In short
Step-by-step budgeting for October 2025 using the “Budget Besties” system (close out September, list income, minimum debt payments, bills, spending categories, month-specific expenses, then savings buckets; zero out by assigning leftover to extra debt; automate via bills account, spending accounts, paycheck plan, and transfers).
Guests
Shana and Vanessa, best friends and business partners; master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey; run Budget Besties since 2019, helping clients budget, get out of debt, and stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Key claims
Seeing all money on one “piece of paper” reduces anxiety; consolidating bill payments into one bills account lowers stress; spending accounts remove the need to track every purchase; savings buckets plan for expected-but-nonmonthly expenses; automate transfers to make budgeting “set it and forget it.”
Notable examples
A real client budget with ~$7,680/month income and ~$1,700/month minimum debt; rent/trash/water ~$2,200; using Amazon return income and cash tips; negotiating creditors for reduced minimums/interest; month-specific items like fall festival/Halloween/dad’s birthday/homecoming/fall break/skateboarding camp; savings bucket example for Christmas ($1,100 saved over Oct–Dec vs ~$292/month over 12 months).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOClosing Out September's Budget
1:56 to 3:40
Discussion on the importance of closing out the previous month's budget and making necessary adjustments.
“So one of the first things that we always talk about when we're doing our budget is we have to close out the previous month's budget.”
Listing Income for October
3:40 to 5:24
Steps to list all sources of income for the upcoming month and the significance of recognizing all cash flows.
“And if you're, I have several clients like this, one of the spouses gets overtime.”
Understanding Debt Payments
5:24 to 7:46
Exploring how to list and manage debt payments in the budget.
“So we put those in her income because they're very, they're so on it.”
Organizing Monthly Bills
7:46 to 11:59
Guide on how to list and prioritize monthly bills for effective budgeting.
“Imagine what you could do, what you could save for, what other things you could do if you don't have all these debt payments.”
Simplifying Financial Management
11:59 to 13:20
Discussion on the benefits of consolidating finances and reducing anxiety related to money management.
“everything, they're like, oh, I don't need all of that.”
Setting Up the Spending Plan
13:20 to 14:00
Final steps in budgeting focusing on allocating money for personal and family spending.
“Your income comes into the bills account.”
Organizing Your Budget: Spending Categories
14:00 to 20:34
Learn how to categorize and separate your spending for effective budgeting.
“And And then whatever I do with spending is its own animal.”
Saving for Expected Expenses
20:34 to 22:38
Understand how to plan and save for anticipated expenses in advance.
“So this is step five in our budget besties method.”
Finalizing Your Budget: Zeroing Out
22:38 to 27:47
Discover the importance of zeroing out your budget and how to automate savings.
“And I will say that the whole point here is to plan ahead for non-monthly but 100 % expected expenses.”
The Benefits of Financial Coaching
28:20 to 28:59
Discover how coaching can provide the accountability and assistance needed to manage finances.
“Or you can just book an interest call, like a free call.”
Show all 11 chapters
The Benefits of Financial Coaching
29:00 to 29:36
Discover how coaching can provide the accountability and assistance needed to manage finances.
“at budgetbesties.com, and we'll see what we can work out.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00You guys are not going to believe this.
0:03Vanessa:We are ready to make October's budget. What in the world are we talking about? I know. The year is flying by. The weather is cooler over here. I was thinking about this morning while I was outside. It's time, you guys. Pumpkin spice lattes are in full swing. All of the Halloween decorations are out. In my neighborhood, they've started doing, I don't know if they do this everywhere, but where they have all the skeletons and they do something different scene or whatever. Those have already started, you guys. That means we've got to get your October budget ready to go. And Hobby Lobby has Christmas, guys.
0:33Okay.
0:34Vanessa:Yeah. Everyone's ready for every holiday. Yeah. Everybody. We got all, we got the holiday season in the air and we're going to budget and walk you through step-by-step how to create your budget. 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? Hey, 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.
1:07We know what you're doing probably isn't working, but guess what?
1:10Vanessa:You're in the right place. We're Shana 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. In 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.
1:42We 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.
1:50Vanessa: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. This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. All right. So one of the first things that we always talk about when we're doing our budget is we have to close out the previous month's budget. So if you're following along with us, we're just showing you September's budget. What haven't you checked yet? What's not grayed out. You need to go through and tweak and change and update maybe some numbers. So that way, when you're looking at it, it matches what you have in your bank account.
2:22And so that might be something like a bill was a little higher than, literally they're always higher. It doesn't seem to ever go down. They don't go down. But like a dollar here, a dollar there, or maybe a bill that you forgot was coming. Maybe you had a little extra spending that we need to put or whatever, or maybe your paychecks were a little different. So whatever it is, that's always the first thing that we do with our clients as well is let's close out the prior month, in this case, September, and make sure everything's good to go. Let's make sure the balance reflects what it's supposed to.
2:49And at this time is when you would also, if there's anything that you're waiting for all the dust to settle toward the end of the month, that's what you would do. So maybe, you know, you're paying extra on debt or you're doing something now that you've had a minute to look and make sure everything went the way that you thought it would.
3:03Vanessa:Especially if you're new to this, we have a lot of clients that we tell them we want to start with a clean slate on one of the months. So maybe they came into coaching with$5 ,000 in their checking account, but they don't really know what's going on because it's here and there and everywhere. And so we'll do two months of budgets and then we'll say, okay, now that we have really figured out where everything is at, we've separated the spending. Let's see what's in the bottom of your checking account now. And if there's extra sitting there that doesn't need to be in there, we'll remove it, meaning get it, put it on debt or put it in a savings bucket or put it towards their emergency fund, whatever their goal is.
3:36Vanessa:So that way the next upcoming month, we're starting with a clean slate. Yeah. And if you're, I have several clients like this, one of the spouses gets overtime. And so we have to wait as we go through the month to see how much extra they would be able to put in. They fund their savings buckets with the extra. And so this might be you and you go in there, you put everything in the budget and you say, oh, now it says I have$365 left. I'm going to put that into my savings accounts. Yeah. So once you've closed out the month, then you will move on. Shana is going to click those buttons. I just want to click the savings because maybe, and this might be you as well.
4:09Maybe you didn't automate it yet because you're just like Vanessa said, maybe you're new and you wait to make sure everything happened and you feel really good. And then you move your savings over. That may be what they did. And so we clicked that off. And now hopefully they may have a buffer in the bills account, but everything should be squared away so that they can go ahead and move over to the October budget.
4:26Vanessa:And it doesn't just help you for the next month. It also allows you when you come back to make this budget for next year, pull up September and go, okay, what happened? What was I not prepared for then that I can now be better prepared for and make sure I put in the budget. So there's multiple reasons why you want to close out the month. Yep. Okay. So the first thing that you want to do when you're building your October budget is to list out all of your income. So as you can see, if you are following along, we like to look at the calendar, see when your pay dates are, because sometimes there might be a random extra check that month, or we just want to see when we will be getting the paychecks.
4:58And usually the month before, for this case, September 26th, that would be the first paycheck for October. We want to go ahead and put the paychecks in there, put the dates, and be ready to go with that.
5:08Vanessa:And this is actually a real client's budget. I wanted to point that out. They make$7 ,680 per month, roughly. And actually, I will say he just got a new job and a new raise, so it's very exciting. So it is different now. But this is the budget that they came in with coaching, and this is what we're working with. Yeah. And so after you list the income, and don't forget with income, you might put bonuses, you might put any side hustle money that you have, any checks that you're getting in, And just whatever that you might, I have a client, they're so serious, Vanessa. We still have Amazon returns coming in.
5:38So we put those in her income because they're very, they're so on it. They're so in it that they've been returning. And every month we have 50 bucks or more to put, and I've been putting in the income because we're excited.
5:47Vanessa:I do want to say too, if you get tips, if you're in an industry where you're maybe an esthetician or a hairdresser or a massage therapist, and you have tips coming in and you don't necessarily have a business budget yet, please make sure you're listing all of your cash here. and if you're going to use cash in your spending section, then you can just allocate it that way. However, if you're not using cash for spending, but you're receiving cash as tips or something, then you need to put that and you need to find a way to get that in the bank. So that way we can use it for bills or savings or spending.
