How to start using and make a budget calendar
Is a calendar part of your daily life? I know it is for mine!
There would be no way I could keep track of all the things I have to do, and places I have to be (especially with my kids’ activities), without a calendar to help me keep track of things. Without reminders to keep me on track, things get forgotten. I mean, moms can only hold so many things in our brains at once, right?
Well, if calendars are so important to our daily life, have you considered that a calendar might also be important to your budgeting and financial life?
When I discovered this budgeting trick of using a budget calendar, I was instantly hooked! Finally a way to help organize our family’s finances, and plan for upcoming events and expenses, that was so simple!
Now, I don’t make our monthly budget without filling out our monthly budget calendar first.
Want to get your own FREE budget calendar template? We have one included in our free mini-budget planner. You get it here:
RELATED ARTICLES: Free Printable Budget Templates
What is a Budget Calendar
A budget calendar is VERY similar to your regular daily or monthly planning calendar. However, this calendar’s main focus is to help you plan out all things related to your finances for the month.
All of your paydays, bill due dates, rent or mortgage payments, even savings contributions are entered into the calendar and planned for in advance.
This way you know EXACTLY when in the month you have money coming in, and when (and where) it is going out.
Budget calendars also help you to plan for life events, that sometimes get forgotten until it is suddenly here! For example, filling out the budget calendar for June reminded me that Father’s Day was coming up, and so I better set aside some money in our budget for some Father’s Day celebrating.
Budget Calendars can take any shape or form that works for you. You can use the calendar on your phone, a google calendar, your monthly planner, a large hang-on-the-wall calendar, or the in our Printable Budget Binder. The point is to do what will work for you
I love filling out our calendar, with pen and paper, as it really helps me focus on and visualize the upcoming month.
Why Use a Budget Calendar
Just as I enjoy setting up our monthly calendar or weekly calendar for our family, I enjoy sitting up a budget calendar. The budget calendar is really going to help you organize your finances. With the calendar you can easily see the plan for when your income is coming in, when bills are going out, and what you need to plan for in the future.
I find that when I set up our budget calendar, I actually have more peace of mind knowing what the plan is for the month instead of always wondering how and when things are going to get paid.
A budget calendar really lets you visually “SEE” everything that is going on with your money.
Do you have a lot of bills coming out at the very beginning of the month? You could contact those companies and ask to move your due date, so that your bills are spaced out more and therefore easier to manage.
Do you have several debts you’re working on paying off? A budget calendar would let you see how much debt you have, what those amounts are, and which ones you could probably pay off quickly.
A budget calendar really is a fabulous tool if you’re trying to get control your finances and figure out where everything is going.
How to make a budget calendar
In order to make a budget calendar for your finances, you’ve got to make a list. Write out all of your monthly bills and expenses, and put them in order by the date they are due. If you’re having trouble doing this you can look through your bank statements, credit card statements, etc. to figure out when your bills are being paid.
Next you’re going to take a blank calendar sheet, and fill in the bills and their amounts on the corresponding day of the month.
You’re also going to add in the days that you get paid and how much the paycheck is.
Now you should be able to see when you’re getting paid versus when bills are coming out so you can make a better plan for how to pay your bills.
You can also add in notes into the calendar on days that you want to accomplish a certain financial task. For example, you can mark a day to save a certain amount of money, or when you want to plan to mail in a check for a bill, or when to plan to pay a bill online. The budget calendar is designed to help you plan in advance how to handle your various financial transactions so that you know what to do and when to do it so you don’t miss a bill and you can win with your money.
Moving forward with a budget calendar
Once the month is done and you have paid all your bills on the calendar it helps to go back and see what worked during the month.
This allows you to continually make changes to your budget and to your financial plans so that you are working towards a system that works for you and keeps you on track.
It is okay to make adjustments, to see that something didn’t work and you need to schedule a bill to go out a different day, or anything else that needs to be changed. the magic calendar is designed to be for your finances your budget your life. You need to make it work for you. So don’t be afraid to make some changes and weeks until you get it just right for your life.
Your budget calendar is really great way to plan your money if you get paid multiple times in a month so you know where the money’s going to come from to pay for your bills.
Final Thoughts on a Budget Calendar
Life is crazy and it’s so easy to forget something that is important. Just as I could not survive my daily life without a planner to help me remember what it isn’t supposed to do, a budget calendar is just as important to help me with my money.
Money stress is real. But some of that stress can be taken out if you take the time to work on a budget calendar and really make a plan so that you can see how your money is going to work for you.
I promise that creating a budget calendar will make your budgeting journey easier and help take the stress out of managing your finances.
Do you use a budget calendar? How does it work for you? Let me know in the comments below.
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