The First step is the hardest
By MakingCents
@MakingCents (743)
March 17, 2019 10:04pm CST
I think that's what they say. Although in this case that's not quite the case. But I DID have hubby listen to the book this weekend while road tripping and he's on board too. Now we have to sit down from time to time and check in and see where we are on the path. We've agreed to spend 2 months on our step one.
FIGURE OUT WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING. We are planning to track our spending. Down to the penny. For this month and next. And form there we'll create a budget. So, nothing too drastic here at first, but come May things are going to be different.
2 people like this
3 responses
@yukimori (10143)
• United States
18 Mar 19
Getting your spouse on board is probably the single most important step there is.
I've been following along with the Dave Ramsey stuff through a forum on Babycenter called "We Are Debt Free." You might check that out--they have some great info in their "sticky" post at the top of the forum, including budget templates and breakdowns of each of the baby steps. I think they typically advocate going through your bank statements and figuring out budget amounts based on averages for a few months. Monitoring spending like you're doing works well, too--that's what we ended up doing.
I use a subscription software called You Need A Budget to keep track of everything, mostly because it automatically imports most transactions. The convenience is worth the $45/year fee.
![](http://img.mylot.com/120x120/3038169.jpeg)
This is a Dave Ramsey-inspired group for those who choose not to be "normal!" Discuss your progress in working those baby steps, get advice, and learn new ways to save.
1 person likes this
@MakingCents (743)
•
20 Mar 19
I've heard a lot of good things about YNAB, so we may check that out. And I'll definitely check out the forum. Thanks for the link!
1 person likes this
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