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Many people are lured into the trap of spending more money each week than they are bringing in and most people are doing this without even realizing it. The main reason this happens is because we are no longer taught or remember how to budget our money. With the introduction of credit, it has become easier to use money that you don’t actually have.

This lack of money budgeting in today’s world is beginning to reach a cataclysm with many families, and individuals who are now finding themselves with severe debt problems and little knowledge about how to turn their bleak situation around.

Even with all of the bad debt write-offs, banks are more than happy with the way things are. Banks build in their own risk factors based on bad debt in their interest rates to give them profit regardless of bad debt write-offs. Simply put, those borrowing money are paying for their inability to budget effectively.

Tips to Effective Money Budgeting:

The basics of budgeting start with you listing incoming money over a period of time, such as a weekly, monthly or fortnightly, then listing the outgoing money, such as mortgage payments, car re-payments, credit cards and so on. Money budgeting also has many other factors used to make it effective, including keeping a constant eye on how your budget is doing and changing it to accommodate unexpected problems without overspending.

Keep all of your receipts and account for what has been spent. Use this to make calculations as to where your money is going and for what. Expenses can be divided into four main categories. These are:

-Housing: mortgage, rent, utilities, property taxes, insurance, etc.

-Work: transport, parking, work clothes, lunches and if you have children, day care

-Living: food, clothing, medication, insurance, etc.

-Personal: entertainment, newspapers, magazines, alcohol, gifts and education, etc.

Once you have categorized all of your bills, take out a blank piece of paper and a calculator. Figure out what is being spent each month on these categories and what can be cut out of the budget to allow more money to go toward bills or improving your financial situation.

Many people get so used to luxuries, they turn these things into fixtures in their weekly, fortnightly or monthly spending habits. By weeding these expenses out or making them a luxury again that is only enjoyed occasionally, you can also save quite a substantial amount of money. When you go through your spending habits, you will be able to calculate how much you are actually spending on these things.

Don’t forget that a contingency fund should always be factored into any money budget. This works out to be around 10 % of your income. A contingency fund will benefit you when you need it the most, such as when you lose your job or have an unexpected expense such as plumbing go wrong in your home. This contingency fund should be kept in a separate savings account and only accessed in emergencies.

Motivation Is The Key:

Motivation is very important when you are budgeting. As an incentive to create a budget and stick to it, remember that the only way to regain wealth is by spending less money than you are receiving. The only way to spend less and do more with your money is to learn how to effectively budget it and stick to your plan.

Once you start to see the benefits of your budgeting and are rewarded with more money in your bank account after you have finished paying out, you will be more encouraged than ever to budget your money.

Another way to teach yourself to budget is to give yourself a solid incentive to stick to it, and make your budget work. You may make it your goal to get your finances in order, so that you can take a vacation or get something that you and your family really wants. Place reminders on your fridge or in your wallet. By doing this, you will be reminding yourself of the reason you have decided to sacrifice some of your luxury spending.

Although this sounds great, when you budget, you will have to learn to set aside any emotions that you may feel toward your budget. Examples of emotions getting in the way and interfering with a well planned budget is when you have to cut out the things that you want, such as weekend breaks away, toys for your children or new furniture, for a while, until you have arranged your finances for the better better.

If you have a family, try to keep them involved in your money budgeting and where the budget needs to be tightened to benefit everyone to exclude non-essentials, explain to family members why budgeting is important. This will help to educate those around you about the importance of budgeting and how budgeting can help you all obtain the things that you want, such as luxuries, without them being a financial burden.

Another trap many people fall into is getting into the habit of ‘keeping up with the Jones’ regardless of their own personal financial situations. After all, money budgeting is about your personal set of circumstances and your personal finances, not someone else’s. Just because your neighbors have just bought the latest model car or had cable television installed, doesn’t mean that you have to, pay attention to your budget and let it be your decider on whether you can afford the things that you want.

Budgeting is a vital skill needed to control your finances and avoid getting into serious debt. By educating yourself on how to budget effectively, taking the time to carefully plan a good budget and monitoring it regularly you will be able to keep yourself and your family encouraged to stick with it.

Set achievable goals and even though, at first, money budgeting may seem tough, it is the only way to have the things that you want, as well as a secure financial future.

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The first step to take, which is the easiest and fastest, is to cut out that unnecessary spending.

At first glance, you might think that your budget is very tight and there is nothing in there to cut. As a business owner and financial consultant for over 20 years, I have found that this is seldom the case. There are almost always ways to cut costs and save money.

A big mistake most businesses make is not taking the time to prepare a budget when times are good. Typically business owners tend to take an interest into budgeting money once they’re in financial trouble. Their debts have piled up, their income doesn’t seem to cover their bills and habits, and they are stressed out as a result. Does this sound familiar? If so, you probably need to learn the usual budgeting techniques.  

Budgeting and financial planning are the cornerstones of responsible money management. Not only that, but they are vital in developing a workable plan for the future, and can even reduce stress. While many businesses shy away from the accountability and responsibility required to create and maintain an accurate budget, buckling down and building a budget can ultimately help reduce stress and worry, and lead to a more pleasant and fulfilling life.

Before getting started, it’s important to define what a budget is, and what it is not. It is not just a list of where your money goes each month. A budget is a comprehensive overall picture of your financial situation where money comes in, where it goes out, and what it’s spent on. A budget is a plan, a map of the financial future. It should include salaries, bonuses, bills, insurance, savings, and other expenditures. It should be divided into wants and needs and should be organized as a line-item list, with each item

categorized and accounted for.

