Lets be real, I know you’ve seen a million post on Tik Tok showing you how to make a budget. I’m not going to lie I’ve seen them too and I’ve gotten some amazing tips from them for sure but there is no one size fits all when it comes to finances.
So now that we have that established I want to get into the nitty gritty on the things you want to take into consideration before you start putting your budget together.

1. Pray about it
Before you can begin to budget just like everything thing else I advise you want to start first with taking prayer. Sometimes we forget this simple act that will make a world of a difference in our financial situation. I know for my household we gotten to points where no matter what we tried failed and it’s because we were operating out of our ability instead of God’s. We all do it. We take over trying to figure out how we can make things work out and forget such a simple concept that ultimately can be the deciding factor on whether whatever plan you come up with fails or succeeds.

2. Take Inventory
As Christians it’s important to understand the money we use and make every day is not our own. We are just vessels God is using to flow finances for his kingdom through. When you start to see things that way you can gain perspective on how it should be spent and the importance of keeping up with how you’re stewarding over God’s finances. You want to take inventory. What this means is you need to know what’s coming in and out of your accounts. How can we properly steward over what God has given us if we don’t know what he’s given us or where its going. Start by pulling up all your bank accounts and go over your transaction history .You want to take note of all streams of income coming in big or small, any monthly subscriptions you may have, and all bills and their dates. Getting a better idea of everything coming in and out is going to provide a type of clarity with your finances you’ve probably never seen before. Especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck. Speaking of living paycheck to paycheck I want to add something. When you’re struggling financially sometimes writing everything down and looking at it can equate to worry and anxiety which is not what this is meant to do. In 2nd Samuel 24 it speaks on a time when David sinned against God from doing a simple head count. I believe this had to do with David doing a head count not from what to better manage the troops but because he waivered in his faith trusting in God’s ability to provide regardless of what the head count was. We can do this too. Taking inventory on where our accounts are at constantly in fear of the balances can be detrimental. Know where you money is at and how you’re spending it, and if the inventory shows you’re in red hand it over to God. No amount of worry every changes anything. I was once told that worry displeases God and I confess I have fallen victim to this more times than I can count. Give it over to God and trust in his ability to work it out.

3. Organize and Develop a Plan
Now that you’ve taken inventory it’s time to organize those finances just a tad bit better. What I mean by this is you want to start grouping those transactions you just took note of into categories and I know this may seem like a lot but if you want to get the debt down and your finances in order you may have to sacrifice a few hours up front. This is a non negotiable. Knowing how much you’re spending on takeout vs groceries and shopping will tell you exactly where you need to cut, where you can allocate more, and where you may need to work on being a little more disciplined at. If you don’t have the time to do this manually there are also apps that can do it for you. I know for us when we first started getting our finances in order it’s was crazy to see how much I was over spending in groceries and eating out. I was buying $900 worth of household supplies and groceries whilst also spending $600 a month on take out. Well no duh you are in the red, and throwing out hundreds of dollars worth of produce every month!
Once you see where you problem lies develop a plan for it. If your problem is shopping DO NOT GO COLD TURKEY. If you have a problem with shopping slowly decrease your budget monthly on what you’re spending till you get to a comfortable spot. I truly believe shopping addictions are real and cold turkey with addiction just screams relapse. Trust me!

4.Eliminate, eliminate, eliminate!
There is a reason that Dave Ramseys snowball effect works. Slowly getting ride of small bills and debts helps you to throw money at the bigger Goliaths standing in your way to financial freedom. So, now that you’ve taken inventory of what’s coming in and going out it’s time to eliminate some things ! You’d be surprised how many subscriptions you’re paying for and how much you can save. At one point in time I realized my husband and I were both paying apple for the same thing and eliminated $40 worth of bills just by getting the family plans. You can also try seeing if you can get the streaming subscriptions cheaper through your phone plan or other routes. It’s tedious trust me I know but so worth it. My pastor once preached a sermon about David’s battles in life. Remember he didn’t start off by fighting and defeating Giant’s but instead fighting mere lions and bears to defend his father’s sheep. You have to eliminate the bears and lions, the make path to defeat those Goliaths. Take out the small debts first so you can sling all you have at the big boys eating up everything you’re working hard for.

5. Rebuild
I promise the tedious part is down now it’s time to start putting that budget together. This is were you want to be strict with yourself but also realistic. I’d pray before doing this because sometimes cut and dry fits everyone budgets are how God needs you to steward over your finances in this season in life. Start of simple, if you paid biweekly or weekly, start by putting together a monthly budget that includes paycheck breakdowns for each paycheck. If you need a template check out my printable budget planner, but if you’re writing down your own here is what you’ll need to add to it. You want a section for income. This is where you’ll
list all streams of income, what the expected vs actual income is and totals.
Then make sure you have your weekly/biweekly sections listing each bill and what the budget is for that bill vs what was actually spent and a way to total it out. Lastly for vital sections you need a sections for savings/donations/tithes and then a total spent vs total received to give you a good overall picture of how things are looking.If you’re in the red look back over and see where you may be able to cut some expenses to get you back in the white.

6. Tithing
I can’t go over all of this without mentioning a major biblical principal, tithing. I know this is a hard thing to mention because of church hurt for a lot of people but none the less it’s something our Father does call us to do. As I mentioned earlier God doesn’t give us money to hoard and honestly the tighter we hold onto money the more we’re hurting ourselves. He needs you to allow money to be able to flow through you. I know some people give unto the poor for tithing and honestly do what God is calling you to do, but he also says not to neglect his store house so be wise in decision making regarding this. Allow God to lead you and sow so that you may reap a harvest.

7. Give it back over to God
None of what I said will matter in the least bit if you are not being led by the Holy Spirit in dealing with you finances. There is a season for everything and seasons I believe specifically for learning how to deal with this thing that can so easily become an idol. Giving your finances over to God is the best way in assuring that doesn’t happen. It is a daily thing you have to do, trust me I know because there are so many times where the fear of losing everything tries to over take you but when you know who’s really in control you can give back to him what was already his to begin with.