Living on a budget can be fun!

I suck at budgeting 🙁

This is what I do for a living! Hi Vidya!! I have to play catch up again. I always enjoy budgeting and did this even when I was a kid because I didn’t like to spend money. In Canada, we can’t combine coupons but I still use them. I also have points cards for 2 places that I routinely go to and they add up to free things especially around Christmas time. I say first off, make a list of your monthly expenses from the housing to groceries, coffees, haircuts, pet needs etc… Figure out your income per month as well even if it fluctuates one needs to know an average and always your take home pay not gross. The next is to keep track. Most people keep receipts and put it in a bowl or box and then have a huge headache at the end of the month. I say start small-take 3 expenses that you wish to have a better idea how much you may be spending, grab 3 envelopes and label them according to the expense. Now the biggest thing is to remember to grab a receipt! Place the receipt in the right envelope and just keep going. At the end of the month, you don’t have to go through tons of receipts figuring out what one belongs where, all you have to do is take them out of the envelope and add them up. On the envelope, mark down what you spent for that month (September), then chuck the receipts (unless needed for tax reasons. Do this for 3 months so you have a good average what you have been spending since 1 month will not give you a clear picture. This will tell you if you have under-estimated or over-estimated. It will also let you know where you feel you can cut down on. The next is savings-once you have a better idea where you spend and where to cut back, you will have a better idea what is realistic to save. Make the savings account inconvenient to get to. We live in a world of being too convenient so in order to save, make the account hard to get to. You can place money into the account but you can’t transfer it out. You have to stand in line at the bank. If you trust someone, both of you must go in & sign to take the funds out not just one or the other- a further impediment. If you have a credit card (you only need 1), literally place it in a bowl of water and freeze it! You don’t have access to it which stops the impulse buying and you can’t microwave it because the magnetic strip will blow the microwave. If you are going to a store for a certain item you need (diapers etc..) take out the money you need for that item and leave the debit card at home or in the car! By the time you see all the other stuff that you would have bought on impulse, you realize you can’t get it but only the item you need. When you get back to the car or home, 10 to 1 you will not go back for the other stuff. When you review your expenses, you will see that there are expenses that are set (housing), expenses that happen every once in a while (clothing, gifts, repairs) and expenses that happen daily or weekly but you usually use debit/cash. Why not have 3 accounts?? Obviously make sure the bank does not hit you with extra charges but then when you look at the account to see if you have enough for food or gas or fun, you will see the actual amount in there and not have to figure out in your head that the phone bill is coming or the insurance is coming out because it will come out of your “must” account. If a person is paid every 2 weeks then divide all the expenses by how you are paid. Here in my city, the water bill comes once every 4 months. It is hard to come up with $360 all at once. If I break that down monthly, it is $90 and if I break it down every 2 weeks, it is $45. What is easier to handle? So there is my very lengthy comment since you hit smack on something I do and a passion of mine as well:)
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