Rob Bertman, CFA, CFP® – Family Budget Services. Save More. Argue Less. Keep the fun!
Ever wonder why you don’t have more money left over at the end of the month?
Maybe you know the problem but you’re just not sure how to fix it without uprooting your life and family. Making more money hasn’t seemed to help because your expenses have gone up right with your income. It’s definitely not as easy as financial gurus say, “Just spend less than you make!” I’m sure you’ve tried to do better, but the traditional budgeting techniques just haven’t worked.
Creating a family budget has its challenges
You’ve tried to create a family budget, but it’s hard to keep up with it because:
- Something always seems to come up that derails your plan and makes you go over budget.
- The system is too rigid or too complicated to keep up with.
- You’re just not seeing an end in sight to when you can finally enjoy a little bit of your money.
- It’s nearly impossible to find the time to keep up with the family budget while working and shuffling around the kiddos to their activities.
- It’s hard to find professional resources solely focused on family budget help.
It’s stressful knowing we could be doing better and to feel like we’re behind financially. We feel it everyday and every month. It’s hard to enjoy the things we really want, because we feel like that money should be put to “better use”. If we could just find a way to have more money left over each month without having to argue about it and without drastically changing everything.
Well…
What if you could end paycheck-to-paycheck spending without a complicated and restrictive budget?
What if you could easily identify where to cut your spending without giving up the fun stuff so you could:
- Pay off debt faster.
- Catch up on your investment goals.
- Finally build a cash cushion.
- Get yourself some breathing room at the end of the month.
What if you could fully enjoy that family vacation rather than feeling guilty, like your money should be going to “more important things”? What if your relationship was free of the money arguments?
A family budget is the #1 key to making this happen, but you need a system you can follow that will actually work for you and your family.
I could never keep a monthly budget until…
Before I had a family, I didn’t really pay much attention to my spending. I saved a little here and a little there but spent more as I made more with really no plan. My expenses always hovered around what I was making. I loved investing and was pretty good at it so my goal was always to grow my wealth that way.
But then we had kids.
We started looking at our annual expenses going up by $15,000 and realized we didn’t have the extra money to cover those new expenses. So we decided to do what everyone does, try to make a budget. After putting together many family budgets and trying to find places to cut expenses, we were way short of our goal.
That’s when I realized that for as much as I knew about financial planning and investing, there was a big gap in my understanding of how to create a family budget that we could actually stick to. So I researched & tested better ways to create budgets for families. Then I implemented it personally, then with clients, and continued to improve until I came up with…
The Family Budget Transformation System
This is the answer to creating a budget that sticks. It’s a process that actually works for families – To have extra money left over so you can save more and pay off debt faster. To finally get on the same page and end money fights. To stay on track in less than 10 minutes per week.
The Family Budget Transformation system provides you with:
- My complete step-by-step system is designed to help you find money in your budget you never thought was there so you don’t have to live paycheck-to-paycheck despite earning a decent income.
- A roadmap to FINALLY build savings, pay off debt, and invest for the future in the proper order.
- The resources to get you and your spouse on the same page with an objective party to facilitate the conversation judgment-free.
My goal is to get you the family budget help you need with a system that meets these three criteria:
- It must be EASY TO IMPLEMENT so that busy families can make time for it.
- It must get you IMMEDIATE & SUSTAINABLE RESULTS that work over the long term.
- It must BRING FAMILIES TOGETHER rather than divide them.
After years of researching, implementing and improving, here’s the effective yet simple Family Budget Transformation System:
Step 1: Build your financial lens
Before we dive into the numbers, we need to figure out exactly what you want your money to do for you as individuals, as a couple, and as a family.
- How to go from money rivals to money teammates.
- Establish your life values and priorities.
- Set INSPIRED financial goals.
Step 2: Save, invest, or pay off debt?
Next, we’ll want to take a look at your balance sheet, what you own and what you owe.
That way, we can see what buckets need to be filled and how to prioritize it with the extra money left over.
- Put together your balance sheet in a new way I call the Wealth Scorecard.
- Plot where you are on the Wealth Builder Roadmap.
- Get a clear roadmap of where any extra money should go (the optimal way to get out of debt, save money, the accounts to invest for the future).
- Go from being spread out and not making progress to focused like a laser.
Step 3: Where is your money going?
This is the critical step before creating a budget. We need to know where your money is currently going so we know what levers you can pull to cut back.
- Why you shouldn’t start with a budget.
- How to get your spending easily organized.
- Figure out your true problem areas.
- The best way to track your spending.
Step 4: The Irregulars
If there’s one thing that derails a household budget, it’s expenses that seem to come out of nowhere, the irregular expenses. It’s also a challenge to budget with irregular income.
- How to predict and prepare for irregular expenses.
- How to turn irregular income into steady income in your budget.
- See why each monthly budget will be different.
- Understand which months will be more expensive than others so you can plan in advance.
Step 5: What you should (and shouldn’t) spend money on.
I’m not here to prescribe how you should spend your money. That’s what you’ll figure out.
However, there are things you absolutely should spend money on and others you shouldn’t.
- What makes something a waste of money or a good use of money?
- The 6 Biggest Money Wasters (no, it’s not coffee or vacations).
- Where to spend money to live your best life.
Step 6: Cut spending without giving up the fun
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. We’ll find out the levers you can (and want) to pull to easily cut your spending without giving up the fun and without arguments.
- Learn my Keep, Cut Back, Eliminate technique to easily identify significant ways to cut your spending.
- How to set up weekly spending targets so you end the month at your goal or better.
- The Weekly Spending Review that will help you stick to your budget and improve your communication around money.
Step 7: Key Habits & Action Steps
This would be no good unless you had a plan to keep it in place. This is it right here.
- Create your action plan to implement all the work you’ve done.
- How to supercharge your savings rate as you make more money.
- Keys to success going forward.
How to get family budget help – Your options
Getting help with your budget has never been easier. Simply schedule a free 30 minute call.
We can discuss your biggest budget challenges, get you some quick fixes, and determine if you need more comprehensive family budget help to get the results you’re looking for.
Schedule Your Free CallThis Family Budget System is for you if:
- You feel like you earn a decent income but have nothing to show for it.
- Your money is being spread around to bills, debt, and retirement but you feel like you’re making zero progress.
- Your bank account never seems to grow and you can’t seem to get out of credit card debt.
- There always seems to be unexpected expenses that derail you.
- You’ve tried to create a budget for your family but it hasn’t worked, so you’re not sure what else to do.
- Money has been a source of stress in your relationship.
- You’re spending between $8,000 & $20,000 per month.
How to decide if you should move forward or not. How do you score?
Where do you see yourself and your family 10 years from now?
- Will you get there by doing the things you’re doing right now?
- OR do you need help to make that vision a reality?
Will this help us become better versions of ourselves?
- Do you feel like you know everything you need to know?
- OR do you need some tactics and accountability to help you get there?
How would our family relationships be stronger by working on this?
- Money issues aren’t causing stress in your relationship.
- OR if you could just solve those issues, your relationship would be fully thriving.