Budgeting on Inconsistent Income

It's that time of year where we trim the fat off our waist and our budgets!!!  In the interest of full disclosure, I love numbers. I'm a number nerd. Totally and completely, without reservation, I love when it's time to go over the monthly budget and pay bills. It makes me extremely happy.

I know, different. But what can I say, I love it!

This past June, Jon and I embarked on a new journey. The journey of self-employment. The first few months were not too pretty. It takes a little while to get used to not having consistent income. As a woman, I love security. If you are not the same, that's just fine! We are all different. But I, am a security lover.

We are Dave Ramsey followers. 100% of his budgeting, and we used his budgeting tools when we had regular income. Now we are using his tools for irregular income. Because we had been budgeting for over 10 years, you would think it would be easy. It wasn't.

One of the first things we do is get all the bills. I like to keep mine all clipped together like this.

Then we list all the bills on paper that are necessary. Don't forget to make sure you add groceries and gas like a bill. You do need to eat.

Unless you want to fast.

Put the bills in order on paper

Next, we list how much the bill is each month. If we aren't sure, we give a rough estimate based on last month's bill amount.

Last we add non-necessities. Clothing (because kids do grow!), spending money, haircuts, etc. are all something we can live without for a month.

Then we go down the list as money comes in. Some months we make it all the way through the list, some months we don't. Like I said, self-employment is not easy in the beginning! But we totally and completely believe in what we're doing, so we do what we have to do to get through. That is our motto.

We are making the most of it, and sticking to our budget. You can do it too! What are some of the things that help you live off inconsistent income?