[NEW] How to Make Your October Budget: A Step-by-Step Monthly Money Plan | 624

0:01You may feel like your spending is out of control, but it's because it's not organized. You know, what's really funny is you probably think the bills is the most expensive part of your budget, but we typically don't see that to be true. 90 % of your budget can be the exact same every single month. If you could be done funding your whole budget by the 16th of the month, and then you're ahead, the rest of it is just going towards the next month. This is what's possible with your money when you're making a plan. Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck?

0:28Do 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? If you don't already know how to budget, or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. 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 Shana and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners, and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey.

0:58We'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. 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.

1:30And 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. Do you guys know that October is coming? I just had this conversation with my son. I said, honey, do you know that Halloween is coming? Yeah. October is here. Guys, it's time to make your October budget because it's coming whether or not you want to admit it like I don't. Vanessa Vanessa doesn't want to, I've already passed my 18th birthday milestone. And then we're moving into Vanessa having an 18-year-old in December. So every month you have to tick off.

2:03Sorry about your luck. The days are coming. They're shortening for sure. But for me, entering October enters the festive season in my life. I think everyone's, but I feel like it's the beginning. It's exciting. I know. It's like the brutality of the summer is coming to my hand. That's probably part of it. And I'm wearing a sweater today, too. to just manifest fall. I really need God to just hear it in. I was talking to my girlfriend this morning and she's like, I'm on a walk and I can feel it. It's like, yep. But the humidity is still lingering and the summer is like, nope, I'm still here. Yeah, so we're all feeling excited about the fact that October might bring cooler temperatures and some fun activities and different things.

2:45But we've got to make a budget for it so that we can get all of those things in our budget. We can have, maybe you need a new sweater. Oh, that's exciting to think about. Maybe you need some leggings. Can you imagine? Can you remember wearing leggings? I kept shopping in my closet. Or jeans? Remember when you could wear jeans? This might be happening. No, we're just kidding. But anyway, we're going to get into it. We're going to explain to you exactly how to build your October budget. All right. So, Shana, what is the first thing we need to do before we build our budget? Oh. It's like trying to maybe close out that September.

3:15Yeah, we probably should. You want to go ahead and close out September. And all this means is you're going to go through and check off everything that came out, Add anything that wasn't in the budget that you did end up doing. Snuck in there. Yeah. Update any amounts, but paychecks, electric bills, anything that may have changed. And just close it out. Make sure everything that happened is documented so you can feel really good about that. And that will allow you to move into November. And I want to make... Sorry. God bless. We're just on October, guys. We're not fast-forwarding, okay? And I want to remind everyone, when you're using our budget system, the total remaining box in the top right corner should match the number that's in your big account at the end of the month.

3:50Obviously, if you're a paycheck ahead, you'll have to make sure you add your paycheck in there because that paycheck is added on to the upcoming month. But anyways, when you see a number at the tollover meeting, if you're like, what am I supposed to do with this number? If you watch the videos in your five cart portal, it tells you there too. But also, just as a reminder, that number is your rollover number for October when you're closing out September. Yep. Okay. So the first thing that we're going to do to build your October budget is actually go ahead and input your income. This is the exciting part of your budget.

4:19it's a positive number. You're like, look at me. I make so much money. I'm doing a good job. So we want you to put the source of the income. We want you to put the date that you're expecting it in. And then also the amount that seems like a good idea. How much? Yeah. And so these, this couple, it's actually a true budget. They are a paycheck ahead for him. They're a brand new client. And so we were getting them a paycheck ahead one step at a time. I feel like that's fair. So if you see that he's using September 25th's paycheck to start October, and she's using October 2nd's paycheck to start October because she actually gets, quote unquote, three paychecks for October.

4:56But that 30th paycheck that's coming in will start her for November. So by the end of October, she will be a paycheck ahead. Yeah. So just so in case you are listening and you can't hear, we've got two. We've got his and her paychecks. One's for him. His first paycheck is September 25th. And a second paycheck of the month of October is the 9th of October. And that's what we mean by getting a paycheck ahead. But when it comes to income, you're going to add anything, paychecks, side hustles, bonuses, tax returns, reimbursements, garage sales. Literally any income that you're getting is going in here because we want it all.

5:29We want to see it all so that we can see what's possible with all of it. If you have little stragglers out here and there, we're not budgeting those separately. They're all coming in here and we're going to decide everything about where your money is going at once. Even cash, guys. Cash goes in here because you need to tell. you need to tell your budget what you can do with all your money. And like Shannon said, the idea here is if you look into that income column and say, I can, with all of this money, I'm going to do all of this with it and with our debts, our bills that are spending and our savings.