6:16Yeah. And because part of the reason we just had a client on that talked about their, not the first time they saw all the money that they made in one, they were like, Oh wow, we can make a lot of money. And that's what you want to do. You want to really see what you actually make in a month. Whole picture. And this is why maybe you feel like I make good money, but I have no other show for it. It's because if you have cash coming in and you're not actually putting into the budget, then it's just like finding a way to get lost. So definitely put that in the budget.
6:41Vanessa:And I think that you can dream a little easier. You can do a lot when you see what the entire amount is as a whole. All right. So the next column, after you're done with your income, we go, it's a little bit of a rollercoaster right now. We're going down right into the debts. Debt minimums. you're going to list out the name of the debt of the credit card or loan or whatever, the amount that you pay minimum only, and the due date into that column. So this person has some personal loans. They have credit cards. They have school loans. And they have two vehicles on here. And they're coming in with a lot of debt.
7:14So if we remove the extra amount on debt, they're paying about$1 ,700 a month on debt
7:20Vanessa:out of their$7 ,680 that's coming out. Yeah. So imagine, and that is actually a good way to understand why we put this here, because they can get rid of, as they get rid of each of these debts, they pay them down, that is going to be less and less. And they're going to see the impact of getting$1 ,700 back in your budget a month, one loan at a time. We want you to have it there so that you know that all can go away and you can get that all back in your budget. Imagine what you could do, what you could save for, what other things you could do if you don't have all these debt payments. So we want them there.
7:51They're annoying, but if they're front and center, you're going to be more motivated to get them gone.
7:56Vanessa:And also, I think you'll be more motivated to make some phone calls and to call them. So she's in the middle of calling all of her creditors and asking for deferred payments. She's asking for reduced minimum payments. She's asking for reduced interest rates. Any type of plan, how can they help her? And yes, she understands, look, she's morally obligated to pay this. We're not saying that it's not a thing, but she's just asking for some relief at this time. So we're in the process of doing that. So hopefully we can get those lower minimum payments a month. So that way we can hopefully take that chunk of money and put it more on debt.
8:27Vanessa:Yep. Okay. So after we're done listing out only the minimums, remember, we're going to come back and see if we can pay extra on debt at the end of the budget. But as you can see, if we were filling this in one at a time, you would see we have the total income. That's what we started with. And then the first part of the budget, now we know we've spent$17.74. So we would have known or this budget will show you how much you have left to budget. Now I have to list out all my bills. That's the next step. And usually in this case and in many cases, the first one on there is the rent or the mortgage because it's the one that usually is new on the first.
8:57But also it's a big chunk. And then you're just theoretically, best case scenario, list all your bills out in due date order. It's not like mandatory. We're not going to come check, Vanessa. But it's a good idea. It's just a best practice.
9:07Vanessa:Yeah. And most of our clients love when we do that. When we first list them in, we just list them how they tell us and then we'll change them. But you can do that too. If you see our debts, I did not do that with her debts yet because we're still figuring some stuff out. And she hasn't given me due dates for some of them. So it's okay. It's all right. It's a working progress. So she's got her big rent trash water payment into that's$2 ,200 Shana of their$7 ,000 that they make a month. So that is a big chunk. And it, you really want to make sure that you have the cash to be able to pay for that each month along with buying groceries and gas.
9:35Vanessa:So setting up this budget and they knew, they said, look, we're not doing great. We're spending a lot of money in places that we don't need to be spending money. And we have got to get these things cleaned up because they do want to start family someday, but they all know that they can't do it if they can't feel like they can financially afford it. We all know that kids and money, it's, you just make it work. It happens. I get it. But they really want to set themselves up for success. Yeah. And if you look here, this is pretty common. It was funny. I was just talking to a client yesterday and she, I said, your bills are so frugal and no other part of your budget is.
10:07She doesn't have any debt, but her spending and her savings are easily double the amount of her bills. And it's, it's, this is also a place where when you finally see it all on paper, you might start to clean it up. A lot of times people don't realize they have overlapping subscriptions. Maybe I have five different streaming services and I don't need it or three music services or what I don't even know what this thing is. Let me go find out. Oh, I'm not going to have that. I'm not going to go ahead and cancel it. One of the biggest important, most important things that we do with our budget is put it all in one piece of paper so you can see everything that's happening with your money.
