Are you tired of checking your bank account and playing a guessing game with your money? In today’s episode, we are diving into the world of Zero-Based Budgeting.

In this episode, we cover:

1. What Zero-Based Budgeting actually is: Hint: It’s not about having $0 in your bank account! It’s about giving every single dollar you have right now a specific job to do before you get paid again.
2. Why it’s a total game-changer: We talk about how this method eliminates that stressful "mental accounting" we all try (and fail) to do in our heads.
3. Embracing your True Expenses: How to prepare for those "unexpected" costs—like car repairs or the vet bill for your favorite fur baby—so they become a total non-event.
4. Flexibility and Clarity: Why a budget isn't a "restriction," but a roadmap that allows you to move money around when life happens (because it always does!).
5. My favorite tool: Why I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) for my personal household and both of my businesses to stay in total control.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

FREE Beginner's Budget Guide: https://www.theexuberantelephant.com/guide

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Blog Post: Mastering YNAB’s Four Rules for Budgeting

Blog Post: The Five Questions That Transform How You Budget

YNAB Made Easy Course: https://www.theexuberantelephant.com/ynab-course

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DISCLOSURES

By using the affiliate links above, I may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase anything. Thank you for your support :-)

YNAB Disclosure: I am a YNAB Certified Budgeting Coach, which means that I have been trained to coach people on using YNAB software and the YNAB budgeting method. I have met select requirements of You Need a Budget LLC in order to receive this certification, which means that I have the ability to competently coach YNAB to others. I am not an employee of YNAB, and all non-YNAB related opinions and recommendations are my own. My views do not reflect the views of YNAB and its employees or affiliates.

Today I wanna talk about zero based

budgeting, what it is, why it works,

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and my favorite tool to help you

get started Before we dive in.

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Hi there.

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If we haven't met before, I am Lindsey

and I love budgeting and I am here

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to help you see money as a tool to

help you live your greatest life.

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And maybe also hopefully

learn to love budgeting.

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So let's go ahead and dive in.

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First of all, what is

zero based budgeting?

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At its core, zero based budgeting is

the practice of giving every dollar

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a job and only the dollars you have.

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So if you've been in my world for any

amount of time, you may be familiar with

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this phrase of giving every dollar a job.

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I actually mentioned it in just a

few episodes ago when I was talking

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about YNAB's original four rules.

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That was episode 14.

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If you wanna go ahead and go to

go back and take a listen to that.

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And what this means is that

instead of just looking back

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at what you spent last month.

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You look at the money you have in

your bank account right now and

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decide exactly what it needs to do

for you before you are paid again.

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So if you have $100, you

have $100 to work with.

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Or if you have a thousand dollars,

you have a thousand dollars to budget,

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and you give every one of those 100

or $1,000 jobs until you get down

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to zero, nothing more, nothing less.

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Every dollar gets a job.

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Another way to think about

this is by asking yourself,

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what are the absolute necessities

like rent, groceries, utilities?

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What are these things that I have to

pay for before I get paid a again?

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This could also be money for gas to

get yourself to work and maybe have

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a few groceries to keep yourself fed.

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Right.

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These are necessities.

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Once those expenses are handled, if

you still have money left, you can keep

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assigning it until you are down to zero,

hence the term zero based budgeting.

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So why does this work so well?

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Few reasons.

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The first is it eliminates

mental accounting.

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So mental accounting is where you

take peek at your bank account.

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You see a thousand dollars

in there, and you think.

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Surely I can spend $20

on lunch today, right?

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But if you forgot about the rent that

needs to be paid on Friday and your

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cell phone bill that comes out in just

a few days, maybe you really don't

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have that $20 available for lunch, and

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it is just too much to try and

keep all of this in our head.

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So using a zero based budgeting tool

will solve this problem for you.

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Second.

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It helps you embrace your true expenses.

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So what I mean by that is life

is full of expenses that we feel

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like they're unexpected, but

they are actually something that

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we can begin to prepare for.

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These are irregular costs,

like car repairs, vet bills,

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or even holiday shopping.

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I mean, you know, they will come

up eventually, but you don't know.

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How much or when, and like I said,

they always seem to pop up at the most

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incon inconvenient time by setting

aside a little bit each month for

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these into what I like to refer to as

sinking funds, you can turn a potential

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financial disaster into a non-event

because money is just sitting there

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waiting to be spent on that expense.

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It's

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zero based.

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Budgeting also gives you

total flexibility and clarity.

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One of the biggest myths is that

budgeting is restrictive, whereas

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in reality, zero based budgeting

allows you to make changes as needed.

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So if you overspend on groceries by $20,

you simply shift it from another category.

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You are in control and can make

real time adjustments as your life

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changes, because life will change,

and having a tool that can help you

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easily adapt is key to making it.

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If you're like a seamless event that

doesn't derail all of your progress.

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. But also if you are ready for the

next step, I have a free beginner's

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budget guide that will teach you

the four numbers that you must know

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before you fully dive into budgeting.

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You can grab that for free at

theexuberantelephant.com/guide.

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Of course, that link will

be in the description below.

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Alright, that's all I have for you today.

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Remember, your biggest, wildest

dreams are within reach.

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I will talk to you next time.