Zero-Based Budget. Sounds good to me. Does that mean that I have no money left over or no debt? uh-uhn. It means I am taking responsibility for where my money goes and comes from. unh hunh.
photo courtesy of vowelmoovement
Find out from the savvy SJ Peer of Getting Finanaces Done (or at least I think that's what his name is!)* the step by step way to do this.
GFD is a site to teach couples and individuals how to achieve anxiety-free financial control. I can get behind that. Anxiety-free financial control. I can honestly say I have never experienced that feeling, and that is something that is high on my list.
I am thinking about giving his system a try...especially since Quicken 2007
But. I like spreadsheets. And routines and when everything lines up, so the idea of a zero-based budget appeals to me. Especially if it's easy. From the website:
What is a zero-based budget?
A zero-based budget is one where your total income minus your total expenses equals $0. In other words, it forces you to assign every dollar of income to an expense (or savings) category. As Dave Ramsey puts it, you’ll be “spending your month’s income on paper” before you spend it in real life.
So, I would like to start tracking my personal expenditures and seeing where the money goes. I have always been one of those people (in the past) who had no idea how much is in her checkbook, I just 'pay & pray'. So far, for the most part, I haven't gotten into too much trouble, but in the last few years, I have allowed myself to rack up quite the debt. I honestly couldn't tell you what it is from, I live a simple life. Sometimes, when I am thinking about debt, I realize that debt is just another form of clutter, and clutter is the way we avoid responsibility in our lives. Debt is money clutter. And so what have I been avoiding? It's funny, I didn't get into debt until I moved to L.A. about six years ago. It wasn't even that I have more expenses, although I do, but my income grew as well, or that I bought a lot of stuff. What if my debt was about being lonely, and not feeling taken care of?
Dear readers, if you looked deep inside, would that make sense in your life? That you created debt as an expression of rage, rebellion and resentment that you have to be an adult and take care of yourself? Wouldn't it be fabulous if that realization put you on the road to debt recovery?
Here's a link to a previous post on Paying Yourself First. Right this very minute, as I am writing this post, I will set up an autopayment of $100 per month to go into my savings account. That is my commitment to myself.
So, what's yours, anyone? Just take one small step and I would love to hear it in the comments box below. You don't need to be a blogger to comment!
*[Bloggers, unless there is a safety issue for your anonymity, please put an About page that tells us who you are, that's what blogging is, human beings sharing information with human beings!]
Remember, I am on your team!
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((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Jessica -:¦:-
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