The 4 Week Challenge to Mastering Your Budget
This budget has taken off. I’ve been tracking my linking, visitors, and subscribers and this budget is growing with a lot of energy behind it. Thank you to everyone, I appreciate the support. However, I’ve also read a lot of the blogs that are mentioning the budget system and I’ve noticed a trend. A lot of people are saying “This is a really cool idea, I’m going to have to look into it soon” or “I’m going to get started on this next month.”
So, here it is. The 4 week challenge to mastering your budget. Starting Monday January 23 I am going to put up a weekly assignment. Every monday for the next 4 weeks I’ll put a new assignment up. Best of all, I’ll be here to help with any questions you have along the way.
In just 4 weeks you’re going to take control of your expenses and channel your cash flow in the directions you want. Here’s to keeping those resolutions this year.
Program
- Week 1 - Open a new checking acount
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January 20th, 2006 at 11:41 am
I haven’t mentioned the system on my site yet, but I found that using the system seems like it will be easy for people who are already on the system, but I had to come up with a transition plan on my own, which involves about 2 weeks of shifting automatic deposits, a limited allowance, and paying off bills at specific times so that the money flow of stackbacks always leaves a positive amount in my account.
January 20th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
I’m going to get started on this next… week. Seriously! I already opened my new checking account and everything.
My grasp of my budget could have previously been described as “pretty good, but room for improvement.” I nimbly avoided common financial traps and mishaps, but always felt like too much time and thought went into what could’ve been a very straightforward part of my life. Your ideas have brought my finances into a degree of clarity that I *never* expected to find.
I look forward to the weekly challenges.
January 20th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
i’m in!
January 21st, 2006 at 7:47 pm
I found your website through LifeHacker, I think. I’m trying to recover from a financial disaster that has wiped out any hope of “good credit” for the next 10 years or so.
Just two weeks before finding your site, I’d opened up a second bank account, and had decided to use one checking account for day to day expenses and one for my predictible monthly expenses. Your website fit perfectly with what I was doing, and I could feel a lessening of tension in my shoulders. You can bet I’ll be following the challenges!
January 21st, 2006 at 8:27 pm
So, I did some internet research on budgetting systems a while back. One of the systems that I found (and mostly adopted) was very similar to what you propose. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember what it was called. Then tonight I saw it in a Google Ad on your site! It is called “The B Word” and they have a website at http://www.thebword.com/ . The software application that they sell is so-so - I abandoned it after a month or so - but the included e-book that they distribute with the software is pretty good, although you can get the basics from the website. The system that they advocate is very similar to Stackbacks.
Kudos to you for coming up with it independently and publishing your system for free, though!
January 22nd, 2006 at 8:29 am
You wrote:
“This budget has taken off. I’ve been tracking my linking, visitors, and subscribers and this budget is growing with a lot of energy behind it.”
Did you mean to write:
“This blog has taken off. I’ve been tracking my linking, visitors, and subscribers and this blog is growing with a lot of energy behind it.”
???
January 22nd, 2006 at 11:21 am
Hi Jorah,
When I said “this budget is growing”, I was referring to the budget system. Really, more the “idea of the budget system.” Thats why I created the challenge. I want to help those who like the “idea of the budget system” move it from concept to concrete practice.
January 24th, 2006 at 9:55 am
[…] Setting up the budget four week challenge. […]
January 25th, 2006 at 8:21 am
I’m in. I set up the 2nd account just before the new year, and currently have my direct deposit going into both accounts. One account for regular monthly expenses and one for spending money. One issue I’ve experienced though, is that when I make a purchase with my Debit-Mastercard, I can’t control which account the funds are taken from. My 2 checking accounts are with citibank, and are linked. I may have to think about using cash or CC’s (w/airline miles accumulation) for most purchases.
January 25th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Hi Robert,
Congradulations! You should be able to get a seperate debit card for each account. Contact your bank and see what they have to say.
January 26th, 2006 at 2:49 am
I find that tracking expenses, having them all written at one place helps a lot.
especially when you get stats and history on your spending habbits.
that’s why I built just budget. which I let people use for free.
if you want to give it a try, It diffinitely made me save tons of money this year.
http://justbudget.com/
January 30th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
[…] After you committed to mastering your budget, you opened a new checking account. Now it’s time to identify what your planned expenses are. Before you can automate your budget, you will need to know what your planned expenses are for a month. Grab your checkbook, computer, stack of bills, or whatever has a record of your monthly expenses. […]
February 6th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[…] This is the most crucial step in the mastering your budget program. Without the money flowing in the correct direction you lose the benefits of the system. In the previous weeks you setup a checking account and identified your planned expenses. This week you will get that money flowing in the correct direction. […]