Budgeting Your Money
I learned to keep a budget – I keep track of everything I spend to know where my money goes. Budgeting is a really good tool. Budgeting your money is important to keep on track.
I do not spend more than I can pay back – I write my incomes and my known expenses with running totals. After the known expenses, I can spend the extra on something I need or have wanted or put it into savings to collect for something later (or if an emergency comes up). Once savings is good, I can purchase something I’ve had my eye on.
Make sure to document your expenses – it’s the only way to really know what your finances tell you. How much do you have coming in compared to how much is going out. Do a better job than the government which is spending nearly two trillion dollars more than what income taxes bring in. You can’t get by, by spending more than comes in. You cannot get ahead at all.
I have a friend who doesn’t make a lot of money but put away a little bit every week into her savings for years. Last week, she’d accumulated $16,000 and was able to get needed teeth implants. She even talked them down from $18,000 to what she could afford. When one puts her mind to something, it can often be done.
I also had enough savings to have an implant procedure some months ago – it wasn’t that expensive with my health plan. But it was doable and I still have savings and did not have to dig into another account.
I know times are tough and some have to make a choice between food or gas or rent or utilities or health or loans. Saving is harder in those cases, but making some smart choices might help.
Try taking a bus or train to work – can you walk to a stop or drive to a parking spot to catch a ride from? Can you carpool with others?
Try to have a different food plan – eat healthier, avoiding processed foods and sugars, avoiding expensive meats and such. Eat more produce (organic if you can, to avoid the toxic pesticides and glyphosate – avoiding toxins help you with less need to see a doctor).
Turn off all electricity use when not using it. Take constant recharge ports off the outlets when not charging. Turn unnecessary lights off. Keep things off when not using them – fans, air conditioners, TVs, etc.
Get a flip phone and give up the smart phone if you really don’t need all the features. The monthly cost is less.
What subscriptions can you do without? Do you need all the streaming apps? Do you need all the news apps? Do you need all the gaming apps? Do you need the social media that makes you pay?
Try to sell things you no longer need. Try to make things to sell. All this can give you a bit of money. Are you crafty? Do you sew? Can you build things? What services can you provide to people?
Look for sales. Use loyalty programs for points, rewards and sales. When food is on sale, buy those things and wait on other foods for a later sale. Learn to make meals from the foods you find. Stock up on rice and dry beans so you can make a quick meal at times. Add vegetables you have – dried or frozen or in the fridge. Freeze foods that you can’t use right away. Freeze leftovers for another day. Sometimes you can make “leftover soup” as a friend of mine does. At the end of each week, she pulls her frozen leftovers and puts them into a big pot with water to boil.
Should you move to a cheaper place? One that doesn’t make you pay utilities? Weigh the places out – it might be a very unsafe move or might cost you more in other ways.
See what you can do without and make choices on what to delete or cut back on. Call the places you owe money to and work out a new payment plan or ask for grace if you need to miss a payment or more.
Make a list of all your obligations and all your payments coming in. It’s the only way you can make it make sense and figure what you need to do. You can keep on top of things by budgeting your money.
PR
Need Cash Now? Need a Lawsuit or Insurance Advance to Get By?