The main reason I DIY, live in a small home and cook dinner almost every night is because it aligns with my values. I want to have the financial means to be able to work less and actually live my life. I want to be able to make a doctor’s appointment at 9 AM on a Thursday and not ask anyone’s permission to do so. I want to be able to take a nap in the middle of the day if I need to because I am a sleepy bear-person. And I want to avoid the teeth-clenching stress of an hour commute each day.

It took a lot of trial and error to get to the positive financial state that I am in today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working on my financial goals and I will be for a long time. But, I wish that I had a resource like The Bravely Budgeting Workbook when I first started my financial journey of saving to buy my small home.

The Bravely Budgeting Workbook opens by prompting users to look at their long term goals. It then asks users to track their spending with the spreadsheet tracker Bravely has provided for the next month, so folks can get an idea of where their money is going.

One thing I really like about the tracker and the workbook in general, is that it not only focuses on the practicality of numbers, but also the feelings that those numbers and budgeting can bring. Bravely recognizes that budgeting can be an anxiety-inducing nightmare sometimes and the tracker softens the blow with a column that also requires users to write down a “Reason I’m Still Awesome.” And don’t we all need to be reminded of those reasons from time to time?

After tracking their spending for the past month, students will review their spending and see how it aligns with their values. This is hugely important in my opinion. If you’re values don’t align with how you’re spending your money, you are doing it wrong.

And don’t worry if your values don’t align with your spending, the last part of the workbook focuses on how to set up your budget to align with those all important values. It also talks about the all-important savings and accountability. This workbook truly addresses it all!

I found Bravely on Instagram when one of my followers kindly pointed me to their profile page. By some law of attraction, their founder, Kara emailed me a few days later to just say “Hi” and since I admire her work, I asked how we could collaborate. I was not paid for this review, I simply and genuinely thought this resource was something that my readers could benefit from. And at $20, I think it’s a real steal. I’ve spent way more on courses with way less insight.

Speaking of a little friendly, genuine promotion, you can still vote for me in the Domino awards, small living category! The voting is open until this Sunday, 9/23. You can vote each day, once a day. Thanks, friends!!