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May 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment

How To Use A Budget Calendar

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

Budget· Budget Tips· Debt Free· Debt Free Tips· Saving· Ways We Save

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Utilizing a calendar is a crucial step to help you budget and reach your financial goals. It is actually the first step in my budgeting process. I can’t make a realistic budget for our income unless I know what expenses we have upcoming for that month. Here are the steps I take to create our budget calendar.

Before I started utilizing this system, I struggled week to week finding a rhythm for our weekly paychecks. I was trying to fit our weekly paychecks into a nice calendar month and make our monthly budget from that. Needless to say, it wasn’t working so well.

The theory behind our thinking was that the elusive 5th weekly paycheck of the month, the one we would get before the start of the following month, we would use to increase our sinking funds. Inevitably that would always leave us a little short – and borrowing from those sinking funds – for bills that were due before our first paycheck of that following month.

For example, let’s say we’re paid weekly on Thursdays. Some months, the first Thursday is not until the 7th of the month. I know that we have bills before the 7th of the month, and I would set up our month’s income to rely on paychecks that we had not received yet to pay bills that were currently due.

How To Use A Budget Calendar

It wasn’t until I read You Need A Budget* that it clicked. We were using future money (the first paycheck of the month) to pay bills that were due now – within the first week of the month. What we should have been doing was using the money we had NOW (like the last paycheck of the previous month) to pay bills that were due NOW.

This small change in thinking changed our entire budgeting strategy.

What Is A Budget Calendar?

A budget calendar just like a regular calendar, but it tracks everything money-related. It’s a method you can use to help set a plan for your income, as well as track your monthly and non-monthly expenses.

Not only does it help track your current financial situation, but it can also help you plan for upcoming expenses.

It can help you see the short term and long term expenses, as well as give you concrete ways to reach your overall financial goals.

What You Will Need:

How To Use A Budget Calendar

  • Monthly calendar – you can use what you have, download the monthly calendar in my resource library, or purchase this monthly budgeting bundle with a year at a glance sheet as well
  • Pens – I prefer pens because they won’t rub off or fade over time, but pencils are fine as well
  • Highlighters* – I prefer using the Stabilo Boss highlighters because they’re nice and bright, and come in enough colors that I don’t run out when I’m color-coding my budget calendar and expense tracker.
  • Whiteout*

If you don’t prefer the pen and paper route, feel free to use a whiteboard, your phone calendar… use whatever works for you! Over the years, we have learned that writing our budget on paper, separate from our other appointments, works best for us. That way we are focused on only things relating to finances, not other random things in our calendar.

Benefits To Using A Budget Calendar

Using your budget calendar in this way helps you avoid those nasty surprises of annual and semi-annual bills. I can’t tell you how many years we knew that our car insurance premiums were paid every 6 months, but we never took advantage of that time in between payments to save up money, yet we were always surprised when that larger bill came in.

The same goes for our AAA bill. We live rurally, so paying a small annual bill for it was a no brainer, especially since towing costs alone are much higher than what we pay in a year. But it wasn’t until that bill showed up in May that we realized we needed to figure out a way to pay for that in the following month as well.

How To Use A Budget Calendar

A budget calendar can also help you streamline your process. If you have bills due at two times of the month, you can see where you can focus all your money for bills, and during the other periods of the month when you don’t have bills due, you can focus on your savings goals.

If you receive a monthly income have your bills scattered throughout the entire month, you can ask to get your due dates changed to match your monthly payday. Most companies are willing to work with you, all you have to do is ask.

Finally, using a budget calendar can also help you see any smaller, miscellaneous debts you have that can be paid off quickly, freeing up money for other financial priorities.

What To Include On Your Budget Calendar

Personally, I keep only things financially related on this calendar. This includes:

  • Paydays
  • Monthly Expenses – rent/mortgage, utilities, streaming services, health expenses, etc
  • Non-Monthly Expenses – tax due dates, quarterly & semi-annual utility expenses, school expenses, health expenses, birthday parties, etc. Even expenses that come out of sinking funds are on our budget calendar

Basically, anything that you are spending money on, you will put on this calendar.

Like I mentioned before, we have learned that we need to keep our budget calendar and my appointment calendar separate. My brain works better when I have things separated out, and when I start adding bills to my appointment calendar, it starts to get too cluttered and my brain feels overwhelmed. If you work better by seeing everything on one calendar, then do that!

How To Set Up Your Budget Calendar

Gather The Supplies

Once you have everything listed above, you are ready to move on.

