The Snowball Budget

As we get nearer to the end of the year (and Christmas, after all, that's really what this is all about) I have a tendency to start thinking about budgets.  Mostly, I just want to know how much can I spend on lights, decor, baking and the gifts, oh my!
But, at some point in the midst of all the holiday pinning, there is that nagging voice reminding me its time to evaluate this year and plan for the next.

See, before Hubby and I got married our family insisted we take the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class. At the time it was annoying and I thought "what a crock," but as we sat through it we quickly realized that this was great advice. Since that class we have made most of our financial decisions based on Dave Ramsey's teaching and I really think that its saved us from making some pretty big mistakes. Not to mention, it may have saved our marriage because we have never fought about money, not bad for 6 years right?

Anyway, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the "Snowball Budget" that Dave Ramsey teaches or if you're here just to check it out but I can assure you it works.  Each year I spend tons of time re-entering info and re-figuring but I think I've finally got it to where it works for itself with minimal input. I am by no means an Excel guru or a financial expert but I seriously enjoy seeing how things work out on paper and watching our debt just fall away. So I decided to share my method with you in hopes that maybe it will help you reach your financial goals as well.
First is a word document for you to print (that way you don't have to flip back and forth between word and excel when you are working on it.) It has the instructions you will need to fill out the spreadsheet. I've tried to write them as clear as possible but you are the first to read this so if you have questions please ask and I will help where I can. Also, some of you may be more advanced with excel then others so you may not need as much instruction. It took me several years to figure this out, but I hope it works for you too.
Second is a sample snowball budget so you could see how it works long term. You may want to print this too or change numbers around and get a feel for how it works. You will have to download this to your computer in order to be able to work on it.
Last is the actual snowball workbook you will use to fill out with your own numbers. This you will have to adjust numbers in the workbook so you need to download it to your computer and open in Excel. If you are pretty familiar with Excel you may just want to skip the sample and go straight here.

So there you have it. The snowball budget/workbook we use. I hope its helpful for you and again, feel free to ask questions or leave comments.
Good Luck,
Terra