5:54So you need to be able to have the full picture of all the money you have available to you in that month. And side note, if you are on that pay cycle that Vanessa was talking about, where the first check is coming in on October 2nd, on that Friday, you could possibly use this month as a month you can get paycheck ahead because you can list the October 2nd paycheck and the October 16th paycheck as your regular budget paychecks for October. And then the October 30th can be moved into November and that'll be your first paycheck for November. And voila, your paycheck ahead. Yeah. And remember, so with these people, because their last two paychecks are coming October 9th and October 16th, that's the last bit of money they will need for the month.

6:32So just think of for you, if this is the first time you're trying to build a budget and trying to get a paycheck ahead, like Shana said, you could literally have all the money that you need for the entire month by the 16th and know that anything that comes in after that, you don't need it because you have already accounted for two paychecks this month. Yeah. And I just want to hone in on that just a little bit more. You guys, if you could be done funding your whole budget by the 16th of the month and then all, and then you're ahead, the rest of it is just going towards next month. That is a great feeling.

7:00And you're thinking, obviously, don't I need all my paychecks for a full month? No, your regular monthly budget is really, if you're getting paid biweekly, is really based on two paychecks. So this extra paycheck, if you were already a paycheck ahead, we would figure something out with that. But this extra paycheck really can go to fund your next month and get a paycheck, which is the first goal. If you're already a paycheck ahead and you get an extra paycheck, we've told you what to do with that before. And so it's still going to fund your spending, but then what is left over after that, you can possibly use for something big and exciting.

7:28Yeah. Okay, I think we hit that dead horse. I think so. If you guys have any other questions about income, then feel free to post it in our Facebook group. All right. So for debt, a debt is considered any money you owe anyone for any reason. Okay. And that's including your loan to your mom. I have somebody who loans their, has their daughter has loaned them money for their business. So any money, anything that you owe anyone is a debt. So you can list it here. And again, this isn't to shame you. We're not saying, or even you, we don't want you to shame yourself. Like, oh my gosh, I have all this debt.

7:59It's not the point. The point is for you to be able to see what you owe so you can make a plan on how to pay off. And I'm going to be honest. I have several clients right now that what we have been working on is paying off payments that they are behind on, which I, we put in the debt column. So if you're have a backlog to your power company or your phone bill or whoever it is that maybe you're a little behind on, this is also going to go in that debt column. And you guys, the first, we have a lot of things that we want to do if we're kind of coming in with things kind of chaotic and we want to get caught up on your bills.

8:30First, we want to get caught up and then we want to move to hopefully getting a paycheck ahead. And then we want to move to maybe paying or getting your savings budget set up. And then theoretically, we want to move to getting extra on debt. That's kind of the cycle that we're in, but that definitely is something you want to address. So when you list out your payments here in your budget, you're going to list your minimum payments only. And this client originally came to us an entire month behind, meaning they would rack up their credit cards and they would get paid at the first of the month and they would pay that card off for the previous month.

9:02So now Now that we're paying for everything in cash, they are being forced to put their minimum payments on their cards for the very first time in a long time. And that was like a stab to the heart right there. It's really hard for them to see that they were only going to pay$40 on both of these cards, but it's what needed to be done for them to be able to completely pay for the rest of their month in cash. Yeah. And so just conceptually, first, all we've done so far is list your income. And now we're listing your debt minimums. Your debt minimums are there because we want you to see them up front and close and personal so that because you know that those can actually go away.

9:38The rest of your budget is really going to always have bills, spending, and savings always, right? But debts don't have to be it. But when you look at our budget, the debt is that first column and it does tell you, okay, look, you're paying$621 in minimums a month. And that gets you something to think about. Oh, what would my life be like without debt payments? Or what would it be like to have$621 back in my budget every month? And it really just helps you. And also it helps you separate it, right? Your debts are different than your bills. Like I just said, your bills are always going to be there.

10:06They're not going to fluctuate that much probably. And they're not really going to go away. You're probably always going to have a phone bill. You're probably always going to have an electric bill, right? But your debts can go away. So they're separated for that reason. $621, you can have some fun in your savings budget. Listen, we already got it spent for you if you want. Yeah, really, sure. Okay, so list your income, list your monthly minimum debt payments only. And then from there, we're going to move on to your bills column. So your bills are anything that you are like billed every month, anything with an invoice that is sent to you on a monthly basis.

