You work hard for your money.
Budgeting doesnt have to be something you dread.
Think of all the different ways your budget can serve you.
Saving up for a big purchase?
Need to get a better handle on bills to reduce financial stress?
Want to free up money to spend on something you really love?
A budget can help with all of that.
10 Steps to Planning a Successful Family Budget Meeting
1.
Gather all relevant stakeholders.
At a minimum, your budget meeting should include you and your spouse or partner.
Decide how often you should have budget meetings.
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Do you avoid people too?
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Monthly meetings are common, because many bills are due once a month.
Set weekly meetings if you want to keep close tabs on where every dollar is going.
Be consistent about your meeting time.
Make money discussions a habit by meeting at the same time each week or month.
Set it on your calendar so your other plans wont overlap.
Stick to a set time period.
About 30 minutes should be all you need.
Remove stress from the equation.
Talking about money can be tough enough as it is, especially if its not something you do regularly.
A glass of wine and some snacks can transform your budget talk into something you look forward to.
Also, check that to eliminate distractions.
Turn off the TV and silence your cell phones.
Gather all the documents and tools youll need: a calculator, a calendar, bank statements and bills.
Youll likely be able to pull up everything on your smartphone or computer.
Have yourExcel chartor otherbudget spreadsheetready, or pull up thebudgeting appwhere you track your income and expenses.
Create a quick budget meeting agenda.
Note which topics are of top priority and how much time youll spend on each.
Cover the past, present and future.
Reflect on how your spending projections for the past week, month or quarter matched up to reality.
Set spending limits for the new month, accounting for current needs and wants.
Schedule bill payments and account transfers.
Discuss long-term goals and progress toward paying off debt, increasing savings and improving credit scores.
Budget meetings arent about dwelling on problems or placing blame.
You may decide having more autonomy over spending andnot having joint accountsworks better for your relationship.
Celebrate reaching your goals and the progress you make to get there.
Recognizing your achievements will motivate you to stick with your budgeting journey.
Create a budget that works for you with ourbudgeting bootcamp!
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
