01/19/2026
Married couples: In debt & sick of feeling out of control? We have a solution. Use the 10 steps below to implement the Forecast Budgeting method in your personal finances, and discover just how quickly you can take control of your money and achieve your debt payoff goals working together.
#1 - Open three checking accounts. Label the first account "Household Spending", the second "Her Personal Spending", and the third "His Personal Spending" (replace His and Her with actual names).
#2 - Open two savings accounts. Label the first "Travel" and the second "Repairs & Medical"
#3 - Go to ForecastBudgeting.com and sign up for a budget. Enter in all of the details for your Income and Fixed Expenses. Then add five Variable Expense categories and name them Household Spending, Her Personal Spending, His Personal Spending, Travel, and Repairs & Medical.
#4 - For Household Spending, determine how much $ you need each month for all daily spending done on groceries, household goods, gas, kid's purchases, pets, eating out, etc. Divide that monthly amount in half, and input twice-monthly funding dates of the 1st and 15th with the twice-monthly amount you just calculated.
#5 - For Her Personal Spending & His Personal Spending categories, determine how much each of you needs for your personal spending on clothing, hair care, self care, hobbies, etc. Divide that monthly amount in half, and input twice monthly funding dates of the 1st and 15th with the twice-monthly amount you just calculated.
#6 - For the Travel Savings category, determine how much $ you'd like to spend in a year on weekend travel and vacations. Divide that total by 12 to calculate a monthly amount. Divide that monthly amount in half, and input twice-monthly funding dates of the 1st and 15th with the twice-monthly amount you just calculated.
#7 - For the Repairs and Medical Savings category, estimate how much $ you think you'll spend in a year on car repairs, home repairs, and medical bills. Divide that total by 12 to calculate a monthly amount. Divide that monthly amount in half, and input twice-monthly funding dates of the 1st and 15th with the twice-monthly amount you just calculated.
#8 - On your banks website or mobile app, setup automatic recurring transfers from your Main Checking account to your five new variable accounts. The transfers will happen on the 1st and 15th of each month, for the amounts you determined in steps 4-7.
#9 - Use only your variable accounts for all day-to-day purchases from this point forward. Simply open your mobile banking app to see how much you have available to spend at any time in any of the variable accounts. Your Main Checking account only does three things now - receives your income, pays fixed expenses, and transfers money to your variable accounts. Zero debit card purchases for day-to-day spending will be done using the Main Account.
#10 - On your ForecastBudgeting.com budget, use the interactive calendar on the Budget Forecast tab to see your income, expenses, and the projected daily balance of your Main Checking account displayed visually for the next 60-90 days. Regularly verify that the calendar's income & expense entries and daily balances match what is displayed in your main checking account. Then you will utilize the projected daily balance from that point forward to plan the largest extra debt payments you can make without ever causing your Main Checking account's balance to drop too low in the future. Once you've verified the future daily balances look good, you can make the planned extra payments in real life.
Bonus Step #11 - Enjoy the reduction in stress and anxiety that having control & crystal-clear clarity in your personal finances gives you.
**Need some help getting started? Message Baseline Financial to set up a free initial consult, or if you prefer to go the DIY route, you can utilize the video series in the following link for a detailed overview of how to get your Forecast Budget up and running. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSHXFr5hOt0OS80qo7p_8jJCmp-RGMZx4
