We are all looking for ways to get in control of our finances. There are many ways we can start. One of the first steps we can take is start a budget. Budgeting is not just for Mom and Dad! Budgeting is a way for us to organize how we are spending and not be surprised by costs and waking up to overdrafted bank accounts. I’m sure there are more than seven reasons but these are my seven 🙂 and I will like to hear some of your reasons in the comments below. Enjoy!
1. To keep track of where your money is going– It’s Friday and you just got paid, you’re excited and you’re doing a happy dance. You then decide you’re going out to eat and have some drinks!! You remembered getting paid over$1,000. You go out and have a great time. By Sunday morning your account is now down to $300. Not bad right? We still got some money left. You decide to go grocery shopping and spend $175. Now you’re now down to $125. You then get a text message the next day from your bank saying your account is over drafted. You forgot the forbearance you requested for your student loans expired and that payment is due again, AND now you need gas for the car. How many of us have been in this scenario? I know I have in the past. It is important that we keep track of our finances to see where our money is going so that we can cut all the unnecessary spending and save our mula, or at least not overdraft our account!
2. We can cut unnecessary costs– Once we begin to budget, we can begin to cut the unnecessary items that cost money out of our life. For example, we could have 3 music subscriptions, a subscription to an item on Amazon that we buy a lot, or have a habit of buying 7 drinks when our limit is 3…lol. Some of us spend $175 on groceries when most of the things we buy go to waste because we don’t cook meals, we eat out all the time. Creating a budget and tracking our expenses will help us cut unnecessary costs.
3. Start setting financial goals– When we can see where our money is going and how we can cut unnecessary costs, we can then plan to set financial goals for the money we are saving. We can create an emergency savings plan, and also put our money into investments. What investments should you consider? That’s a topic for another time. So, stay tuned!
4. Build great habits– Creating a budget helps us to be very disciplined. For example, when we go to the mall we can go and not feel the need to spend because we know that we have a budget. If our budget is $150 for shopping, then that’s our max for shopping. Staying true to our system is what will help us keep money. By following our needs and limiting our wants, we can stay in control of our finances and continue great habits.
5. For your kids and their future– One of the things we need to remember is that if we have kids, we are responsible for them. What will you do if your child wants to go to college? What about private school or an academy? These are some things that budgeting can help us tackle.
6. Family trips or a personal vacation– Do you want to travel and weren’t able to do it before? Budgeting can help us to travel more. Want to take the kids to Disney world? Or visit family members a lot more. Budgeting can help with that. We can also save a lot of money by knowing when to plan our trips. Check out the “Best times to travel in the year”.
7. To pay down the credit card– One of the ways we can start paying down our credit cards is to start budgeting. Carrying around a balance is not something we should make a habit. It comes with a heavy price. Those minimum payments add up overtime, especially if you have multiple cards with a balance. When we pay down our credit cards, we will appreciate budgeting a lot more because it helped us reduce our debt, which is always a great feeling.
Thank you for reading my post “7 Reasons we should start to budget”. Budgeting is very important when we are trying to control our spending. When we budget, we can allocate money to different areas of life like investing, paying down credit card debt, saving for a trip, or just seeing where our money is going. What are some of the reasons you budget? Please feel free to share and comment below. Don’t forget to subscribe. Also feel free to follow me on social media!