Why Budget’s have you Running for Cover!
Getting control of your money is something that you’ve been trying to do but you’ve never quite mastered it. So, money is still the biggest frustration in your life, something you just can’t seem to get control of.
Maybe you see these different ways of budgeting out there that are the ‘next big thing’…
A budget can also be known as a money system which is the system or way you deal with your money. A lot of money systems fall under the category of ‘budgeting’, as well as there are a lot of money systems that have budgeting within it, but they aren’t all necessarily sold that way.
What you probably didn’t know though is…
Dieting & Money Systems actually have a lot more in common without you realising.
There are a lot of people out there that are selling money systems or a way of budgeting that are the ‘lose weight fast’ to money’s ‘get out of debt tomorrow’.
What happens is that you get really excited, stick to it for a little while and when you haven’t lost the weight or got rid of the debt you start to lose interest and then move on.
That’s why budgeting has you running for cover.
Here are some of the methods you may have tried and why they haven’t actually worked for you…
CRASH BUDGETING
You cut back just on about everything to save extra dollars most likely the dinners out, the take away or buying that top you saw in the shops. You might save some decent money by doing this. But what you end up doing is cutting back on everything you see as fun or what you’re working hard for so you don’t stick to it.
It’s just like crash dieting…you deprive yourself from all the naughty food and when you then have access to it again your go on an eating binge. It’s going to happen with Crash Budgeting the end result is typically the binge spending or splurging, which is generally going to leave you in a worse position.
SPREADSHEET BUDGETING
Where you document absolutely everything that you spend your money on, then create that as your budget and you don’t spend a cent different to what it says on your spreadsheet. Now I have to confess there are elements of this method that I do like, but when this is used just as your sole way to manage your money its too consuming. It’s too rigid and it requires a lot of effort by your to continually update. What I have also found that is that some items get forgotten, therefore you spend money and then you can’t figure out why you’ve not saved the amount you needed to this week.
TIME BASED BUDGETING
Such as weekly or monthly budgeting. Where you work out your expenses on a week or monthly basis and base your life around that. What this doesn’t take into account is some bills are paid weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. You can therefore struggle when these bills come in. Most often it doesn’t take into account the saving’s or debt repayments you wish to be making.
PERCENTAGE BASED BUDGETING
Such as saying 60% of your income should be allocated to expenses, 20% to debt and 20% to savings. Whilst these are great in theory, we don’t all earn the same amount and our expenses are all different. What happens when your expenses work out to 80% of your income, you feel defeated and don’t stick to it rather than working out what actually works for you.
SO WHAT’S MY ADVICE…
-
First of all, you need to get your mind in the game that you’re actually going to change your money for once and for all. Don’t give into your mind saying you can’t do it, because there shouldn’t be a word as ‘can’t’…. YOU CAN DO THIS!
-
Get to know all of your numbers, what’s coming in, what’s going out, what debt do you have, what savings do you have… and go back a couple of month’s so you have an accurate picture of how you deal with your money.
-
Don’t get stuck in one particular system, look at them all and take elements of each that work for you, know what does and doesn’t work for you of each system.
-
Remember it’s YOU that needs to be in control of your money, not anyone else.
-
And most of all have some fun along the way while you’re creating your success!
