Daily writing prompt

Write about your approach to budgeting.

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Our approach has changed recently, actually, so we are still in the process of deciding if the new method works for us. Our prior approach involved an excel sheet that had to be manually updated throughout the month. The issue became than it was difficult for both my husband and me to be on the same page for how much money was left in the different budget categories. Because of the set up, we would often only update it every week or two. Obviously, not the best set up for keeping two people on track. We had looked for phone apps that we could both use without much luck until my friend introduced me to Fudget. If you pay for the premium version, multiple people can log in and add their expenses to the budget item. Pairing the app with a more broad excel sheet has been the approach for the last month and a half, and I’m liking it so far. It can be a little cumbersome to add individual expenses to a category on Fudget, but it works and it’s simple enough that my husband (mostly) keeps it updated for his expenses. We have our fixed expenses (utilities, mortgage, car payment, etc), our needs (groceries, car gas, etc), and our wants (some fun money each, eating out, clothes). We also have line items for our savings and special holidays. I think my favorite part of our new system using the app is that I’m able to update the budget easily if our paychecks are a little higher or lower, or if a budget category goes over. It’s not quite real-time updating, but it’s much closer and that gives me a much stronger feeling of control over our finances.