Author: Jenna

Are you ready to start budgeting?

You’ve read through What is a Budget, and maybe you’ve even set up a Holiday Budget, but now you are ready to settle in and set your budget! What will the first steps be? We are going to figure out our why and set some goals. And I’ll give you homework for November’s blog. 

First, grab your budgeting worksheets so you can fill them out as we go.

We want to determine our why. Why do you want to budget? Why do you want to get your financial life in order? You can have one why or many. It really depends on what you are doing this for. If you are making a budget because it’s what you’re supposed to do, you will most likely fail. If you sit down and think about your why and realize you want to start a budget to stop living paycheck to paycheck or to help teach your children about money so they don’t struggle as you did, it will be easier to stick with your budget. 

Me, I want to get my finances in order so I don’t have to stress about money. I want to make sure I have enough to fund the experiences I want to do now and well into my retirement. I want to enjoy my retirement and not have to work full-time until I die. 

We will all have different whys and they will change over time.

Next, we are going to set our goals but first, we are going to answer some questions. You should be honest with yourself. No one else is going to see your answers. Your worksheet has space to answer these five questions.

1. Think about your current financial situation. What is one thing you could do to improve your financials? How would your life change if you fixed just that one thing?
2. What are your financial hopes and dreams? Think about the little things and the big, pie-in-the-sky stuff. Don’t limit yourself. Where do you want to be?
3. Start a list of how you can improve your current finances. What could you cut out? What could you work to spend less on? Remember, this shouldn’t be all or nothing. You don’t want to cut everything all at once and end up feeling deprived and going on a spending spree. Can you make coffee at home? Maybe investing in a fancy coffee machine and some supplies would help save in the long run.
4. What obstacles do you have? What are your money fears or limiting beliefs? Write down each obstacle and try to think of two or three solutions for each.
5. Imagine how you will feel when you have reached your goals. Write it down. Reference it often, especially when you are struggling.

We have our why. We have taken some time to think about and answer the five questions. Now we will set some goals. We will decide on a few goals and pick one primary goal to work towards first. As stated above, we don’t want to go all in and get burnt out or feel like we will never reach our goals. Once you feel you have a good handle on goal number one, you can add in goal number two. You can also reach goal one and then move on to goal two. It will really depend on you and what your goals are. 

Of course, you will be reviewing and updating your goals as we go along. I tend to look at my goals every quarter and see if they are still relevant or serving me.

What kind of goals can you set?

• Pay off credit card debt
• Build an emergency fund
• Stop living paycheck to paycheck
• Plan for retirement
• Improve credit
• Payoff home or car loans
• Start, or increase donations
• Start investing
• Write a will

Those are nine basic examples of the types of goals you can set and work towards. If you have credit card debt, you may want to start there. Write down your top three goals on your worksheet. 

First, pick the goal you want to prioritize. We will use credit card debt as our example. We are going to answer a few questions. Not all of these will be applicable to each goal so if you don’t have an answer for something it’s ok! Move on to the next one. And sometimes, you need to put in some work before you can answer! That is totally ok, make a note that you will come back after reviewing some resources. 

To start, answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Who? You and your partner need to be on the same page. What? Pay down debt. When? We will start on our next credit card due date and it should take us six months to pay off. Where? Not applicable. Why? To have financial freedom. How? We will review the different methods and pick the one that works best for us. 

What do you need to accomplish this goal? What resources or supplies do you need? For your credit card debt, you may need all your current statements. You need to know what you owe and the interest rates. Are there any skills I need to brush up on? For the debt payoff, probably not. What do I need to learn? You need to learn HOW you will pay off the debt. Should I do the avalanche or snowball? Something different? You will read up on different methods and philosophies before deciding. You may want to try an online calculator to see which will pay it off fastest or with the least amount of interest. 

You’ve reviewed your resources and have decided to start with the snowball method. You think paying off the smallest debt first will give you a boost to keep going. You can update your how section now. 

Lastly, we are going to take each goal and break it into smaller, manageable steps. 

For our debt payoff, we will list our debts, minimum payments, and interest rates. Grab a notebook or spreadsheet and list your debts in the order you want to tackle them, based on the snowball method (smallest to largest).

