Build Your August Budget with Us: Step-by-Step Guide to a Fresh Start | 440

0:01All right. It is that time again for another budget. August is coming in hot and we are excited to start back into somewhat of a routine? Don't you think it could happen? It could happen. It's a possibility. Yeah. So we are here to walk you through step-by-step building your August budget and we're going to get started. Do you make good money, but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have big dreams for your financial future? Do you want to get debt free, but you don't want to live on beans and rice? Or you don't want to give up those pumpkin spice lattes?

0:31Hey, it's okay if you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. Hey, it's okay if you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working, but guess what? You're in the right place. We're Shaina and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners, and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey. We've been in business since 2019, helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and know exactly what to do with their money.

1:04In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages, and even bring your kids in on the conversation. We can help you no matter where you're at, whether you're the single mom who's never had$500 in her savings account or the millionaire who's paid off four real estate mortgages. And we're not going to shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time.

1:32This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. So the first thing that you want to do before you actually make the budget that's coming up is you want to close out the current month's budget. Yep. So let's go ahead and go over to July. Okay. And so when you close, we want to close out the month because we want to make sure everything has been taken care of, that we're not, there's not going to be some random stray stuff that's coming in August because we didn't finish it in July. We want to make sure that the amount that we have in each account is correct and just kind of close everything out.

2:05Yeah. So if you look here, if you're following us on the video, you see that some of this is already checked. So we want to do is go, okay, I haven't checked it off obviously since like the fifth. Now I want to go back through and go, yes, all these bills did go through, all my transfers happened, all my savings happened. And if you look, it says that the total remaining up top is zero, meaning you have given every single dollar a job that month and it has gone somewhere specific. Okay. And now we're going to be real. So this is what we do with our clients. We'll go through, we'll actually, we'll start on the asset tracker and the debt tracker and check that.

2:38And we'll be like, that one went down. What happened? And they'll be like, we had to get the oil changed. We're like, great. Sounds like it worked perfectly. Or why is your emergency fund gone? you know and sometimes they might have answers but i'm going to tell you the truth i have a lot of new clients so the real real on this is we'll come in here and i'll just put extra spending and that's what start and then they'll tell me well 80 and then oops wow that's a lot of extra spending vanessa oh boy i accidentally spent a little bit extra on amazon yeah and then oh this i don't know what this 37 charge is blah blah blah blah blah blah right forgot about this thing and and so we'll And that's actually because we're going through the bills account and seeing anything that actually wasn't a bill.

3:19Right. And so then let's say we close everything out and we did a good job. We tithed every week. And now we have a new number. Okay. We're not going to be able to put as much on debt because we spent a little extra. So now we're going to, instead of being able to put$1 ,700, which they had planned, they're only going to be able to put$1 ,500, which is still really great. Yep. So you want to change off that number. You want to make your last payment, I guess you could say, on your debt. Close everything else out. And that way you know for next year, like for better planning, you can come back to July's budget and go, okay, this is what actually happened.

3:50Now you can plan better for the following year. So it really just gives you a great way to just track your stuff. Yeah, and you just want to update or close out the last month's budget this way. You're going to go into your bills account and go back, like Vanessa said, back to the last time you did this and just check everything off. And then update like paychecks or update any amounts, like we just said, any extra spending that happened, your transfers that you made out of the bills account or whatever, and just make sure everything's good and zeroed out. Yep. Okay, so then when you're going to make the upcoming month's budget, the first thing you want to do is start with income.

4:24So we're looking at all sources of income and all the, maybe if you know the dates that they're going to hit your account. Okay. So now this, in August, a lot of people, if you're military, then this will be, actually it won't be the first. So it would be like, I think that the 29th or no, the 30th. So a lot of people are going to have paychecks the last week of July that are going to actually end up counting. So these ones will come in that day. And then maybe this person has an amazing life. It's very clean and clear. And that's exactly how all our clients are, right? But actually what really usually happens is the regular paychecks end up being like, I actually had a bunch of people that July 24th or July 25th was their first paycheck for August.

