How To Make A Budget And Stick To It
Money is a topic that most people try to avoid talking about. However, it’s a crucial part of life and the topic should be given more attention to. Most people know that they should budget and know the basics of trying to better with money. However, the hard part is usually learning how to stick to that budget, which is often not talked about. Budgeting is ultimately useless if you don’t know how to stick to the money-saving techniques that are meant to help you in the first place. These tips will help you get better with money and actually follow through with the strategies long-term. Your wallet and bank account will both thank you for staying within your budget.
1. Keep Track Of Where Your Money Is Going
The only way to know if you’re on track with your budgeting is by holding yourself accountable for your spending. Thankfully, technology has made tracking your money so much faster and easier than ever before. My first recommendation is to download your bank’s mobile app and start checking it frequently. Knowing how much money is in your bank account is key to understanding your spending habits. I recommend checking your account balance at least a few times a week. This will also help you catch any possible errors that might happen, such as wrong charges. My next recommendation is to download a budgeting app to help you. My favorite one is Mint, but there are so many options available in the App Store. Mint allows you to sync your bank account to the app, so all your information goes straight to the app. The app then categorizes all the charges from your bank account. The charges get split into expenses, such as food, bills, gas, auto, fun, shopping and more. Then, it creates a pie chart, so that you can see easily see which categories you are spending the most money in. You can also set budgets for each category, so that you can get alerts when you are getting close to your budget.
2. Limit How Often You Eat Out
Eating out can be a huge expense and definitely adds up. My best advice is to limit how many times you  eat out per week. Learn to get in the routine of grocery shopping and making food at home, which is way more cost effective than eating out. My general rule is to limit dining out to 2-3x a week. Pick a number that is attainable for your lifestyle, but make sure you are cutting back a little. Restaurants charge large amounts for drinks and food, so your best bet is to just try and avoid them as much as possible.Â
3. Set Savings Goals
One of the main goals of budgeting is to save money. So, to keep yourself on track, set a certain amount of money that you want to save each money. The easiest way to do this is set up auto transfers within your bank account. You can start auto transfers of whatever amount you want as often as you want. I recommend starting with a small amount and transferring that amount each week. Choose an amount that will fit within your budget and won’t make it so that you are struggling to make it by with the money you have left over. Saving any amount of money is better than nothing, so don’t worry about starting small. Even if you only save $25 a week, that will still add up to $100 each month and $1,200 per year, which ends up being a significant amount.Â
4. Save Your Credit Card For Small Purchases
Credit cards can be risky and end up getting you in a lot of trouble. The best advice I’ve gotten is to only buy something if you can afford it right then. Don’t rely on your credit card to buy things that you will end up having to make payments on for months or years to come. Credit card debt is not worth it. Therefore, you should only use your debit card or cash to pay for the majority of purchases, so that you are staying within your means. I only put small transactions on my credit card that I can pay off right away. The best way to be responsible with credit cards is to only have a couple and pay their balance off in full each month whenever possible.Â
5. Limit Impulse Purchases
The biggest barrier to budgeting is impulse purchases. Whenever you think you want to buy something, you should wait on making the purchase for at least a few days. This gives you time to really think over the decision and decide if it’s truly something you need. The majority of the time you will end up deciding that you don’t really need whatever it is you thought you wanted in the moment. I also try to only go shopping when I truly need something. Going to the mall or stores just for fun is a guaranteed way to end up making impulse purchases and wasting money. So, in order to save money, only buy things that you truly need.
6. Check Your Progress
In order to make sure your budget is working, you have to check in and see how you are doing financially often. Set a date each month to check your account balances in your checking and savings accounts. Then, compare these amounts to the balances from previous amounts. Write down your results each month, so you can look back and see how much progress you’ve made. If you realize that you aren’t saving as much as you want, revisit the tips in this article and see what changes you can make to budget better.