First, you need to list out all your monthly expenses and organize them by the due date.

This includes:

  • Monthly bills that are consistent like housing, utilities, streaming payments, etc
  • Variable amount monthly bills like utilities, groceries. It is best to overestimate these and have money left over than underestimate them and be short money for the month
  • Quarterly, semiannual and annual bills – estimate how much they will be based on past payments, and then overestimate a bit to help account for any increases in costs. Then make sure you set reminders before 1 month and 3 months ahead of these expenses so you are reminded.
  • Savings Goals – this can be your emergency fund, sinking funds, vacation funds, etc.
  • Paydays – as well as any income estimates, and underestimate these. It is better to proceed with caution that your income may be a little lower

Putting it all Together

As you’re putting your calendar together, it is better to use color-coding. The bright colors help designate the information and capture your attention at the same time.

I like using three different colored highlighters to show me which bills are coming out of which paycheck. I use a separate color to show me when non-monthly expenses are due.

Below, I set up this calendar as if we were still paid weekly. I color-coded each payday and the respective bills that come out of each check. I even included things that would come from our sinking funds throughout the month in orange.

How To Use A Budget Calendar

I personally do not mark savings, since it has become a habit of ours to set aside money each payday. If your savings accounts aren’t on auto-draft, or you are still trying to make a habit of putting money into savings each payday, you will want to mark it.

When you are setting up your zero-based budget for that paycheck, you just focus on the bills, savings, and other expenses like food, household & pet items, that you will need between this paycheck and the next paycheck. Don’t focus on the future money, focus on the money you have now, and what you need it to do for you.

Since we are currently paid monthly on the 15th of each month, I still use a budget calendar, but I set it up a little differently.

How To Use A Budget Calendar

My month is divided into two colors, so I can easily see what check which paycheck the bills are coming out of. This type of calendar is especially helpful for random school expenses like yearbooks, chorus field trips, and any expenses for dance costumes – basically the things that I don’t have a sinking fund for, and that need to come out of the month’s budget. I can easily see what paycheck they would need to come out of.

Using Your Budget Calendar

As the month goes on, and I pay a bill, I like to check it off. I even mark my auto-draft bills with an “A” so I know that they are on autopay and I don’t have to schedule them.

At the end of each month, I go through the calendar and see what is upcoming. Since planning ahead is crucial for this process, I like to use the Year At A Glance page found in my Budget Workbook in addition to a budget calendar in order to keep up with what financial obligations are coming up in the next few months that I am able to start saving for now.

REMEMBER, THE GOAL OF USING A BUDGET CALENDAR IS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR FINANCES, AND NO LONGER SURPRISED BY UPCOMING EXPENSES. SO KEEP IT SIMPLE, AND USE A METHOD THAT WORKS FOR YOU!

How To Use A Budget Calendar

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makingcentsmatter

This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
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Our district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
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This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
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Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
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Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
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I do NOT bother to clean up at lunchtime. It would take us more time to clean up and reset everything than it takes us to eat lunch. So we only pack it all up for the day and call it done.
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During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
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Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
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Please keep in mind, we are paid monthly on the 15th, but we don’t go by a “monthly” budget. So I have to go back and look at these numbers based off their due dates in the calendar. Because our pay falls in the middle of the month, I can’t tell you what portion of our income went to debt. It’s going to vary paycheck to paycheck anyways because our priorities vary with each check. Nothing is ever the same month to month, and pay to pay.
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That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
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During August, we were doing more prep for whatever school would look like this year, and we had some savings goals make their way to the top of the list as well.
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Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
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It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
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I miss the days when zucchini was my problem. Now it's tomatoes. I can only find so many ways to use up spaghetti sauce! So the next 50lbs or so will be chili base and unseasoned sauce.
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On top of this school is starting with a hybrid in building & online system. And I'm seriously slacking on some things I need to do. I'm not good at juggling multiple things and the balls are falling. But I keep reminding myself... be patient. This too shall pass. This is only a phase. So I pick and choose what's the most important, focus on that and go from there.
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So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
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This too shall pass.
If you didn't start finding interesting ways to ge If you didn't start finding interesting ways to get rid of the squash, can you say you even planted any?
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Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins can come in super small packages. I thought I'd spend $380 to clean the band instruments in this house. I ended up spending $234. So the remaining $146 can go to reimbursing what I pulled from our EF.
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No matter the win, celebrate it!
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What are some wins you have had lately?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
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Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
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𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
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𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
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This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
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