Plan Your Time, Meals & Money Every Month to Stop Budget Chaos | 75

So do you ever feel like you start the month off and then all of a sudden it's like the 17th? You've hit the drive through like 5 times. You have run to the store way too many times for last minute things and your budget is an absolute mess. So I want to tell you about how my process. So you don't need a color-coded spreadsheet for this. You just need to plan these three things at the start of every single month. So these three things working together will save you thousands of dollars, but also it will calm the chaos that's going on in life.

Because I know you're a busy parent, you are a raising kids, the next generation that's going to change this world. And the last thing that you have is time to do a huge like this huge prep and a 52 step system, right? Because we want to have a little bit of time for ourselves. So today I'm going to talk to you about the three things that I plan every single month that will help you, but it'll also help your bank account say thank you. Let's dive in.

Welcome to the Debt Ripple podcast where we discuss the insurance and outs of personal finance for families so you can eliminate the burden of debt, create financial margins, and learn a new way to interact with your money. I'm your host Jules the budget nerd, and I have been in your shoes. My husband and I have paid off over $107,000 in consumer debt until we finally threw in the towel and decided it wasn't for us. Throughout our journey, we learned another way to do life without debt. And that's my hope for you.

You can learn more about our story and see full show notes on my website, jewelsthebudgetnerd.com. That's JEWLZ, the budget nerd.com. Now let's dive into today's episode. OK. So very first thing. So we're going to be talking about the three things that plan every single month, your time, your meals and your money. So those are very those are in that order on purpose. So I'm going to explain why planning your time is such an important part to your budgeting process. So it's the thing that drives everything.

It is the one thing that we don't have unlimited amount of. We each have the same 168 hours every single week, which I know sounds sounds like a lot. Also, how is it possible that we all have the same amount of time, but we all spend it very differently. But if we are reactive with our time, we're going to be reactive with our money too. So one of the things that I do at the start of every single month is I look at the at the full month. And we also do this inside the alliance membership because this is the place where we can take a peek at what the next month is going to look like.

Whether there's holidays, maybe there's kids activities, maybe there's three day weekends and so your kids are going to be home an extra day. Or maybe you decide you're going to go on a little family outing, that kind of stuff. So you can look at the entire month. We're not going to plan on every single minute, but you're going to look at the big picture and see are there anything that's a little bit out of the ordinary routine? Then we're going to plan our anchor events, so our anchor points. And so family nights, that's something that we plan.

We have family days and making sure that those are blocked out. Then for myself, I get to decide when I work and I have work block times. So if your hours are dictated by someone else, then make sure you have those hours blocked off. And then appointments. So whether that's dentists, doctors, all that kind of stuff, making sure that your family is cared for and then you can fit in there other things around that. So I also would say the two other things to include in planning your time is to just have a budget night and a meal plan day.

So those don't have to be a big long processes. And I'm going to give you some tips and some pointers today on how to shorten the time for those two things. But if we think about time as a container and if we don't define what's going to be going into it, everything will spill over and especially our money. So we want to make sure that we have a grasp on what our time looks like for the next month. The next thing is planning our meals. Now this is one of the very last things that our family planned our did when we were getting debt free.

But let me tell you, it's one of the things that I wish we had started a lot sooner because one, I am not the world's best cook. I only learned how to cook a few years ago planning out our meals. And I still don't plan out like every single meal for every single day. And you know, breakfast, lunch, dinner type thing. But this is 1 area where you can one, create some extra margin in your budget, but also cut down on decision fatigue. And we don't don't necessarily have to overcomplicate it. So maybe you have theme nights, so Taco Tuesdays or you have pasta night, or maybe you rotate, you have 10 meals that your family just absolutely loves and you rotate those.

One of the things that's cool because you've already planned your time is you know what you're busy days are. So you can plan around, you can plan those meals around your busy time. So whether that's a crock pot meal or if you know you're going to be home late and so you planned leftovers from the day before for a late evening, or the other thing that's really cool about this is, is you're going to reduce the amount of food waste you have. The average family in the United States waste $1000 of food every single year.

It's food that we've made and then we throw out because we don't eat it in time or it's food that goes bad before we can eat it. So, you know, maybe ingredients, that kind of stuff. And so when we plan our meals, $1000, Can you imagine saving $1000 in a year just because you planned out your meals? That's your emergency fund right there. And it's not about being like Pinterest perfect, because Lord knows I definitely have. You can check out my Pinterest board. I have a meal planning Pinterest on there of things.

