Which is better pen and paper, spreadsheet, and app. Which one should you choose? It's overwhelming. Isn't it? So this episode, I am going to dive into the three options and which option is probably the best one for you. Now, before we dive into this episode, I do wanna let you know that the 2023 budget planner is for sale this week only with some bonus,

how to videos on how to create your paycheck budget. Now, if you're feeling overwhelmed, you don't know where to start. This is the place for you. You get the basic budget, bootcamp, videos for free with the budget planner, but this offer ends soon. So go check it out@budgetsmadeeasy.com slash planner. Welcome to the money mindset podcast. Well,

you'll find a judgment free zone to help you free yourself from overthinking and the fear of doing things the wrong way. It's time to shed yourself of the mom, guilt, procrastination, and perfectionism. So you can start doing the things that you really want to do with your money instead of just working to pay bills. I'm Ashley, Patrick ex detective turned debt free CEO of my very own business and stay at home.

Mom of three, not too long ago. My dreams of staying at home with my kids seemed impossible. I thought I'd have to stay miserable in a high stress and demanding job just so I could retire someday. After gaining the confidence in my own ability to manage my family's finances and a simple step by step plan to make it happen. I was able to pay off $45,000 in just 17 months,

which then allowed me to finally quit my job. Stay at home with my kids and build a debt free business. Now, my mission is to help moms like you conquer debt and free themselves from the mental load of handling their family's finances. If you're ready to shed the guilt and shame surrounding your past money, mistakes, and tackle your debt, this is the place for you.

Let's get started. All right. So what is the best option for you? Pen and paper, a spreadsheet or an app. Now my answer may surprise you a little bit and it's what works for you. Now. I am going to encourage you to, at least in the beginning, especially as you are learning how to put your budget together and what to pay out of each paycheck.

And if you're overspending to write it down on pen and paper, and then you can put it into a spreadsheet or an app, but it is just easier for you to kind of map it out. It's easier just to get it out of your brain, right? If you put it down on pen and paper first, okay. Maybe pencil. Maybe I should say pencil and paper,

but let's talk about the pros and cons of using pen and paper. One. The biggest thing is it makes it real and we're having to actually like process the information and get it out of our brain. Numerous studies have shown that you're more likely to achieve your goals. If you write it down, it frees up your mental space each day as well.

If you put things down on paper, so this goes for your to-do list. It also goes for your budget. Your budget is just a money plan. It's just a goal for how you wanna spend your money. That's all it is. And so when you write it down, it makes it easier for you to follow through with it, cuz it just cement it in your brain and it takes that stress out and it puts it down on paper.

It makes it more likely that you are gonna actually follow through with your plan. Now, obviously it's not the only thing that is going to cause you to follow through with your plan. You're still human, right? You've gotta do other things, but it does help increase the likelihood that you'll follow through with it. Okay. Now some cons it's not con not the most convenient thing when you're out shopping,

right? You don't wanna carry around a, a big planner, you know, a spreadsheet or an app. You can pull up on your phone, but I'm gonna throw this out there. How often are you actually looking at those things, a spreadsheet or an app while you're shopping. Right. And so what I do, I actually use a combination of these things and I'll kind of get into that through the episode,

but what I do, I still write down every transaction. That means even though I'm using my credit card for points like a debit card, I'm writing it down in a small notebook that I easily fits in my purse and I carry it around with me like a checkbook register. And I write everything down that way. And so I'm not carrying around my big bulky planner that has my budget and all of that stuff in it.

But I do have something smaller so I can see how much I have left in each category and I can make it real. The spending is real. So when we swipe a card, it's just like swiping a card versus using cash. If you haven't tried to use cash in a while, it feels so different to hand it over because it's real. And the same thing goes for a card.

You know, it doesn't feel as real. So when we have pen and paper, it makes it feel more real. Then it does like an app and a spreadsheet. So when you're just looking at numbers on a spreadsheet or an app, it, it just doesn't have the same weight to it. Right? And so pen and paper can still work without carrying around a big planner.

And so in my little notebook where I have have my spending, I write in the margin, okay, this is what I've spent in this category. And this is how much I have left in this category. And so that helps me without having to like pull up an app, right. Or pull up the spreadsheet, you know, but it may not be quite as convenient.

You know, you still have to do the math. You have to do each month over and over, even though they're pretty much the same, of course, you're gonna adjust things month to month. But you know, the things that are the same every month, you have to write it back down, over and over. And so that can be a little inconvenient for some of us,

but keep in mind, once you have it written down, you have your plan, which takes a little bit longer. It usually takes me about 45 minutes to an hour when I help people set up their budget. But once you have that month to month, it's basically the same. The framework is the same. Of course you're gonna make adjustments. And so that takes like 15,

20 minutes a month. Like, it doesn't take you that long. Once you set it up, you just have to get over the fear of doing it and get it done. And then it's just easier and easier. The more you practice it. Right? So let's talk about a spreadsheet. Now I do have a spreadsheet for sale as well. So I have a paper planner and I have a spreadsheet.

I use both. And I know lots of other people that use both. So some of the things that make a spreadsheet makes it easier is that month to month, you don't have to transfer it over. The spreadsheet does it for you. So that makes it a lot easier. You can see the whole year at a glance. And so you can kind of make adjustments.

It does the math for you, which for me, is a huge help. Sometimes I will just use the spreadsheet to do the math and make and check my math. So that part is easier. Right? And you can use it on your phone. So, you know, my spreadsheets and Google sheets, which has an app. And so you can track your spending while you're shopping.