We now have all our debt info in one spot. The next step will be to determine how much extra we can pay for our first debt. Maybe you can pay an extra $50 a month. Make a note on your list or spreadsheet. For me, my next step would be to write the bill and new payment amount on my bills calendar. Then when I go to pay bills, I’d consult my calendar, see my planned payment, and set up payment. You may go in and set up an autopay right away so you don’t forget. You may also set up the other card’s minimum payments at the same time.

Your steps may look different than mine. We will all have different small or manageable steps depending on how our brains work!

Let me know what financial goal you are going to prioritize in the comments.

I used the credit card payoff as an example because that is my main goal right now. I am also building an emergency fund but it is not my primary goal and is not where my focus lies right now.

Next month we will tackle starting our budget! Your homework is to gather your bank statements, credit card statements, and paychecks from the past three months! You will need them to figure out where the heck all your money is going!

Need a visual walkthrough of all the steps? Head over to YouTube and watch the video version (and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss all the other budgeting videos that are coming)!

Today we are reviewing The ADHD Planner in green ($34.99),  also available in black. The green is hard linen cover and definitely has a rougher texture, which may be an issue for some with ADHD and sensory issues. It looks like the black may be the same material. The planner is 6×9, a good size for portability and not too small for those of us with large handwriting! There are three (3) ribbon bookmarks that hang out about an inch at the bottom of the book. The paper is very smooth. There is no tooth or texture but it does seem thicker than average paper. 

It is undated, which means you can start it anytime and if you don’t use it for a while you can pick it back up at any time.

The Amazon copy mentions that it is made by people with ADHD and was made for those with ADHD. The cover and spine are imprinted with The ADHD Planner in gold. I think it is quite noticeable so some people may not be comfortable using this planner at work. I am open about my ADHD but I know others do not like to share or don’t want their employers to know. On the back epic self is imprinted in gold along the bottom edge. I kinda wish this was on the cover and spine instead! 

I was actually quite excited to test this one out. I did an initial flip through and it seemed like it would be really helpful! 

So what all is in here that got me excited? 

The first page is titled Intention Clarification and has seven areas of life/goals and asks where you are now, where you want to be, and why for each area. Next to that is a goals page with room for six goals. I guess you have to drop one of the areas. The next six pages are for really breaking down each goal (and it looks like the family was dropped. Guess it got lumped in with relationships). 

Next up is a routines and rituals page where you can fill in a morning, get in the zone, and evening routine. Followed by a brain strategy place to jot down things like what motivates you. There are two pages for listing Master Projects with space for two personal and two business project lists. Lastly, before the actual planning pages are two pages for to-do, each to-do page has a spot for daily, weekly, and monthly personal and business to-dos. 

Moving into the planning pages, we have a weekly overview, review, and preparation. The overview is more planner focused while the review and preparation feel more like a journal to me. Next is a brain dump and a weekly schedule. Each day of the week gets two pages. The first has tasks, chores, and checklists to make sure you did your routines and drank water. There is also a space to do time blocking. The second page is more journal-like with affirmations, notes, and accomplishments. 

This pattern continues to the end of the book. The Q&A on amazon says there are 13 weeks. I did not count to confirm this. (I’ve got ADHD, do you really think I’d sit and count that?!)

In the end, you get two lined note pages and nine ways to get out of an ADHD rut. 

I really like how the planner is set up and feels like a cross between a planner and a journal. On the surface, it feels like it would be helpful. But would I keep up with it? Would I stick with it?? I used it in September for the month before making my verdict. 

The first thing I did was start at the beginning. The intention clarification and my goals pages were a little difficult with no directions. I had to sit and try to think about how to set the pages and how I would fill them in. Some of the spaces were small and awkward to write anything of substance in. I did like the individual goal pages. There was logic to working through the page. I wish the obstacles and solutions boxes were bigger or instead of being vertical were horizontal. I liked the three-month habit tracker as well. 

I only partially filled out the routines and rituals. I am not a fan of the time because depending on the day it can vary. I also still don’t know what a “get in the zone” routine is. I also skipped the stuck and unstuck part of my brain strategy. 

I ended up not filling out the master project and to do pages. 

I started using it the week of 8/29. And I realized that it’s not a planner I can keep up with. I thought I would really like this one but it’s… ok. Even using a ribbon to mark the goals pages? I never go backward. I never check in on those pages and I never used the habit trackers back there.