10:40You, if we look at the other budgets or we look at what you've been doing, it's all separate. it's all like in your mind over here about that. And maybe I might remember that I added that subscription last month. We're going to put it all on one piece of paper. And when we group all the bills together, it allows you to see what you're costing to live, if there's any duplicates, if there's something that I need to maybe think about renegotiating when we will tell you, if we're your coach, oh, you need to call your internet. You need to call your phone company. Like what is actually happening? That's really high.
11:06And this will give you the eyes on to be
11:08Vanessa:able to make some of those calls. Being bougie on a budget. We're going to talk about that for a with this particular budget. Because Shana was talking about having everything listed in one place isn't about telling you to cancel. Oh, you don't need that. You don't need this. You don't know. That's not what it's about. It's about finding what's important to you and making a way to pay for it. However, if you have 10 online streaming subscriptions, but you only use two of them, yeah, we're going to tell you to cancel the rest because it's a waste of money. So it's not about whether you have a gym membership or not, or you have a Peloton subscription or not, or Hulu, or it doesn't matter.
11:41Vanessa:Our question to you is, are you using it? Do you love it? Is it serving you? If the answer is yes, then it stays. If the answer is no, then it goes. And that's really how we try to work with our clients with their budgets. And typically they self-police that themselves. Like we said, they hadn't seen it all in one fell swoop. And once they do see everything, they're like, oh, I don't need all of that. The other thing that we tell them all the time is I know personally, like we've gotten to know each other pretty closely. You don't have time for this. I know you're not at home watching TV. Why do you have five subscriptions to TV?
12:10There's not happening. And yeah, it's just really good to get a look at it. And then you, like Vanessa said, you decide which, what stays and what doesn't. We're not deciding that for you, but you will be able to make a wise decision based on seeing it all.
12:21Vanessa:One other thing that Shana said that sparked a thought that I just had with a client on her call this week was she loved her. She's so sweet. And she had her car payment coming out of one bank, her mortgage coming out of another bank. She had online subscriptions tied to credit cards. she had all this stuff going on and she was so frustrated and she's an entrepreneur she was so frustrated and so unorganized and she was had so much anxiety around money and paying stuff and she didn't know how she was going to pay her regular stuff every month because it was everywhere and so when I introduced the concept of bringing it all together we're going to see it all on one piece of paper on the budget first and then we're going to have everything paid out of one account and she was like oh I'm not really first she wasn't really sure about she didn't trust herself to make it work.
13:04Vanessa:But we're, I think, two months in now. And she said, this is changing my life. She said, I had no idea by simplifying it into one bank, having a bills account where everything is coming out of, that I would have so much less stress and anxiety over money. And so I just want to say some people, this is words and numbers on paper for now, but we are explaining to you how the system works. Your income comes into the bills account. Okay. From your bills account, all of your debt and your bill payments are paid. That is going to be a huge game changer. game changer. And then next we're moving over to our spending and we're going to talk about how that's divvied up.
13:38Yeah. I was, it's funny, great minds think alike that I was just pulling up. Step three of our, of the budget besties method is to set up the bills account. And that's what Vanessa is talking about. It, it sounds obvious once we tell everybody, right? They're like, why didn't I think of this? And it's weird. We don't know. We don't, why do we think of it? Whatever it's, let's just implement it. And it's such a game changer. Vanessa said, it organizes it. It makes so much sense. And just to know that's over there, that's happening. And And then whatever I do with spending is its own animal. And then that, and so the bill system, I can totally see where getting it all in one account on one piece of paper really does make it feel less anxious.
14:13And you can start to feel actually what's happening with your money.
14:20Step four is to separate your spending. And in the budget, what we have you do is figure out how much do we spend a month, give or take on gas, on groceries. and then we want you to add personal pocket money, personal fun money, whatever you want to call it. Every couple has a different name for it. It's really fun, which is fine. But you're each going to have your own account for your own and your own budget line item for your own fun money. And then usually we have another one, give or take one for family fun, one for kids, depending on your situation. But the goal here is to separate it, have it be organized.