10:36So obviously your mortgage, utilities, gym membership, your, all of your subscriptions, things like that, that is your auto insurance, your life insurance, all of that. Yeah. And so you want to think, think about listing everything out here. A pro tip is to list them out once, if you can and do date order, because that's very helpful. And I just, I think that it's really nice for you to see, you know, what's really funny is you probably think the bills is the most expensive part of your budget, but we typically don't see that to be true unless you have a particularly high mortgage. It's actually the bills, you know, you guys are usually kind of conservative over there.

11:08And then we look at, we go right over that spending column next and it's a little more interesting. You know what I mean? It's a little more interesting. It does. It can get super fun over there, but yeah. So make sure you list everything that you owe. Groceries is not a bill. Just letting you guys know, Ron, you're trying to figure out what's a bill, what's not a bill. And make sure you remember those quarterly bills that may sneak in. And we could talk more about that when we talk about our annual bill savings bucket. But for right now, if you don't have any savings buckets in your budget and you don't have room for that, make sure you're listing those one-off expenses as far as bills that pop up every so often so you don't forget about them.

11:44Yeah. And so Vanessa said, groceries are not a bill, but you know why? That's because they are spending. That's your next column. So after we figured out how much money do I make, how much has to go out to the debt, how much has to go out to bills. Like those are mostly fixed numbers, right? Now the spending is where it's discretionary. Have you ever heard that buzzword? It's you are the one that's deciding how much you're spending in different categories like gas, groceries, dining out, personal spending money, the kids, different things like that. You get to decide how much you're going to spend and we're going to plan it on purpose.

12:15Yeah. So for the purpose of this budget, they have a Gads and Groceries account, which is one account with that money in there. They have their fun and dining out, which is everything from date nights to movie nights to bowling to chick-fil-a runs and all that husband and wife both have their money in there his includes haircut hers includes getting her hair done so we increase it i said it appropriately and then they have three boys and two of them are in paid sports that they are paying a monthly cost on or annual cost on i think but the one sweet son plays golf and he goes on that sweet son i know and he goes on his own to play golf.

12:50And so I said, let's just put that golf fee right in his spending money. How many times a week does he go? Let's account for all that. And so it was so nice for her. I could see the weight off of her shoulders going. He is now responsible for his money and making sure he has the cash in his account to pay for golf every time he goes. So we included that. If you're looking at it visually, that's why all the numbers are different because it accounts for different things and it allows them to use just the one card for it. Yeah. And I want to go back. So when I said that bills and debts are the same, same, and they're set, the misconception people have, Vanessa, about spending is it's like all over the place.

13:33I don't really know. It changes all the time. It's like this or that other. It's inconsistent, that word. The way we want you to set your budget up is it's not. You're being very consistent with your spending. That does not mean restricted. That's not what that means. You get to set how much money do we spend a month on groceries? And then you're going to stick to that. And I think that's what happens with people, Vanessa, because they don't have this budget system. They set that budget. Sometimes they say, oh, I spend$900 on groceries a month. And then when they actually go through their life, they're like, oh, I spend$1 ,500 on groceries a month or whatever.

14:03But we are going to have you look at it, actually come to terms with a number that's monthly, that stays the same. And then you just have to live in your spending budget weekly with that smaller amount or however it works but it doesn't have to change it doesn't have to be up and down sometimes i have money sometimes i don't depends on the paycheck all of that will be gone when you budget the way that we're teaching you like this when i love why you said what consistent doesn't mean restrictive what you said i think that's it's so important because we really harp on the fact that 90 of your budget can be as automatic and as systemized as you as you make it as you allow it to be and as you can if you're watching this visually, but even through podcasts, you guys have heard us talk about your income is pretty much consistent.

14:42If you own your own business, it still can be even if you get inconsistent income through commission and bonuses, you still have the option to make your budget consistent. We've talked about that. Your minimum debt payments may fluctuate a little bit as you pay them off, unless you do a lot extra on debt, then they all usually just go down from there. Your monthly bills are pretty consistent. And your spending has the opportunity to you can fund those accounts automatically to be consistent. Now, when you first start funding these accounts on your spending section, will you get them right immediately?

15:11No, you're not going to know how much you spend on all these categories until you do it a couple of times. This is why we have, there are one-on-one private coaching for six months because we get all the kinks knocked out, get everything figured out before they go off on their own and they have everything automatic by then. But it's going to take a minute, but you will, because you normally do. Your natural spending habits are about the same every single month. So that's what we're trying to show you. And if you look at the top here, it's showing that they have$9 ,400 in income. This is a conservative budget,$9 ,400 in income.