It also became very redundant within itself. I did like the big 3 for the week on the weekly overview but the rest was worthless. I would write in the important events, dates, and deadlines there then re-write them on the weekly schedule AND the daily pages. It quickly became too much. 

The weekly review and prep page was great and I enjoyed the weekly reflections. The habit tracker? I was always scrambling to fill it in at the end of the week, which isn’t really the point. I used the brain dump for one week. I liked the weekly schedule and preferred that to the review. I can see the week at a quick glance. 

This brings us to the daily pages. I wish the big 3 and other tasks had check-off circles like the daily chores. I ended up using a highlighter or dot pens to make my own checklist. I need to check things off and I don’t like drawing a line through the task in case I want to look back and see what I did. I used the vitamin space to check off when I take my medication. 

The daily affirmation got old after six days. Maybe a weekly affirmation would be useful. 

The notes and accomplishment sections were helpful. It made me sit down each night (or the next morning) and really think about my day. I also jotted things in the note section I didn’t want to forget or wanted to schedule out 

The ADHD Planner had some great things about it but other not-so-great things. Am I going to continue using this? Probably not. I mean I have it, so I might. But I’m no longer excited about it. My EC daily duo and Makselife goal pages work so much better for me. Would I recommend this one? No. I think it has potential but there is too much redundancy and it expects you to remember to go back and look at what you did previously. 

I think it could be streamlined and the goals incorporated into the weekly overview. If it were me, I’d remove the important events & deadlines section and replace it with weekly goals. And maybe change the daily affirmations into some daily goal work. 

Also, the price point for this is a little steep for a 13-week planner. For a year you would need four of these at $35 each. That’s $140 for the year. 

What do you think about the ADHD Planner? Would you try it? What is your favorite or least favorite thing about the ADHD Planner?

Want to see the walk-through and how it worked out? Head over to YouTube for the video review!

Halloween. Thanksgiving. Whatever December holiday you may celebrate.

All of these are right around the corner and will be here before you know it. Have you thought about how you will budget for all of these upcoming events? In reality, we should have started in January, or even July, but it’s never too late to plan and budget!

Why should you budget for the holidays?

The main reason is to avoid going into credit card debt, or more debt for some of us. The second reason is to know what you can spend on gifts, food, and new decorations. You can make a plan of everything you need to buy for the holidays and look for the best deals. You know, instead of running out at the last minute to grab whatever you can find. Lastly, so you can enjoy the season with less stress!

How will you create a holiday budget?

First, think about where you want to be at the end of the year financially. Do you want to be in more or less debt? Are you saving for anything? Working on an emergency fund? What financial goals do you have for next year? What major expenses might you have come up? What are your priorities for the year? Why are you thinking about these? Because you don’t want to put yourself behind on these goals just to fund your holidays!

How to set up your budget:

1. Sit down and figure out your current financial situation.
   • Grab a planner or calendar with September through December and mark all of your paydays. Estimate how much money you will have for each check
   • Next fill in all of your upcoming bills and expenses. If you don’t know how much your electric bill will be, make an estimate. You can probably look at how much you paid last year and add a little more to be safe. 
   • Add up all your income and bills and then subtract your bills from your pay
   • How much do you have leftover? There is your holiday budget starting point!
2. Create a plan for each holiday. If the holidays listed here aren’t ones you celebrate, swap them out for the ones you do. These are the ones we budget for in our house but I know not everyone celebrates Halloween or Thanksgiving.
   • Write down everything you need for each holiday, including gifts, food, and decor
   • Start collecting coupons, discount codes, and redeeming any points you could use towards items on your lists. 
   • Halloween
     • Costumes – how many costumes do you need? What can you reuse from previous years or things you already own? What do you need to grab?
     • Candy – Do you know how much candy you gave out last year? Are you going to grab it early and save it or do you need to wait until closer to Halloween? If you can get it early, you can grab regular candy on sale and not the “special” Halloween branded candy.
     • Decor – Take inventory, what do you already own? Do you need to replace anything? Do you want to get anything new?
     • Other – Is there anything missing you want to budget for? Do you do school cards or host a party every year? Write that down!
   • Thanksgiving and December Holidays
     • Food – make a meal plan if you’re hosting. Write down what you’ll make and what you’ll ask others to bring. Take inventory of your kitchen. Write down what you need to pick up from the store. Also, shop early. Don’t wait until the day before. You will have more options and less stress! And don’t forget to get those coupons! You can find some online and add to your loyalty card and others you can print off. 
     • Decor – Like Halloween, check what you have and determine if you want to update or replace anything. You might want to check any tree lights and make sure they work!
     • Other – Do you do a cookie exchange? Or donations to your favorite charities? Write all of it down! Do you need to travel? Wrapping paper? Cards?
   • Gifts
     • Write down everyone you would like to buy gifts for.
     • Determine how much you want to and are able to spend on each person
     • Look for coupons, sales, and online discount codes. 
     • If you know you’ll be out on Black Friday, you will already have your list and know exactly what you want to grab. But you may also see that toy your kid wants randomly on sale now and can grab it early!