5:07So just understand if you're a paycheck ahead like we want you to be, then you're going to want to put that – you're going to have those paychecks for July are going to be sitting there in your bills account getting ready to pay all the bills for August. Right. This person just happened to get paid on the 1st and the 15th. That's just their company regimen. But like Shana said, if you get paid every other week, then you need to budget that last paycheck of July is actually going to go for August because if your first paycheck isn't hitting until like the 7th of August, you're behind. You're behind like a whole week because the first, I believe, is a Friday.

5:37It's Friday. Yeah. So then you're going to be behind and you have all these bills that are due. And so that's why it always feels tight for you. So we really need to get to the point where the last month's paycheck is funding your upcoming month. Yeah. So, so yeah, you just want to make sure that that's, that's what you're doing. And then, but the other thing, Vanessa, is like you said, just make sure you update any type of income. If you get a bonus, if you get, you know, whatever, if you get over time, all of that stuff, or, you know, maybe I have, some teachers that get like a random stipend in August or whatever.

6:05So that's what you want to update on the income. And that's what we're going to fill in first. And it's a great number. You're like, yay, look at all the money I make. Surely this is going to be fine. This is the positive column in your budget. Everything else is negative. Yeah. Everything else is subtraction. This is the only one that does addition. Okay. So after you have all of your income for the month, then we're going to do all of your debts. So we're going to list your debts and only their minimum payments. Yes. Okay. If you have a credit card and it's actually the payment's like$125, but you pay$200, we're not doing that.

6:34We're not doing that anymore. You're going to go back and set every payment to the bare minimum, and that's what we're going to do. And then later, we're going to find out how much extra we can pay on debt, and we're going to do it intentionally. We're not going to do this like a little bit here, a little bit there, because that doesn't get us anywhere. Right. And if you look at this debt column, you see where it says mom twice on the first and the 15th for$1 ,000 each. This person's, their in-laws gave them money for a down payment for a house and they are paying her back. So when we say you need to list all of your debts and a debt is defined as any money that you owe anyone for any reason, this is really important for them to be able to pay her back.

7:12So we have her listed on here. They want to pay her back$2 ,000 a month following their husband's pay schedule. So that's why we are paying the mom back on the 1st and 15th $2 ,000 a month. Yep. And then she's actually going to be done with that one. And then that, so that's exciting in August. And then imagine what's she going to do with$2 ,000. Don't worry. I know them and they will find a way to spend it. But either way, it's really exciting. It's going to be a fun month for them. All right. So then after, actually here's the fun part. If you scroll down. So fun. Watch it be so fun. If you scroll down to the bottom of the debt column and it shows, you see the total there.

7:50It says$2 ,992. That means this person in minimum debt payments is paying$2 ,992 a month. Imagine what that person can do with that money besides paying it on debt. So that's kind of the dreamy part here with this column. We know that everything in this column could eventually go away. Yep. And actually what's really funny about them is they used to be debt-free. So they know exactly, well, they used to be debt-free. They know exactly what that was. They had to get another car and they decided to get a loan. and then this furniture loan is a joke. It's fine. We're all excited about furniture loans.

8:22We're so excited because they just got the furniture and then decided to pay. This is the payment they're making to get it paid off by the time there's no interest and it's fine. We're all working together. Anyway, they used to know what that was like and we want you to know what that's like and we want you to dream about it. Like Vanessa said, dream about the fact that you have 20. And that's the other part. In our budget, this couple is bringing in$20 ,535. dollars. Before they even get to bills,$2 ,992 are gone. Like that$3 ,000 of their 20 is gone on debt. And then we have to go make the rest of the budget.

8:54And that's what we want you to be able to see step by step. That's why we say that we're helping you build this budget step by step. First was debts. Now we're going to move on to bills, which is another fun, how fun, how fun it is to be an adult and have bills, get to pay all the bills. So your bills column is anything that you get charged on a reoccurring basis every month. So groceries is not a bill. Your gas for your car is not a bill. Bills are your mortgage, your utilities, your Spotify, your gym membership, auto insurance, health insurance, all of that. These are things, again, you are getting charged for every month.

