I have had to manage my own budget fairly tightly since the first hard lock down started a year ago. With a few months of zero income and being forced to spend my savings, I knew what I needed to do first to make sure I was not spending more than I earned. I relooked my budget and was ruthless at cutting costs. I even cut my food budget in half and spent more time cooking and planning my meals better.
When was the last time you relooked your budgets? How often are you even checking your bank statements to be sure where all your money is going?
Budgeting and sticking to our budgets can help us to save more, pay off debt quicker and manage the money we do have.
What Is a Budget?
A budget is a spending plan for our money. It helps us to manage our income and expenses to ensure that we are not spending more than we earn.
Having a budget will help you identify whether you have excess cash or excess debt at the end of each month. Excess cash will enable you to save and invest each month, whilst excess debt will shift your focus to paying off this debt and to not skip these necessary payments.
Why Do We Budget?
- It helps you to be proactive rather than reactive.
- It helps you to identify your bad spending habits. So be honest with yourself on what you spend.
- It helps you to not spend more than you earn.
- It helps you to save to not only prepare you for emergencies but also helps to set ourselves up for retirement.
- We budget so we can stay focused and reach our financial goals.
- Following a budget can give you peace of mind because you know where you always stand.
Making a budget is the most important thing you can do to manage your money.
