Getting financially organized this year!

I have to be honest,  I do not do budgets. There I said it, I admitted it. I have never in my life created a budget and stuck to it. I just know how much money I have and do my best to make sure there is some leftover each money. Sometimes that plan works, other months it doesn't work so well.

With our growing family and reduced income I have to finally face reality and quit ignoring the facts staring me in the face. As the financial planner and bill payer for my family, I NEED TO BUDGET! Plain and simple, no ifs and or buts about it.

But where do I start? As if God heard my prayers (I know he always does) yesterday I stumbled upon Carrie and her Dittle Dattle blog that offers financial planning worksheets for a notebook that she herself uses for her own family. I am all into simplicity, keep it simple and I am more like to stick with it. Carrie follows Dave Ramsey's financial planning and budgeting philosophy but her worksheets that she so graciously shares with the rest of us can be used for budgeting whether you follow the Ramsey plan or not.

I am in the process of creating a similar notebook for my family. I just need a few more office supplies to complete the notebook then I will be off and running. As Carrie mentions in her blog post, a notebook like this not only makes monthly budgeting simple but you also have all the information you need at your fingertips so that you can keep budget and financial status lines of communication open between you and your spouse. Love it!

Happy budgeting in 2011 friends!