I have written about Swagbucks in November 2008 and January 2010.  I continue to love this Budget Booster!  Swagbucks is a search engine just like Google, Ask, or Bing with one key exception – they PAY you to search!!!  Every so often, they reward you with a Swagbuck (or Swagbucks) when you search.  The Swagbuck is their own currency, and they can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise.

I just redeemed my Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift card.  They also have Target gift cards and several others!  So far, I have personally earned 5,348 Swagbucks!  It takes 450 Swagbucks to obtain a $5 Amazon gift card.  It is FREE money that I receive for doing something I already do!  YES!

Here is a great feature of this program.  Once you register, you can refer your friends.  For their first 1000 Swagbucks, you can earn a matching Swagbuck!

You can check it out and register HERE.

The most important action that helped me achieve financial freedom was preparing an INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO budget.

The simple act of sitting down with my bride and planning our spending for the upcoming month is what allowed us to become debt-free in just 14 months and has allowed us to fund tons of dreams like giving a ton of money away and saving money for college, retirement, and vacations.

Every single time that we sit down with an individual or couple in a financial counseling appointment, we work with them to prepare a budget.  For most, it is the first time in their lives that they have planned their spending out to the very last dollar.  When I meet with many of the counselees a few months later, I discover that they have failed to prepare another budget since the time that they left our last meeting  – and, guess what, they have not been able to maximize their money.

It makes me want to ask the AWESOME readers of JosephSangl.com these two questions:

1. How often do you prepare/update your spending plan?
2. How well is your plan working?

Let the conversation begin!

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My daughter regularly makes ridiculous requests.  She will ask, "Dad, can we buy five rabbits?"  The answer, of course, is an immediate, "NO!"

However, there are some requests that she has made that are less ridiculous.  For example, she has wanted a treehouse for quite some time.  I promised her for her birthday (back in November) that I would build her one.

I told her that not only would I build her one, I said that it would be AWESOME and that we could camp out in it if she wanted.  She thought that this was the best idea she has ever heard.

In December, there was no tree house yet.  Not even a sign of it.  I told her that I would get started in January.

I did.  I put posts in the ground and put the floor on it.  Then it sat for awhile.

I won't bore you with all of the details, but it was finally completed last week.  We now have a treehouse that is over seven feet in the air, has three windows, a door, electrical power run to it (via extension cord), a fan in the window, and a front porch.  In all it is nearly 100 sq ft of awesome space that she and her friends are having a great time with.

And last Saturday night, I made good on the camping out promise.  It was so awesome that we camped out there again on Monday night – this time with one of her friends.  We got to experience an awesome lightning show and torrential rain this time.

The treehouse cost us money, time, effort, and some serious frustration, but the end result is worth it!

It feels great to have kept a promise.

Have you made some promises that are yet to be fulfilled?  Will those promises cost money?  Are you actively saving money for them?

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I have seen a lot of people prepare a written spending plan, and then fail to follow that plan.  At first blush, one would want to say that the people just did not have the discipline to stick with the plan.  As an engineer, I am always seeking to understand the root cause of someone's failure to stick to their budget.  So here are some of the top reasons that I see budgets fail.

• Not having a budget.  That was too easy, but it is true!  Fail to plan.  Plan to fail.
• Extremes – no spending money, $3.21 for groceries for the month, and no fun in the plan
• Spouse refusing to participate in developing the spending plan
• Spouse not asked to participate in developing the spending plan
• No saving in the plan – this allows emergencies to totally derail the plan
• Known upcoming expenses are not funded so they become budget busters when they do happen – Seriously.  Christmas IS going to happen!
• Can not say "NO!" to children
• No giving.  This is something I clearly see in financial counseling appointments.  Those who give are much better off – and it is not income related.

Maybe you can add some to this conversation in the comment section.  Better yet, maybe you can share how you have overcome these issues.

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Chrysty asked this great question (and one that I am asked often):

Do you have a breakdown that shows what percentage of our monthly income should go towards the different categories? For example, what percentage of our money should we be spending on housing, transportation, etc.

Here is a general guideline for major spending categories.

Typical Spending Percentages
Giving 10 – 15%
Saving 10 – 15%
Housing 15 – 35% (including utilities)
House Payment < 25% (including escrowed taxes, insurance, PMI)
Transportation 10 – 20% (including gasoline, taxes, insurance, & repairs)
Food  10 – 20%
Clothing 5 – 10%
Other Debt < 10% (not including house and car payment)
Entertainment 5 – 10%
All other 5 – 10% 

Hope this helps!  If you have a question, you can ask it HERE. 

