Jefanie Genilla
Budgeting is a life skill everyone should learn. But for those who find this difficult and even swear they hate this task, read this post and learn the seven tips entrepreneurs and wealthy people use to control their spending habits and manage their finances more efficiently.
Creating a budget is the best way to control your money before it controls you. In whatever you do, just make sure to consult with a financial agent, such as Loansolutions PH, to know if you’re doing it right.
Now, let me speak for myself. Taking note of every peso you spend on coffee, meals, transportation and whatnots is exhausting for me. Do you feel the same? If you do, it makes perfect sense to learn these 7 budgeting tips from the experts that will help you develop a disciplined and conscious spending habit:
- Determine your recurring expenses and income. Know how much you’re going to pay for your utility bills, internet and telecom fees, daily allowance, school fees, and credit card bills. As much as possible, avoid tagging some expenses as miscellaneous. Apart from your expenses, know how much exactly you’re earning each month, summing up your regular pay and income from freelance projects, if you have any.
- Deduct your expenses from your income to know how much you really have left. This is the surest way to see whether you’re earning enough, more than enough or less than enough to cover your expenses.
- Set a specific amount for savings. Set a portion of your remaining money for savings. Ideally, determining the amount to save should be your priority. But if you’re tight on the budget, you can do this after paying off all your other expenses.
- Allocate money for your splurge and cheat days. Don’t be too hard on yourself because this can lead to feelings of deprivation and loss of motivation. So probably every week or month, eat at a fancy restaurant, grab a cup of specialty coffee or book a trip.
- Bring only the cash you need. Don’t bring more than enough cash every day. This will help you curb your impulsiveness, helping you take time to decide whether or not you really need to buy the item you took a liking on.
- Use online tools to keep track of spending performance. Make sure you’re on the right track. There are lots of personal financial planning tools online, which you can download and install on all your devices. Tools like Mint, YNAB or GnuCash allow you to input your expenses and income to generate a cash flow report you can refer to anytime.
- Surround yourself with money-conscious individuals. Learn from their habits and get tips on how best to avoid unnecessary spending. As American entrepreneur Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” So you might as well hang out with frugal people and pick up the same habit
Creating a budget is the best way to control your money before it controls you. In whatever you do, just make sure to consult with a financial agent, such as Loansolutions PH, to know if you’re doing it right.
