A budget is a great and wonderful tool to help people see where their money is coming from and going. It took me so many many iterations of budgets before I finally landed on one that worked for me. My husband used to think we would never have one and used to joke with me about “yet another budget”. He saw so many failed attempts it looked like it would never happen.
Today I can’t imagine not having one. I ended up using a plain old spreadsheet to get the job done in the end. To be honest I’m still not happy with it, and want to do so much more with it. I’ve just been too lazy to get around to building a whole new spreadsheet from the ground up to do all the lofty things I want.
Even though Its not perfect, the act of checking off every bill and entering it on the spreadsheet, and checking the bank account to see what’s cleared and what hasn’t has yielded a deeper understanding of where the money goes. There is no transaction that occurs in the bank I can’t easily explain. I am constantly seeing news articles saying how much people spend on subscriptions they don’t use and have forgotten about and I am absolutely amazed at how out of touch with finances people have become.
Most banks these days have an easily accessible app that you can go into and easily check your transactions and balance. If you don’t know how to check your account, I would recommend that you ask someone working at your local bank to show you. Even the simple act of checking your account daily can give you a quick alert to fraud in your account before you find out by some declined transaction.
One of the things that it took many attempts to learn about budgeting is that the only right budget is the one you can and will actually use. If you bite off more than you can chew and comfortably do, you won’t stick with it. For me personally tracking all of our groceries and variable purchases was a hassle to add to the spreadsheet manually. I worked around this by opening a second account with the bank and transferred the money I allocated myself for the month to this second account. This account is what we use for groceries, toilet paper etc.
If you’ve never had a budget, the best way to start is to monitor your spending for a few months and see what you spend and how. Once you know how much you spend on things like eating out and groceries you have a baseline to work from. If you don’t like what you see this gives you the insight to make changes. If you want to spend more on your morning coffee’s on the way to the office and find yourself short, perhaps you can cut a streaming service you’ve been paying for that you use once a month. Don’t try to make big changes overnight. Start small and manageable and ease your way to the big stuff you want to change.
The most important thing in all this is that if you are spending money, you should be deliberate about it and aware of it. Don’t let automatic charges eat up what you’ve worked for without at least consciously choosing to continue that subscription. Spend or save every dollar according you the goals that you set for yourself, and not the goals of those wishing to collect your money.
Disclaimer: I am by no means a financial expert or guru. This article is written from my personal experience. If you need financial advice or have questions find an accredited financial advisor to help. This article is not a substitute for professional advice and may or may not be helpful or relevant to your specific circumstances.