Free Budgeting Course from The Happy Giraffe
Want to see how The Happy Giraffe budgeting system works in real life? This free 3-part video course walks you through everything: from the big idea behind the system, to how to use the spreadsheet, to how to track your weekly spending. Each video is short, practical, and easy to follow (even if budgeting has never worked for you before).
Why This Budget Works (Even If Others Haven’t)
If budgeting has never worked for you before, you’re not alone, and it’s not your fault. Most budgeting systems expect you to fit your life into categories and do a crazy amount of work. That’s exhausting.
This video introduces the simple idea behind The Happy Giraffe Budget:
Track one number. Forget the rest.
It’s about setting up your budget once, knowing your weekly spending limit (your Happy Money), and finally feeling like budgeting is something empowering.
📺 Watch Video 1: Why This Budget Works
How to Set Up Your Budget in The Happy Giraffe Spreadsheet
This video walks you through the heart of the system, The Happy Giraffe budgeting spreadsheet. You’ll learn how to enter your income and fixed expenses, test different weekly spending amounts, and see your full 2-year cash flow forecast.
Everything is already built for you. You’re not building a budget from scratch, you’re just filling in a few things and letting the system do the rest!
By the end of the video, you’ll know how to:
- Enter your income and fixed bills
- Find your weekly Happy Money amount
- Know if your budget will work long-term
📺 Watch Video 2: How to Set Up Your Budget
How to Track Your Spending Each Week
In this video, we show you exactly how to set up The Happy Giraffe budgeting system using the free version of GoodBudget. While GoodBudget has lots of features, we focus on the simplest setup: just one envelope and one number to track.
You’ll learn:
- How to set up Goodbudget to match our weekly system
- How to add transactions quickly
- How to make Goodbudget work weekly (instead of monthly)
- How to share the app with a partner and track spending in real time
- How to automatically refill your Happy Money every week
Prefer something else? You can also use a notes app, pen and paper, or whatever method works for you!
And yes! The Happy Giraffe budgeting app is on the way, and we’ll have a new video for that once it’s ready!
📺 Watch Video 3: How to Track Your Spending
We’re Here When You Need Us
We created this system because budgeting used to feel hard and discouraging and we wanted something different. Something that actually worked, and actually felt happier!
Now you’ve seen how it works. You’ve got a way to set it up and tools to help you stick with it. If you’re ready, choose the next step that feels right for you:
👉 Download the Free Budgeting Spreadsheet
👉 Go to the Getting Started Page
👉 Watch the Full Budgeting Class (Recorded Live)
👇 Sign Up to Hear When the App Launches
If you ever have a question, feel stuck, or just want a little encouragement, you can always reach out! Hello@HappyGiraffe.org
It’s just me and my family here, doing this part-time and unpaid, but I read every message and I really do want this to help you budget happier!
And if this budgeting system has made your life a little happier, and you want to help someone else find it too, you can make a donation. Every bit helps keep this free and available to everyone who needs it!
