Test 2

I know, I know...most people hate budgeting but unfortunately it i

s a necessary evil; especially if you want your money to eventuall

y work for you and not just you working for it. 

>But the ‘budget’ doesn’t have to have a negative connotation if w

e just change the way we think about it.

Creating a budget does not mean that you have to restrict yours

elf from everything you enjoy in life. A budget is simply an estimati

on of how much money you think you will earn and ultimately spend during a period of time.

Every Dollar Should Have a Job

The purpose of the budget, in reality,  is to help us create

a plan for our money. It would be nice if we all could have infinite

amounts of money to spend as our hearts desire but realistically fo

r most of us this simply will never be the case. Therefore, it’s a good i

dea for us to ensure that what  we are doing with our money, whether we ar

e saving it, paying off debt, investing it, or simply paying our monthly expens

es, is done with a purpose and a plan in mind to help us avoid overspending a

nd ultimately living paycheck to paycheck.

Paying your rent/mortgage, utilities, car note, buying

groceries, your personal grooming routines and even a fun n

ight out with friends should all be included. I know you’re

thinking why on earth would I include fun into my budget? But trus

t me it is important to budget/plan for things that ‘brings you joy’ as M

aire Kondo might put it or else you may be setting yourself up to fail. 

Don’t Forget to ‘Treat Yo Self’

Think about it; why do most people fail at their first few atte

mpts at dieting? Mostly because they overly restrict themse

lves of all the things they like until they reach their breaking poi

nt and overeat on a cheat day or when life gets too stressful. Th

e same thing can happen financially if you aren’t allowed to ‘Treat

Yo Self’ every now and again (shout out for any Parks and Rec fa

ns). The last thing we want is to ruin our budgets by overly restrict

ing ourselves. I guess this was a long way of saying you don’t hav

e to cut out all fun when budgeting just be sure to include it in the pl

an. My next post will go into how to financially ‘plan’ for vacations, birthd

ays, and other celebrations without racking up debt or throwing your budg

et completely out of whack.

So How Do I Get Started?

So, now that we agree that we should have a budget (

or at least I hope we agree) what’s the next step? Actual

ly how do you get started? Well, first thing’s first. We can

’t make a budget until we learn where our money is actually

going. To do this we have to track our spending.

There are different ways to track your mone

y but the point is to figure out how much money y

ou’re bringing in and how much money is going out an

d on what. Log into your bank account, go ahead I’ll wait..

.just kidding, but seriously log in. Pick a date range, a month

is usually a good start, categorize EVERY purchase/payment

made no matter how small during that time period and add up the total.  

Some banks have features to do this for you so you won’t ha

ve to do this manually. And of course, there is always an a

pp (like Mint or You Need a Budget, YNAB; I personally us

e my bank to track my money and I have not used these ap

ps but I have included links below that review the pros and co

ns of these apps and others that you may find useful). 

Basically, the point is you need to know where your money is

going and you won’t truly know until you sit down and figure it

out. Trust, where you think your money is going and where it’s

actually isn’t always the same.

I was spending money on food like I got that blue cheese

In an effort of full transparency, a year ago if you asked me how much money I