Budgeting Again

Here we are at the end of another month.  July seemed really long this year, especially since we had our Emergency at the end of June which spilled into July.  At the lowest point, our Emergency Fund had $1.14 and our checking account had $48.  We usually have more of a cushion, but there was an issue with payroll that has since been cleared up.
Let me tell you, being that broke I was so grateful for our budget.  I looked at the bank account (gasped and swore a bit) and looked at my check book.  Within five minutes, I knew we were ok.  All our checks had cleared, and there was nothing hanging out there on the debit card waiting to clear because we use cash for all our incidental purchases (groceries, gas, clothing, etc.).  Even though we had less than I would have liked, I knew none of it would go anywhere before we got paid again.  I knew that every one of those dollars was named "sinking fund for Caleb's life insurance", which we pay at the end of the year, and would not be leaving the account.

That was our situation when we did our July budget.  Now, it's time to do August.  We have refilled our emergency fund and Caleb's life insurance fund.  Our car now has a rebuilt transmission and a new muffler.   We're free and clear to look forward to next month and all it's oncoming craziness.
Usually, we'd just adjust last month, but since August will be so completely different than previous months, we'll be starting from scratch and we'll go through it with you.
There are two forms that we use from Dave Ramsey's My Total Money Makeover site (they're in all of his books too).  The first is the Cash Flow Plan (pdf) and the second is the Allocated Spending Form (pdf).  Over the next few days we'll walk through how we do our budget so you can see how these forms work in real life.
It'll be way fun.  You're welcome.