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Reminder – Christmas is only 61 days away!

Do you have a written plan for Christmas?  Do you know how much you are going to spend?  Are you going to pay cash for Christmas this year?

I HIGHLY recommend that you use the MINI-BUDGET to plan your Christmas spending this year.

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Jenn and I budget every single month.  We spend all of the money we expect to receive in the upcoming month in the Monthly Budget Form (Excel) and AGREE on how that money will be spent.

THAT is the easy part.  The hard part is following the plan for the entire month – especially at the end of the month.

It is easy to follow the budget at the start of the month because I have spending money, we have grocery money, we have dining out money, and we have entertainment money.

But as we arrive at the end of the third week and the start of the fourth week, it is not so glorious of a picture.  You can bet that I have spent every dime of my spending money.  The dining out fund is at or near zero.  The grocery envelope is tapped out, and the entertainment envelope has kicked the bucket as well.

That is our story nearly every single month of the 62 consecutive months that we have planned our spending.  Yet we stick with the budget, and it is where I see a ton of people fall off of the wagon.

How do we ensure that we stick to our plan?  We hold each other accountable.  We KNOW that if we spend more than we planned on these fun categories, then that extra money will be taken from another fund like vacation, Christmas, car repairs, retirement savings, or college savings.  We simply refuse to mortgage our future just so we can have a little extra fun today.

That is HOW we stick to our plan and that is WHY we stick to our plan.

I would love to hear from others on HOW you ensure that you stick to your plan and WHY.  Start the conversation in the comments below!

Just 308 days from now, we will be celebrating Christmas again.

How much are you going to spend on Christmas this year?

Will you pay cash for Christmas 2008, or will you finance it?

I highly recommend planning Christmas 2008 on paper!  The Mini-Budget Form (Excel) is a great tool to use to plan your Christmas spending.

Here's an example of how to use the Mini-Budget for planning Christmas.  I have entered the amount that we plan to spend on each item for Christmas.  This helps me understand the amount needed for Christmas. 

 You can see that "Cash – Expenses" shows a RED $1,080.  To make it GREEN, I enter $1,080 in the "Cash Budgeted" line.

I know that I have experienced sticker-shock when I have put together my initial mini-budget for Christmas!  The great thing about planning ahead is that I still have the opportunity to change how much I will spend!

So, go ahead and plan for Christmas 2008.  Yes, you will be weird.  Yes, no one else in your family is doing it.  BUT, you will have a plan and be able to pay CASH for this year's Christmas!  How many of your friends and family will be able to say that?

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As I have helped people prepare hundreds of budgets, I realize that debt is sometimes hidden from people.

Let me give you an example.

One of the first things I ask when helping a person prepare a written budget is "How much is your take-home pay?

They tell me a number, and we start applying the famous equation:  INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO

Everything is proceeding smoothly until we get to the debt column.  The "revealing" of the hidden debt happens here.

The statement is made, "I have a 401(k) loan, but it is taken out of my paycheck.  Should we include it here?"

The 401(k) loan is taken from their paycheck before it ever gets to them.  Ever hear the saying, "Out of sight.  Out of mind."?

I usually adjust the "Take-Home Pay" by the loan payment amount and then include the payment in the debt column.

Here are some common "Hidden Debts" that I see:

• 401(k) loans
• Overdraft loans
• Car payments
• Company loans

These hidden loans are "Out of sight.  Out of mind."  Yet they are eroding one's ability to win financially.

Expose the debts to daylight and ATTACK them! 

Oh, by the way, you ought to list out all of your paycheck deductions and see how much you are paying annually for each one.  When you see how much you are paying in taxes, it will ensure that you vote every single time you have the opportunity!!!

You can start your written spending plan by using one of the FREE easy-to-use forms on the TOOLS page. 

Subscribe to www.JosephSangl.com 

About eight weeks ago and after nearly two years of blogging, I finally established the ability to track the number of downloads for individual forms.

Sometime this week, the Monthly Budget Form (Excel) will be downloaded for the 1,000th time during that eight week period!

That is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  I put these tools on my web page for FREE because I wanted to help people start winning with money, and it is working!!!

How do I know that it is working?  Read some of the success stories HERE.

Are you one of the many who have started using the budget forms to put together a spending plan that works?  Share your success story HERE!

Maybe you have been on the fringe reading the writings of this lunatic named Joe Sangl.  Is today the day that you will put together a spending plan that works?  Click on TOOLS at the top of the page to start your journey to financial freedom!

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