KEY FACTORS TO BUILD A BASIC BUDGET |
By Stewart Pelto on June 3, 2010
.jpg.aspx?width=75&height=75) Want to have more money without getting a raise? Consider building a solid budget to better steward your income. If you implement these key factors into your planning sessions, you’ll find yourself asking “Where SHOULD my money go?” more often than “Where DID my money go?”
The MOST important question to answer in the budgeting process is a simple one: “How much money am I making?” For those who earn a fixed monthly salary it should be very easy. Others who freelance or have multiple income sources should be careful to create a realistic picture of their earnings. After that all-important question is answered comes another: “Do I spend more than I earn?”
To find out, dig through all your papers and pull as many bank and credit card statements as you can along with any bills. Organize your monthly expenses and tally up a grand total. If your expenses outstrip your income, it’s time to cut back and get disciplined. Start by breaking those expenses down into two categories: “fixed” and “variable.” “Fixed” expenses normally include your rent and utilities, your student loan payments, and other debts. “Variable” expenses include trips to the gas pump, nights out at the movies, and food.
This budgetary exercise will show you where you can and cannot be flexible. Those utilities you thought were “fixed” could actually come down if you take a shorter shower and turn the thermostat down in winter. Your food budget could also benefit from Sunday paper coupon-cutting and cheaper entrée options at the restaurants. If you apply your energy and resolve, you can reign in your spending and even transfer newly surplus funds from luxuries to debts. Just be sure to track the money you spend (to confirm you’re under budget) and don’t be afraid to re-evaluate each month.
Start slow and get control over the big expenses like rent, food, and debt. As you develop your budgetary skills you’ll learn to estimate the cost of irregular expenses (like blown car tires) and anticipate them with savings spread out over a twelve-month period. For now, start learning how to manage the money you make so that the money you make doesn’t manage you.
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