Bucks Film

If you are reading this, you’re probably going through slight financial stress and seeking for a way to gain control of your finances. Producing and sticking to a monthly budget has always been one of the best ways to do this. A sound budget is an essential tool for managing money, one that has allowed me to live well even on limited funds. One of the most critical things that I do every month is planning my monthly budget, and it has allowed me to consistently meet all expenditures, grow my savings, and eliminate debt.

I map out my budget for the upcoming month on about the 20th of the current month. This gives me a better view of my expenses in the coming month. It’s not a good idea to produce a budget after getting paid because, too often, that flush feeling of getting a paycheck results to unessential and impulsive spending before the paycheck ever reaches the bank.

I start my personal budget by listing all the disbursements that must be paid on time like, mortgage repayments, utility bills, insurance policy payments and motorcar loans. These are the critical things that I must pay to keep a comfortable roof over my head. I like to pad these essentials to make “money back” after paying the bills and, if costs increase out of the blue, I’m always covered.

Next, my budget is subjected to a list of discretionary things I need to cover but could live without if absolutely unavoidable. An example are monthly savings deposits, credit card repayments and donations. These things are also important, but in case of emergency I could put them off for a short time. By giving credit card companies the maximum instead of the minimum, I keep my credit score high and my debt low.

My budget will not include the cost of living such as food and entertainment. These things get covered by what’s left over and that’s that. Some months involve lots of beans and rice, slow-cooker meals, free or cheap entertainment, and only one inexpensive piece of clothing . This strategy of overseeing my monthly budget has worked out very well over the long term as long as I honor it scrupulously.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Finance Matters, Internet Self Improvement Resources. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.