Review Your Progress

In order for your budget to WORK you have to regularly review it and tweak it when necessary. So every month I want you to track your spending and review your budget to see how you did.

Remember, a budget is meant to be fluid and should change as your needs change. Spending more in one area may be okay if you’re spending less in another area; however if this is a regular occurrence, that’s a sign that your budget needs to be revised.

I’ve provided a lesson worksheet to help you review your progress every month that you can download at the end of the lesson. Use this worksheet to analyze how you did with your spending this month. And remember, don’t ONLY focus on where you fell short—be sure to celebrate your wins too!

Once you review your spending for the month, I recommend you do an annual budget summary to compare your actual spending with the budgeted amounts from month to month. I’ve included an Annual Expense Tracker Worksheet to help you with this. However, don’t wait until the end of the year to plug in your numbers—you should plug in your numbers every month and review it.

This summary will help you see areas where you may need to make some changes in your budget. 

Review and adjust your budget any time there is a change in your household situation, finances, and financial goals. This is super important for long-term successful money management.

Finally, I recommend you update your Net Worth Worksheet every 3 or 6 months. This helps you see if you’re making overall progress with your financial goals. If your net worth is increasing, that’s a sure sign that what you’re doing is working.

Your Actionable Steps For This Lesson:

• Track your spending and review your budget for the month. 
• Fill out the lesson worksheet and analyze what worked and what didn’t in your budget this month.
• Compare your spending from month to month in an annual budget summary (use the Annual Budget Worksheet).
• Make adjustments to your budget if you find you’re constantly overspending in a particular area.
• Update your Net Worth Worksheet to see if your net worth is increasing.
• Adjust your budget if there is a change in your household situation, finances, and financial goals.
• Watch BONUS video that gives you an inside look of how I review my spending and financial goals.

BONUS BUDGET REVIEW VIDEO:
In this bonus video, I'm going to show you how I personally analyze my budget and compare it from month to month. I'm going to show you two strategies I use, one with the annual budget worksheet (video 1) and one with a budget spreadsheet (video 2). 

*Note: you might want to watch the videos in full screen mode so it's easier for you to see.