FTC Disclosure: I have partnered with Money Saving Mom to tell you about these budgeting worksheets and planner. As an affiliate I receive a commission if you purchase The One Hour Budget, at no additional cost to you.
Today's Declutter 365 mission is to make a household or family budget. In this article I'll both tell you how and why to do this as part of decluttering and organizing your home, as well as provide several recommendations for worksheets and other resources to do it quickly and easily.
We're working on making this budget as part of the Organize Bills & Finances week of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge. I've placed this mission during the Declutter 365 calendar for this week because a budget helps you keep your finances and bills organized, among many other positive reasons to create one.
When you think about making a budget for your family it can sound daunting. I've got several suggested resources below to help you make one quickly and easily, and you get so many advantages when you make such a budget that it's definitely worth the time and effort you'll spend on this task.
Once you've made your budget you'll know what money is coming in and out of your household, and this knowledge increases your control and helps you make better money choices.
Your budget, once created and implemented, will:
If you're not yet convinced that you need a budget, I recommend the book, "You Need A Budget" (referral link), written by Jesse Mecham, the founder of YNAB (You Need A Budget), a very popular budgeting app. I've read quite a few books about making and using a budget, and I felt like this one was the most straightforward and helpful to help you tackle this task, and be convinced how helpful a budget will be for your whole family.
This is a Declutter 365 missions, and that means I try to find a task for you to do in 15 minutes, or at least to do 15 minutes at a time. Making a budget is one of those 15 minutes at a time tasks, although it should just take you a few 15 minute sessions if you create your budget with The One Hour Budget from my friend Crystal Paine, from Money Saving Mom.
The One Hour Budget is a 23 page workbook which is a simple step by step guide to set up a budget in just 60 minutes.
Here are the four steps you take when making your budget using The One Hour Budget, and how long each step takes:
Normally the One Hour Budget costs $25, but when you use my promo code, D365 at checkout, Crystal has reduced the price to just $19, which is a $6 savings!
In addition, with your purchase of The One Hour Budget, you'll also get three bonuses, including:
Don't forget to use my promo code, D365 at checkout to save $6 on your copy of this budget workbook!
Even if you're not ready, right now, to get the full The One Hour Budget workbook, I encourage you to get one or both of these freebies from Crystal to help you make your household or family budget for this Declutter 365 mission. She's giving away both free budget goal planning worksheets, as well as budgeting spreadsheets.
You can get your free budget goal planning worksheets here:
These budget goal planning worksheets can help you clarify what your financial priorities are, so you know how to use your household budget to help you meet those goals.
You can get your free budgeting spreadsheets here.
These budgeting spreadsheets can help you track and stick to your budget, including both your fixed and variable expenses.
However you choose to make your budget, using some of these worksheets, or another guide, I hope you'll go ahead and start making your family budget today, so you can begin to reap the benefits of this in your household's financial life right away!
Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.
The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!
Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.
Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.
In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.
If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!
Right now you're decluttering papers and other items dealing with your bills and financials, and there's a lot of these types of items around your home.
I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.
In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!
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I would love to hear from you, sharing your thoughts, questions, or ideas about this topic, so leave me a comment below. I try to always respond back!