The Secrets to Making A Budget Work

It doesn’t matter how much money you have or don’t have; everyone can benefit from sticking to a budget.

The fact is, if you feel like you never have enough money, chances are you probably don’t budget. A strange illusion happens when we don’t budget. Our money disappears and we have no idea where it went.

Of course, that’s stretching the truth. It didn’t just disappear…it gets spent. When we’re not paying attention, it’s easy to spend…and spend. That’s why a budget is so essential no matter what your financial status is. A budget is simply a way to know where your money is at all times, and where it’s going. While it may seem overwhelming at first, trust us, it’s really not.

The Secrets to Making a Budget Work:

1. Get started. Just do it. There’s no time like the present. Do you get our drift? It’s essential to start budgeting now, don’t wait.
2. Most important! Assign a goal or intention for your budget that you’re truly passionate about. You need this to be motivated to actually create your budget in the first place. When you have a goal, for example saving to travel or paying off your debt, the intention drives your desire. Your desire to achieve the goal makes it way easier to stick to your budget. Without the end goal in mind, we humans tend to forget we set up a budget in the first place.
3. Figure out your monthly after tax income. This will be the base of your budget.
4. Figure out how much money you need for your rent, utilities, and car, and then subtract that total from your monthly income.
5. Then subtract the rest of your monthly bills such as your cell, internet, insurance, etc.
6. Take a look at how much money you have left. This is what you have for everything else including food, gas or transportation costs, miscellaneous items, spending money, and most important, the goal you set. Set monetary limits for each category and then throw the rest towards your goal.

Things you’ll realize once you start budgeting:

• What you’re spending entirely too much money on.
• Where you can save money.
• Ways to throw more money towards that goal you set.

You see, once you start budgeting with a goal in mind, it almost becomes like a game. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll be motivated to reach that goal. And once it’s reached, set another one.

The benefits of having a budget:

• You won’t spend more money than you have.
• You’ll save more money than you imagined you could.
• You’ll be able to achieve goals you never thought you could.
• Peace of mind. You know where your money is. And you know where it’s going.

So you see, it really is worth it. And if you feel comfortable, share your budgetary intentions with your friends and family so they understand where you’re coming from if you can’t afford to do something. You’ll be surprised how pumped your loved ones will be to help you achieve your financial goals.