Financier Forums

I love budgeting. To me, it isn't about putting the screws on but it's a plan for spending your money in an intentional way.

I hate the idea of being frugal just for its own sake. But when a budget can tell me I spent less than I thought needed for a boring category like the light bill and can tell me the exact amount of money left over, that gets exciting.  I'd rather spend money on something fun like tech or new clothes than dish soap and utility bills.

I think part of the secret is to budget a comfortable amount so you can live without a ton of pressure.  Then it's fun to be careful and keep your eye on the ball cause there will be a prize when the bill comes and/or the next pay period rolls around.

LOL - I have no idea!  I've never done anything like this before.

I thought if we were careful to stay on budget (we always went over on groceries and then I'd WAM to stay "on budget") that I'd probably be able to add $200-250 a month to our Money Game fund from our regular budget.  So I thought I'd have about $1,000 by now. 

I am blown away by the results because we have over $4,000 now in just over 3 months.

I haven't cut our regular budget.  For example, we have money for eating out and I didn't cut that out. 

At each level, you have a sum of money you can use to make more.  At the lower levels, you probably don't need to do anything except dig in your pocket for an extra dollar.  You just keep your current goal in mind and keep it fun. That's what helped me do a better job managing what we already have and finding more.

During the last three months, we started a project to major updates in our kitchen.  We installed a gas cook top, a new overhead fan and new wall ovens.  We're painting our cabinets and installing new hardware and granite will be part of the last step.  You know that involves trips to Home Depot for supplies and hiring contractors to do electrical work and installations.  I'm saying this to point out that we haven't gone scorched earth at all.  Life continues and the Money Game project has been a fun thing for me to add on the side.

I decided to blog about it so I can show my kids exactly how it fleshed out for me in hopes that they may get inspired to try it.  A few people have left comments with tips that were helpful so that's been a great benefit and I hope that part grows. I've never had a successful business so I really don't know how to *make money*. I'm learning a lot though.

Each level requires a bit more but each level gives you more to work with. One more point to your question - I'm noticing that I go through few levels each month but so far, we've deposited more each month.  Each month, I've thought this isn't sustainable with the way we've "found" the money we added but each month it has grown.  It's only been 3 months so far so it will be interesting to see where it takes us.

This was one thing holding me back from migrating from YNAB4.  I tested it and it worked great.  We shop at Costco and often have to split one payment between groceries and clothing.

Thank you!!!

Thank you - I'll fix the link!

I'm getting closer to switching over and just wonder if there's a way to back up our data?  I feel like my data is secure on YNAB4 as it's on my hard drive and in DropBox.

I have used YNAB4 for years as it got us out of debt and on to building wealth.  It's been disappointing to see their direction and I'm happy to have found something that may be a good alternative.

I blog about building money in goals of 5% at a time at https://homemoneygame.wordpress.com.  I couldn't do it without software like this so it's really my life blood.  I see that that Alex's app now has split transactions so I'm getting very close to pulling the trigger and making the change.

I have a few questions (mainly about backups) and I'll poke around to find the right place to ask.

I'm glad to see this forum and wish everyone here the best.