Budget Bootcamp
join live in the monthly budget bootcamp by registering
Guided Budget Build
step 1
Create an Account + Estimate Bills
This will give you a 34-day free trial, and because it's a super special link, it will give you an extra month when you subscribe by adding a month to yearly renewals or one month free on monthly plans
I literally promised one of the PR directors of YNAB that I would say this: Wealth Battle is not endorsed by or officially affiliated with YNAB in any capacity outside of our participation in their affiliate program and their financial wellness program. The above link IS a referral link. I (Kason) may get a free month of service if you love it enough to pick up a copy for yourself.
step 2
step 3
Adding budget accounts includes adding individual checking, savings, or cash accounts. These added together make your "Ready To Assign" funds, or as I might call it, your "pool of unemployed dollars."
It's also important to add accounts that create debt (such as lines of credit or credit cards) to your budget so that as you spend on those, you know what liabilities have been created for you.
step 4
Rule #1 in YNAB is "Give Every Dollar a Job". If you have $10,000 - EVERY dollar NEEDS a job. Jobs could be, "Ok Dollar, go pay my mortgage or utility bill." An immediate need.
OR a job might be to embrace your true expenses like "Ok Dollar, in a few months I'll have to pay for my car insurance - Standby to be deployed and accomplish THAT mission."
The dollars are yours to do with as you see fit. It's important to just give them a starting purpose, then refine as life goes along.
step 5
A Budget is comprised of two components. First, your intentions for what you wish your dollars to do. Second, logging what you ACTUALLY do with them.
If your actual expenses are less than your originally budgeted intentions, fabulous! You'll have extra $ to give a new job to.
Example: Budget $150 for electricity, spend $140 = $10 Surplus
If your actual spends are greater than your intention, you'll need to implement YNAB rule 3, which is "Roll with the punches," by taking excess from another category and covering that hole in the budget.
Example: Budget $150 for electricity, spend $160 = $10 DEFICIT
step 6
Once you complete your first month in YNAB - you will (hopefully) have excess dollars that will need jobs. Now you are faced with a decision that only you can solve for yourself. Namely, what do you DO with the excess? A few options to consider:
1. Extend savings beyond this month and save into future months - ONLY if your future months are looking solid.
2. Consider other True Expenses that you haven't embraced and embrace them.
3. Consider how you can move forward in escaping the rat race so you can live your best life. (Opportunity funds, business development, etc.)
step 7
Now that you have a budget, what's next?
If you have benefitted from this guided budget build, please send a Discord message to @Kason on the Wealth Battle Discord and let's get you into one of our budgeting accountability groups!
If you are ready to try Wealth Battle, go to wealthbattle.com/subscribe and start your FREE 30 day trial.
We look forward to helping you move forward with your goals!
~ Kason
(P.S. - all of this works for business budgeting too; it may just be a little more complicated to set up for separate entities.)
Schedule a 1 on 1 budget overhaul
What can I expect when creating a budget?
Together, we will build out a Version 1 budget that will be functional from day 1. We will also demonstrate how to use budgeting software to log expenses quickly and painlessly, setting up the system so that, in the future, you can budget for a month or more at a time with just a few clicks.
What if I start budgeting and have a question?
How long does it take to get "good" at budgeting?
The first 30 days of budgeting are the hardest if you've never done it before. Kason used to have a jaw-dropping error rate close to 20% from his expected spends vs what the bank showed. Now the error rate is normally less than 1% and budgeting has gone from 20 minutes a day on average to less than 5/day to stay on top of everything. The guided tutorial takes about an hour and a half for most people.
What should I do with X money or Y expense?
To be a bit pedantic and overly precise... Anyone who tells you what you SHOULD do with YOUR life doesn't understand Praxeology or The Economic Calculation Problem. One framework that a lot of people find value in is:
1. Cover the bills 2. Embrace true expenses 3. Build opportunity funds 4. Extend runways 5. Build cashflows.
Why is this budgeting training free?
There are 3 reasons why this is provided at no cost:
First, I believe budgeting is the next step to becoming financially resilient after securing a way to earn an income in one's life. We use IBOARSE (Income, Budgeting, Opportunity Funds, Ascending Cash Flows, Reduce, Speculation, Escape the Rat Race).
Second, I like YNAB and their software enables me to look further than I could without leveraging a tool that helps me schedule money. I want you to be empowered with this!
Third, as "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." This is usually the starting point of a relationship between you and the team at WealthBattle.com. We are Arming Individuals with Financial Education.
