Category Archives: budgeting

Have a Budget for the Holidays and Stick to it

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The holidays are just around the corner. We all know giving gifts, hosting parties and or attending get-togethers is apart of the fun and merriment. Cheers!

It is easy for so many of us to slip into debt and head into the new year with that dragging us down. Oh how freeing it is to enjoy the holidays debt free and head into the new year that way. This is not a piped dream. It is something we all can do, if we plan and resolve to let it be that way.

First off put together a budget for the holidays and develop the habit of funding it throughout the year. This means putting a set amount of money away for the festivities and gifts you know you will buy. Giving is fun but no one is happy to go broke doing this.

It’s already quite late in the year already, so you may not be able to budget for all you want to do and enjoy. You can have a bare bones budget for November and December to free up some cash. A bare bones budget is one where you cover the necessities and pool everything else towards a particular event or thing. It’s temporary and well worth the sacrifice if one has a desire to spend (heavily) during the holidays.

It is also ok to say no to events that crop up unexpectedly. If you don’t have room in your budget for it, learn to say no and let some things go by. Stick to your budget because adding debt is digging a whole that you will need to dig out of later.

Don’t let the holidays creep up on you and you are not prepared. Budget for it, stick to your budget and enter 2020 free of debt from the holiday. I think the holidays are far more enjoyable this way.

How to Budget, Organise your Money and a live a Financially Healthy Life

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Change how you view and spend money

If we earn more than we need for the necessities we should be saving consistently. This is sometimes a struggle for some people because of the relationship they have fostered with their money.

It’s not enough to pay all the bills then spend what is left. Organising what is left after the bills are paid is a apart of living a financially healthy life. This is why having a budget and following it is important.

We are never too young to start saving for retirement.

We are never too healthy to save for illnesses.

We are never too securely employed to plan for rainy days.

Catch my drift? It often takes a mind shift to start budgeting, sticking to it and putting away money for the future (near and far). The money we earn is not merely to pay our bills and feed our temporary wants.

See what you earn as a necessary ingredient to help you attain different goals – debt free.

Organise your Budget in a way that gives you Freedom

Find what works for you.

Having a lean budget where all wants are not catered to does not work for many of us. It isn’t realistic.

Adjust savings targets for different goals as time passes or just because you want to.

Budget in your treats, the things that help you to live and enjoy yourself. A budget is not something to cause stress. For example, I budget for recreation every month because that is important to me. This may look like going out to eat with friends, doing so alone, going to an event and things of that nature.

Also put away something in the miscellaneous category because stuff comes up.

Reconcile your Budget as you Spend

Keep track of payments, all of them. Everything from gum to rent/mortgage. Line up all the items and check that what you plan for is what you are spending. This becomes habitual with time. I like to do this after paying each bill. I also use cash for things like groceries, lunch and utilities. I keep them in their own envelopes and return whatever is left after each transaction.

Using cash for some purchases may help to keep you on track. Some people use credit cards to get points I know. The goal should be to use it within the confines of what is budgeted and pay the sum off each month.

Develop the Habit of Saving

You truly pay yourself from what you earn by putting aside some money into savings. Each amount you add to your savings, helps you to develop this healthy habit of saving. This habit contributes to a financially healthy life. As I said in the opening, if you earn more money than you need to cover the necessities, savings should be a priority. Budget for savings.

At first it might be frustrating and if you are a spender you may be tempted to just use it all. A good way to motivate yourself is to have a list of short term and long term goals. Write down a desired amount to save over a period of time. Make it something like a challenge for yourself. You can put this on a poster or app and have countdown each pay period. I believe that once you start meeting different gaols you will become addicted to this practice.

Budgeting is something to talk about with families, friends and others. Share the value of this habit and help others to live financially healthy lives.

It Takes Money to Save Money

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It takes earning a certain amount of money to be able to save money. We can budget from now until the cows come home, but if we earn just enough to meet our basic needs or less, saving is terribly hard.

I know, I have been there. When I just started working and had to pay student loans and live, the ends had a hard time meeting. I was able to get some side hustles but not everyone can do the same.

There maybe a time in your life where you just need to fight it through and keep applying for a job that pays more. Don’t settle or give up.

Since it takes earning more than you need, to save, this may not be a priority when you are struggling to make ends meet. I don’t know who needs to hear this. Don’t give up, don’t stop dreaming and keep seeking out better opportunities and stay knocking on doors. Also surround yourself with others who understand and encourage you.

These are my few cents on this.

It’s Important to Teach Children how to Manage Money

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Managing money well is an effective skill that is of utmost importance.

How many children are actively taught how to budget and manage money? How many parents talk about how much they pay for bills with their teenagers? How many parents explain how they budget for different purchases to their kids?

Many schools do not teach students how to budget well and manage their finances.

How do we as people learn how to manage our money when we start to work? Many never learn and some do only after getting into debt and researching how to dig their way out.

I am passionate about budgeting and as a teacher I give mini lessons to my high schoolers on this important practice. I also explain why it is important.

We teach kids about all kinds of dangers in life. We however allow them to grow up and unknowingly fall into the abyss of debt when they could have easily circumvented this. Sadly, many adults do not practice good money management so kids see what they do and repeat it.

