My Super Easy Budgeting Trick!
I know some people do the envelope cash method with budgeting, some people have some complicated software they use and some of you might not even have a budget. What I do for budgeting is pretty simple and I thought it was about time I shared it with you! So here is my Super Easy Budgeting Trick! And hopefully, it will work for a bunch of your budgets as well!
So what I use for budgeting.. Iâm gonna call it the âBank Account Budget Systemâ cuz I have no idea what else to call it.
What our family has done has actually set up 10 Banking Accountsâ Yes, 10!! I know that sounds crazy and a little over the top. But it has made it SO easy to manage our bank accounts without really having to do any work!
So here is what our family has:
We have one Checking Account that is our regular spending account.
We have one Checking Account this is for all bills (mortgage, utilities, etc.)
We have a Regular Savings Account.
We have a Tithing Savings Account. (For donations to our church)
We also have a FUN Savings Account.
Each Child has a Savings Account (so we have two of those) And if your kids are older, you could even get them each their own checking account so you can start teaching them about money!
Our family also has Business accounts for The Melea Show and other businesses we have created. It helps with taxes, write-offs and all that and to manage money between accounts.
â¨Here’s What YOU Should Do:
Set up a regular checking account, a checking account for bills, a regular savings account, a FUN Savings account (a tithing account, if you pay that to your church) and set up a checking/savings account for your kids.
With how easy it is to transfer between accounts these days, this is really the easiest and fastest way to budget. After you have those accounts set up, this is what you do:
When you get paid, you will simply divide up the money between your accounts. If you pay Tithing, put your 10% into that account very first.
Then, add up the money in bills you have coming out that month and put that money into your bills account. You can either have your bills set to auto-pay or pay those manuallyâjust make sure all of the money for all of your bills comes out of that account.
Youâll also want to put 10% into your regular savings account. And if you have room in your budget, you can put another 5%-10% into your FUN Savings account.
Any leftover money you have can go into your regular checking account. And it should give you a really good idea of how much room you have in your budget.
Now, if you canât get money into the FUN Savings account because money is too tight, thatâs ok. You might want to consider putting 5% into your regular savings account and 5% into your FUN savings account.
If you donât have enough money to put into savings at all, thatâs when you will want to look at your bills and see what you can cut out. Donât feel embarrassed if you have to cut things out of your budget! Weâve had to do it many times before. There are so many things we donât NEED. And if you can go with less or go without for a little while, it can help you build up a savings account and emergency money to have. Without it, what happens? You might put things on a credit card, and pay interest, ruin your credit and get into a worse situation.
In an upcoming video, Iâll talk about “Bills You Should Get Rid of to Help Save Money.” So make sure you are following me here on my YouTube Channel by subscribing so you donât miss that when it comes out. And please LIKE this video if these budgeting tips helped you! I know this was a longer video, but it needed to be shared. Thanks everyone!
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Hi Impact Radius
XO, ðMelea
Thanks for the tips Hun, I'm very visual so seeing motivated me to do this! Thanks!
+Keeping up with Mrs. Elektra Oh good! I know my props were pretty laughable. 😉
Thank you Melea for sharing you tips with us. My question is do you have your income go to one account and then you transfer it or do you have it go to the account you want it to automatically?
+Nikki Jeske Great question! I have all of our income go to our Regular Checking account and then start moving it to the right accounts. Then whatever is left in that account, I know we have as "Extra". Hope that helps!
Great video, but I have a question:
1. What account do you use for groceries, gas, etc?
+Meredith Wurm You can budget a set amount for gas & groceries each month and put it into your Bills account. That's probably the easiest option for most people!
Thanks…going to have hubby watch this one too
If you dont mind me asking what bank do you use that allows you to have that many accounts. I am in utah and i have not been able to find one.
+Laura Wilkinson alpine credit union lets you have sub accounts…meaning you can have a bunch of different "account groups" within your one account.
+Andy Cherrington Thanks
+Brittany Humphrey I've been able to do it with America First Credit Union and Chase. Hope that helps!
+Laura Wilkinson I've been able to do it with America First Credit Union and Chase. Hope that helps!
WIth USAA you can use as many as you want
I do something similar but I just have 2 bank accounts and I use a spreadsheet to keep it all in order. Love this tip though!
