It’s simple, but not easy. We call it the “Coin and Calendar meeting.”
Every week, on Saturday morning, Sherri and I sit down and follow an agenda:
- Enter any receipts into the checkbook that we haven’t already entered.
- Balance the checkbook.
- Make corrections to our spending plan. For instance, if we’ve overspent on restaurant we will change our plans for next week, move some money from the grocery line to the restaurant line, or make some other change that will bring the restaurant line item back into the black. For a WONDERFUL spending plan form check out the FREE form on Re-Think Money.
- We review our debt-payment-schedule and ask this question, “Is there any extra money we can use to pay off debt this month?”
- We pay bills. For an easy form to help you track and pay off debt, check out the FREE tools at Re-Think Money!
- We review our calendars together to make sure there are no surprises. The fact that we both use Google Calendar helps a LOT!
- We go through the mail together.
- Our final step is to print out our updated budget and calendar. This allows us to see where we’re at for the week. For instance, I look at the budget and see that we’ve already spent $85 of our $100 for gas and it’s only the second week of the month… I know we need to drive less or reallocate some funds if we’re going to make budget!
A few questions:
- Do you fight during this meeting? Yup.
- Do you like this meeting? Nope.
- Do you need this meeting to keep your marriage healthy and your home in order? Yup.
Having the “Coin and Calendar” meeting regularly keeps financial frustration from being a regular point of contention in our home!
Our friend Beth Nelson writes, “having a budget means I can buy anything I want.” And if YOU are going to enjoy this freedom you have to have a plan AND you HAVE to meet regularly! (Read Beth’s whole post here… it’s worth your time! and she offers to help you set up a budget if you need help!)
So there’s no excuse for financial pressure in your home! You now have access to:
- A Coin & Calendar Meeting agenda
- Links to a Spending Plan and a Kill Debt Plan from Re-Think Money
- An inspirational quote and an offer of help from Beth Nelson
Now go take control of your money and stop fighting about money!
Filed under: Money/Finances, My life
This gets me excited about budgeting all over again! Yippee!
We miss you guys and think of you often – hope everything is going swimmingly in OH.
Love it! That’s a great idea. We use envelopes…maybe we should bring our envelopes to a Coin and Calendar meeting. Keep up the great posts!