9:26It's the same, usually the same bill every month. Now, again, we know utilities fluctuate. That is fine, but you're still getting billed for those. That's why they go here. Yeah. And you can update your utilities. I mean, it's just going to fluctuate a little bit here or there. And because if you update it month to month, so yes, July is a lot more than December, but it's not that much more than June, right? So it doesn't, so it sort of stays consistent-ish. One of the best practices that we like to do, if we can, is list all the bills in the order that they are due in the month. So in this example, the mortgage, and most mortgages seem to be due on the first of the month.

9:56And so that's at the top, and then it goes all the way down. And that way, it's just easier. It's not necessary, but it's just easier. And it's also fun when you go to check it off. It is fun. Everything's in order. It's fun. So there's that. Like in everything, we like to make this as fun as possible. And checking things off in order, it feels really good. It does. All right, so let's look at what we have so far. We have the income listed at$20 ,535. We have the debts and the bills, okay? And then if you look at the top, the total remaining is updating as we go along. Yeah, so they now only have, they've spent$7 ,000.

10:22So they did the 3 ,000 on debt and they only have 4 ,000 basically. If we scroll down, we can see that, 3 ,900 in bills. And the other thing that this can do, so you can list them by due date, but you know what else I do, Vanessa? I put like blanks and I've started putting the subscriptions all together at the bottom. Oh, yeah. So like you categorize them? Yeah. So that you can see clearly how many subscriptions you have. And I have so many people that are like, what? I'm paying$300 for subscriptions a month. I didn't really realize that. And I'm telling them, you know, everybody cut cable, right?

10:55So they could save money. And I'm looking at everybody's bills. And I'm like, they won in the end. Like they figured out how to come back around and make their money. So that's also something you might want to do is just look at how much subscriptions am I paying a month? And is that what I want to do? because we have several people that maybe they have duplicate music or they have so many TVs. I'm like, you, I know you don't have time to watch that much TV. Like, I know your life. You're not watching that much TV. Well, you know what's interesting? A lot of people ask us, you know, because they'll buy our system.

11:25They're like, well, I don't have any debt, so what do I do with this column? We're like, whatever you want. Like, make that column your subscription column so that way you can see how much you're specifically paying on subscriptions. like this, when you buy our system, it is yours to do what you want. We have a template here, you know, for people who, for the most, you know, the majority. Words, we got this today. We have a template here for the majority of people who need it this way. But the reality is, if you don't have any debt, then make that column what you want. And that, and I, like, I love how you're listing that out for your, your clients specifically, because it's great to be able to see how much you're actually spending on just subscriptions or just utilities or just, you know, just other little categories.

12:07And then I want to say this one thing. We had a Facebook person because I, when I, when I coached last week and whoever had$300 and we were having that conversation, I put, I put something in Facebook. Anyway, their hack, this is great. I love this hack. Their hack is they do a different subscription for like a month and they watch everything that's new or updated or fun on that. And then they change to a different service, right? And then they see whatever's new and updated on that. And then, so they're only ever paying for one TV thingy at a time, but they're, and they're getting, I was like, that's actually really brilliant.

12:40I think that's a great plan. I want to tell the world about it. So there, I've told everybody. Oh, that's really great. I love that. Yeah. Because it's not, I just need to remember to cancel like my Audible subscription that I have like seven credits on right now. On business? On business one? Yes, it's great. Don't worry. Yeah, that we definitely have been like, we're definitely in this. It's fine. Summer hasn't messed anything up. It's all fine, guys. And so we're in this boat with you. So it's fine. Yes, for sure. All right. So after you have your bills, like Vanessa said, we are now$20 ,000 is what we started with.

13:07And they've got$13 ,630 left to figure out their spending and their savings. Those are the next two columns we're going to go over. Yep. So the first part of your spending that we're going to look at are the things that happen all the time. So your gas, your groceries, your personal pocket money, your family, and your kids. So we want to list those. You know, you can do your budget how you want. We kind of list them separately so you can see what's really kind of reoccurring, especially when we set up those automatic transfers into the different accounts, and then kind of like what is month-specific at the bottom.