If you actually, you know, stand there in the store or do it in your car whenever you are done shopping and put it in there. But that same effort applies to writing it down in your little notebook, right? Like you still have to enter the information. So it is just easier. So for me, once I had like a good flow with my pen and paper budget,

I moved to a spreadsheet because when I was paying off debt, I loved to play around with the numbers. It's like, okay, this month we'll have this extra. And what does that change on the balance? Now that my budget is basically the same month, the month. It's very simple because I don't have any debt. I I'm back to using paper.

Like I, I don't even use the spreadsheet anymore. For the most part. Like I said, I'll do it for the math just to check sometimes. But I still like my pen and paper, but I do know people like spreadsheets, they like the apps it's. So it can, when you're like really motivated to stick to your budget and pay off debt,

a spreadsheet can be fun. Right? I know you. Right. Think I'm weird saying that, but it can be cuz you can play around with the numbers and you can see what's possible. And that's just easier in the spreadsheet versus like sitting down doing all the math. Right. So you can still use a combination of the pen and the paper and the spreadsheet.

But I do want you to start with pen and paper and then you can then it's way easier to enter it into the spreadsheet because you already have all the information figured out as well. So that makes it easier and you can make graphs and cool stuff like that. Right? If you know how to do that now in my spreadsheet, I do have some graphs and stuff in there,

but I am not techy. So, you know, they're not fancy. I actually paid somebody to do that part for me. Actually the whole spreadsheet, the concept is mine. Of course I told 'em what to do, but they did it cuz I that's way above my head. But you know, if you are techy enough, you could make even prettier graphs and different graphs than all the things to see.

But what does that really mean? Like all the numbers in the spreadsheet and the pretty graphs, like what does it really mean? It's just numbers on a sheet unless you're really focused and you are mentally prepared to reach your financial goals. I hope that makes sense. So let's talk about apps because I actually do not like apps. The only thing I use an app for is to attract my net worth.

But I do have a spreadsheet for that as well. So I can see it over time. Cuz that app just gives you like real time data. Right. And it drives me nuts because I have to constantly re-log in. So half the time, even when I go to check it, it's not even accurate. And then I get frustrated and I just move on to something else.

Right. But let's talk about budgeting apps. I do not like budgeting apps because I budget by paycheck, which is not the first through the 30th or 31st. Right? Your first, your month starts at your first paycheck. And so that messes up the data. It's not accurate. When you are trying to see how much you have left in a category for the month.

It's not gonna show you by paycheck, how much you have left to spend. And even with the monthly spending, it's not accurate because it's gonna carry over data that you have in like, let's say September into October, but it's September's money and it's messing up your October budget. So personally I do not like apps, even if you are using it to see your spending,

like I said, writing down every transaction makes it more real. And so when you're just looking at the app, unless you're really disciplined, it's just numbers on a page. It's just numbers on the screen and you still have to know, okay, what else do I still need to account for out of that money? So even if the app says,

okay, you have 500 left in food and you're like, oh great. Let's go out to eat and you spend a hundred dollars. Well you still need groceries. Right? And do you have enough for groceries? So you know, you may have to adjust it to make it easier for you to stick to. And that's really what this is all about is finding what works for you.

And so I do use all three in different ways and for different reasons and you can be the same. Like I hear it over and over. People are overwhelmed because they don't know where to start or what to do. And it's because there's so many different options out there. They don't know how to do it. They don't know how to use an app.

They don't know how to use a spreadsheet. Like they're just not sure what the heck to do. And guess what, whatever works for you. Just start somewhere, start with a piece of paper and a pencil, write out your monthly income. What it usually is, your base pay your monthly set bills, food gas, and then think about the things that come up that always ruin your budget,

that you can plan for with what is left over. And then once you kind of figure that out, it gives you an idea of how much you have left to save or how much you can put towards debt. But you really have to write it down to process the information and that can be scary. And so sometimes it feels like, oh, it's just easier to put it in an app and I'll just do it that way.

But if you're not fully committed to the process and app or spreadsheet is not going to solve your problems and neither is pen and paper, like you really, it is helpful and it will help push you there. But you still have to do the work to change your behavior. Cuz I hear it over and over. Well I've tried before and I failed.

I don't wanna fail again. I get it. I don't wanna fail again either, but guess what? In order to succeed, you have to do it anyway. You have to push past that fear of failing with your budget and keep going to, in order to be successful, the more times you try, the more success you will have. And so the more you can practice,

the more likely you are to be successful. So start with pen and paper. Once you get in a good groove with that move to the spreadsheet, if you like to see like to have an app so you can, you know, see your categories a little bit easier, use an app. Like there is no right or wrong way as long as you do it.

And it helps you as long as it helps you stick to your plan. It is the right way. And so don't overwhelm yourself by overthinking it, right? So just take it one small step at a time. And that is what I do with my basic budget bootcamp in my videos, they're pre they were already recorded. I did it live, but they are available now as a bonus with the budget planner.

And I walk you through step by step, getting started, setting up your budget, setting it up by paycheck and getting it done. So if you'd like to check out those videos, get those for free with the budget planner. So you can finally get on track, get everything organized, get started, push past that fear, go to budgets, made easy.com/planner.

So let me know on Instagram tag me budgets made easy. Let me know. Do you like pen and paper spreadsheet or an app or are you just trying to figure out where the heck to start and what to use? So let me know. I will talk to you guys in the next episode, have a great week.