Changing your future starts with gazing into your past.

I have a friend.

He is an artist.

His income is wildly unpredictable.

We’ve talked about money off and on over the years and he just gave me an update.

I did a six month money recap project and it was really helpful! -Artist friend.

He went on to tell me how he felt like doing a budget just wouldn’t work or help because of his unpredictable income.

But he also said doing the recaps was incredibly helpful.

Tracking where my money is going has helped me manage my money better even though I still don’t do a proper budget. -Artist friend.

We chatted a bit about how just doing a recap, even without doing a budget, can be crazy-helpful.

The first time Carrie and I did a budget we tried to budget for the upcoming month without first recapping last months spending.

We went in blind and it didn’t work.

We were taking wild guesses as to how to budget for each spending category. We wasted a lot of time trying it this way.

It wasn’t until after we gazed into the past that we could plan for the future.

Yeah man, you’ve got to know where you’ve been in order to map out a plan for where you want to go.

I always recommend doing a recap as your first step into monthly budgeting.

For millions of people a monthly recap would be a huge step in the right direction. It’s just so important to see where your money is going.

Even without a budget for the upcoming month, a recap of last month is extremely helpful. Seeing where your money is going is usually what first gets people’s attention.

Of course I recommend doing both a recap of last month and a budget for the upcoming month, but doing just a recap would still be well worth your time.

Go get ’em tiger!

-Derek

P.S. Download this monthly budget template and gazing into the past with bright, wild, dreaming eyes.