Christian Financial Perspectives
204 – Budgeting Without Counting
Budgeting Without Counting
Learn how to budget in a simpler way.
Feeling overwhelmed by the constant need to track every penny? Does the thought of budgeting and counting numbers fill you with dread? Bob and Shawn reveal a simple approach to managing your finances without the hassle of traditional budgeting. You’ll learn how to gain control, reduce overspending, and aim to achieve your financial goals all without the burden of counting.
HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
CO-HOST: Shawn Peters
Mentioned In This Episode
Christian Financial Advisors
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Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
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Bible Verses In This Episode
LUKE 14:28-30
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Shawn:
Feeling overwhelmed by the constant need to track every penny? Does the thought of budgeting and counting numbers fill you with dread? Well, in this episode, we’ll reveal a simple stress-free approach to managing your finances without the hassle of traditional budgeting. You’ll learn how to gain control, reduce overspending, and achieve your financial goals all without the burden of counting. Let’s get some perspective.
Welcome back to Christian Financial Perspectives. So glad that you’ve joined us. My name’s Shawn Peters. I’m joined as always by Bob Barber, and today we’re getting into budgeting without counting. So for those of you who hate even holding or looking at a calculator or somehow it feels like when you try to budget, you’re just putting too many constraints on yourself and rules and you’re just a free spirit or something like that, I don’t know, whatever it might be. Well, today we’re going to present a plan to help you be able to budget, but in a way that avoids the counting and looking at counting very specific budget categories, if you will.
Bob:
It’s the cost of counting and numbers. And Shawn…
Shawn:
You’ve been doing this with you and Rachael, right? For many years.
Bob:
Rachael and I have been using this method for a good 15, 16 years, and it works very well. I’m the numbers guy. You know how opposites attract, right?
Shawn:
Yes. Bob loves to budget with counting.
Bob:
I love budgeting and accounting. My wife, if you want to get into an argument, you start talking about budgeting and counting. And I will say this, Shawn, from the many years of doing this with couples, there’s usually one that likes to do that and the other that doesn’t, or sometimes there’s both. They just can’t seem to budget correctly. There’s a little bit of counting that is involved in this in the beginning, but once you get past that, really you can let the app do it and it’s going to take care of it for you. It is amazing how well it works. And so people, I want you to, if you’re not driving and you happen to be at home, you might want to get out a notepad and write down some of this information. I’m going to give you some really great information today.
Shawn:
And really the strategy, the intent here is to help you gain control of your finances, but without the stress of having to constantly monitor your accounts.
Bob:
Yeah, that’s right.
Shawn:
But before we go any further, Bob, let’s go ahead and read Luke 14:28-30, “For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it began to mock him saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.”
Bob:
Goes with budgeting, doesn’t it?
Shawn:
This passage really emphasizes the importance of planning and being wise with our resources. So, with the scripture out there, let’s go into step number one, which is determine your monthly expenses.
Bob:
There about four steps here, I believe? Four or five?
Shawn:
I believe so, yes. I believe we have four steps total.
Bob:
That is the first thing that you have to do. Yes, there is a little bit of counting upfront. Sorry, but I know we said budgeting without counting, but there’s got to be some upfront.
Shawn:
Budgeting with minimal counting. And it’s more so of initially.
Bob:
Yep. You’ve got to look at what your monthly expenses are and crunch those numbers to determine what your family can live on after taxes, savings, and giving.
Shawn:
That’s an important thing. After whatever taxes, savings, and giving you’re going to do and put into that plan, then what do you need to get by?
Bob:
And the normal month, of course has four weeks. Now we know there’s 30 days in a month. So on average you have to kind of compensate a little bit for that. Maybe day 8 or day 9, instead of day 7, 14, it might be 15, but you get the gist of it. Think about budgeting in four week increments. You think about basically eight or nine different things, and that is things like groceries, clothing, housing, utilities, that’s your electric, water, sewer, garbage and gas. Your transportation costs, like your car and upkeeping. Medical costs, insurance, which has to do with your home, auto, life, and disability. And then those miscellaneous costs like eating out and clothing and…
Shawn:
Just the non necessary clothing.
