Organizing My Life

I've lived on my own now for 4  years. 

For the last 4 years, I've struggled with organizing my life. The organization that was so easy back in highschool when all I had to worry about was school assignments, my social life, the softball schedule and checking the oil in my car. Now as a 22 year old 'adult' I have my work schedule, finances, menu planning, cooking and shopping - for groceries!

 {These seem to be my biggest hurdle to get over right now} 

So this last week I had to buy a new car. Monthly car payments again was looking like my only option. I needed something reliable to get me to work {only 5 minutes away} and that Brent and I could use to get out of the city for a weekend. Not to mention, I COULD NOT HANDLE TO STRESS of a crappy car anymore. But now, I have the stress of payments - which I am CHOOSING NOT TO STRESS ABOUT because I've finally buckled down and became organized! 

{I've always paid my bills on time, but always stressed about it and feel like I've been living paycheck to paycheck when I know that I shouldn't be} 

This week I organized my budget, finances, menu plan and shopping list! I am a very visual person and someone who plans for the future {when I remember too that is}. I have to see it all laid out on the table with each dollar having a specific function, recipes assigned to a specific day and a shopping list to cover the ingredients that I need. That's when I went searching for the perfect spreadsheet and blogs to help my progress.

For my finances and budgeting, I found this link::

https://drive.google.com/templates?q=budget&category=14&sort=users&view=public&pli=1#

An entire list of different, already formatted, templates to get your finances on track! I looked through a couple different ones and found one that fit me perfectly. The template I use lays your finances out for each week and is formatted to automatically calculate any income/withdrawals to give you a remaining balance that is then forwarded to the next week. Having it divided up into weeks instead of months helps me tremendously since that is usually how I get through my bills...week by week. 

For my Menu Planning / Grocery List & Shopping, I found this blog::

http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/03/weekly-menu-planning-for-singles.html

MY menu plan, recipes, and shopping list for the week!

I was lucky enough to find something that fit my personality on the first blog I read. After about an hour and a half, I finally have designated recipes for the week followed by an appropriate shopping list that covers our essentials. The good news - my shopping list isn't any bigger than usual. The GREAT news - we won't be eating fast food anymore!!! 

{This will be my best money saver for us I think!}

It's my first week so lets see if I can stick with it!!