Isn’t a debt free lifestyle a wonderful legacy for everyone? By taking the time to research and teach kids about money management we are helping them to get ahead in life.

One easy way to do this is to talk to kids about budgeting their allowances. We can sit with them and help them decide how much they will spend and save. I know some parents may not be able to give their kids money regularly but this can be done from time to time. A mindset to save is important. This can be developed through practice and careful guidance by adults.

Another thing that adults in charge of kids can do, is to help them save up for significant purchases over a period of months. This is essential training, so that when they become adults, they know the value of saving to buy what they want and not jumping to take on debt.

Money management is relevant to children once they are aware of the value of money. We should show them step by step how to use money they get wisely. We ought to help them get into the habit of planning how they will use the money and let them know how important it is to save something.

If we really want to effectively equip children to do well, we have to teach them how to manage money early in life and continue to do so as they grow. There is no magic knowledge that drops into one’s head on how to budget well once they start working. The automatic response for many is to spend all their money and not save anything.

Children are smart and can soak up what we share about managing their money. We also should practice what we preach and demonstrate this in action for them.

We all need a Budget

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We sure do. If a person earns a dollar or millions of dollars, having a budget is essential. There is this feeling for some people, that budgeting means depriving yourself of things.

To a certain extent this is true. However, a more positive view of budgeting is seeing it as a tool, that allows you to spend and save accurately as well as realistically.

How can you spend in a smart manner if you do not keep track of what comes in and what goes out? This is why it is important to have a budget. I like seeing my budget listed out to see how I am spending my hard earned cash.

Tip 1 – Prioritize Expenses as you put together a Budget

These are my priorities: tithes, rent, bills, food, recreation,travel, miscellaneous and savings. I budget from what is most important to what is least important to me. This visual representation with the relevant amounts for each, helps me to live a debt free lifestyle.

I further sub-divide the ‘food’ category into groceries, lunch (this includes a portion for buying things to make lunch and also setting aside money to buy lunch at least once a week). I use envelopes for the different portions of money – I have been doing this since 2001 when I started working. I learnt this from my daddy. I chuckle now to see it’s a thing in the debt free/finance community – I also do something similar for recreation. I have an envelope for planned events and one for anything that may arise. The miscellaneous category is my catch all. This means whatever unplanned events come up I can use this for that. If anything is left in each category then it’s rolled over to the following month.

There are some times when I may add other categories to my budget. For example, when I was saving up for a new computer, I put away the equivalent of a $100 each month for a year. I have that now for when this MacBook gives up the ghost. I have also done that when I was saving up for a new phone. They key is to start saving a year or more before big ticket items die. I have such peace of mind from knowing that when my phone and computer die, I can go out and replace them using cash. This is essential to fuel my debt free lifestyle.

Tip 2 – Budget to save for those rainy days

Life throws stuff at all of us. I believe it is important to build up some savings for different eventualities. Every little bit helps. Sometimes we have to delay immediate gratification to free up more money for savings. For example, if you by lunch every day and or even a cup of coffee that is quite a sum of money over a year. I sometimes buy a halfway decent salad, an onigiri and some nuts for lunch. That is around $8 or more. I buy ingredients for salad for $10 and get enough to have it everyday of the week. With this in mind, I plan my lunch menu, grocery shop accordingly and meal prep to stay on track. As we know, when we are busy or rushing in the morning, it is so much easier to just buy lunch and breakfast.

My life is about balance. My budget isn’t militant because I don’t want to feel like I am punishing myself. As a result of this, I set aside some money to buy lunch once of twice a week, which is a good compromise for me.

Tip 3 – Set some short term and long term goals as the object of your Budget

I like to give myself different challenges so budgeting is like a game. A short term goal for saving would be like saving up to go shopping in a few months. No, I no longer just shop on a whim. I have too much crap I bought on sale and wasted money. I have others like putting together a certain sum as a gift for someone or a project. Then there are long term goals like saving for retirement. We are never too young to save for this. There is quite a bit of satisfaction in setting some money goals and seeing your accomplishment bit by bit.

Tip 4 – Budget and live within your Means

Many of us have certain mindsets that cause us to throw away our money. Do we need to buy new clothes for every event, trip and so on? Do we need to say yes to every meet up, event and things of that nature? If your phone works, why upgrade it and have to pay money on a new phone for a few months? If your car is in good shape, why take out one on credit and go into debt? I am sounding preachy but I am baffled as to why people make these choices. Yes, we are all free to do whatever we want with our own money, I know. However, I am that friend who will ask others to think about these things and not just act on impulse.

There is much fun to be had and goals to be attained on a budget. If we give ourselves time to save up and be patient we can circumvent so much financial frustrations and headaches.

Tip 5 – Try Budgeting for 6 Months before writing it off

I challenge you to seriously try budgeting for 6 months. Go to YouTube and watch the myriad of content on budgeting. You can see everything from how to make one on paper or using different apps. It’s also incredible to see testimonies of people getting out of debt once they start budgeting and sticking to it.

All companies, countries and organizations have a budget that they operate within for a year. Clearly, this is an essential item. I hope everyone would find the joy in budgeting and do so to live a debt free life. It’s a beautiful thing.