Bob:
Well, that’s true. That’s true.
Shawn:
Yeah, because there’s clothing, but that’d be more for the, well, I don’t need it, but I kind of want to get that new fill in the blank.
Bob:
Well, you can with this system that we’re going to talk about and how to crunch these numbers. But you have to figure this out first. You’ve got to figure out what can we live on. Now, if you’re making a 100k a year and your expenses are this is 120k, you’ve got a problem. But you know what I find, Shawn, is that most people, when they actually look at the numbers, they come in less.
Shawn:
But be sure when you’re looking at these, what do you need for the essentials that we’ve just listed? Make sure you include any debt payments, so credit card bills, student loans, things like that. Also, don’t forget to factor in things that are a little more infrequent. So at least annual change of oil in the car, things like that. Home repairs or gifts for Christmas for example, because that creeps up on people all the time.
Bob:
And we are, the way we’re going to talk about this, we’re going to have savings as a complete other category. Which has to do with the emergency expenses.
Shawn:
That’s right. So for the example budget today, we’re going to use a hundred thousand a year. It’s nice math. It’s a good number to start with.
Bob:
You can take 70% of these numbers and it’s 70.
Shawn:
Exactly. So at a 100,000 a year, that’s about 8,100 a month.
Bob:
That’s correct.
Shawn:
We did step one, which determined your monthly expenses. So now in step two, we’re going to break down your monthly expenses into weekly amounts.
Bob:
So we’re going to break that down by four weeks. The first is usually your most, because that’s at the beginning of the month. You have your heavier things like your mortgage payment, maybe your car payment. You got your utility bills that are usually due at the beginning of the month. So out of this $8,100, we determined, and this is very realistic, about $3000 of that — if you took the $8,100 and divided it by four, you’d be at $2,050 per week. But the first week’s going to take about $3000 of that because of the bigger bills that come up front. So what this means is, and we’re going to get into the next step, step three, you’ll see how we do this. But that means in that first week, all you’re going to spend is $3000 and we’re going to show you a way that it makes it impossible to spend more.
Shawn:
Right. So this leaves us with $5,100 for the next three weeks divided by three is $1700 a week.
Bob:
That’s correct.
Shawn:
So of course adjust these numbers based on your specific situation and when your bills are due. So I know for example, Jenna and I, we both have our mortgage payment that goes out on the 12th or as early as the 10th, depending on what day that falls on. And with our credit card bill, I think it’s on the 12th as well.
Bob:
So y’all may fall into week two of this. You may fall into a lesser on week one and the most on week two in y’all’s case. Okay.
Shawn:
So again, adjust it, but effectively you need to have that one. Or you can kind of look at it as well, we’re starting week two as our week one, but whatever the case is, just kind of keep on that consistent schedule when your paychecks come in and then move on from there.
Bob:
Now this is the first two steps, and that’s all the counting you got to have to do. I mean, that’s pretty much it.
Shawn:
From here on out, no more counting.
Bob:
But from here on out, we’re going to talk about a strategy that has worked so well in my own personal life. And I’ve talked this strategy to many of our clients and they absolutely love it. So here we go. Step three.
Shawn:
Step number three, set up two different bank accounts. So bank account number 1, strictly for depositing paychecks, paying taxes, you’re saving, and you’re giving. Never use this account for general spending.
Bob:
That’s never, ever, ever.
Shawn:
And we’ll say that multiple times.
Bob:
But you never take anything else from account number 1. That is so important.
Shawn:
Depositing income, paying taxes, putting money into savings, or giving. That’s it. That’s the only thing used for it. Now then bank account number 2, strictly for paying all your regular monthly expenses as we previously determined in step number one. So, having these two separate accounts helps to create a psychological barrier as well as technically to an extent there is a barrier in two separate accounts. But the biggest thing is when you have them in two separate accounts, it helps in your mind to be able to separate income and expenses. So you don’t look at your one account is very common for most people. You have your one checking account, that’s where everything goes into it.
