So, as Brooke and I have been preparing to get married, we've taken care to watch our finances very carefully. We've been so very fortunate. We talked a lot about how we'd like to do our finances, and she told me a system that her sister and husband did their budget. Dave Ramsey calls it the Envelope System. With a few tweaks of theirs and our own, I have come to call it "Backward Budgeting."
Traditionally, when I would budget, I always had trouble because I wasn't sure how much I would make that month so I wasn't sure how much I could allocate to different categories. With backward budgeting, instead of budgeting the money you're going to make this month and spend it as it comes, you save it as it comes. Then, you budget this month based on the money you made last month. So, if I get 2 paychecks in July for $500 each, then I can budget $1000 in August. The money I spend in July is based on money I made in June. This way, you're always sure to budget money you absolutely have because you already have it!
Anyway, because I'm such a spreadsheet nerd, I've spent several hours working on the ultimate budget spreadsheet based on this idea. It's pretty incredible, and I really want to share it with the rest of the world. (Which is why I am posting on my blog). I created a sheet for Brooke and I specifically, then I adjusted it to make it a little more generic. Take a look at it, it's really cool. There's one for Individuals, and one for Couples. Please let me know what you think. I can update it, just let me know your thoughts :)
