Interactive Notebook For Budgeting

The purpose of a budget interactive notebook is to keep all of your budgeting materials in one place and organized. Yes, you can use a binder, but binders can be bulky and not really ideal for carrying around to jot down notes.

Also, I’m a middle school teacher and use interactive notebooks in my classroom and I LOVE it! I actually started interactive notebooks at home by accident. I was in the habit of using them in my classroom that it just carried over to my home organization.

One of my notebooks that I have made interactive is my home finance notebook where I keep up with the family budget and financial goals.

Here’s what to include in your notebook:

A Composition Notebook

A composition notebook has always been my favorite notebook. I quit using diaries in middle school and used composition notebooks as my diaries. I had room to write all I wanted and could tape, glue, or staple other items inside without worrying about it closing properly.

The same reason is why I use composition notebooks for my home organization. Spiral notebooks are too flimsy and the spiral eventually ruins the whole notebook and how it is supposed to work. Compositions are durable and you can collect ALL of your information in them.

What To Record

1. Weekly Bills

Each week, make a list of the bills that were paid and how much each bill was. I update my budget every week (try to anyway) of all the spending from the previous week. This includes monthly bills (the bills paid that week), gas, and groceries.

(Walmart Groceries link)

2. Weekly Purchases

I also record the other purchases such as fast food, shopping trips to Walmart, or prescription pick-ups at CVS. These are the things you want to try to keep to a minimum when on a tight budget.

3. Weekly Savings

Record how much you are putting into savings each week. You may only deposit into savings once or twice each month but still account for it each week. Your monthly total will show when you add it all up.

4. Weekly Income

You definitely have to include your weekly income. What point does it make when you count up everything you’re spending when you don’t know how much you’re bringing in? This is good to do especially if your income changes from week to week.

5. Totals

Of course, you will want to add up your totals for each category. Your total bills for each week and for the month, total purchases each week and for the month, total savings each week and for the month, and total income each week and for the month.

6. Beginning/Ending Balances

Keeping track of your beginning and ending balances helps you keep up with how much money you have compared to your spending each month. You’ll know what you’re starting with at the beginning of the month and see any patterns when you calculate your ending balances.

Why Is This Important?

In summary, this is all important in order to keep track of your finances, show you where you need to improve, show you what’s working, and help you be a better manager and steward over your money. This is important because when you manage money well, you tend to live a bit more comfortably.

Thanks for reading!!!

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Have a SUPER day!!!

Amy McCutcheon

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