Bob:
Everything comes in and everything goes out.
Shawn:
So when you’re trying to decide, “Oh, should we get this or do we need it or can we afford it?” You go, “Oh, look how much is in there?” But you very quickly forget, “Oh wait, what about this bill that’s coming in? What about this one? Oh, we also have this for giving that goes out to the church.” And so you’ve got to have those two separate accounts. That’s a big part of this.
Bob:
And preferably, Shawn — now this has worked well for Rachael and I — we have the accounts in completely different locations, too.
Shawn:
You’ve got one at a good local bank and then you have one at your good credit union.
Bob:
That’s the way it is with us.
Shawn:
Around here, we’ve got Frost and Randolph. So that would be the R-B-F-C-U.
Bob:
Any way you want to do it. But I think the best thing that you can do is actually setting this up in two separate accounts, two separate banks. I don’t want you looking at what’s in the bank account Number 1 that the income goes into. You have determined what your expenses are and then divided that by four and those first two steps, and then that’s going to come over. And the way that this works is you go to, and you’re looking at your account every day. Everybody has an online app. Everyone.
Shawn:
One thing to help on this is consider setting up automatic transfers when you already know what your paycheck’s going to be and the income, you know what the tax is and saving and giving, go ahead and set up the automatic transfers so that way whatever is supposed to move from bank account number 1 to number 2, happens automatically. You’re not checking it or decide, well this month I’ll do $3,500 to move over. No, nope, you got to stick to it.
Bob:
You do not do that. You do not do that. And the thing about this, so in this case, we were using $3,000 in the first week.
Shawn:
This gets us into step number four.
Bob:
Okay.
Shawn:
Transfer money from the bank account number 1 to bank account number 2, week one, you would, in using our example, transfer $3,000 from bank account number 1 to bank account number 2, no other funds should be transferred from bank account number 1 to number 2 until the next week.
Bob:
Well, what if I run out of money in day four, no more out? That’s exactly right. See, that’s the power…
Shawn:
You’ve already got the important things covered.
Bob:
That’s the power behind this. The power behind this is separating out the accounts. You’ve determined what you need on a weekly basis and you stick by it and you can look at that app every day and see what you’ve got. And if you are out of funds in day five or day six, you got to wait maybe one or two more days until the next part comes in. When you do it otherwise, any other way, it may look like I’ve got plenty, I still got a lot in there for the rest of the month. But then at the end of week two and a half or three weeks, you have nothing left. And then you have to go a whole week instead of a couple of days. I mean, this is extremely powerful. I’ve used it for so many years and man it works.
Shawn:
So at the end of that first week going into day seven or eight, you have the other $1700 transferred, and then just stick to the schedule for all four weeks.
Bob:
I mean, we live around this, Shawn, because Rachael, like you say, she doesn’t like budgeting or having to count all those numbers. And most people don’t. And she knows, okay, in week two, that’s when I can go buy more groceries or we can go, if we’ve already eaten out and used our budget by the fourth day of week one, we got to wait to week two. And same with each week. It keeps you right on schedule. And we’ve lived on the same amount, even with inflation, we’ve lived on this same amount pretty much for 15 years. We’ve been doing this even though my income kept rising, but I kept transferring over the same amount. And so I added that to savings and investing and giving.
Shawn:
Okay, that’s where the, well, what if something comes up in that second or third week that was not a, “Oh, I’d like to buy this or pay for it,” but there’s actually some sort of emergency. That’s when you would look at pulling from savings, if it’s truly an emergency.
Bob:
If it’s truly an emergency, an emergency is not a new car unless the other car has completely fizzled out. An emergency is not a new set of clothes. Emergency is an emergency. It is like for medical.
Shawn:
Or the AC completely broke and it’s Summer.
Bob:
That’s right. But by doing this this way, you will build up your investing and your savings accounts. And by giving from that account too, you’re giving from the gross, which is what God wants you to do.
Shawn:
That’s right. So which kind of leads right in, naturally Bob, to our benefits of budgeting without counting.
