Savvy Budget Girl
Welcome to Savvy Budget Girl, the podcast where money talks get real—laughably real—but still smart, because who says you can't laugh while building your net worth? Join host Wendy Coop, Navy veteran, author, and all-around financial whiz as she dives into the nuts and bolts of making your money behave.
On Savvy Budget Girl, she’s here to arm you with the tools to end every month with a victory dance around your surplus of cash. Say goodbye to the paycheck-to-paycheck two-step and hello to financial freedom. She is a certified financial education instructor and an Accredited Financial Counselor® candidate.
Wendy's mission is clear: to make financial literacy accessible, engaging, and, dare we say, fun. This is your invitation to join a community of high-flying women who are ready to take charge of their financial destinies. Buckle up, and let’s show your budget who’s boss!
Savvy Budget Girl
Practical, Time-Efficient Budgeting Strategies for the Busy Individual
Recorded live at Podcast Movement 2023 in Denver!
Are you constantly racing against time, feeling like budgeting is a luxury you can't afford? You needn't compromise your financial health due to time constraints, and I'm here to show you how. Welcome to this episode of Savvy Budget Girl, where we discuss practical, time-efficient budgeting strategies that can work for even the busiest individuals.
We delve into the benefits of a zero-based budget and the pitfalls of leaving money unallocated. Whether you're a techie who loves using budgeting apps like Mint and YNAB, or you prefer the old-school pen-and-paper method, we've got tips for you. We also discuss the merits of automatic savings, the 50-30-20 rule for budgeting, and techniques like cash envelopes for discretionary spending. And if you're a foodie, we've got some smart advice on meal planning and grocery shopping that can help you avoid splurges and save more. Tune in to take control of your finances today!
Complete show notes at http://savvybudgetgirl.com
Short on time but know you need to know how to budget. Join me for this quick episode of Savvy Budget Girl to get you started, whether or not you short on time. Hey, fam, welcome to the Savvy Budget Girl podcast, the show where I teach you how to keep your lattes. Welcome to the show. So today we're talking about Quick tips for budgeting when you're short on time, and if you've never heard any of my episodes before, never seen any of my videos, you know that we budget here on this channel. In fact, we use a zero based budgeting system and that simply means that your income minus expenses equals zero. We do that so that every dollar has a job and that there's. We found that when money's left over, at the end it just kind of disappears. So when you give every dollar or job, such as in a zero based budget, you will find that you're more intentional about your spending, you're more intentional about your savings and you're able to complete your financial goals. So I'm gonna give you some tips quick tips on how to actually Budget when you're short on time. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1:Tip number one is to use budgeting apps. You can use apps to save time and automate your budgeting process. But if your old school like me and you prefer pen and paper, that's fine too, because I have those supplies in my Etsy shop so you can go to SavvyBudgetMerchcom. But the trick here is to save your receipts If you're using pen and paper, and save your receipts so that you can track them in bulk Rather than with every transaction, like you would if you were using an app. So back in the day like I'm 43 years old at the time of this recording but back in the day we used to have checkbook registers. So when you pulled money out of the ATM or you wrote a check or you used your debit card, you had a little register, a little book that you recorded all your transactions in. But now that hardly anyone writes checks anymore, no one really keeps track of their expenses anymore. So this is basically going back to that old school way of tracking your expenses as you go, rather than trying to reconcile it when you get your bank statement at the end of the month. That's not the time to do this.
Speaker 1:So you can do for popular budgeting apps. You can use things like Mint, ynab, which is you need a budget. That's not free. Mint is free, but YNAB is a paid app, but you can get the first 34 days for free At the time of this recording. And then there's an app called every dollar which is the DayfreeMZ app. There is a free version and then there's a paid version. So you may just be fine with the free version and if you decide to upgrade, same with YNAB, you can pay at the end if you want. These apps can help track your expenses and get you towards your budgeting goals by showing you actually how much you're spending, what you're spending it on and where your savings are in relation to your goals. So use these apps as a tool, but also to help you be more intentional about your spending and your savings.