14:51And when I'm going grocery shopping, when I'm getting gas, when I'm taking the kids to the mall, where money is coming from and you don't have to guess and your bills don't get messed up if you spend money.
Read the full transcript
15:00Vanessa:Yeah. And when you, if you're looking at the budget, you'll see how everything is organized. And the way I do it with my clients is every separate account has its own line. So it's just really organized. It's really very easy to see. We have a lot of people on here that list out all, they're trying to list out all of their spending. And we would advise you to list it into categories, exactly how Shana listed it. Gas, groceries, family fund, which includes all types of going out or you can list at dining or however you want. And then you have your each personal pocket money and then the kids, which is very important to have that.
15:30Vanessa:But knowing how much money that you have to spend in those categories and knowing that it's separate from your bills is really going to allow you to spend freely because you need to know how much money you are able to spend on yourself. You're able to spend on the kids and you can say yes. That's the point here. The point is that you can say yes with confidence and it's not going to mess up whether the mortgages come out, whether the auto insurance has come out or when it's coming out or how it's coming out. Yeah. And I think the big thing here is people didn't like budgeting or they don't want to budget because they've been tracking every expense.
15:59And as I said, every time I spend money, I track it. And then I wonder why I don't like this or why it doesn't seem to be working. What you do here is you, like we said, you set an amount, you set it according to your budget, according to your income. And then it goes into account. And all you have to do is live in that amount. And that amount is based on your spending habits. So it's not going to be too difficult. and so you just you have to for these people probably once every two weeks they get 100 bucks in their personal spending and they know i just have to stick to this this is it and then we get 300 to go for date night and go have fun whatever that that that happens as well and all they have to do is stick to those balances they don't have to track anything they have to the only thing they do is be like hey we went to all the things last weekend this weekend we're gonna chill we're gonna netflix and chill until next week when we get more money that's really all you have to do.
16:45And you can stop tracking. You can stop worrying about how much you spent here or there. You just have to stick to those amounts.
16:50Vanessa:And they know that their goal right now is to pay off debt. So they have lower pocket money amounts for themselves, but they're okay with that because they said, look, we put ourselves in this situation. We're owning it. We're going to give ourselves this small amount right now. And then later on when we have more wiggle room, then we'll increase it. So just know that every single person's budget is very different. It's not this 10, 20, 30%. It's based on what you can afford and your lifestyle. Yep. And so the other thing that happens with the spending is anything that in the month that could be specific to, in this instance, for October.
17:24So the other things that we mentioned, those are all on auto transfer. You guys happen automatically every two weeks, probably based on his pay schedule. They get money in each of their spending accounts that are regular. And then there's the stuff that is just like specific to the month. And those are, for them, is a fall festival. Maybe they're going to get Halloween candy or Halloween costumes, and then someone's dad's birthday is happening. Those go into the budget, and those are once a time. The only thing that you really have to do manually is go ahead and get that money and go spend it specifically to those events.
17:53Vanessa:So if you notice on here, if you're watching, we have a little calendar emoji from all the other ones we label. Are you using a debit card? Are you using cash? But the month-specific ones, if you follow along with our Simplify Budget system, then we use a calendar, which means it's a one-time thing, right? So when you are going to the fall festival, you don't need to transfer money for that every payday. You need it one time. So when that happens, all the money is sitting in your bills account. Remember, your income comes in, it's sitting in bills, and the reoccurring automatic transfers go to your spending accounts, whether it's gas and groceries, family fun, or yours.
18:26Vanessa:But these month-specific ones, they're sitting in bills, and when you need the money, you'll transfer it to your spending account and swipe your card and buy the thing, so whatever it is. So Shannon mentioned fall festival, Halloween, dad's birthday. That's how all of that happens. And I also know that we have like volleyball tryouts are coming. That's one of our things. What did I say my client had? Oh, they have fall break. They're like where they live. They don't even start school until after the state festival happens. And then they have fall break, which then they have to pay for skateboarding camp for their kid because they both work full time for their son.