Bob:
Okay, learn to live on the same amount month after month, regardless of increasing income. You’re not always pushing more and pushing more. You’re determining how much is enough. We preach that around here. How much is enough?
Shawn:
That’s right. It gives, builds savings, invests extra money as your income increases, which is a big benefit.
Bob:
Number three is a big one, too. It definitely reduces the financial stress, especially if one of you is a budgeter like myself. Rachael doesn’t have to worry about counting the numbers. I’m looking at that. I’m looking at the account online. She looks at the account online. And some of you say, well, you don’t want to go look at your account online. The thieves are looking at the account online. And those that are looking to get into the bank accounts, you need to be monitoring your financial accounts often. I like to do them daily or weekly. Now if you have investing, don’t get caught up in looking at what the data says.
Shawn:
Yeah, we’re talking about the bank account, we’re not talking about the investment account.
Bob:
That’s right.
Shawn:
And Bob, one of the things is, again, since usually there’s one spouse is one way and you have the other way, but for you, I know you like to keep an eye on things, you like to be more in it and looking at all the numbers and Rachael doesn’t. Well, that’s very common with a lot of people. So this satisfies your need on the, “Well, I want to make sure that we’re staying with where we need to be. We’re staying on track.” But it allows someone who doesn’t like that to feel like they have a little more freedom where they’re not having to discuss and talk about every single little thing. “Well, what about this? Why’d you get this?” Well, it doesn’t matter. If you’re sticking within that budget, it doesn’t really matter if you spend a little more on clothing this time versus eating out.
Bob:
That’s exactly right, Shawn. It avoids arguments.
Shawn:
And then it encourages discipline and mindfulness in our spending habits. That’s a good one too. So, alright, well Bob, I’ll let you cover this part on personal experience since you’ve been doing this for so long.
Bob:
Well, I kind of have already. We set up this process many years ago because my wife, she doesn’t like counting and numbers. If I gave her a calculator, she might throw it back at me. So we’ve been married 40 years, we’ve been using this system for 15 to 20. It works extremely well. I’ve taught multiple clients how to use this system and it is very successful with them. It absolutely works. And like I say, many people have found success with this, even if they struggle with the traditional envelope budgeting system – constantly counting, you just got to break it down by the week.
Shawn:
So in conclusion, the importance of having two bank accounts cannot be stressed enough.
Bob:
No, it cannot.
Shawn:
You’ve got to have two different bank accounts for this to work. And again, we encourage you to have it at two different banks or institutions. It could be one credit union, one bank, but having that separation helps a lot because if they’re both the same bank and your name is on it or you and your spouse’s names are on it, well it’s just real easy to hit transfer from this account to this account. But when you have them at two different banks, they’re not automatically connected.
Bob:
And the thing is, is when you have it in two different institutions, also, it allows a couple extra days.
Shawn:
Yes, yes, that too.
Bob:
And so it’s really putting a wall between them because like you say, if you have it in the same bank account, you can transfer it instantaneously anytime. We don’t have enough now for another two days or three days. Well no, this helps you stay disciplined.
Shawn:
That’s right. It’s like drinking the water out of a straw versus a fire hose.
Bob:
Yeah, amen. It is.
Shawn:
Which causes a lot of waste of resources, but also just makes it a lot harder to get it done. If your choice is drink it from the hose at full blast , well you might just end up not drinking water.
Bob:
You’re also going to get a lot more wet, too, from doing that. So by implementing the strategy that we’ve talked about today, you can take control back of your finances, reduce stress, and work towards good, long-term financial goals. It’s really going to help a lot on the saving for emergencies and the investing and of course your giving as well, which I feel that the giving needs to be first.
Shawn:
Agreed. Alright, well that’s it for today. Thank you so much for joining us. God bless. And as always, you can reach out to us. Call, Text (830) 609-6986. You can also visit our website www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. Thank you and God bless.
[CONCLUSION]
That’s all for now.
We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.
[DISCLOSURES]
* Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.
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