If you’re anything like me, you’ve already asked yourself why your paycheck runs as dry before payday again. I mean, really! Where did it go?
The unfortunate truth is, you’ve let your money control you.
Have you ever wondered, “How do I actually make progress toward my money goals?” I get it. It can be both scary AND exciting to stare at that number in your bank account and wonder where to begin, especially if you’ve never had a plan for your money before.
Today we’re going to break down 4 steps you can follow, BEFORE you get paid, to help you actually make your money goals happen! Let’s take back control and tell your money where to go.
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You’ll learn:⠀⠀
✅ My signature step-by-step method on how to build your budget that’s helped over 3,000 women build their budget (with specific examples!)⠀
✅ The biggest mistake hard-time working women make with their paychecks & why you still don’t have a working budget (even if you’re starting at zero!)
✅ Why every budget you’ve tried doesn’t work & how my strategies will
Now, let’s talk about the 4 steps to do BEFORE payday:
Step 1: Budget Calendar
Think about it, if you don’t have a map, you’re going to have a hard time finding your destination, right? The same goes for your financial life.
Things seem way more daunting when they are floating around in our minds but when we put them to paper, they seem less scary.
As soon as you look at this calendar, you will know exactly what is happening today, tomorrow, next week and so on.
So, grab any calendar, determine your monthly/biweekly/weekly income. (If you like the one above, I created it and sell it on my Etsy page).
Next, write PAYDAY on your calendar whatever day(s) it falls on. Write out ALL of your expenses on their due dates.
If you don’t remember all of them, go through your last 3 bank statements, this will show you your reoccurring bills. These are your expenses. Also, write in all your appointments, events, etc. This will keep you in the know for you entire life.
Step #2- Paycheck Plan
Once you have your roadmap (calendar) laid out, you now know which bills need to get paid, it’s time to create a plan which requires some reverse engineering.
Now ask yourself, which bills will get paid with which paycheck? If you get paid monthly, thats easy, all your bills need to get paid!
I use one paycheck plan per pay period. So, since I get paid biweekly, I use two per month.
In my paycheck plan, here are the steps that I take.
- write out my income
- budget my expenses/bills
- what’s left over?
- budget my variable expenses
- what’s left over?
- budget my sinking funds
If there’s money leftover, allocate that money to extra debt payments, savings or keep it as cushion.
Step #3- Update trackers
The reason why people don’t stay within their budget is because they don’t track their spending. These trackers will literally keep you on track.
These will be your money trackers. You will need these to keep track of each category since we’ve assigned it a budget in the previous step (paycheck plan).
It does not matter if you’re a cash spender or not. Every category:
- needs a budget
- needs to be tracked
When you allow these things to happen, you will know exactly how much you have left to spend.
I update these every single morning with the receipts that I keep in my wallet. That way, every day, I have an idea of how much I have left to spend in my food category before I go out and splurge.
Step #4- Ready for payday
This isn’t a real step. It’s more-so just a way to tell you that you can do this! So long as you follow the above 3 steps, you are ready to have that paycheck hit your bank account.
Knowing yourself and your spending habits will help you succeed in making better choices. You can make it happen, you got this, I totally believe in you.
*Click here to join my FREE budget TRAINING*
If you like this post, you can read about the 4 things that happen when you start to budget here!