Budget Heaven, Part 2

So, I started Part 1 by introducing my favorite blog (A Bowl Full of Lemons) and my gorgeous aqua malden Filofax, which has quickly become my favorite "child."  She is a personal size aqua malden Filofax, furnished to act as a wallet.  Oh, you missed it? Never fear! Check it out here! I am slightly budget obsessed, but I have a really hard time keeping track of my expenses and bill payments.  Enter this handy little darling, which allows me to track payments, bill due dates, pay days, expenses, notes/ideas from my favorite budget books or pieces of advise from my fave: Dave Ramsey.

I have finally received all items that I have anxiously been awaiting, and I cannot wait to show you how I have everything set up! Let's start from the beginning in case you only skimmed Part 1.

Here's my lovely malden...her former owner named her Miss Tiffany.  I think it suits her.  ;)

So when you open up this adorable darling, you will find a built-in card holder.  It's like this was destined to be a wallet! I use the zip pocket for any spare change that I happen to have on me (which is rare).  I purchased this dashboard with Dave Ramsey quote from TweetiePie Collage.  It provides me a reminder to keep track of my money and budget it right! Best part of the placement: it's right next to my credit/debit cards, so it's a great reminder to plan ahead!!

Flip this adorable little dashboard over and you have a Filofax credit card holder, which contains the cards I need to access quickest and most frequently: Sam's card, Starbuck's card, and my license. 

Start flipping through some more.  Next stop on our tour is my adorable top-tab dividers made and labelled by CuteOrganizing on etsy. I love how the top tabs make it so simple and easy to find what section I need, particularly because the monthly spreads have side tabs.  This makes for easy differentiation! How adorable are these? AND - the best part is that the actual divider is labelled, too (not just the tab!).  She even included a bookmark, too! It's the pink with white polka dot tab you see.  I labelled the following sections: Pay Days, Expenses, Receipts, Bills Due, Notes.  Next Up: exploring each of these sections!

Pay Days:
I used the horizontal annual calendar from Filofax to track pay days.  This way, I can see a general pattern of when I get paid.  This is particularly helpful in a household where there are 2 incomes, which are coming in on different dates each month.

Expenses: I utilize the Filofax expense tracker to keep track of my expenses, bills paid, etc.  When I am at the grocery store, post office, etc., I go ahead and write in the total while waiting on my payment to be processed.  That way, I can't forget and miss a large amount being spent.  This simplifies my life greatly when I am balancing the checkbook because I don't have to dig through my online account and try to find expenses. Oh - and my cute bookmark helps hold my spot!

Receipts: I utilize the clear pouch that came with the Filofax to hold all receipts until I can verify that I have written down expenses.  It also helps divvy up what each expense at the store was spent on (i.e., groceries, cleaning supplies, etc.)

   

Bills Due: I utilize a Filofax item for this, as well.  It is the month on 2 pages with side tabs.  This enables me to quickly flip to a particular month to write down a bill due date OR to mark a bill as paid. I highlight the days of the month that are pay days.  All bills due are written down.  A check is placed next to the item when it is paid off for the month.

Notes: The final section of my wallet/budget notebook is the notes section.  I use this for various things: to make notes from a good budget book I read, write down a Dave Ramsey quote or piece of advice, reminders, errands to run, grocery lists, sales, BOGO deals, etc.  Essentially it is a hodge-podge of things that I write down because my everyday planner is a *little* too heavy to carry around when running 19 errands while carrying a 3 year old.  How adorable is this paper?! Check out Linky's shop on etsy! I love her stuff!  You can find absolutely anything fun for your filofax here!

So now that you have met Miss Tiffany, my budget/wallet Filofax, I hope that you have been inspired! Please note that "building" this dream wallet was a process, not an overnight event.  Since it's about sticking to my budget, I couldn't very well just buy everything all at once and blow my budget (could I?)! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed Budget Heaven!