My husband and I have been volunteering at our church as coordinators for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University video course. FPU is, of course, all about gaining control over your money. Getting rid of debt, saving up, investing, and eventually reaching a point of being able to give like crazy. As the FPU website puts it, the class is “a Biblically-based curriculum that teaches people how to handle money God’s way.” It has been a fun, eye-opening, and interesting journey!
Well, to keep up with our budgeting and debt busting, I decided to put together a Money Binder. If you know me really well, you know that I love binders (as evidenced by my Home Management Notebook and my Blogging Binder). It’s a great way to keep like things together and easily accessible–plus it keeps you well organized.
Most of things within this Money Binder were originally stored inside my Home Management Notebook. But I decided it would serve us better in a separate binder. And it has–our budget meetings are simpler and more organized.
What You’ll Need for your Own Money Binder
- a 1-inch 3-ring binder
- dividers (I prefer these plastic ones)
- a zipper binder pocket to store pens, pencils, a calculator, and a checkbook
- plastic sleeves for business cards (optional, but helpful for keeping important business cards)
- the free printables as given below
Free Printables
- Binder Cover
- A simple cover to make your binder all pretty like.
- Binder Spines—.5 inch, 1 inch, 1.5 inch, or 3 inch
- A spine to easily identify your binder.
- Basic Budget
- A very basic budget to use if you don’t want to use the Zero Balance Budget below.
- Billing Passwords
- To help you keep track of passwords.
- Billing Schedule & Contacts
- So you know when bills are due and who to contact if an issue arises.
- Billing Checklist
- To check off what bills have been paid each month (no more forgetting to pay bills!).
- Credit/Debit Card Info
- Info to keep in case an issue arises with any cards.
- Debt Tracker
- So you can track how much your debt is dwindling.
- Occasional Expenses
- To keep track of non-monthly expenses like vehicle registration, union dues, and what-not (no more forgetting to budget for them).
- Savings Tracker
- So you can see how much you’ve got saved in savings, retirement, college, and other funds.
- Transactions
- To keep track of where everything got spent (similar to a check register).
- Zero-Balance Budget
- A Dave Ramsey inspired budget sheet where every last penny is budgeted somewhere (final balance should read zero).
Got any other ideas? Leave a comment letting me know and I might make more free printables based off your ideas!
How do you keep reins on your money? Have you tried out any of Dave Ramsey’s methods?
Don’t forget to also check out my Home Management Notebook for optimal organization! If you’re trying to lose weight the Trim Healthy Mama way, I have some free THM Binder printables, too. And if you happen to be a blogger, check out my Blogging Binder printables.
Jennifer says
Thank you for these free printables! They are exactly what I was looking for to help us on our journey to get out of debt!
Laura Ann says
I have been using the envelope method for about 40 years now or beforel I even knew about Dave Ramsay. It has worked wonderfully for me and to this day, I am still using it. I also use spreadsheets to keep track of what I am saving for. I have “hidden” money in my checking account for special purchases and to keep my balance within the “free checking” range. this has been a real Godsend. Then there’s my regular savings account split into various allocations or categories; again, on a beautifully color-coded Excel spreadsheet. This has caused a bad case of twitching to anyone who likes to keep it simple. It’s actually not that complicated only to the uninitiated. I would use Quicken and have but my system would cause a meltdown in their program.
TJ says
That’s awesome, Laura. 🙂 You’re a very wise lady! I currently use a spreadsheet too because I can access it on my cell phone when I’m out and about.
Brandi says
Thank you so much for posting these printables! My husband and I are about to start the Dave Ramsey course and needed something like this.
TJ says
You’re welcome! 🙂
Alejandra says
are the printables still available?
TJ says
Hi, Alejandra. Yes, they are. 🙂 Click on the links for the pages you’d like and it’ll open a new tab that leads to Dropbox and there will be the options to save {download} or print.
Christina says
Thank so much, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Shannon Zeilic says
Love, love, love these!!! Thank you so much! 🙂
Penny says
Thanks for sharing your templates! 🙂
Talia (another THM!) says
Thank you for the printable’s! I would love to see a gift giving schedule to help me track my dollars budgeted for that expense. With six kids and starting to have grandchildren and son/daughters in law, it’s getting unwieldy to keep track of them all! Also, maybe a list of Holidays that may come with incidental expenses?