Finance Basics Day 6: Using The Calendar In Addition To The Budget

A few years ago I participated in my Ward’s Family Finances class.  It was advertised within the Stake so members from other Wards were participating as well.

One of the participants came to class and told the rest of us that the budgeting wasn’t working, that she was still getting hit with NSF fees with the bills.  It turned out that all of the bills for the entire month were getting paid with the first paycheck, leaving no money until the second paycheck of the month hit their account.

I went home that night and used Excel on my computer to print out calendar pages for that month and the next two months for everyone in class, including myself.

I then showed on the calendar how to fill it out with paychecks being marked on the dates they were expected to be automatically deposited into the checking account.  Then I had the participants write down each bill, according to it’s due dates, on the calendar.

I was able to show them how to plan to pay their bills according to the calendar and not just pay everything on the first of the month.

By the second month, this participant came back happy and announced that their budget was now working with by combining the budget with the calendar.

Here is the video Angie made of her filing system: