March of Gratitude day 26 – I’m grateful for our budget.

Arguably the best thing that my wife and I did before we got married was to learn how to properly manage our finances. My financial life was a mess and, although my wife had much better habits, neither of us really knew how to use our money well.

So we took a Financial Peace course, paid off a ton of (my) silly debts, and set the tone for a major component of marriage before we ever took our vows. Considering many marriages end up in divorce and/or financial ruin, it was a great move.

Since then we’ve learned more and better ways to manage our money. We continued to pay off most of our debt, don’t carry a credit card balance for more than a few weeks, and have money saved for many rainy days. If we needed to do something like leave our jobs and move to a new city without new jobs, we can (and just did).

I don’t mean this to be a brag. It’s an easy thing to do (especially if I can do it) if you just follow a good system.

That’s why we use YNAB. They have a simple system and app that makes it very easy to track money coming in and out, make and hit your budget goals, and see your money work for you.

I highly recommend checking it out, which you can do with a free 30 Day Trial HERE