Speaker 1:Tip number two is to set up automatic savings. You can set up automatic transfers to your savings accounts. You should have more than one savings account and this can help you save money without even thinking about it. So I know that without the automatic tie, the automatic savings set up, I tend to forget. Just go about my day using the budget, making sure bills get paid, but when I have the automatic giving turned on or the automatic savings turned on, then the next thing I know I've got tons of money in my savings account that I didn't have to think about, and when you're short on time, you don't want to have to think about it. Make sure, though, that when you set up your transfers, they coincide with your paydays, or maybe a day or two after your payday, so that the money is always there in your account. So, hey, if you're getting value out of this episode and you're watching it on YouTube, hit that subscribe button, and if you're ready to finally take control of your money and build wealth head over, to keepyourlatescom. That's keepyourlatescom. And now on to tip number three.
Speaker 1:Tip number three is to implement the 50-30-20 rule. So that is a rule for budgeting, and what it means is 50% of your income should go to necessities, 30% to once and 20% to savings and debt repayment. But it's very simple. If you don't have time to go through and track all your expenses and to put all the categories down and maybe you forgot some categories this is an easy I want to say no-brainer way to get the budgeting done, because you're just allocating by percentage. You don't have to go so deep into the categories. So this is a lot more simple than the zero-based budgeting, even though I usually recommend zero-based budgeting for beginners, because it really gets into the weeds of your money. But if you're short on time, the 50-30-20 rule or method will work for you. But the point is get started. Don't let indecision between which budget method is the best or the perfect one to keep you from starting your budget. Just do the darn thing.
Speaker 1:Tip number four is to use cash envelopes for discretionary spending. So the reason we do this is because, as I've said before, this is a hard visual on not only how much money you have, but how much money you have left. When the envelope is empty, you stop spending, unless you're willing to pull from another envelope. But that might mess up your budgeting categories. So we try not to pull from another envelope unless it's urgent or an emergency or like you're starving you need food.
Speaker 1:This method helps you control your spending and stay within your budget, and you can use regular envelopes that you get from the store, like regular plain white envelopes. You don't have to get all fancy like I do with my cash envelope budgeting wallet in the ones I review on the channel. You don't have to use any of those things to get started, but if you do, it may make you more inclined to keep going. So consider getting one of those nice wallets you don't pay. They're like 20 or $30 maybe on Amazon. There are many of them, but click the link in the description below so you can see some of the reviews of the ones I've tried so that you can decide for yourself. You can also do this with digital budgeting apps. So something like Q Q-U-B-E offers digital envelopes, and some apps offer something like buckets so that you can do the digital version of the cash envelope method. But again, it's what works for you. But I encourage everybody to try the physical cash envelopes before they move over to digital.
Speaker 1:And tip number five is to meal plan and grocery shop with a list. This helps you avoid impulse spending at the grocery store. Also, if your husband is like mine, you may wanna leave him home and not bring him to the grocery store either, because all kinds of things end up in the shopping cart that were not on the list. But when you take the time to actually plan out the next three or four days of meals, then you know. And then you go into your kitchen, go into your pantry. You know what you have and what you don't have, so that you know what you need from the store. This also gives you more time to look at sales around you so that you can figure out where to get the best things at the best price. This saves time, reduces impulse purchases and it helps you stick to your budget.
Speaker 1:There's tons and tons of meal planner apps out there. I'll put some in the description of the show notes. I don't use any right now, I just use recipes for inspiration, but I used to use the one by Forks Over Knives, which was very helpful. So if you're looking for a meal planner app, make sure it can also help you build a shopping list. And that's it. Let me know in the comments how you keep track of your budget when you're short on time. And hey, if you enjoyed the show, don't forget to head on over to keepyourlattescom If you're ready to finally take control of your money. Follow the show and get notified whenever there's a new episode. And if you're watching on YouTube, hit the subscribe button. Until next time, bye, fam.
