Making a Budget: The Basic Steps
If you want to start living a more frugal life, you will need to start the process by doing some important planning. The most important part of planning for your finances is making a solid budget. Regardless of how much you make, how you make it, and how much you have now, you can make a budget that will work for you. Consider the following steps that will help you take the first step to a thriftier lifestyle: making a budget.
1. Write down your spending. You can't plan out how you will spend your money until you know how you are spending it at present. Carry around a small notebook for a month and write down every purchase you make. This will help you see how your money is disappearing.
2. List out your expenses. This will include monthly bills as well as the money spent that has been written down in your notepad. Organize the purchases you have made into categories and then total them up to see how much you have spent.
3. Write out all of your income and how it arrives (monthly, weekly, bi-weekly). Total up your income.
4. Write out your budget (based on the last month that you recorded). Compare that budget with your income. If you have more going out than coming in, then it's time to make some changes. You can either cut your expenses or you can make more money.
5. Take some time to think about the budget you have planned. You might find some that some changes need to be made. For instance, if you tend to watch a very small amount of TV each week, you might decide that you don't need to pay for cable each month. If your closet seems overly full, plan to shop less.
6. After you have cut all that you can cut, review your budget balances. If there is still a deficit, it's time to consider a second job (or a job change). The only way to balance a budget (and start saving money) is to bring in more than you spend.
7. Review your budget regularly. Your situation will continue to change and so should your budget. As you learn to live a frugal life, you may well find that items on your budget are no longer important to you and can be removed.
Having a keen understanding of your own spending habits will enable you to live frugally, successfully. Making a budget and sticking to it is an essential first step.
1. Write down your spending. You can't plan out how you will spend your money until you know how you are spending it at present. Carry around a small notebook for a month and write down every purchase you make. This will help you see how your money is disappearing.
2. List out your expenses. This will include monthly bills as well as the money spent that has been written down in your notepad. Organize the purchases you have made into categories and then total them up to see how much you have spent.
3. Write out all of your income and how it arrives (monthly, weekly, bi-weekly). Total up your income.
4. Write out your budget (based on the last month that you recorded). Compare that budget with your income. If you have more going out than coming in, then it's time to make some changes. You can either cut your expenses or you can make more money.
5. Take some time to think about the budget you have planned. You might find some that some changes need to be made. For instance, if you tend to watch a very small amount of TV each week, you might decide that you don't need to pay for cable each month. If your closet seems overly full, plan to shop less.
6. After you have cut all that you can cut, review your budget balances. If there is still a deficit, it's time to consider a second job (or a job change). The only way to balance a budget (and start saving money) is to bring in more than you spend.
7. Review your budget regularly. Your situation will continue to change and so should your budget. As you learn to live a frugal life, you may well find that items on your budget are no longer important to you and can be removed.
Having a keen understanding of your own spending habits will enable you to live frugally, successfully. Making a budget and sticking to it is an essential first step.
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