13:36Yeah. And so this budget, as you can see, is, I was going to say conservative, but it's not conservative. It's normal. Yeah. It's normal. Well, it started off being, some of it is Courtney's, and that's not Courtney's. That's why. I was expecting it to be Courtney's, and that's what I was going to speak to. Oh, yeah. This is their method that I changed. But the spending's not. Their spending is way more than that, for sure. I don't – well, the one that I polled. No, they have restaurants like$2 ,000 or$1 ,000 or something. I know for sure. But it's fine. It doesn't matter. I was just saying that's what I was going to say, how ridiculous they are.

14:10But it's not that ridiculous. It's just regular ridiculousness. Regular ridiculousness. Okay. Okay. So for their spending, and this is a real budget, okay? So their groceries, they're a family of four. Their groceries, they do$2 ,200. For gas, she homeschools, stays at home with the kids. and he commutes, but also can work from home too. So their gas bill is$500 a month. And then they each have spending money for$400 each their family funds. So they can go bowling. They can go out to eat. They can do whatever. Ice cream. $700. And then their kids budget so that they always know they have money for whatever the kids want to do or need to do or need is$400.

14:44So, and like Vanessa said, these are the stuff that you know, you're going to spend every month. Like just be honest about it. Be honest with your budget. As you can see, they have a good income. This was them putting this, these amounts for spending is not too unrealistic because they have the money. If they were tight, more tight, then we, they might have to shrink some of those numbers. Right. So your spending needs to be adjusted based on your income. You may look at this and be like, oh my gosh, that is so much money. I would love to have that. But your income may not support it. And that is okay.

15:12You will eventually get to the point where you'll be able to maybe afford some more, or maybe you have so much debt right now and you can't do that. And that's also okay. You just have to kind of ebb and flow and work with what you have. Now, what we will say is when you've heard us talk about automation, this is really important. So when you see the groceries, gas, their each pocket money, their family money, the kids, we want you to open up separate spending accounts. And if you see where it has the, or if you're following us on the video, you'll see where it has like a little debit card right there.

15:42That is basically insinuating the way we make our budget is that that is a checking account. So you have the option to pick if you want cash or if you want a checking account. So these are separate checking accounts that they are transferring their money into so that way it's not affecting their bills. Yeah. And I think that's, I'm really glad that you pointed that out, Vanessa. It's really, it's not just about building the budget. We also want you to automate it. So we want you to set all of these things up to happen. Your income's going to the bills. The bills are getting paid automatically and all these transfers are happening.

16:11Once you've got this budget down, that is going to happen. But that's a really good point. These are all separate accounts so that everything can stay nice and tidy. The rest of the spending for this month is not a separate account. So we're talking about August. What do we need to budget for in August? Well, back to school. Yep. So we have back to school budgeted because it's really important to make sure you have the money that you need when these things come up, especially maybe you don't have your savings buckets like fully funded yet. So a lot of these things that are coming up in the moment, like month specific, you may not really necessarily have to do as much when your savings buckets are funded, but they're still building their savings buckets.

16:52So we're budgeting in the moment for them. All right, budget besties, it's time for some real talk. You don't need another budget. You need a budget system. Our simplified budget system is what you've been looking for. It's going to allow you to be bougie on a budget. You'll be able to easily set up a system that runs automatically and shows you exactly where your money is going. And it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that. Yeah. It's straightforward, pretty, and packed with walkthrough videos that break down the exact methods we use with our clients to get out of debt, set up a bills account, separate spending, build savings buckets, and end the paycheck to paycheck feel.

17:30If you're new to budgeting, this is the perfect way to jump in. And if you're already a budget nerd like us, you're about to meet your new obsession. This is the upgrade to your finances that you need right now. Yeah. So head on over to budgetbesties.com forward slash budget and grab yours. Now back to today's show. Yeah. So when it comes to August, what do we want to think about that month specific? Back to school. So we've got school clothes. We've got school supplies. If you've got a college person, you might be doing something to help them get their dorm set up. Just think about all of those things.

