Years ago, my husband gave me a book on gardening that was part of a series called “K.I.S.S.” As in “Keep it Simple, Stupid.” And while the book didn’t do much for me, the acronym? It’s been rolling around in my head now for just short of a decade. But it hasn’t been until very recently that I’ve really taken it to heart.

I’ve written before about our budgets. We used to be really big proponents of Dave Ramsey. And although we were fortunate enough to have dug ourselves out of debt shortly after we married, we still appreciated his motto of “live like no one else now so that you can live like no one else later.” Meaning: be frugal. Stick to your budget. Shop wisely. Eliminate credit card debt. Pay with cash. Save for a rainy day. And then, enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Trust me on this: labor it is.

Budgeting is something we’ve ‘dabbled’ in here and there. It’s a lot of work to get one up and running, and the most successful we ever were with one was last November, when we were hardcore into Dave. Cash envelopes all over the place, one trip to the bank on the 1st of the month. I meant business. But then, we kind of just drifted away from it. It was my fault, really. Budgeting is just so much work. So tedious. So boring. Ugh.

But I’m looking for another good budgeting plan right now. And I’ve googled “most awesome family budget planner on earth” six ways to Sunday. And? Nothing. None of them have been for us. And Dave? I love the guy, but being that we are not debtors, his plan just wasn’t working for me. For us. For our circumstances. Sure, we are saving for that rainy day. And we have a safety net that we are building up. But I needed something… simple. And more accurate. We have an ‘irregular’ income. Each check is different, substantially, from the last. My husband runs his own business. It’s not predictable, in terms of the same amount of money every two weeks, guaranteed. He’s ‘net 30,’ but that doesn’t mean anything, really. Some clients pay early. Some clients pay on time. Some clients? Not so much…

And then, I stumbled on Simple Mom’s site. And I am hooked. As in hitting the ‘refresh’ button all day long as I pass by my Mac, hoping for something… anything… a pearl of wisdom that’s going to help me to figure out the answer to the clutter in my house, my closet, my head.

And there it was. Pear Budget. “Really simple budgeting.” You can try it for free for thirty days. After that? $3 a month. In my opinion? A bargain. This budget is so simple. Fool-proof, really. I am loving it. I’ve only been on it for a week or so, I’ve spent the last few days inputting our costs a bit at a time, to the best of my recollection. I think the couple who devised this system are spot on. Budgets should not be scary, should not suck up all of your free time just to get them up and running, should not be daunting and icky. A budget should be simple. Streamlined. Customized for you. And Pear Budget is all of that, and then some.

So, in addition to having found the budget of my dreams, I’ve also started to use Google calendar, much to my husband’s delight. He’s been hounding me for years to make the commitment, but I wasn’t interested. You know I’m all about the paper and the pencil. But there was something missing. There was little to no meshing of my husband’s work schedule with the family schedule. There had to be something better. Something that was going to help me to not look like a clueless idiot as my husband is descending down the stairs at 3 in the afternoon, suitcase in hand, on his way to catch a flight to Heidelburg. And there I am, mouth agape, all “huh? What’s going on? We have parent-teacher conferences tonight! Are you going somewhere?” Really, I needed something that’d been put to the test already. I don’t want to be a ‘Beta Tester’ for anyone. I’m over the ‘kinks’ in the system. Google calendar? Tried and true. Proven. And Simple Mom uses it. And I think she’s full of a lot of really great ideas for maintaining a clean and uncluttered life. So, I gave it a shot. And you know what? I am in love. I have many calendars on Google, among them: family, personal appointments, my husband’s work schedule, my husband’s travel schedule, our daily and weekly routine and my dinner menus for the week. You can turn calendars on and off at your whim, and inputting appointments is easy. Really easy. Google? I have a major crush…

Next up was a “To Do” list. I tried Remember the Milk, per Simple Mom. It’s free. But so not for me. I gave it a week. Found it to be a little clunky. The only real plus to it was that it was able to sync with my Google calendar. And just when I thought that an electronic “To Do” list was not going to happen, my husband reminded me that I used to love Backpack. So I gave it another go. And I’m glad that he ‘nudged’ me back in that direction. Why? I finally have a “To Do” list on my iPhone! Well, a “Ta Da” list, technically. Or rather, several “Ta Da” lists: things for the house, things for the girls, things for Pea’s school, things for my husband, etc. Seriously, I love my iPhone. Passionately. But those geniuses? Not so genius. Why didn’t they include their own version of a “To Do” list on the phone? Well, you know what, guys? We’ve figured it out. My adorable husband even put the button on my iPhone so that it looks like it’s been there all along. And now? I don’t have to carry around my paper planner. Or frantically search in my bag for the grocery receipt with the very important phone number on the back.

Ahh. I can now breathe a big sigh of relief. I am one step closer to simplicity.