You won’t believe how easy it is.

Video script
Hi, I’m Kathy and I created Budget Breakthrough.

As a young adult, I found myself with a steady income but with very little intentional planning in my finances. I replied to a couple of credit card solicitations that crossed my path and I used those credit cards regularly because it was so easy. And suddenly I could see that minimum payments and continued spending on those cards were digging a hole. And it was SO incredibly hard to get out of that hole. I felt like I was always depriving myself of needs and wants.

Then I found myself in need of a large sum of money in a rather short period of time. I needed a plan.

I had attempted to make a budget countless times, listing all of my expenses and attempting to balance them against my very short list of income (there was only one entry there). I could always make the two balance, even including plans to make regular deposits into my savings account. But at the end of every month, I was back to using my credit cards because my bank account was empty. And let’s face it, no two months are the same. Lots of expenses are quarterly or bi-monthly or fluctuate greatly based on the seasons.

And I needed to figure out how to make myself more accountable to my plan.

I looked up on the wall at my little desk in my tiny apartment and saw a calendar. It was the kind of yearly calendar with an image at the top for each month and a little square for each day of the month down below.

Gosh, I thought. What if I tracked my money that way? Start with how much money I had at the beginning of the day, list my expenses, then see what I had at the end of the day?

But what a mess that would make writing on a calendar. And all those manual entries on my calculator. No way.

But then I thought … what if I could automate that process in a spreadsheet?

Love them or hate them, the lines and columns in a spreadsheet keep things organized. I am not an accountant or anything close to it. but I knew I could automate that math so that my calculator wouldn’t be involved. And I could map out the whole year and put in formulas and automation to carry my balance from the end of one day to the beginning of the next, and the end of one month to the beginning of the next.

Budget Breakthrough was born.

And it worked! I was able to save that sum of money that I needed in that short amount of time. And then I was able to plan for vacations and large purchases and unexpected expenses. All on what many would consider to be a rather small income.

It works because it’s SIMPLE. And it works because you can VISUALIZE it.

And I was able to avoid the negative emotions that so many people tie up with money. And avoid the shaming that traps so many people relating to their finances, and the excess spending and comfort spending that that shame often produces.

Then … I was able to share it with friends and family members who were struggling with their finances. And it worked for them too.

It works because it’s simple. It’s so simple, in fact, it will blow your mind. You’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it. And you’ll wonder how you ever managed your finances without it.

Check out the next video to see how it works!