Personal Finance Information |
Budgeting: A Tough Love Way to Handle Your Household Budget
Developing and living by a household budget is by far the best way to get your expenses under control which, in turn, can mean a much less stressful life. However, many families find it very difficult to stick to a budget. It does take hard work and a lot of self-discipline, at least in the beginning. The good news is that most families find the longer they can stick to a budget, the easier it becomes. This is because sticking to a budget eventually becomes an unconscious habit, just like driving a car. And once it becomes a habit, the budgeting process just sort of goes on cruise control and requires much less thought or effort. But what do you do during those first three, four or six months, when sticking to a budget feels so difficult? There are several answers to this. The first is to make sure your budget categories are realistic. You may think you can get by with $100 a week for groceries, but is this real? Do you have checks or receipts that verify how much you have been spending at the grocery store? You really need to know. Otherwise, you may budget too little. In turn, this becomes frustrating because you will always be over budget. Second, make sure you have all categories covered. There are some categories that are easy -- rent, mortgage payment, utilities, car payments, etc. But think hard about all other categories such as clothing, eating out, prescriptions, pet care, tuition, books, allowances, movies, CDs and DVDs, and computer software and games, to name a few. If you don't budget for all these kind of expenses, I promise they will bust your budget. Finally, if you find you just can't seem to stick to your budget, here's a sort of tough love answer. Go to your nearest office supply store and buy a box of #10 envelopes. Take them out and label one for each of your budget categories. Then write on each envelope the amount you have budgeted for that category. For the purpose of this exercise, it is not necessary to break down general categories into subcategories. For example, you can label one envelope "entertainment" and not worry about envelopes for "movies," "eating out," "DVDs," etc. Just be sure the number you write on the envelope for any general category represents the sum of all its subcategories. When you next get paid, cash your paycheck and bring it all home in $50, $20 and $10 bills. Then put and amount of cash in each of the envelopes equal to the amount you budgeted for that particular 6category. Now, as you need to pay bills or buy groceries, etc., use the cash in the corresponding envelopes to pay them. You will know when you have reached the budgeted amount for any category because its envelope will be empty. What do you do when you find an envelope is empty? You do nothing. That category is all finished for this pay period. If the envelope is empty and you still have expenses, either you haven't budgeted correctly or you have overspent. You might be able to fudge and take funds from another category envelope. For example, if you have a week to go and are $40 short for groceries, you might be able to take the $40 out of the entertainment envelope. Just keep in mind this means $40 less for entertainment. Do this for a few months and I promise you will not only learn to budget accurately, you will learn to stick to your budget. For FREE help with debt and credit, subscribe today to Douglas Hanna's free email newsletter "8 Simple Steps to Debt Relief" at http://www.all-in-one-info.com
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 403, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Budgeting Your Way to Financial Freedom Financial freedom cannot be achieved without budgeting. Budgeting involves tracking your sources of income and more importantly tracking your expenses. How to Save for A Down Payment Saving for a Down Payment is hard work, so it's a good idea to really want to own your own home by the time you begin your Savings Account. It's difficult to turn down a weekend in the Bahamas (or Downtown at the Clubs!) when you don't have a definite goal. When do You Need a Financial Management Company on Your Side? We live in a crazy world. Someone ought to sell tickets. The Magic Of Compound Interest Christians are called to be good stewards of God's resources. A steward can be described as someone who manages the resources of another. Live Green; Save Green! Have you seen the recent article on a new "green" residential high rise in Battery Park? It's called The Solaire. For a look at the hopeful future of architectural efficiency, check out the myriad of cost saving and environmentally-friendly features of the building:http://www. Are You Ready To Be Fired? Your boss has just informed you that your department is being reduced by two and you are fired. After he leaves, what are you going to do?This is not about finding a job it's about being prepared for financial change. Honor Those Who Serve with Checking Account Supplies Our global society has had a wake up call in the last five years regarding our safety. But there are those in our communities that fight to keep us safe from day to day. Improve Your Professional Image Using Address Labels One of the simplest ways to improve your professional image is by using address labels. Self-adhesive business labels are THE way to go when it comes to a professional image. How Electronic Checks Work - Will Paper Checks Eventually Go Away? Traditional checks probably won't disappear anytime soon, but processing checks electronically is sure to continue! Have you ever been asked to fill out your account and routing number when paying for something online or over the phone - or have you provided a paper check to pay for something and it is given back to you after it is run through a machine? Did you scratch your head like I did the first time that happened?Here is how electronic check conversion works. Instead of writing out a check the old-fashioned way, the new way of using checks use digital signatures for signing and endorsing and have digital certificates to authenticate the bank account. The Good and the Bad of Money Management Good money management needn't be difficult. In fact, there a number of easy steps recommended by most financial professionals to help manage your finances better. Budgets And Eating - Can They Co-Exist? Whatever your reason for having a tight budget, thetruth is that going to the grocery store without a planis a BIG budget breaker. And sadly all that cash endsup vanishing into our stomachs and then. Financing Collectibles for Fun and Profit With the advent of the internet and especially auction services like those provided by Yahoo and E-bay, serious collectors have much larger arenas in which to buy and sell their wares. This provides the opportunity for quick discovery of hard-to-find items that previously might have taken years to find. Knowing Me, Knowing You: Why ID Protection Plans Are Flawed For Fraud ID theft is a major consumer concern, though there is apparently much confusion about proactive protection initiatives and apparently safe and unsafe spending behaviour. For example, many consumers remain reluctant about shopping online, but they may still give out personal details over the phone in a cold call, or they may have redundant or dormant accounts and financial products which are susceptible to fraud. 10 Money-Saving Tips 1. If you have your haircut every 3 weeks, trygoing 4 or 5 weeks in between haircuts. Simple Ways to Save Money Things are so expensive these days. We seem to be hearing, and saying, that a lot lately at the gas pump, in the grocery store and especially when paying bills. Check Facts and Figures Are you a check fanatic? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Millions of consumers write checks every year. Learning the Basics of Handling Money With prices increasing all the time, saving money can be harder and harder to do. Here are some solutions for saving a little so that you can still meet your needs and still find ways to trim off a little for the future. What Happens if You Die Without Making a Will If you die without making a Will in the UK, the state will decide who gets what and how much, so those who you would want to benefit may get far less than you hoped.Your estate (your property and all belongings) are frozen and become subject to the law of intestacy. Your Dry Cleaner's Double Standard Women are charged more for dry cleaning services. Don't fume, find a better way. The Changing Shape of Family Finances Super-mumsIt seems that the proof of maternal efforts is no longer found in the pudding ? it's in the spending. Women are increasingly outsourcing personal grooming tasks and the pressure of looking good, feeling healthy, maintaining a tight ship and IQ level has meant that housecleaning and gardening are again fashionable methods to promote the family brand; housewifery is now a career, with all the attitude of 21st century post-feminism. |
home | site map | contact us |