How To Create A Budget You’ll Actually Stick With

You’ve decided to create a budget, but in the back of your mind, you’re already dreading the idea of sticking with it all month. You may not even believe that you’ll be able to actually keep it up – especially if your finances change from month to month. Here’s how you can create a budget that you’ll be more likely to stick with.

Start With Fixed, Basic Expenses

There are some parts of your budget that simply won’t budge. Your rent or mortgage, bills, car payments and insurance are all predictable expenses that will form the foundation of your budget. It can be helpful to set up automatic payments so you won’t have to worry about remembering to pay each bill – just make sure the money will be in your bank account. You can ask your billers to change billing dates to the day after you get paid, that way you’ll find very easy to take care of your basic needs first.

Budget In The Things You Love

If you love to go shopping for new clothes, or like to get takeout when you’re too tired to cook when you come home from work, be sure to factor those expenses in, rather than eliminating them and feeling guilty when you indulge. You can create a portion of your budget that can be used for multiple options – if you eat out a lot this month, you won’t be able to get a new pair of shoes.

Cut Back Monthly Fees

You can sometimes call your internet or phone company and ask if they have any promotions going on – or simply ask if there are any discounts available that could cut back your monthly bill. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and these companies typically offer discounts to keep your business. You should also look through your statements for monthly subscriptions that you don’t use.

Color Code Your Charts

Find savings, then start creating a realistic budget that reflects your true costs of living. Sometimes, it helps to use highlighters to color-code different portions of your budget – green for living expenses, purple for fun money, yellow for food.

Create A Daily And Weekly Budget

Sometimes, a month feels like a long time, so it can be difficult to visualize how much money you need to spend and save. If your goal is to put $100 per month into savings, you might find it easier to put away $25 per week, or even approximately $3 per day.