18:57So he goes to skateboarding camp. So we put that one in. That was really fun. And so you just have to think about this is where you think about what is happening this month. It's different that I need to plan to spend money on. And really, this is the only brain calories you have to spend on your budget once you get it set up. Everything else is the same. We are helping you create a very steady, a very normal budget so that you don't have to feel this up and down rollercoaster surprise. Everything is different every month. So this is the only thing that you will have to plan and think about specifically.
19:24Vanessa:Yeah, and as you build your savings buckets, this section of your budget will actually decrease. And yeah, you'll still have random things that pop up that you didn't end up saving for. But still, this one has dad's birthday and Halloween. had they had their savings buckets built up then they would already be saving for that but they don't they're brand new clients so that's why right now it's month specific you know what else is coming homecoming i just realized yes so regular people have homecoming in october our school is in november it's fine okay so yeah anyway whatever if you were really good and you bought it ahead of time ahead of time and then it wouldn't be in your october budget but if you're like me and you're going shopping the week of the thing that's how it is then you want to go ahead put that in your budget if you haven't saved for it ahead.
20:06Now, this is something else you can do, and we're going to move into the savings column, but you can start to, if you have a high schooler, just go ahead and put homecoming in your savings bucket for your kids, because especially if you have a daughter, let's be really honest about that.
20:18Vanessa:They tend to cost more than boys. Yeah, yeah. So you might want to just set that aside or keep an eye on that. Yes. All right, so let's move into the savings section of our budget. We've done income minus your debt payments, minimum debt payments, minus all of your bills, minus all of your spending, and then we're moving into your savings. So your savings is where you're saving for things ahead of time. So this is step five in our budget besties method. And savings buckets are when you're saving for things that you think are unexpected, but we are going to go ahead and say, no, they are 100 % expected.
20:46Vanessa:So we're going to start saving for them. And those include things like annual bills, things for your kids that Shana just mentioned, Christmas, vehicle maintenance, like oil changes, home repairs, things like that. Yeah. And in our budget system, we list out, what is it? Eight or 10? About 10. 10 savings buckets that are pretty common, but you're going to pick which ones matter or make sense for your budget. And maybe you'll change a couple. For example, we had that client that has a horse account. Some of these are very brand new. We love to have new ideas for what people need to say for. And client specific.
21:17Yeah, yeah. And so you will take the savings buckets that we recommend and then make them your own. Make it make sense for you.
21:23Vanessa:Yeah, you can change the name on them. And Shannon said, make it however makes sense for you. But it's just a really great way to just plan ahead. And this is that reoccurring consistent budget that we want you to build. So if you, when you get to the point where you're reducing debt and you have more wiggle room in your budget, you're going to be able to set up your savings buckets and you're saving for all of these fun things in the future. So for instance, I have a client right now that she's obviously a very new client and she hasn't had a chance to save for Christmas. So she is saving a thousand, I think$1 ,100 between now and December.
21:54Vanessa:So for the next three months, October, November, December, to be able to have a little over$3 ,000 for her Christmas budget. Now, had she been doing that since January, that amount is only$292 a month to save for that entire, for your Christmas budget. So right now it's really tight. Her budget's a little tight for the next three months. But come January, because she's graduating next month, so come January, she's going to only have to put$292 in her savings bucket to be able to save for 12 months to have the amount of money that she needs. So just know that wherever you're starting, you can adjust and change.
22:27Vanessa:But eventually, when you're on a 12-month scale with all these savings buckets, it's really going to be nice to know that you've been saving for all this. You have the money. It's budgeted. Your budget is consistent. It doesn't really change. Yeah. And I will say that the whole point here is to plan ahead for non-monthly but 100 % expected expenses. And I will say, like Vanessa said, some of those are fun and some of those aren't. They're just necessary. Having to pay for vehicle maintenance. Maybe you find that fun. I don't know. Annual bills, those are the things. And so if you're beginning, you might have to, I call it triage or prioritize which ones you need to start while, for example, this couple is focused on paying off debt.
23:07Maybe they're not funding everything. Maybe they're not funding a bunch of vacations or this or that until they feel like they have some more wiggle room. But you're going to pick up the savings and then you're going to open separate accounts. You're going to rename them and then you're going to set up your transfers according to your budget, which we'll get to that in a minute when we talk about that. But yeah, so like Vanessa said, we have now done income. We have subtracted debt. We have subtracted the bills. We have subtracted spending, including any random monthly spending that might be coming up.