15:41We've budgeted so far with their minimum debt payments, their bills, and their spending$8 ,200. And they have$1 ,200 left over, Shana, to budget months-specific spending and their savings and maybe some extra on debt. Yeah, and what I did want to say is what we found is that what you said, Vanessa, is you spend the same amount of money. age. I think some of you are thinking sometimes I go real crazy on Amazon. Okay. And they may not be the same as last month because I just went on a shopping spree on Amazon. So what this does is it gives you a small little guardrail that you set yourself. Okay.

16:16So for example, sweet Maddie, she's, is Maddie the mom? Yep. Okay. Maddie is getting$310, very specific amount each month. So whatever that equals to a week, 65 or something. I have no idea. We just said it It was included her one-time hair appointment. That's why it's a little off. Okay. So let's say she gets 50 bucks a month or a week, right? She can spend as much as she wants at Amazon up to 50 bucks a week, right? And so that's how you take... It's not that we're not saying don't get Amazon. Get Amazon if you want. But you can start to make it consistent by setting a small guardrail for yourself.

16:50And you get to set that guardrail. It does not us setting it. Like right now, Vanessa said they still have$1 ,200 left in their budget. If they had more, maybe she'd have more spending money. If she didn't have any debt, maybe they didn't have some more spending money or if they, whatever. But it's based on their budget that she's decided I'm getting my hair appointment and 50 bucks a week or whatever. Right. And so that's what it, you may feel like you're spending it's out of control, but it's because it's not organized. And once it's organized, you will automatically become a better spender automatically.

17:15Yeah. And it's usually crazy because you don't think you're going to have cash next week. So you spend it all right now. So those people who have, oh, I, I have all of my bills at the beginning of the month, but the end of the month, I have all this extra money. so you blow it all. That's, you're purposely making it consistent because you think your budget is set that way based on your bills and your payments. But we're telling you that you could actually, doesn't matter when your bills come out or when you get paid, you have the opportunity for it to be consistent. If you have it, if this is like your first time and you're like, listen girls, that sounds great, but what are you even talking about?

17:48That's not me. Go back and listen to our podcast, guys. We have so much information on there that talks about you being able to make it consistent. And we have inconsistent income podcasts all of that on there to help you make a consistent budget that's automatic and set for you every month. 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.

18:22And 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. If 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.

18:54Now back to today's show. We like to tell you that 90 % of your budget can be the exact same every single month, which is very true. But there are sometimes there are things that you have not planned for in your savings buckets, or that just pop up or whatever, don't really have a savings bucket. They're just a one time thing. That is where we're going to plan that 10 % difference. And it's going to be this month, what am I doing this month for spending. So all the rest of your spending, we just talked about haircuts, golf, eating as a family, whatever, all the groceries and gas, those are all consistent.

19:22What are these things that maybe pop up, and we're going to put those in the spending column too. Yeah. So for this client specifically, they're brand new at budgeting and they haven't made a savings bucket yet for the holidays. So in theirs, I asked them, do we have any birthdays, anniversaries, events, fall festivals? What is happening in the month of October where you guys live? And she said, really, the only thing we have going on is Halloween. So they budgeted a hundred bucks. Cause I think because she's got three boys, I think some of them are sharing costumes. Some of them may not be participating, but they definitely wanted to have money for, I think one of the kids' costumes and candy.

19:51Okay. All right. So next we're moving on to savings. That's our last column. So if you're tracking, remember, we have planned your income, we put it all in there. We've talked about debts, we've done bills, and then we figured out what you're going to be spending for the month. And fortunately, these people have money left over. So that's always the question, right? If you're already at zero, when you get your spending, then you need to have some judgment calls, what can I change about this budget? And that's why our budget is so great is you can just fiddle with the math. And but you can just play with it say, well, if I make, if I do one overtime shift, or if I reduce my, my spending, or if I change, if I pay off the set, you can actually just see what your real life budget could be if things change.

20:26But they do have money left over. Hooray. So they have savings buckets. And that's what we're going to put in next. Yeah. So they just added the first time ever being able to save ahead of time for Christmas. They have some bougie dogs that have grooming. So we put that in there because those expenses are coming up. Home and auto, we have some things going on there. So we added a little bit there. And we added annual bills for 60 bucks. Now notice, you only heard we say four savings buckets. And if you're watching visually, that's like, and that is a total of$830 that they're saving this month on top of everything else that they're doing.

20:57And we had a conversation of, look, I know you can't do all your savings buckets. They don't have their kids activities in here. They don't have travel. They don't have some other things that they wanted, but they had the most important stuff that's coming up soon. So they were non negotiable. So that's why we put them in here. Yeah. Yeah. And then as they get their debt paid have, or as they increase their income, they'll be able to add more savings buckets. And so that would be great. And maybe there's some other choices that they're making. And sometimes we also say, it might be a season you're in.