Budgeting Basics: Know Where Your Money Is Going!

My husband and I just started taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University again! We did it for the first time four years ago, and I can’t even begin to put into words the difference it made on our finances and our marriage! The class has recently been re-vamped so that it is now 9 sessions instead of 13, so we figured it was the perfect time to kick or debt reduction back into gear!

I think the biggest mistake people make in terms of finances is they have no idea where their money is going! Even though we do use a budget, I think for the past several months (and possibly longer), we have just been going through the motions without really looking at our budget and where our money was going. We sat down this weekend and really looked at our budget and we were actually surprised to see how much money we were spending on things like cable TV, our cell phones, and a few other memberships and programs we were subscribing to. By really looking at our budget and where our money was going each month, we figured out a way to save $350 by changing our plans and cutting out some things! That’s $4,200 per year!

This week I challenge you to really look at where YOUR money is going! If you primarily use a credit card to pay for things, many credit card companies will now give you a breakdown of expenses in different categories. You can also look at your statement and break it down. Were you surprised by where you were spending the majority of your money? Did you find places where you could cut?