Most importantly, a budget should be accurate. Creating a budget that is inaccurate is a complete waste of time. People often create budgets that reflect where they want to be financially, or that ignore certain one-time-only expenditure this is not going to be effective. Instead of focusing on where you want to be and fudging the lines of where you are, make your budget an accurate and honest reflection of your current economic situation. Once you have that in place, you will be able to more easily identify where changes can and should be made, and you can begin to transform your financial situation by spending and saving responsibly.

Just as a budget should be honest and accurate, it should also be flexible. While, whenever possible, we try to plan for the unexpected, it is a fact of life that there will be times you need to go beyond your budget, a financial crisis, for example. This is understandable, and does not indicate some failure on your part to plan. In such situations, simply keep account of your spending and adjust your budget for subsequent months, where possible, to make up for the extra expenditures.

The most important thing to remember about a budget is that it is a living, breathing thing “well, not really, but it should be treated as such. A budget will do you no good if you create it then put it aside and never look at it again. A budget should be updated monthly and kept on hand for quick reference and revision. Keeping your budget up to date will allow you to see not only where you are financially, but will help you see how to get where you’d like to be.

Creating an accurate budget is important not only because it helps you see where you are financially, but also helps you map out the road to where you’d like to be.

What makes up a good budget? What expenses should you include in the budget? What can you do about variable expenses in your budget? How can you personalize a budget?

Where are you going?

The key to a good budget or spending plan is knowing where you have been and where you want to go. Knowing where you have been is done by insuring you have written down where all you money has been going. You can find this information by categorizing and reviewing your last 6 months of check registers or other accounting methods you have been employing. If you have no such method in place, you have just uncovered your main budgeting problem which is the first item to be corrected.

If on the other hand you use a check register or other means but have numerous general entries such as “cash” or “miscellaneous” or other unidentifiable labels, this too must be corrected. You MUST know where your money is going before you can divert it. I recommend carrying a small spiral notebook for at least 2 weeks (longer is far better) and recording every cash transaction. You will truly be amazed by what you learn from this experience.

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According to the book, a budget is a plan to coordinate your most important resources (such as money and time) and expenditures.  There are 2 kinds of budgets:

Budget deficit excess of spending over income you spend more than you earn Budget surplus excess of income over spending you earn more than you spend

The reason most people are poor is because all their lives, all theyâ??ve known is not having enough money, hence, they only have a plan for â??budget deficitâ?.   They have never experienced having more money than they could ever expect to spend.  They think only lottery winners, corrupt politicians, or greedy businessmen can have a â??budget surplusâ?.   The key to having a budget surplus is realizing that it is possible for you to have it.

There are 2 ways to generate a budget surplus:

You can apply Financial IQ # 1 to make more money, thereby increasing your income, or You can cut expenses, and reduce your spending.

Both strategies will tip the equation to your favor such that your income will be greater than your expenses and you create that extra cash a.k.a. â??budget surplusâ?.

Most people and businesses only know how to cut expenses, especially in these times of financial uncertainty.  But you can only do so much in terms of cutting expenses without sacrificing your mental, emotional and physical health.  You donâ??t need to starve yourself to create a budget surplus. If you apply Financial IQ # 1 â?? make more money, you can stretch the other side of the equation and achieve the same thing.  The same applies to business. A business without sales is NOT a business. So aside from minimizing the costs of your business, you also need to learn to sell more and boost your income!

Robert Kiyosaki offers 4 tips to plan for a budget surplus:

Budget tip #1 â?? A budget surplus is an expense Make spending for budget surplus a priority Pay yourself first, even when income is less than your expenses Use the pressure of not having enough money to think of ways on how to generate that extra cash Budget tip #2 â?? The expense column is the crystal ball Discover what youâ??re spending on, and you will know if your plan is working to give you a budget surplus or a budget deficit Robert Kiyosakiâ??s Rich Dad says, â??you can tell a personâ??s future by looking at what they spend their time and money on.â? Budget tip #3 â?? My assets pay for my liabilities Instead of using your hard-earned money to pay for your liabilities like a car or a flat screen TV, make that money work for you by using it to build assets and use the income from those assets to pay for your car or your flat screen TV. Budget tip #4 â?? Spend to get rich Know when to spend and when to cut back.  Most people only know how to cut back.  Spending wisely to grow your money is a harder skill to master. Learn to do more with less and use the pressure to become smarter in making more money

Rich Money Habits Review Notes:

Budgeting is boring.  Thatâ??s what most people say.  However, it is one the most important rich money habits that you will have to learn.  A budget is like a map.  The only way to get to your destination is to know where you are right now, and use your plan to discover how to get to where you want to be. Consciously working on your money habits is a life-long process, and it starts with taking care of the resources that you have â?? that is budgeting your money and time.  What others donâ??t realize is that we all have 24 hours in a day.  Some people multiply their impact by providing livelihood to thousands of people and generating more money not only for themselves but for the whole community.  Others just sit around all day never doing anything to make their lives easier.  To me, it is not a question of do we need to budget or not.  It is a matter of realizing that to live your life to the fullest, you need to make the most of what you have. Be patient.  The problem of TV shows is that everything is fast.  Yesterday a child was born. The next day heâ??s already a teenager.  The next week he himself is already having his own kid.  Life is not a TV show.  It is a series of small steps earned each day.  So have a plan and learn to adjust that plan along the way.  As Robert Kiyosaki says â??take it one day at a time.â?

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