One of the first and most crucial steps towards our family becoming better stewards has been to create a budget. This is a big and important step so that we can track our spending and then be intentional with where our money is going. We read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover" and we cannot speak highly enough about how much it has helped us get on a better track to being wise with our finances. We are now using cash for all of our purchases and this new style of payment has totally transformed my ability to stick to a budget. Although I have tried to be more frugal over the past few years, it was easy to just spend $10 here, $5 there and of course some thing that was a great deal and I really could use would always pop up. It usually didn't seem like a big deal because I wasn't spending a lot of money but without a set budget, those things were quickly adding up! I am not a numbers person, so being able to visually see how much is left in an envelop for a particular category has really helped me stay on track. I do enjoy buying new things but this new endeavor of staying within my budget or staying under budget has been a welcome challenge that I know is the first step towards learning to be a better steward.
Here is a link to Dave Ramsey's website that has some excellent information and resources related to budgeting and taking control of your finances. www.daveramsey.com
Here is a specific link to some of Dave Ramsey's budgeting tips and tools that I have found useful. Budgeting Tools
