started graduate school, which created an “in-between” place: not much time, but not much money either. We have tried to continue the routine, but have had some trouble finding the time to do it, and going too long between times always means we get off track. I am hoping that maybe you or your readers can help us cut this down a bit. Here is our routine:

1. GROUNDING. We pray. This step is crucial for reminding us that God is the source of our income and that we can let go of fear. It’s also the step that reminds us that we actually like each other, and are on the same side. ;-) Also, before we start, we make sure no one is hungry! We are cranky if hungry, and that’s never good. Finally, it’s best to do this if the toddler isn’t around because toddlers need things. Constantly.

2. DOWNLOAD AND RECONCILE. Person A downloads into Quicken and Person B opens and sorts the mail. I say “Person A and B” because we switch off who does which. The person who downloads into Quicken then runs a report on income/expenses by category for the period we just ended, and puts the figures into our budgeting spreadsheet. We call the spreadsheet “River” because it is always flowing. I will say more about the spreadsheet, but in brief, we use the spreadsheet rather than the Quicken budgeting tools for two reasons. The first is that we are budgeting in odd-sized periods (one week, 12 days, etc.), and also because our income is unpredictable. Putting stuff into River is another step, but I haven’t found a tool that works better. This step is not too difficult or time-consuming.

3. LOVING ACCOUNTABILITY AND FORGIVENESS. This is the step where we look at what we budgeted and what we spent. Sometimes those don’t match and we have to figure out why. This is the area where there is the most opportunity for friction, but we usually don’t fight here. We talk about strategies for doing things differently, or we increase the budget for that item – or whatever. What’s important for *me* is to notice that neither of us sticks to the budget perfectly.

4. DECISIONS. Now that we’ve ended and accounted for the previous period, we enter new income (money we have actually received), and then decide what we’re going to do with that money. The amount of money we have at that point helps us decide how long this period can be. If it’s very little money, we have to DO River more frequently. Ideally, we do it twice a month, but if money is tight, we might only have enough money to make it a week.

The spreadsheet is set up like this:
ROWS
Money on hand – this is our checking account only, and doesn’t include savings.
To Deposit – new money that has come in.
TOTAL- the two added together.

Below that, continuing in rows, is the list of spending categories. The first two rows are tithing and savings. Next are categories you would expect: rent, phone, etc., and we also have categories like “creativity” and “date night.” Across the top, there are four columns: 1. Owe/Want; 2. Decision to Spend; 3. Actual Spending, and 4. Difference. (The last two columns are for Person A to complete in step 2.)

We put the amounts due (or the amounts we wish to spend) in the OWE/WANT column, next to each row/category. (Remember that Person B opened and sorted the mail earlier in the step 2. We also have recurring amounts due, things that get sent in email – gathering all of that stuff is an important step.)

Tithing and savings are percentages of “To deposit.” Tithing is 10% and Savings is 5%. (The savings percentage goes up and down depending on how tight things are, but the tithing percent is fixed.) I want to pause to say something about tithing: it is the best thing we’ve ever done. We give they money where we are spiritually fed. This is sometimes a church, but not always, and certainly doesn’t have to be. Regardless, I’m convinced that we have more money if we do it than if we don’t.

Toward the bottom of the spreadsheet, the amounts are added up, and subtracted from the TOTAL that we have to spend. (This calculation is done in every column.) Often there isn’t enough money, and that’s where column two comes in. We leave column one’s numbers there. We don’t want to lose track of the fact that we owe PG&E $24.80, so we leave that in column one, but we might decide not to pay them, and we’d enter 0 in column 2. The difference in income and expenses in the OWE/WANT column might be negative, but it has to be a positive number in the DECISION TO SPEND column. Now, let me be honest. We have never neglected to pay PG&E $24.80. What usually gets cut are things with more perceived flexibility, like car maintenance, or my coffee budget. When times were really tough, we didn’t pay lots of things – which is another story – but we’ve never gone without a meal, and we’ve never had the electricity turned off.

5. LICK, STICK, CLICK & DO. Having made decisions, one person pays the bills we’ve decided to pay. The other person deals with the “to do” stuff that came up in the mail/email. The “to do” list sometimes creates the most friction and time-loss for us. For example, Anthem says that they are going to start charging $15 per month if we use our credit card to pay the bill. We know it comes out automatically, but we don’t know if we set it up with the debit card, or with the routing number/checking account number. Figuring this out takes multiple phone calls. Very frustrating. Interestingly, this is where we start snapping at each other, and not being very nice. I’m not sure if it’s because we were holding stuff in from the loving accountability section, or whether we have been working too long, or what.

6. FILING. I can’t say we get to it every time, but we try! We’ve never let out pile get more than about 2 inches thick.

7. BENEDICTION: Another prayer. A walk. Ice cream. Whatever we need and have time for. It’s important that we leave with the idea, once again, that we like each other and CHOOSE to be together.

What do you think? Ideas for cutting? Making it more simple? Thank you!

- mary

And because it is web based, you can see it anywhere, even through their iphone and android apps! Great software.

budgeting tools…

To effectively keep a budget, you need the right tools.And there are many tools out there to choose from. Ranging from free to hundreds of dollars, it’s hard to know exactly which tools to use….

budgeting tools…

To effectively keep a budget, you need the right tools.And there are many tools out there to choose from. Ranging from free to hundreds of dollars, it’s hard to know exactly which tools to use.To effectively keep a budget, you need the right tools.And …