18:02You might need haircuts, all of that kind of stuff to get everybody ready. Physicals, like sports physicals. For sure. That's a good one. By the way, we have to do that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, minor. Yes, we have to do them every year. I have a client that a lot of things happen in July. If that if you relate to that, raise your hand. If you're driving, be careful. Okay. A lot of things happen. So what we did is when we set up her August budget, I told her because she was like I mentioned before, she's going to get that paycheck right at the end of July. And I said, you're just not going to be able to pay these last two bills of July until you get your August paychecks, right?

18:38Which will be at the end of July. Yeah, but we're putting them in the August budget. So we did go ahead and move two bills. And so she has two extra bills, the same name of the regular bill, but it's got July in her budget so that she knows she has to make those two with the August budget, right? I have another client that's going, well, I was, she said, well, I have to put my triathlon. I was like, yeah, that's so cool. And then she's like, don't get that excited it's only i don't know what she said it's like a mini triathlon i was like okay i was i'm still excited i think that's cool so anyway we put that those in there and then i have clients that live i think where do they live in like minnesota or somewhere and they don't go back to school till after till september because the state fair you don't go back to school until after the state fair and they're or maybe anyway it doesn't matter and so like like everybody finishes the year, the summer, with taking their animals to show or whatever they do.

19:29And I mean, it makes sense. Like back in the day when you needed the kids to be at the farm or whatever, I guess, to help. And then they can go to school. Well, I'm going to say priorities. Yeah. I love that. I think that's great. Yeah. So we put the state fair in their budget for this month. I think that's so cute. I want to go back to the July bills really quick because I think that that was really important. I think there's somebody out there that may need to hear this a little bit more. If you're trying to get a paycheck ahead with your budget and you're like, but there's so many bills at the end of the month that I'm still relying on that last paycheck of the month to cover, that's totally fine.

20:02Still put that paycheck in August, like Shana said, and then double, like bring those bills to the August budget and know, okay, I have to basically pay these bills twice in August. I'm paying them for July and I'm paying them for August. And then voila, now you're a paycheck ahead. Like that's, that's how quick that can happen. But you have to make that happen. And we have to stop thinking that, okay, I only have like five bills and then I can blow the rest of the money. And then the next paycheck that comes in, I'm going to start stressing again. Like, no, let's start prepping now for the upcoming budget.

20:32So that way you're fully prepared. Yeah. So you can like Vanessa, make your budget today. Today's the 30th. So you're going to make your budget. If you have anything outstanding, just put it in there, anything else ending from July, just put it in the August budget and just pay it. And that way everything can be caught up and you can go ahead and start getting on that new pay cycle to where you're a paycheck ahead. Some other things that we have is last minute summer plans and travel. We're not doing that. I'm done with all my summer plans. We have had a great summer and we need to stay home for a little bit.

20:59And then maybe you need to do a grocery restock. That's part of like that back to school, back to work, whatever. Maybe your fridge is thinned out because nobody's been home or everybody has been home and there's nothing left. And then another thing is homeschool fees or supplies. Well, I will actually say, Vanessa, we have in August, we have a really big school bill, like a really fun, exciting school bill. You might have that if you have tuition, you might have a deposit, you might have like it might pay in full, pay in full, you might have your first tuition payment, or like these people, you might have homeschool curriculum stuff that you need to buy or whatever.

21:34And so you want to think about adding all of those things into your into your budget. And like Vanessa said, you will eventually have a savings bucket for that, right? So you'll say, okay, for school, we need$20 ,000 a year or for sports, we need$10 ,000 a year. And you'll just be saving and setting that all aside. And then you'll just pull it over when the month comes to pay it. But for now, if you don't have that, you're going to need to put it in your budget. Yeah. So with this budget, we have back to school, we have sports gear, John has a birthday, and then there's also their anniversary.