Budgeting, a lot of people hate to hear the word budget, to them it means cutting down on a whole lot of things that they love. But basically, everyone has to have a budget at one point or the other in life, perhaps to pay a bill, or to purchase that gadget, or that car, or that house, whatever the reason may be budgeting is undeniable necessary at times.
More importantly, how you go about with the budget plan is so important to achieving your aim for starting the budget scheme in the first place. I must confess I may well have been a victim of having a budget too, and what I noticed about it is that it might seem difficult and impossible at times, but it is totally achievable. In fact, budgeting can be fun, it all depends on your perspective of the budget. But based on my experience and the experience of friends and families, I am going to give you some tips that would change your perspective about budgeting, and ensure you save more.
- Do I spend more than I earn?
This question, do I spend more than I earn? Is a very critical questioning that you need to ask yourself from time to time just to keep yourself under supervision. Just like an instinctive assessment you need to ask yourself about your spending and your earnings. Basically, it is easy to assess yourself when you are eating up your savings and building up debts. But why wait until you are in a lot of debt before you assess yourself. If you spend more than you earn, short and simple, you would feel miserable because of the long list of debt, but when you spend less than you earn, you would just seem happier than you can imagine.
- What can I afford to spend?
As soon as you know what you need to buy, and then you start to prioritize your needs. What you need the most should be on top of the list. But what good is a list of prioritizing items if when you get to the store to purchase on the list you do not follow? In other, for this to work for you, you would need to be strict with yourself and ensure you abide by what you need and not what you want. You could even try a piggy bank, after making a list of the things you need, then from that particular income, deduct the amount you need for the purchase, and throw the balance into the piggy bank.
Of course, this does not mean that you can’t have any money for your personal desires; you’d just have to change your priorities a bit. Rather than go out every weekend or keep ordering food, you could cook for yourself and stay in on the weekends. For your relaxation, you could go online and search for “affordable Massage Spa near me” and book an appointment on a monthly basis, to get that rejuvenation you need. You should still set aside some amount for your enjoyment, but you would have to plan it better to create a balance between your needs and wants.
- Find small ways to save every day
One way to eat into your cash is to give in to the convenience of disposable products. The need to keep on purchasing the same products like razors and kitchen rolls makes it harder to have money left at the end of the month. The Get Shave Advice team suggests that you bite the bullet at the beginning of the month and buy a permanent product like a straight razor so that at the end of the month you’re not worrying about needing to buy a new drugstore razor because your old one has gotten blunt! Similarly, for other recurring expenses, such as fuel, you can take advantage of heating payment plans (or comparable budget plans), where you can spread your delivery costs across 11 months of the year rather than paying them all at once in the winter. If you apply this practice to as many areas of your life as possible you can make some real savings and also help to reduce the amount of waste that you put out. Cost-effective and eco-friendly, all at the same time!
- Look to the past for inspiration
Since adhering by your budget list can be a bit tough to follow, you could try to reflect back to the time when you created the budget list, as this would enable you to recall the reasons why you started the budget in the first place. Obviously, not everyone is built up for budgeting, but everyone can build up themselves to budget, most especially if it seems like there has not been any improvement in your life, then you really need to consider starting a budget, then compare your life after a few months, and be amazed and delighted you started the budget.
