Getting Accountable -- Tools

So, how do you "monitor" your resolutions??? Do you make lists? And post status reports in your planner or iPhone? Do you know where you should be at all time??? Do you drive yourself crazy?? That's kinda my style, jump right in with both feet and plan it all in the beginning. It works for me. Otherwise, I just get a little lax, and slowly start eating the wrong things, not exercising, not moving forward.....so, since I have some pretty significant financial goals for the year, it was time to revisit the budgets, check on the expenses and monitor my spending a little more tightly.

So, I went to the place I always go when handling money, my Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Binder. It's years old and tattered. It was once a workbook (before it was online and fancy, it was a softback book that you wrote in, and it wasn't called the TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER, it was the companion to Financial Peace), but a few years ago (okay, a decade ago) the spine broke, and pages started falling out, so I cut the spine off with a Xacto knife, punched holes in it and put it in a binder. An ugly plain black binder (from before they had the sleeves on the front and could be personalized). This is the binder that I used every time I needed to pay a bill for 10 years...it's old and ratty, and the information is all common sense, and I've read it a bazillion times. But reviewing it and getting clear about my financial goals for the year is always inspiring. Breaking it down to how much to save per week makes you realize that it is doable, and not really as inconvenient as it is in your mind. BUT, the binder, well it's just ratty, and yuck, and there are so many better options out there now, whether it be Dave's Gazelle Intensity Online Program, or mint.com, or even just a simple spreadsheet. Dave's plan is envelope based, which kinda freaks some people out, but it's awesome!!! If there is no money in the envelope, then you can't spendy. That simple. You plan all of your spending at the beginning of the month, and then you just check it all off. And you know me and lists, I heart lists.


So, I updated my budget, and got ready to make my envelopes....and what should I find on pinterest but an ADORABLE pdf to make your own envelopes...just like the ones you get from the bank, but with a spending log printed right on them......needless to say, the ones online were cuter than any paper I had in the house (pola dots, stripes, etc)...and since I hadn't allocated myself any $$$ for crafts in January, so I couldn't spendy, I had to make due. I first printed on some astrobrights from the shop -- plum, and vertigo green, and a dark teal, they were really fantastic colors, but you couldn't read your writing on them, so they had to go. I replaced them with these, in shades of sunrise....a new dawning for a new era. I'll go with that, why not???

aren't they cute???

What tools do you use to resolve your resolutions???