I am sure you know one or two people who cause us to ask ourselves “where does all the money he earns go”? I am talking about earning money – it may not be much – but being unable to tell where it all goes. The secret lies in one thing: keeping track of your spending. But how can we do that?
Making a Budget
If any of the congressmen would suggest that the country operates without a budget, I’m sure many people will take them for lunatics and refuse to vote for them in any elections. If any of our bosses (for those who are employed) would suggest that the organizations that we work for are better off without budgets, we will accuse them of planning to sabotage the organization. However, when it comes to us, we don’t see the big deal in not having a budget. We even give excuses like, “you know, I am actually not the planning type”.
The Process
Budgeting is actually not rocket science. It is something that even a 1st grade child can comfortably do – and which he does frequently. The only thing that we do not do is that we do not handle budgeting as something that we should do seriously. To develop a good budget, you need to give it the attention it deserves. If you still find it hard, start with a free template that you will get over the internet. There are many sites that will offer this. A good example is the Microsoft website, which has got several templates available in excel format.
However, once you have received the template, don’t set out to finish the income. If you are so sure that your income will not be enough to cover your needs, the best thing to do is to set out a certain amount of money aside for savings. For example, if you earn $3,000 per year, and you would like to save 10% of your income every month, take the $300 and save it and assume that your monthly earning is $2700. Trust me, you won’t die.
Sticking To The Budget
Writing and making a budget is plain planning. And as most of us do know, is that good plans are not what the world lacks. No. Implementation of good plans is what is lacking. To keep track of your spending, you need to set up policies that will help you overcome your weakness. For example, if you know that you have this tendency to shop for what you don’t need, and you have tried to stop it but in vain, the best thing for you to do is to make your purchases in cash. Old fashioned I know, but at least you will learn to spend only what you have. Once you get used to staying without the things that you used to consider indispensable, you’ll be able to make sober decisions even when you resume to buying things with your cards.
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