23:33And now we've subtracted savings and we still have money left over. Amazing. I know. And is that not shocking every time people are like, oh, I have money left over. Yeah.
23:42Vanessa:Especially when it's like thousands of dollars and people are like, how did you make that happen. I'm like, ah, it's just numbers. I didn't do it. It's yeah. The computer did it. But so this couple has$381 left over in their budget. And some of the savings buckets, do they have to be funding? No, but it's important to them. Annual bills is a non-negotiable. That is a bill. It's just in a savings form. So you have to save for those, especially for things like auto insurance and those maybe vehicle registration and things like that come up. So some of those are, like Shana said, they're not fun, but they're a hundred percent necessary and required.
24:13Vanessa:So you make sure you put those in there. Don't forget, I have a client, Shana, that has, I believe, a$6 ,000 auto insurance bill. And they have to pay it quarterly. And every time, he has to put on a credit card. Because he still cannot put it into budget. I need to know what kind of cards and coverage they have. It's really hard. But I'm just saying, that bill is going to be really hard to swallow. If you can find a way to budget for it monthly, it's going to be a lot easier. So it's really highly recommend it that you make sure you put any, if you do no other savings buckets, make sure you put annual bills on there.
24:46Vanessa:Okay. So they have$381. We're going to put extra on debt because that is what's important to them. Okay. So we're going to list that in the budget as$381 extra on debt this month. And that brings their budget down to zero. Isn't that pretty? Yes. It's so pretty. We like it to zero out on purpose is what we say. And so that 381 might be able to pay off something small. It might be able to just go to the lowest one. It's really whatever you have planned in your debt tracker. But so then that completes the budget. The only other thing to think about is how we've mentioned all of it, but how all of that is automated.
25:19And in our budget, we have the paycheck plan, which shows you so that you don't have to think about it, what you So what you will do is you'll look at this, and this will remind you how to set up your automatic transfer. Hopefully you get to the point where you feel comfortable doing that because you see the money and you believe the system's working. And so then you come over to the paycheck plan, and it's going to tell you, okay, for your spending categories, this is what you're doing based on the pay dates every two weeks, or these amounts are going to go to your spending and these amounts are going to go to your savings.
25:47And then just remind you, if you have one that you need to get cash out, you'll go get that out. And then there's one trend transfers and you can check these off too. It's really exciting.
25:54Vanessa:Yes, you can. There are check boxes on this page as well. And so for this one, you'll pick the month and you'll decide how many times a month am I dividing this money out? And for this client specifically, they're doing it twice. They're basing it on her husband's paycheck. Now I want to say something here with that, because a lot lot of people will hear us say, base it off your pay cycle and then go from there. I had one client one time say, I get paid this time and he gets, I get paid on Wednesdays. He gets paid on Fridays. So she was doing it based on each of their pay cycles. And she wasn't understanding how, if it's in the same week, then it does.
26:23Vanessa:You don't do that. Or you just pick one, pick somebody's pay cycle to go with. Some people want all their money up front and just one time a month at the very first, that's how they get paid. And they want that money to last. Sometimes they want it weekly. They say, look, I don't want it based on anyone's pay cycle. I want my money weekly because that's how I can budget the best. So you do that. You have the autonomy to go in here and make it work for you how you want it. Yep. And so that's how you just automate. Everything happens automagically. It's amazing. And all you, again, all you are going to have to do manually is pay extra on debt and then go spend that little bit of extra money that was month specific.
26:56And then you have a budget, you guys. We have walked you through every step of creating a budget. Ta-da, you're there. And now you have money in your spending account. I mean, I said you can go get candy corn, which Vanessa loves. Oh, gross. I saw candy corn press on nails. Come on. I wanted to get them for you because you love it so much. Or you can go get a pumpkin spice latte, or you can get one of those cute little white pumpkins or the gourds or whatever. Or a teal one. I'll take a teal pumpkin, please, and a hot pink pumpkin. Yes, let's go. Or if you're actually like other people, you could get skeletons or something, whatever people do.
