How NOT to Get Overwhelmed with Personal Finances and Budgeting

Okay, this isn’t the most exciting or sexy topic… but it’s a topic that is on many of our minds every day!   Money. Bills. Budget.    I was never really taught about money. I think money is sort of a taboo topic in a lot of families, and it felt like that in mine. We didn’t have a ton of it, but we never learned about saving, or interest rates, or credit, or anything like that.    My ex-husband was great with money and taught me a lot about a budget, though I was resistant to it at first because it felt controlling and I didn’t like the restrictions. We had a lot of student loan debt (listen to more on that HERE on another podcast episode), and I ran across Dave Ramsay’s content. I really geeked out on it! And now I have a ton of tools in my tool belt in terms of budgeting. I stopped looking at budgeting as ‘restrictive’. I started looking at it as a tool to track behaviors… and it’s your behaviors that create the outcomes that you want.   In this podcast episode, I go through my actual budgeting spreadsheet. I talk about tracking expenses, tips for saving, and how it can be fun to play around with retirement savings tools. I talk about looking at your finances each month, and also annually. I discuss talking about budgeting with your spouse, and gift alternative ideas when you have a big extended family like I do.    I know budgeting and money can feel overwhelming, but these are the tips that helped me. Trust me, I didn’t come from a lot of money, and my ex and I were once in $170,000 in student loan debt that we completely paid off. I have walked the talk!   Just remember, budgeting is hard. Give yourself grace. Just because you’ve failed doesn't mean you're a failure.    Good luck with your budgets!   If you have some budgeting, saving, or financial tips, share on social media! Also, if there’s a topic you want me to talk about on this podcast, let me know!   xo Natalie   P.S. I would love it if you reviewed this podcast and subscribe! It really does make such a huge difference!    Resources from this episode:   Our Womanhood Free Trial Sample Budget Spreadsheet