Some of them I've tried other ones I haven't. I want to, but this is going to keep us from, you know, panic ordering food or you know, door dashing, which can get very expensive, those kinds of things. One thing that you can also do when it comes to planning out your meals is use supercook.com. So when you go to supercook.com, you can plug in all of the things that you have on hand in on your in your pantry and in your refrigerator and it will provide you recipes based on those things. So that's really cool if your family has any type of food allergies or anything that are for, you know, dietary restrictions, it's going to be things you already have.

And so you're using those up before they go bad. So that's a great place to start. You can also use ChatGPT if you are comfortable with that. And you can just say, hey, type in these are the things I need to come up with dinners for the next, you know, the next week. So maybe you plan these on a weekly basis if planning an entire month at a time sounds very overwhelming, which it did for me at first. I just picked the busiest nights and that's usually where we decide to go 1st and then we can plan the other things from around there's.

Planning your meals is a huge one. That is a huge. It's not only a time saver, but it's also going to cut down on decision fatigue and also save your family money. Wouldn't it be nice to have $1000 this year because you planned out your meals? Because we got to eat right? We cannot skip meals. That's the big thing. Do not let your family skip meals. Hangry is a word for a reason, right? So the next one. OK, so we have talked about planning out your time. We've talked about planning out your meals and now my favorite, planning out your money.

So this is your bread and butter. That was a bad joke, pun totally intended, but all right, so this is that 0 based budget using the Every Dollar app. That's what I use. It has been so helpful for my family to get focused and be able to see things on a almost live basis because I try and keep that up regularly to see where our spending is, what bills haven't been paid that need to be paid, and see how close we are staying on track. It helps. Planning your money will also help you plan for those irregular expenses.

And like I talked about in the beginning, we do this every single month. One of our life coaching opportunities is the budget boost Power Hour. We just get together and have some a little bit of training and some slides. And then we work on our budgets together. And that's where we make sure that we keep in mind those things like birthdays or depending on what time of year it is, maybe it's back to school or maybe it's preparing for the holidays or those little tiny things that we forget sometimes.

Like, OK, we just finished up the summer. Our electric bill might be a little bit higher than it was, you know, maybe a couple months ago. So that kind of stuff, making sure that we keep those things in the forefront of our mind. Then also reviewing your auto pay bills and making sure that those things are taken care of and they were actually paid. But also if there's anything that can sneak in there and allow us so that we're like, hey, wait a second, maybe it's a subscription or something that you're not using anymore and so that you can take a peek at that.

So I'd suggest, like I said, the beginning of planning that that budget that you can call a money date, whatever you want to call it, even if it's just 15 minutes to look over your money. It's important to have that on a regular basis and be able to get some clarity and look and see what your money looks like for the month. So every single month that we don't plan our money is when we fall back into those all the habits that are costing us. So planning is where you tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.

So that's another reason why I created that alliance coaching membership the way that I did. It is an affordable price so that you can get the support that you need and the guidance that you need and the accountability. But also we're going to be able to get together and we're going to plan those sessions together. It's Co working time. There's also going to could be an additional training. So if you want to stop flying by the seat of your pants and just finally get on top of your time, your meals and your money, come join me inside the Alliance membership.

You can join us at Jewels the Budget nerd.com/membership that's JEWLZ, the Budget nerd.com/membership and grab your seat inside the Alliance. Let's plan next month together before it starts. So don't forget, we're going to plan our time, plan our meals, and plan our money so that at the end of the month, your budget will thank you, your calendar will thank you, and your grocery list. Well, thank you. I hope that this episode was helpful for you and a sneak peek into my process every single month so that my family can continue to stay debt free.

But if your family is working on getting debt free, this will help you get there. All right, talk soon. Thank you for listening to the Debt Rebel podcast. Now, if you want to take your next step, check out my website, jewelsthebudgetnerd.com. That's JEWLZ, the budget nerd.com. I've created a bunch of resources just for you. So hop on over, check it out and we can connect more there. If you love today's episode, I would be honored if you would hit that subscribe button and leave me a review. And remember, every step towards financial independence is a rebellion against debt.

So stay strong, keep pushing forward, and fight the good fight until next time. Debt rebels stay resilient.

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