27:25Anyway, because you have your spinning, and that's all you have to do. That's the whole point. It's just you're setting yourself up for success for the month of October. The reason we're telling you this now is you don't wait till October's here. Let's go ahead and plan for it now because we know time is a funny thing. It doesn't, we don't seem to get more of it. So get ahead, plan your budget, put it on autopilot like we described, and then just have a wonderful October probably. Yeah.
27:47Vanessa:And if you're ready to buy the Simplify Budget System, you can go to budgetbesties.com forward slash budget and grab that. And if you're like, listen, I still want a template. I want to see maybe how this works. You can go to budgetbesties.com forward slash budget template it and get the printable free version of it. Yep. And then you know what, Vanessa, if you listen to us and how we talk about our clients and you're like, that sounds like me a little bit, just a little bit, then you might be a candidate for coaching. If you're all in, if you've been listening to us and you're like, you know what, this is me.
28:13I need help. I need accountability. I need somebody to walk, hold my hand as I do this. Then you can go to budgetbesties.com forward slash coaching and scroll down and you can sign up for coaching. Or you can just book an interest call, like a free call. You'll talk to Vanessa and see if it's a good fit.
28:28Vanessa:One of the things that I say on the call, and I'm like, listen, we do the budget for you. They're like, what? Yes. Okay, I'm done. That was the one thing that told them that just like they were ready to go. So if you're listening and you're saying, this is all amazing, but can you do it for me? That's also what coaching is for. Yeah. And I am using my brain for all these other things in my life. I don't have time to try to figure this out on my own or it's going to take longer. I'm going to have less success. I'm going to go slower. That's what coaching is for. So we would love, as we go into October, it'd be a good time for you to possibly go ahead and start coaching.
28:59So reach out. If you can't find a time for a coaching call that makes sense for you, just email us, hello at budgetbesties.com, and we'll see what we can work out.
29:05Vanessa:We'll fit you in, girl. Yeah. If you're tired of feeling like your finances are all over the place and you're ready for a simple set it and forget it way to budget, we have something special for you. Watch our Automate Your Budget Masterclass at budgetbesties.com forward slash automate. We'll show you step-by-step how to finally organize your money, how to set up your accounts, and put your budget on autopilot so your bills, saving, and spending run like clockwork. Imagine less stress, more savings, and the freedom to spend money without having to track every dollar or babysit your bank account.
29:36Go to budgetbesties.com forward slash automate to start today.
From the publisher
Snag Our Simplified Budget System!
Budget besties... it’s time. 🎃
We’re sipping pumpkin spice, skeletons are popping up in the neighborhood, and Hobby Lobby has Christmas aisles in full swing—which can only mean one thing: it's time to plan your October budget!
In this episode, Shana and Vanessa walk you through the exact steps they use with their coaching clients to get ready for the new month, including:
✨ How to separate your spending accounts so you can swipe with confidence
✨ What “month-specific” spending really means (hello Halloween candy, costumes, dad’s birthday, and skate camp 👀)
✨ The power of savings buckets—yes, even for Homecoming dresses and horse expenses
✨ Why automating your transfers is the key to budget peace (and no more tracking every dollar)
✨ What it looks like to have money left over after budgeting—yes, it’s possible!
Whether you're just getting started or you're deep in your debt payoff journey, we’ve got the real-life examples and step-by-step process to help you stop guessing and start planning with clarity.
Connect With Us:
1️⃣ Facebook Group – Join the community. Our free group is where the real talk happens. Connect with other women who are learning how to budget, save, and finally feel in control, together. ➡︎ budgetbesties.com/facebook
2️⃣ Automate Your Budget Masterclass – Watch it now, no waiting. This FREE on-demand training shows you how to set up a budget that matches your lifestyle, without tracking every dollar or feeling restricted. ➡︎ budgetbesties.com/automate
3️⃣ Budget – Grab our Simplified Budget System! You don’t need another budget, you need a system that does the math, makes the plan, and gives you permission to spend. ➡︎ budgetbesties.com/budget
4️⃣ Private 1-on-1 Coaching – Get a plan and a coach. We’ll build your full budget system together, so you always know what to do and feel confident doing it. ➡︎ budgetbesties.com/coaching
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