Creating and Sticking to a Budget

[attagirl]

What are the best methods for creating and sticking to a budget? Who needs a budget? How much easier can having a budget make ones life?

[APhillips86]

Creating a budget is definately the easy part. The hard part is actually sticking to that budget. It gets even harder when you have a tight budget. You need to factor in every expense you can think of such as: rent, utilities, car payments, food costs. Those are the important things and should be the main focus of your budget. So take those, add those costs up, and subtract those from your monthly income. You will want to leave a little extra money for emergencies, then you can factor in any entertainment expenses, or other unnecessary items like cigarettes, or unnecessary shopping, etc.

[Consultant_Lorens]

Hi There,

The key to sticking with a budget that you have made is creating a budget that you can live with in the first place. In order to do this, it is important to take a month or two and track all of your spending.

You should also come up with a "wish list" of things that you wish you could do with your money. As you track your spending, write down everything. Then look at what you are spending your money on, and compare it to your wish list. Are some of your unnecessary and frivolous expenditures keeping you from accomplishing what's on your wish list? That is one of the most effective ways I have seen for getting people to stick with a budget. After seeing where the money is going and where it could be going, many people are ready to make a budget and stick with it.

Regards