I was able to pay off $52,335.76 in student loan debt by using my own budget sheet method. Now I’m sharing it with you, for free!

The word Budget is so scary, boring, daunting, incriminating, ______ (fill in the blank). Why put down in numbers the measly amount of money that you are barely making each month on paper?

I use to feel exactly that way. I didn’t want to log into my bank account. I didn’t want to know how much I owed. I only cared for when my payroll was deposited and I could blow it all off on new clothes and shoes! Pretty self-fish right?

Gone are those self-fish days. Becoming a parent is the moment my personal financial life changed. I got my sh*t together real quick! So I opened up Google Sheets and started to put down on paper how much I was making, how much I owed in student loans, how much I owed on my house and two cars and auto insurance and signed up for Mint to start tracking how much I was spending on groceries and gas every month. The results were mind-blowing!

I will be completely honest, I have no idea how to use Excel or Google Sheets. The most I know how to do is add and subtract using the quick Functions icon. I know that much. I started to use the negative “–” character in my bill amounts and then I added everything up in comparison to my take home pay in Column A.

That’s how I started this budget sheet. It’s quick, dirty and downright obnoxiously simple. I’m even a bit embarrassed to show it to you. These numbers are pretty realistic to my personal family finances –except the income line because what we make each month varies since I work in the consulting and freelance industry. I’m interested to know what your numbers are. Feel free to let me know what your thoughts are.