3 Simple Steps For Sticking to a Budget

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

3 Simple Steps For Sticking to a Budget

Put it on Paper. Think of a budget on paper as your play book. You get to be the coach and you get to tell your money how to play the game. Creating a budget is not rocket science. Just break down all of your expenses and put it on paper. Here are three simple steps for helping you stick to your budget:

Don't go to Places That Tempt You to Spend Money - If you can't stick to a budget, it could be you have no self control. Or your eyes are bigger than your pocket book. Not shopping is the best medicine for a shopaholic just like staying out of a bar is best for an alcoholic. My wife used to make several trips to Target a week and spent at least $50 each visit. Now she goes once a week and still spends an average of $50 each trip, but now it's once a week. A weekly savings of a $100.
Try an envelope system - This helps build discipline real fast. Get some envelopes and write your categories on each one. Then put money in each one based on your budget. Once the envelope is empty you can't spend in that category any longer. It's that easy.
Don't Give up and Stay Motivated - You can certainly play a sport without a coach, but like a coach a budget is there to help you. It's a tool to use to help you improve your financial situation. Budgets are not built over night. It will take a few months to get it right. So, don't be discouraged if you blow your budget the first month. Keep working at it until you get it right.

My wife and I needed to get on a budget a long time ago. Since we started our budget early this year our savings is growing and our debt is melting like butter. Give budgeting a try...all you have to lose is your debt.

[This post is written and copyrighted by Financial Elite (http://financialelite.blogspot.com/ ).]

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