Great question. 

What is it worth to you to get free of the worries and stress around your finances?

This system is WORTH IT if you think it will will work for you. You'll have to be willing to put the time in to create your plan, but if you're willing to do the work, it's going to change your relationship to money and the freedom that you feel when you have a system you can set and forget. 

I also believe that learning to make a workable budget and a strategy for managing money is a skill for life. This isn't something we are typically taught, so it might be time to come to terms with your reality and spend the time and energy to set yourself up for lifelong success. 

The beauty of this system is that I created it when I made less than $30,000, and I still use it today making an executive-level salary.  

No matter what your financial situation, you still have to juggle bills, debt, and unexpected emergencies. Planning for those is harder when you have less money to work with, but you can still plan. In fact, when I made less money I had entirely no wiggle room and using this budget helped me survive those years when money was so tight. 

Even if you only have $100 extra dollars a month, this plan will help you use that $100 for your goals rather than have it disappear into the void.  And if you don't have $100, this plan helps you time your bill payments and keep on top of your finances so you don't need extra cash in your account to make it work every month. 

These are tools for decision-making, not accounting. We're not tracking every expenditure. 

Instead, these sheets allow you to play around with the timing, amount, and frequency of payments. You can change values in the sheets to see what happens, for example, if you want to increase your savings each month (or for that matter, your latte spending).

Because the sheets are inter-linked, you can play around with the values on one sheet and the results of those decisions will be clear on another sheet.

The other thing this spreadsheet does? It allows you to strategically plan out your bill payment based on the timing of your income, and then automate it so you don’t have to remember exactly when your bills should be paid. You’ll never miss a payment again or suffer overdraft fees.

The truth is, many of us are already using a zero-sum budget but we're not doing it right. If you end each month without being able to pay some of your bills and have to scrimp that last week before you get paid, you already are doing this. 

You just need a good plan and automation to make this system work properly. 

The principle behind this kind of budget is that you determine what to do with every dollar that you earn. 

Yes, some of that will be for "spending" and you don't have to account for exactly how much that is.  But leaving yourself with your spending AFTER you've allotted all the money for goals means that you are paying yourself (and your debts) first! Before your latte, you're paying your high interest debt. Every financial expert would tell you that this is the best way to meet your goals. 

There are experts and thought-leaders like Dave Ramsey who advocate for a Zero-Sum budget, and I agree with them. I think where people go wrong is in the automation. If I'm in charge of deciding in the moment about whether I want Beyonce tickets or to pay my debt... it's gonna be a tough call. Decide first, then make your money move without you being involved each month. You will either learn to live on what you have allotted as spending or you will make the decision to increase that amount (and decrease somewhere else). 

I believe this way of planning for your finances leads to much more success.