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[Budget Meetings]

How to run a successful budget meeting:

  1. This is a 2 person meeting, not a 1 person meeting and not a 4 person meeting. Both you and your spouse need to be involved. Put the video on for the kids or give them a copy of Pete’s book to read. Really try to limit the distractions.
  2. Have all statements you need ready to go so you don’t waste time.
  3. Have one person enter data and the other read off expenditures.
  4. Talk about every expenditure. This is where many people make a big mistake. You are less likely to blow money if you have to explain the purchase.
  5. Turn off the TV – turn on some music – anything will work except for Michael Bolton. In other words: relax. This will only seem tedious if you make it tedious.
  6. Be consistent – set your meeting for the same time each month. It is really hard to find time to talk about money. Therefore you should have the meeting occur on the same day and time every month.
  7. You need to review all your data at the end of the meeting and identify problem areas. This is the most important part of the meeting. It allows you to make changes in your spending habits.
  8. Brainstorm ideas for how to address problem areas.
  9. Set broad spending categories. If you don’t, you will have 100 categories, a bunch of data, and no decent analysis.
  10. If you go to a store frequently make that its own category. Don’t try and break it down – for example Wal-Mart, Target. We are trying to address your spending patterns. The best way to do this is to realize what stores take all your cabbage (money, people, money)