Top Five Holiday Budgeting Tips

1. Keep it simple and sustainable. For example, you can gift children something they want, need, wear, and read. We always gift our nephews a toy, a shirt, and a book. 
2. Avoid using credit cards unless you know you’ll pay off the balance in full every month. We use our credit cards and pay off monthly to get travel miles and cash back. 
3. Keep your gift lists and other inventory lists with you when you are out. You never know when you will find a good deal!
4. Use a tracker to keep track of your budget and how much you have spent.
5. Set yourself up for next year. Add up what you spent this year and add 10%. Figure out when you need to start saving (January, July) and how much you’ll need to set aside. Make a bucket in your savings for Holidays (or a new account or a cash envelope – however you save). 

Have you started your holiday budgeting plan yet? What does your budget look like?

Looking for holiday budget trackers? Grab them .

Do planners recommended for people with ADHD actually help more than other planners for someone with ADHD? 

Let’s find out!

Today we are reviewing the Essential Daily Planner. This planner comes in three sizes, 5×8 ($15.95), 7×9 ($17.95), and 8.5×11 ($19.95). I am reviewing the 5×8 version. They all are cream paper with wire-o binding and come with a snap-in ruler with sticky notes.

Links are Amazon Associate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link.

I used the planner for three weeks and here are my thoughts. First, for me, the 5×8 is too small. Or my handwriting is too big. I made an attempt to write smaller and a few different ways to make a to-do list in the top section. I also moved items around to see how they would work in different spots. I think my week two and three worked much better than week one. 

I do like how simple and clean the layout is. There’s nothing to really distract you. The monthly overview is simple and has enough room to fit a few items. As with most planners, there is a notes sidebar on the month. There is no dashboard. It goes right into the weeks. The weekdays are split in two, the top half being a blank to-do section and the bottom is times from 7 am to 8 pm.

One thing I did not like is the time section. I thought I would but when I had things on the half hour, there wasn’t really a spot for it. The hour has a line and the half-hour gets dots. It was a struggle when I had something at 8 and 8:30. The 8:30 item got squeezed on the dots.

The other thing that really bothered me and would probably stop me from using this planner is each week has a mini month for the current month and next month. I don’t need both and it takes up precious space on the Saturday/Sunday column. I’d rather have the space for additional weekend space. I hate planners that don’t give room for weekends because that’s when I do ALL the things! I peeped the larger sizes and they have the mini calendars next to each other and a weird space below them. I don’t know why they wouldn’t put them on the bottom of the page and make Saturday/Sunday bigger?

Overall, it’s not a BAD planner. The 5×8 is a good size if you need to carry it with you. The best part is the simple layout and it’s not too distracting. Although I think the weird mini planners in the larger size would annoy me with that extra space below them. 

The limited space, especially in the 5×8, means you gotta make choices. What do you really NEED to do? This is helpful for someone like me who thinks they can do EVERYTHING and it all only takes 15 minutes! I’m never late but I have other difficulties with time. I think things won’t take as long as they do. 

It would also be good if you do time blocking. I used the time section to mark off my work hours but you could also do that with tasks. I do not do time blocking. I have tried in the past and I usually end up doing whatever I feel like for however long instead of following the blocks.

Each of us with ADHD is different. While this was not the planner for me, maybe it will be perfect for you! What are your thoughts on this planner? Do you think it would be a good one for you?

If you want the Essential Daily Planner, head over to my YouTube and watch my video on it because it will tell you how you can win it!