Tip #1: How to get your spouse/significant other to go along with a budget.

After 7 plus years of marriage it has only been in the last little while that my husband and I have begun to take our budget seriously as a couple. Before that it would go in spurts. Half the time He would follow the budget the other half I would. The point is now we are in it together.

How did I get Him to go along with it. It wasn't easy and some days I feel he isn't with me, but for the most part he is. He still wonders where all the money goes, and I just tell him not to worry so much. To me it seems the more you worry about something the harder it is to hold on to.

Trust me when I say you are going to be coming back to this tip until you get it right!

What not to do:

There were times, even now when I have wanted to hand over the money managing to my husband, but truth is I love to manage the expenses. I want to know where our money goes and why at the end of the month we live like college students(not that it's a bad thing). But there are times when my husband would get a soda from the school cafeteria for a little over a dollar or he would "forget" lunch so he would buy something at school(he is in college getting a degree in Accounting!) and I would just want to hand over the budget and say, "you think we have a million dollars, you do the budget for a month" but I don't. Truth was we weren't spending our money the right way.

What to do:

Once or twice a month my husband and I sit down at the computer and go over the months budget. This is the time to make adjustments and corrections. By doing this we also agree to continue to go along with the current budget. This helps both of us to know that we are committed to becoming and staying debt free.

Have you gotten your spouse/significant other on board yet? What are you waiting for? Go

My Budgeting Tips for You 4/1/2009

Here you will find the things I do to keep my budget in line. It doesn't always work the way I want it to, but here are the tips I have for you today! I am going to try and give five tips a week. Try is the best word for it! Look for a guide to what everything means coming soon!

Here you go:

1. When starting your budget make sure you and your spouse/significant other is involved. If they aren't your budget is going to only half work. So, get them on board and then continue with the tips! Go.

2. Now that you have everyone on board the next thing you need to do is either open an Excel spreadsheet or get a notepad. The tip right now is to put in one column your income and in another column your outgo. Put amounts and not just "Cable bill" or "Cell Phone". Example: "Cell Phone: $60.00"

3. Now that you have 1 and 2 complete. What you should do is budget high. You'll want to do this for two reasons: A.) So that you can have extra money at the end of the month. B.) You can pay that amount each month and eventually you will have a credit on your account.

4. Now that you have all your outgoing amounts listed, find a bank statement for last month to see where your money went. If this is your first budget you may be surprised where it actually went! Your tip is to cut out the unnecessary costs.

5. This last one might be hard, but you'll hear it on any blog or in any budgeting article. Follow the budget. If you don't you'll soon find yourself back at number one. So, the goal here is to move forward, not backward.

Here are your first five tips. Look for detailed posts regarding each one to come soon. Happy Budgeting!