Okay, I love Melea, but am I the only one that thinks this is completely crazy and unnecessary? And she's not the only blogger that suggests insane amounts of accounts. And what bank lets you have 10 accounts anyway? Definitely not Wells Fargo. My budget is super easy to keep in check using one checking, one savings for emergency, one savings for vacations (at a different bank altogether so I can't see it), savings for each of my kids, and the YNAB program to keep our budget in line throughout the month. Easy Peasy.
+Tina McComber Completely agree! YNAB is so much simpler, and you can have your money in only one account.
+Cate Salim I must be slow… What is YNAB?
+Brittney N Software called You Need A Budget. It's online.
Love this idea!
When you say you put 10% into the Fun and Regular checking accounts does that mean 10% from your total income or !0% after tithing and bills?
+Jennifer Luce I do 10% from total income into FUN and 10% from total income into Regular Savings. But you can do whatever is feasible for your income. To keep putting money into those accounts it the important part!
Great Video! How do you set the accounts up with multiple banks? Do you keep main stuff with one bank and the additional stuff with another bank?? I would love to know more about what you think with investments and the different types of accounts for savings, dependent savings accounts, c/d's money markets?? Also what do you think is the best account to set up for small children? Thanks so much! Been following you for years! Loves!
+Karen Y We keep all of our accounts with the same bank. It's an easy way to see all of our accounts in one place. As far as investments and such, I think it all depends on what you want your money to do for you. So everyone is totally different. So Maybe I should do a video on that too? For small kids, I would just set up a Savings Account–they are too young to understand a checking account. Just my opinion though! 🙂
Love your makeup in the video too!
Since you transfer money for bills into an specific account every week, do you use the equal payment plans for your utilities? Having those bills fluctuate every month kills my budget, but my hubs doesn't trust the equal pay plans.
+Jenna Szoke We don't use equal payment plans for utilities. And utilities is a little trickier. In the Summer, budget more for Air Conditioning and a lot less for your gas bill. Then switch when you start turning on the heat. You'll have to tweak. But I would recommend over-budgeting for it. If you have extra in your account at the end of the month, you can move it over to checking or FUN savings–whatever you want!
I have used the multiple checking/savings account system for years and love it. I set mine up using the Dave Ramsey system (his envelope system) and it works well for us. Mountain America helped me with the set up. Thanks for some new tips!
I LOVE THIS ! I might not have TEN account haha but this helps a lot!
+April Stanfield For some reason, it won't let me reply directly to your comment. We bank with Chase and they let me transfer from Business to Personal as many times as I want. :)
Is the 10% savings after u take out your bill and tithe? Or 10% total?
+Estehla Castillo I pay 10% on total income… not 10% on what money is left after paying bills.
I loved your video, however, I have a question.
Are all your accounts at one bank?
+Carmen Chaisson Yep, they are. It makes it easier! 🙂
Thanks
This is genius! Aloha, I'm excited to meet you at the Jaseboards skatepark next week.
where do add your grocery bills expenses. . do you use the bills accnt when you go on grocery trips??
I have been doing something similar for years! People are always surprised when I tell me how many accounts I have! Thanks for the video it gave me some ideas on how to improve what I was already doing!
+Jessica Buck Awesome!
I love this!! I really like using the cash/envelope system but my husband hates carrying cash around, I think this would help us to know what we have to spend vs. what money is being used for bills. But question, what's the value of having a separate account for tithing? Would I do as well to put that in the "bills" account? Or is it for tax purposes?
+Melissa Lewis I like having a separate account so when we pay Tithing online, I know that no other bills coming out will take that money. I guess it's more of making sure that Tithing gets paid no matter what. 😉
Omg 10% to your church!! That's crazy
That's what God wants us to do. HE actually owns it all, but he only asks for 10% in return, that still leaves 90%! And giving to the church is a wonderful thing, it's called tithingð
How did he communicate this to you? :S I get donations to support the church but a specific demand is something I do not understand
It's actually in The Bible. "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." Tithe aka tenth.
May be a silly question, but do you have and carry cards for all these accounts??
No, I don't. I don't need them. I only have cards for the Checking Account and Bills Account. Everything else I can transfer digitally. Hope that helps!
You are Crazy!
What about monthly fees? Does each account have fees?
Ours don't. So try to find a bank that doesn't have fees.
Thank you Melea! We have a separate account for tithing already, or else we get into trouble 🙂 And our kids savings. But I am calling my credit union now, I'm determined to take my family on vacation every year like when I was a kid and this is going to help me!