Are you building your budget right now and still have money disappearing because your budget is not set up correctly? If that is the case, let’s talk about categories that your money could fall into, so it isn’t leaving and you not knowing where it went. Budgeting is a tool, and the categories are totally up to you. Wait, what? Yep, I can tell you the categories I recommend and that are frequently used, but ultimately you set the budget up how it works for you. This is because you make the money and you get to tell it how to work for you. When you are struggling to set up a budget or just getting started, I recommend a detailed budget with separate categories for different parts of life. When you are a millionaire and are debt free the budget can have more broad categories and less detail, but you still want to budget so that your money continues to help you reach your goals.
The top of your budget should be the things that are most important to you so that you are sending your money to those areas first. Think of categories like Giving, Saving, and Food, Housing, Utilities, and Transportation. After those things have money assigned to them, other important categories might include Insurance, Healthcare, and Personal Spending. Options for other categories might include Pets, Kids, Debt, Lifestyle, Entertainment, and other month specific items (like Halloween costumes or candy, Thanksgiving Feast, Christmas, Birthdays).
When you have your categories, you can then break them down also into subcategories. So, let’s say you have a Christmas line item in the budget. You can break it down even further into Christmas Meal, Gifts, Decorations, Random Acts Giving. You can break Transportation down into Gas, Maintenance, Insurance, and even Uber/Lyft fees. Or if you have an Insurance category you might not want your auto insurance under transportation if you like it group better under this category, that’s fine again its your budget, do what make sense to you. So, your Insurance category might include separate categories of medical, dental, vision, auto, home, toys and life. Some people’s Insurance category might only say Insurance and it only covers their car because medical, dental, and vision come straight out of their paycheck, their home has insurance in escrow, they don’t have anyone relying on their income so, no life insurance and no other toys or vehicles. You have to make the budget fit your life not you trying to fit a predetermined form. Yes, there are helpful forms and there are great apps available to assist, but remember a budget is supposed to be personal and help you win, not tell you what to do.
If you are ready to gain clarity and confidence with your money join the Money Makeover Challenge.
Tiffany
The Money Makeover Challenge is a 3-day live coaching experience designed to help you stop avoiding, second-guessing, or simply reacting to your finances and start making intentional money decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
I'll guide you through the same faith-centered frameworks and practical strategies I use to help women understand what's really happening with their money, uncover the beliefs and patterns influencing their financial decisions, and create a plan that reflects what matters most in this season of their life.
Over three days, you'll learn how to:
Get Clear about where you are financially—without judgment, shame, or avoidance.
Change the Story by identifying the beliefs and patterns influencing how you earn, spend, save, give, and manage money.
Make Your Money Work by deciding what matters most and creating a practical plan for what you'll start, stop, and continue doing with your money.
You'll leave with practical tools you can use long after the challenge ends, greater awareness of how you make financial decisions, and your own Money Makeover Plan with a clear next move.
Because money isn't a measure of your worth.
It's a tool. And it's time to confidently use it to support the life, family, business, future, generosity, and impact you're called to create.
Your $47 registration includes:
Three live coaching sessions with Tiffany Miliander
The complete Money Makeover Challenge Workbook
Guided exercises and financial coaching frameworks
Practical challenges to apply what you're learning to your actual money
Community connection and support throughout the challenge
You are worthy. You are capable. You are called.
It's time to make your money work.
