WAYS TO EDIT THE CASHFLOW

Hi! Assalamualaikum.

Having trouble to set up a budget? Do not worry. We will do it slowly but surely okay. 

This time, I will share about the steps to set up our household budget.

When I say it's household budget, just let our spouse get involved with it. It will bring the merrier, yet the better family goals to achieve. 

EASY WAYS TO EDIT THE CASHFLOW

So, the steps are: 👇👇👇

1. Set-up a monthly budget party.

Is there a budget party? For real? Basically, it's a regular meeting with our spouse to talk about a household budget. Let's start with 1 family meeting per month. 

Just make it a party where we do what we need to do to make it fun. 

We can discuss the next month’s budget and also discuss how last month went. We can also talk about current goals, upcoming extra expenses like birthdays, any wins from last month and any areas of tension or frustration.

Don’t drag it on, we can try to keep it less than 30 minutes if possible. That's it!

2. Reward ourselves for sticking to it.

I consider this is a new habit. As I learned from the Power of Habit that to really make a habit stick, we should have a new reward to ourselves for completing a new habit.

If budgeting, frugal living, and saving money are new to us, then plan some simple, fun rewards!

It could be a fun family reward by simply going out to get ice cream with the kids. 🍦 Yummy!

3. Put our goals where we can see them.

Once we and our spouse have settled on family goals – post them out in the public. No, we don’t have to put them on Facebook. But we should put it somewhere we can see every day.

Use our goals as a daily reminder and encouragement of WHY we are doing what we’re doing.

This will motivate us to make choices that better align with where we want our family to go!

4. Track our spending habits.

I’m kind of a budget nerd and started tracking my expenses since January and haven’t stopped since. I went through ALL of our statements for five months.

While I don’t think all of us HAVE to do this, it is good to start tracking them from now going forward. I use a workbook to track mine. 

The CASHFLOW EDIT workbook allows me to write down all my transactions and categorize them based on my paycheck or salary earned. It is easy to see them on papers or book. Plus, I can see how much money is left in each budget category (and so can my husband!) in real time! 

5. Use the envelope system.

It’s proven that people are willing to spend more when they use their credit card instead of cash.

That’s why if we really want to crack down on our savings, grab these envelopes with Nafisah Amran catalogue, and head to the ATM. I'm sure we’ll be ready in no time.

I like that there are 48 envelopes in this bunch because I think the more detailed we can be on categories, the better we will be able to save money. 

For those who are about to begin, we could simply use 'sampul raya' as to create this new habit. But I started this with some zipper bags, which are also practical!

6. Create a budget binder.

For me, paper can really help us get organized initially. And many people THRIVE with this because they get away from their phones.

We can even throw our budget binder in the car, so after a purchase, all we have to do is log the purchase on our log and then add the receipt to the zipper bag in the binder! Done!

7. Log expenses daily.

The ONE habit that really made a difference for me when we first started budgeting was logging my expenses daily. Since I used the workbook and the budget binder, it was super easy to do because I could log my expenses right after leaving the store and it would auto-sync with my budget.

It only takes a few minutes every day if we spread-out! Once again, give ourselves a reward when we do this for a week straight.

8. Set-up auto draft.

When doing a budget, the banks are our friends. I love auto-payment and auto-draft. I don’t have to worry about paying any of my bills on-time. I simply make sure there’s enough money in my account to cover the bill and then I don’t have to worry about a thing!

I have set-up a few auto-payment for my insurance, loan repayment, mortgage, car loan and investment. It would be easy!

9. Brainstorm ways to save money.

In this case, it's quite hard for me at the first place. I considered myself as a big spender before. What I earn every month is what I can totally spend on. I never think of keeping some money for my future or unexpected things that might happen. 

But my husband is some kind of thrifty. He is able to save some money monthly in his account. As I got a bit envy with how much money he could keep in his account, I know I should do the same thing. 

My mistake was I let myself in for spending as self-reward. Especially new pair of shoes and handbag. 😅 That's why I then decided not to spend more on me, but to save more for my future. I allocate some money as my savings and start to have “no spend” days in my financial planner. 

We might find saving money is a bit challenging when we love shopping, right? But let's just think about our future first okay. I'm sure we can do this! 💪 

10. Meal-plan before we grocery shop.

The groceries and food can eat up a huge portion of the budget. I struggle enough to save SOOO much money each month when I actually meal plan and ONLY buy what’s on my list.

I end up bringing coupons, planning around sale items, and using up leftovers that are in my fridge when I actually meal plan.

11. Create a vision board

This is also a fun activity to do with the kids! Grab a poster board and some magazines. Think about what life would be like when we are debt free, not worried about money, and meeting our financial goals.

Now, look through the magazine and pick out all the pictures that have to do with this. Create a collage on our poster board as a family. Post this board somewhere to remind us of what we’re dreaming of!

12. Try to make a little extra money on the side.

If we’ve squeezed every last penny out of our income and it’s still tough to make ends meet without using a credit card, then consider trying to make a little extra side income each month. We can try one of these side hustle ideas: start a blog, resell items online, become an influencer or find freelance job.

Well, ready to start setting up the budget now? Just don't afraid to take the beginning steps. I'm sure we are able to work for it. 

Wallahu'alam.